Book of Common Prayer
O Yahweh, Do Not Delay
For the choir director. Of David. To bring to remembrance.
70 (A)O God, hasten to deliver me;
O Yahweh, hasten to my help!
2 (B)Let those be ashamed and humiliated
Who seek my [a]life;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight in [b]evil against me.
3 (C)Let those [c]turn back because of their shame
Who say, “Aha, aha!”
4 Let those be joyful and glad in You
All who seek You
And let them say continually,
“Let God be magnified,”
Those who love Your salvation.
5 But (D)I am afflicted and needy;
(E)Hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my protector;
O Yahweh, do not delay.
O God, Do Not Forsake Me
71 (F)In You, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be ashamed.
2 (G)In Your righteousness deliver me and protect me;
(H)Incline Your ear to me and save me.
3 (I)Be to me a rock of (J)habitation to which I may continually come;
You have given the (K)command to save me,
For You are (L)my [d]rock and my fortress.
4 (M)Protect me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
Out of the [e]grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man,
5 For You are my (N)hope;
O Lord Yahweh, You are my (O)trust from my youth.
6 [f]By You I have been (P)sustained from my birth;
You are He who (Q)took me from my mother’s womb;
My (R)praise is continually [g]of You.
7 I have become a (S)marvel to many,
For You are (T)my strong refuge.
8 My (U)mouth is filled with Your praise
And with (V)Your beauty all day long.
9 Do not cast me off in the (W)time of old age;
Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
10 For my enemies have spoken [h]against me;
And those who (X)watch my [i]life (Y)have counseled together,
11 Saying, “(Z)God has forsaken him;
Pursue and seize him, for there is (AA)no one to deliver.”
12 O God, (AB)do not be far from me;
O my God, (AC)hasten to my help!
13 Let those who accuse my soul be (AD)ashamed and consumed;
Let them be (AE)wrapped up with reproach and dishonor, who (AF)seek [j]to do me evil.
14 But as for me, I will (AG)wait continually,
And will [k](AH)praise You yet more and more.
15 My (AI)mouth shall recount Your righteousness
And (AJ)Your salvation all day long;
For I (AK)do not know the [l]sum of them.
16 I will come (AL)with the mighty deeds of Lord Yahweh;
I will (AM)bring to remembrance Your righteousness, Yours alone.
17 O God, You (AN)have taught me from my youth,
And I still (AO)declare Your wondrous deeds.
18 And even when I am (AP)old and gray, O God, do not forsake me,
Until I (AQ)declare Your [m]strength to this generation,
Your might to all who are to come.
19 [n]For Your (AR)righteousness, O God, reaches to the [o]heavens,
You who have (AS)done great things;
O God, (AT)who is like You?
20 You, who have (AU)shown [p]me many troubles and [q]evils,
Will (AV)revive [r]me again,
And will bring [s]me up again (AW)from the depths of the earth.
21 May You increase my (AX)greatness
And turn to (AY)comfort me.
22 I will also praise You with [t](AZ)a harp,
Even Your [u]truth, O my God;
To You I will sing praises with the (BA)lyre,
O (BB)Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will (BC)sing for joy when I sing praises to You;
And my (BD)soul, which You have redeemed.
24 My (BE)tongue also will utter Your righteousness all day long;
For they are (BF)ashamed, for they are humiliated who seek [v]to do me evil.
Yet God Is My King
A [a]Maskil of Asaph.
74 Why, O God? Have You (A)rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger (B)smoke against the (C)sheep of Your [b]pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You have (D)purchased of old,
Which You have (E)redeemed to be the (F)tribe of Your inheritance;
And this Mount (G)Zion, where You have dwelt.
3 Lift up Your steps toward the (H)perpetual ruins;
The enemy (I)has damaged everything within the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have (J)roared in the midst of Your meeting place;
They have set up their (K)own signs (L)for signs.
5 Each seems like one who lifts up
[c]An (M)axe against the undergrowth of trees.
6 And now its (N)carved work altogether
They smash with hatchet and [d]hammers.
7 They have (O)set Your sanctuary on fire;
By bringing it to the ground, they have (P)defiled the dwelling place of Your name.
8 They (Q)said in their heart, “Let us [e]completely [f]subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our (R)signs;
There is (S)no longer any prophet,
Nor is there any among us who knows (T)how long.
10 How long, O God, will the adversary (U)reproach?
Will the enemy (V)spurn Your name forever?
