Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 95
Worship and Warning
1 Come, let’s shout joyfully to the Lord,
shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation!(A)
2 Let’s enter his presence with thanksgiving;
let’s shout triumphantly to him in song.(B)
3 For the Lord is a great God,
a great King above all gods.(C)
4 The depths of the earth are in his hand,
and the mountain peaks are his.(D)
5 The sea is his; he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.(E)
6 Come, let’s worship and bow down;
let’s kneel before the Lord our Maker.(F)
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep under his care.[a](G)
Today, if you hear his voice:(H)
8 Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the wilderness(I)
9 where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.(J)
10 For forty years I was disgusted with that generation;
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray;
they do not know my ways.”(K)
11 So I swore in my anger,
“They will not enter my rest.”(L)
Psalm 69
A Plea for Rescue
For the choir director: according to “The Lilies.”(A) Of David.
1 Save me, God,
for the water has risen to my neck.(B)
2 I have sunk in deep mud, and there is no footing;
I have come into deep water,
and a flood sweeps over me.(C)
3 I am weary from my crying;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail, looking for my God.(D)
4 Those who hate me without cause
are more numerous than the hairs of my head;
my deceitful enemies, who would destroy me,
are powerful.(E)
Though I did not steal, I must repay.(F)
5 God, you know my foolishness,
and my guilty acts are not hidden from you.(G)
6 Do not let those who put their hope in you
be disgraced because of me,
Lord God of Armies;
do not let those who seek you
be humiliated because of me,
God of Israel.(H)
7 For I have endured insults because of you,
and shame has covered my face.(I)
8 I have become a stranger to my brothers
and a foreigner to my mother’s sons(J)
9 because zeal for your house has consumed me,(K)
and the insults of those who insult you
have fallen on me.(L)
10 I mourned and fasted,
but it brought me insults.(M)
11 I wore sackcloth as my clothing,
and I was a joke to them.
12 Those who sit at the city gate talk about me,
and drunkards make up songs about me.(N)
13 But as for me, Lord,
my prayer to you is for a time of favor.
In your abundant, faithful love, God,
answer me with your sure salvation.(O)
14 Rescue me from the miry mud; don’t let me sink.
Let me be rescued from those who hate me
and from the deep water.(P)
15 Don’t let the floodwaters sweep over me
or the deep swallow me up;
don’t let the Pit close its mouth over me.(Q)
16 Answer me, Lord,
for your faithful love is good.
In keeping with your abundant compassion,
turn to me.(R)
17 Don’t hide your face from your servant,
for I am in distress.
Answer me quickly!(S)
18 Come near to me and redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies.(T)
19 You know the insults I endure—
my shame and disgrace.
You are aware of all my adversaries.(U)
20 Insults have broken my heart,
and I am in despair.
I waited for sympathy,
but there was none;
for comforters, but found no one.(V)
21 Instead, they gave me gall for my food,
and for my thirst
they gave me vinegar to drink.(W)
22 Let their table set before them be a snare,
and let it be a trap for their allies.(X)
23 Let their eyes grow too dim to see,
and let their hips continually quake.(Y)
24 Pour out your rage on them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.(Z)
25 Make their fortification desolate;
may no one live in their tents.(AA)
26 For they persecute the one you struck
and talk about the pain of those you wounded.(AB)
27 Charge them with crime on top of crime;
do not let them share in your righteousness.(AC)
28 Let them be erased from the book of life
and not be recorded with the righteous.(AD)
29 But as for me—poor and in pain—
let your salvation protect me, God.(AE)
30 I will praise God’s name with song
and exalt him with thanksgiving.(AF)
31 That will please the Lord more than an ox,
more than a bull with horns and hooves.(AG)
32 The humble will see it and rejoice.
You who seek God, take heart!(AH)
33 For the Lord listens to the needy
and does not despise
his own who are prisoners.(AI)
BOOK III
(Psalms 73–89)
Psalm 73
God’s Ways Vindicated
A psalm of Asaph.(A)
1 God is indeed good to Israel,
to the pure in heart.(B)
2 But as for me, my feet almost slipped;
my steps nearly went astray.(C)
3 For I envied the arrogant;
I saw the prosperity of the wicked.(D)
4 They have an easy time until they die,[a]
and their bodies are well fed.[b](E)
5 They are not in trouble like others;
they are not afflicted like most people.(F)
6 Therefore, pride is their necklace,
and violence covers them like a garment.(G)
7 Their eyes bulge out from fatness;
the imaginations of their hearts run wild.(H)
8 They mock, and they speak maliciously;
they arrogantly threaten oppression.(I)
9 They set their mouths against heaven,
and their tongues strut across the earth.(J)
10 Therefore his people turn to them[c]
and drink in their overflowing words.[d](K)
11 The wicked say, “How can God know?
Does the Most High know everything?” (L)
12 Look at them—the wicked!
They are always at ease,
and they increase their wealth.(M)
13 Did I purify my heart
and wash my hands in innocence for nothing?(N)
14 For I am afflicted all day long
and punished every morning.(O)
15 If I had decided to say these things aloud,
I would have betrayed your people.[e](P)
16 When I tried to understand all this,
it seemed hopeless[f](Q)
17 until I entered God’s sanctuary.
