Book of Common Prayer
In God I Trust
To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A (A)Miktam[a] of David, when the (B)Philistines seized him in Gath.
56 (C)Be gracious to me, O God, for man (D)tramples on me;
all day long an attacker oppresses me;
2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
for many attack me proudly.
3 When I am afraid,
I (E)put my trust in you.
4 In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; (F)I shall not be afraid.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day long they injure my cause;[b]
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They (G)stir up strife, they (H)lurk;
they (I)watch my steps,
as they have waited for my life.
7 For their crime will they escape?
(J)In wrath (K)cast down the peoples, O God!
8 You have kept count of my tossings;[c]
(L)put my tears in your bottle.
(M)Are they not in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back
(N)in the day when I call.
This I know, that[d] (O)God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
in the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 in God I trust; (P)I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 I must perform my (Q)vows to you, O God;
I will (R)render thank offerings to you.
13 (S)For you have delivered my soul from death,
yes, my feet from falling,
(T)that I may walk before God
(U)in the light of life.
Let Your Glory Be over All the Earth
To the choirmaster: according to (V)Do Not Destroy. A (W)Miktam[e] of David, when he fled from Saul, in (X)the cave.
57 (Y)Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul (Z)takes refuge;
in (AA)the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
(AB)till the storms of destruction pass by.
2 I cry out to God Most High,
to God who (AC)fulfills his purpose for me.
3 (AD)He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame (AE)him who tramples on me. Selah
(AF)God will send out (AG)his steadfast love and his faithfulness!
4 My soul is in the midst of (AH)lions;
I lie down amid fiery beasts—
the children of man, whose (AI)teeth are spears and arrows,
whose (AJ)tongues are sharp swords.
5 (AK)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
6 They set (AL)a net for my steps;
my soul was (AM)bowed down.
They (AN)dug a pit in my way,
but they have fallen into it themselves. Selah
7 (AO)My heart is (AP)steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast!
I will sing and make melody!
8 (AQ)Awake, (AR)my glory![f]
Awake, (AS)O harp and lyre!
I will awake the dawn!
9 I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to you among the nations.
10 For your (AT)steadfast love is great to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the clouds.
11 (AU)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens!
Let your glory be over all the earth!
God Who Judges the Earth
To the choirmaster: according to (AV)Do Not Destroy. A (AW)Miktam[g] of David.
58 Do you indeed decree what is right, you gods?[h]
Do you judge the children of man uprightly?
2 No, in your hearts you devise wrongs;
your hands (AX)deal out violence on earth.
3 The wicked are (AY)estranged from the womb;
they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
4 (AZ)They have venom like the venom of a serpent,
like the deaf adder that stops its ear,
5 so that it (BA)does not hear the voice of charmers
or of the cunning enchanter.
6 O God, (BB)break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 Let them (BC)vanish like water that runs away;
when he (BD)aims his arrows, let them be blunted.
8 Let them be like the snail (BE)that dissolves into slime,
like (BF)the stillborn child who never sees the sun.
9 Sooner than your pots can feel the heat of (BG)thorns,
whether green or ablaze, may he (BH)sweep them away![i]
Hide Me from the Wicked
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
64 Hear my voice, O God, in my (A)complaint;
preserve my life from dread of the enemy.
2 Hide me from (B)the secret plots of the wicked,
from the throng of evildoers,
3 who (C)whet their tongues like swords,
who (D)aim bitter words like arrows,
4 shooting from (E)ambush at the blameless,
shooting at him suddenly and (F)without fear.
5 They (G)hold fast to their evil purpose;
they talk of (H)laying snares secretly,
thinking, (I)“Who can see them?”
6 They search out injustice,
saying, “We have accomplished a diligent search.”
For (J)the inward mind and heart of a man are deep.
7 (K)But God shoots his arrow at them;
they are wounded suddenly.
8 They are brought to ruin, with their own (L)tongues turned against them;
all who (M)see them will (N)wag their heads.
9 Then all mankind (O)fears;
they (P)tell what God has brought about
and ponder what he has done.
10 Let (Q)the righteous one rejoice in the Lord
and (R)take refuge in him!