11 Why (W)do You turn back Your hand, even Your right hand?
From within Your bosom, (X)destroy them!
12 Yet God is (Y)my King from of old,
Who works deeds of [g]salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You (Z)divided the sea by Your strength;
You (AA)broke the heads of the (AB)sea monsters [h]in the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of [i](AC)Leviathan;
You gave him as food for the [j]creatures (AD)of the desert.
15 [k]You (AE)split open spring and river;
[l]You (AF)dried up ever-flowing rivers.
16 Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;
[m]You have (AG)established the [n]light and the sun.
17 [o]You have (AH)caused all the boundaries of the earth to stand firm;
[p]You have formed (AI)summer and winter.
18 Remember this, O Yahweh, that the enemy has (AJ)reproached,
And a (AK)wickedly foolish people has spurned Your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of Your (AL)turtledove to the wild beast;
(AM)Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
20 Look to the (AN)covenant;
For the (AO)dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence.
21 Let not the (AP)oppressed return dishonored;
Let the (AQ)afflicted and needy praise Your name.
Jacob Is Bereaved
29 Then they came to their father Jacob in the land of Canaan and told him all that had happened to them, saying, 30 “The man, the lord of the land, (A)spoke harshly with us and took us for spies of the country. 31 So we said to him, ‘We are (B)honest men; we are not spies. 32 We are twelve brothers, sons of our father; one is no more, and the youngest is with our father today in the land of Canaan.’ 33 Then the man, the lord of the land, said to us, ‘(C)By this I will know that you are honest men: leave one of your brothers with me and take grain for the famine of your households, and go. 34 But bring your youngest brother to me that I may know that you are not spies, but [a]honest men. I will give your brother to you, and you may (D)trade in the land.’”
35 Now it happened that they were emptying their sacks, and behold, (E)every man’s bundle of money was in his sack; and they and their father saw their bundles of money, and they feared. 36 And their father Jacob said to them, “You have (F)bereaved me of my children: Joseph is no more, and Simeon is no more, and you would take Benjamin; all these things are against me.” 37 Then Reuben spoke to his father, saying, “You may put my two sons to death if I do not bring him back to you; put him in my hand, and I will return him to you.” 38 But [b]Jacob said, “My son shall not go down with you; for his (G)brother is dead, and he alone remains. (H)If harm should befall him on the journey on which you are going, then you will (I)bring my gray hair down to Sheol in sorrow.”
Flee Sexual Immorality
12 (A)All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 (B)Food is for the [a]stomach and the [b]stomach is for food, but God will (C)do away with both [c]of them. Yet the body is not for sexual immorality, but (D)for the Lord, and (E)the Lord is for the body. 14 Now God has not only (F)raised the Lord, but (G)will also raise us up through His power. 15 (H)Do you not know that (I)your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? (J)May it never be! 16 Or (K)do you not know that the one who joins himself to a prostitute is one body with her? For He says, “(L)The two shall become one flesh.” 17 But the one who joins himself to the Lord is (M)one spirit with Him. 18 (N)Flee sexual immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the [d]sexually immoral man sins against his own body. 19 Or (O)do you not know that (P)your body is a [e]sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from [f]God, and that (Q)you are not your own? 20 For (R)you were bought with a price: therefore glorify God in (S)your body.
21 And He was saying to them, “(A)Is a lamp brought to be put under a [a]basket or under a bed? Is it not to be put on the lampstand? 22 (B)For nothing is hidden, except to be revealed; nor has anything been secret, but that it would come to light. 23 (C)If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.” 24 And He was saying to them, “Beware what you listen to. [b](D)By your standard of measure it will be measured to you, and more will be given to you. 25 (E)For whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he has shall be taken away from him.”
The Parable of the Seed
26 And He was saying, “The kingdom of God is like a man who casts seed upon the soil; 27 and he sleeps and rises, night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows—how, he himself does not know. 28 The soil produces crops by itself; first the blade, then the head, then the mature grain in the head. 29 But when the grain [c]is ripe, he immediately [d](F)puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 (G)And He was saying, “How shall we (H)compare the kingdom of God, or by what parable shall we present it? 31 It is like a mustard seed, which, when sown upon the soil, though it is [e]smallest of all the seeds that are upon the soil, 32 yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes [f]largest of all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that (I)the birds of the [g]air can nest under its shade.”
33 And with many such parables He was speaking the word to them, as they were able to hear it; 34 and He was not speaking to them (J)without a parable; but He was (K)explaining everything privately to His own disciples.
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