Then I understood their destiny.(R)
18 Indeed, you put them in slippery places;
you make them fall into ruin.(S)
19 How suddenly they become a desolation!
They come to an end, swept away by terrors.(T)
20 Like one waking from a dream,
Lord, when arising, you will despise their image.(U)
21 When I became embittered
and my innermost being[g] was wounded,(V)
22 I was stupid and didn’t understand;
I was an unthinking animal toward you.(W)
23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold my right hand.(X)
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me up in glory.[h](Y)
25 Who do I have in heaven but you?
And I desire nothing on earth but you.(Z)
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength[i] of my heart,
my portion forever.(AA)
27 Those far from you will certainly perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.(AB)
28 But as for me, God’s presence is my good.
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
so I can tell about all you do.(AC)
Decision to Return to Egypt
43 Now the famine in the land was severe.(A) 2 When they had used up the grain they had brought back from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little food.”
3 But Judah said to him, “The man specifically warned us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’ 4 If you will send our brother with us, we will go down and buy food for you. 5 But if you will not send him, we will not go, for the man said to us, ‘You will not see me again unless your brother is with you.’”(B)
6 “Why have you caused me so much trouble?” Israel asked. “Why did you tell the man that you had another brother?”
7 They answered, “The man kept asking about us and our family: ‘Is your father still alive? Do you have another brother?’ And we answered him accordingly. How could we know that he would say, ‘Bring your brother here’?”
8 Then Judah said to his father Israel, “Send the boy with me. We will be on our way so that we may live and not die—neither we, nor you, nor our dependents. 9 I will be responsible for him. You can hold me personally accountable![a] If I do not bring him back to you and set him before you, I will be guilty before you forever.(C) 10 If we had not delayed, we could have come back twice by now.”
11 Then their father Israel said to them, “If it must be so, then do this: Put some of the best products of the land in your packs and take them down to the man as a gift—a little balsam and a little honey, aromatic gum and resin, pistachios and almonds.(D) 12 Take twice as much silver with you. Return the silver that was returned to you in the top of your bags. Perhaps it was a mistake. 13 Take your brother also, and go back at once to the man. 14 May God Almighty cause the man to be merciful to you so that he will release your other brother and Benjamin to you. As for me, if I am deprived of my sons, then I am deprived.”(E)
The Return to Egypt
15 The men took this gift, double the amount of silver, and Benjamin. They immediately went down to Egypt and stood before Joseph.
Principles of Marriage
7 Now in response to the matters you wrote[a] about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”[b] 2 But because sexual immorality is so common,[c](A) each man should have sexual relations with his own wife,(B) and each woman should have sexual relations with her own husband. 3 A husband should fulfill his marital duty(C) to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband. 4 A wife does not have the right over her own body, but her husband does. In the same way, a husband does not have the right over his own body, but his wife does. 5 Do not deprive(D) one another—except when you agree for a time, to devote yourselves to[d] prayer. Then come together again; otherwise, Satan may tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that all people were as I am. But each has his own gift(E) from God, one person has this gift, another has that.
A Word to the Unmarried
8 I say to the unmarried[e] and to widows:(F) It is good for them if they remain as I am. 9 But if they do not have self-control,(G) they should marry, since it is better to marry(H) than to burn with desire.
Wind and Waves Obey Jesus
35 On(A) that day, when evening had come, he told them, “Let’s cross over to the other side of the sea.” 36 So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. And other boats were with him. 37 A great windstorm(B) arose, and the waves(C) were breaking over the boat, so that the boat was already being swamped. 38 He was in the stern, sleeping(D) on the cushion. So they woke him up(E) and said to him, “Teacher! Don’t you care that we’re going to die?” (F)
39 He got up, rebuked(G) the wind, and said to the sea, “Silence!(H) Be still!” The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. 40 Then he said to them, “Why are you afraid?(I) Do you still have no faith?”
41 And they were terrified[a](J) and asked one another, “Who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey(K) him!” (L)
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