Let all (S)the upright in heart exult!
O God of Our Salvation
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. A Song.
65 Praise (T)is due to you,[a] O God, in Zion,
and to you shall (U)vows be performed.
2 O you who (V)hear prayer,
to you (W)shall all flesh come.
3 When (X)iniquities prevail against me,
you (Y)atone for our transgressions.
4 (Z)Blessed is the one you choose and bring near,
to (AA)dwell in your courts!
We shall be (AB)satisfied with the goodness of your house,
the holiness of your temple!
5 By (AC)awesome deeds you answer us with righteousness,
O God of our salvation,
the hope of all (AD)the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas;
6 the one who by his strength established the mountains,
being (AE)girded with might;
7 who (AF)stills the roaring of the seas,
the roaring of their waves,
(AG)the tumult of the peoples,
8 so that those who dwell at the ends of the earth are in awe at your signs.
You make the going out of the morning and the evening to shout for joy.
9 You visit the earth and (AH)water it;[b]
you greatly enrich it;
(AI)the river of God is full of water;
(AJ)you provide their grain,
for so you have prepared it.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
settling its ridges,
softening it with (AK)showers,
and blessing its growth.
11 You crown the year with your bounty;
your wagon tracks (AL)overflow with abundance.
12 (AM)The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
the hills (AN)gird themselves with joy,
13 (AO)the meadows clothe themselves with flocks,
the valleys deck themselves with grain,
they (AP)shout and sing together for joy.
The Day of Atonement
16 The Lord spoke to Moses after (A)the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before the Lord and died, 2 and the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to (B)come at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat that is on the ark, so that he may not die. For (C)I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat. 3 But in this way Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: (D)with a bull from the herd for a sin offering and (E)a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on (F)the holy linen coat and shall have the linen undergarment on his body, and he shall tie the linen sash around his waist, and wear the linen turban; these are the holy garments. (G)He shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. 5 And he shall take from (H)the congregation of the people of Israel two male goats for a sin offering, and one ram for a burnt offering.
6 “Aaron shall (I)offer the bull as a sin offering for himself and shall (J)make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 Then he shall take the two goats and set them before the Lord at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 8 And Aaron shall cast lots over the two goats, one lot for the Lord and the other lot for (K)Azazel.[a] 9 And Aaron shall present the goat on which the lot fell for the Lord and use it as a sin offering, 10 but the goat on which the lot fell for (L)Azazel shall be presented alive before the Lord to make atonement over it, that it may be sent away into the wilderness to (M)Azazel.
11 “Aaron shall present (N)the bull as a sin offering for himself, and shall make atonement for himself and for his house. He shall kill the bull as a sin offering for himself. 12 And he shall take (O)a censer full of coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, and two handfuls of sweet incense beaten small, and he shall bring it inside the veil 13 (P)and put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover (Q)the mercy seat that is over the testimony, so that he does not die. 14 And (R)he shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 (S)“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood (T)inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. 16 Thus he shall (U)make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses. 17 (V)No one may be in the tent of meeting from the time he enters to make atonement in the Holy Place until he comes out and has made atonement for himself and for his house and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 Then he shall go out to the altar that is (W)before the Lord and (X)make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19 And he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, and cleanse it and consecrate it from the uncleannesses of the people of Israel.
The Coming of the Lord
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, (A)that you may not grieve as others do (B)who have no hope. 14 For (C)since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him (D)those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you (E)by a word from the Lord,[a] that (F)we who are alive, who are left until (G)the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For (H)the Lord himself will descend (I)from heaven (J)with a cry of command, with the voice of (K)an archangel, and (L)with the sound of the trumpet of God. And (M)the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be (N)caught up together with them (O)in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so (P)we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Giving to the Needy
6 “Beware of (A)practicing your righteousness before other people in order (B)to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.
2 (C)“Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may (D)be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have (E)received their reward. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. (F)And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
The Lord's Prayer
5 “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love (G)to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. (H)Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 6 But when you pray, (I)go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. (J)And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Fasting
16 “And (A)when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. (B)Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, (C)anoint your head and wash your face, 18 that your fasting may not be seen by others but by your Father who is in secret. (D)And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.