Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 18[a]
A King’s Thanksgiving for Victory
1 For the leader. Of David, the servant of the Lord, who sang to the Lord the words of this song after the Lord had rescued him from the clutches of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul. 2 He said:(A)
I
I love you, Lord, my strength,
3 Lord, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer,
My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, my saving horn,[b] my stronghold!(B)
4 Praised be the Lord, I exclaim!
I have been delivered from my enemies.
II
5 The cords of death encompassed me;
the torrents of destruction terrified me.
6 The cords[c] of Sheol encircled me;
the snares of death lay in wait for me.(C)
7 In my distress I called out: Lord!
I cried out to my God.(D)
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry to him reached his ears.
8 [d]The earth rocked and shook;
the foundations of the mountains trembled;
they shook as his wrath flared up.(E)
9 Smoke rose from his nostrils,
a devouring fire from his mouth;
it kindled coals into flame.
10 He parted the heavens and came down,
a dark cloud under his feet.(F)
11 Mounted on a cherub[e] he flew,
borne along on the wings of the wind.
12 He made darkness his cloak around him;
his canopy, water-darkened stormclouds.
13 From the gleam before him, his clouds passed,
hail and coals of fire.(G)
14 The Lord thundered from heaven;
the Most High made his voice resound.(H)
15 He let fly his arrows[f] and scattered them;
shot his lightning bolts and dispersed them.(I)
16 Then the bed of the sea appeared;
the world’s foundations lay bare,(J)
At your rebuke, O Lord,
at the storming breath of your nostrils.
17 He reached down from on high and seized me;
drew me out of the deep waters.(K)
18 He rescued me from my mighty enemy,
from foes too powerful for me.
19 They attacked me on my day of distress,
but the Lord was my support.
20 He set me free in the open;
he rescued me because he loves me.
III
21 The Lord acknowledged my righteousness,
rewarded my clean hands.(L)
22 For I kept the ways of the Lord;
I was not disloyal to my God.
23 For his laws were all before me,
his decrees I did not cast aside.
24 I was honest toward him;
I was on guard against sin.
25 So the Lord rewarded my righteousness,
the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
26 Toward the faithful you are faithful;
to the honest man you are honest;(M)
27 Toward the pure, you are pure;
but to the perverse you are devious.
28 For humble people you save;
haughty eyes you bring low.(N)
29 For you, Lord, give light to my lamp;
my God brightens my darkness.(O)
30 With you I can rush an armed band,
with my God to help I can leap a wall.
31 God’s way is unerring;
the Lord’s promise is refined;
he is a shield for all who take refuge in him.(P)
IV
32 Truly, who is God except the Lord?
Who but our God is the rock?(Q)
33 This God who girded me with might,
kept my way unerring,
34 Who made my feet like a deer’s,
and set me on the heights,(R)
35 Who trained my hands for war,
my arms to string a bow of bronze.[g](S)
V
36 You have given me your saving shield;
your right hand has upheld me;
your favor made me great.
37 You made room for my steps beneath me;
my ankles never twisted.(T)
38 I pursued my enemies and overtook them;
I did not turn back till I destroyed them.
39 I decimated them; they could not rise;
they fell at my feet.
40 You girded me with valor for war,
subjugated my opponents beneath me.
41 You made my foes expose their necks to me;
those who hated me I silenced.
42 They cried for help, but no one saved them;
cried to the Lord but received no answer.
43 I ground them to dust before the wind;
I left them like mud in the streets.
44 You rescued me from the strife of peoples;
you made me head over nations.
A people I had not known served me;
45 as soon as they heard of me they obeyed.
Foreigners submitted before me;
46 foreigners cringed;
they came cowering from their dungeons.(U)
VI
47 The Lord lives! Blessed be my rock!(V)
Exalted be God, my savior!
48 O God who granted me vengeance,
made peoples subject to me,(W)
49 and saved me from my enemies,
Truly you have elevated me above my opponents,
from a man of lawlessness you have rescued me.
50 Thus I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;
I will sing praises to your name.(X)
51 You have given great victories to your king,
and shown mercy to his anointed,
to David and his posterity forever.(Y)
Chapter 7
The Seduction[a]
1 [b]My son, keep my words,
and treasure my commands.
2 Keep my commands and live,[c]
and my teaching as the apple of your eye;
3 Bind them on your fingers,
write them on the tablet of your heart.(A)
4 Say to Wisdom, “You are my sister!”[d]
Call Understanding, “Friend!”
5 That they may keep you from a stranger,
from the foreign woman with her smooth words.(B)
6 For at the window of my house,
through my lattice I looked out[e]
7 And I saw among the naive,
I observed among the young men,
a youth with no sense,
8 Crossing the street near the corner,
then walking toward her house,
9 In the twilight, at dusk of day,
in the very dark of night.
10 Then the woman comes to meet him,
dressed like a harlot, with secret designs.
11 She is raucous and unruly,
her feet cannot stay at home;
12 Now she is in the streets, now in the open squares,
lurking in ambush at every corner.
13 Then she grabs him, kisses him,
and with an impudent look says to him:
14 “I owed peace offerings,
and today I have fulfilled my vows;
15 So I came out to meet you,
to look for you, and I have found you!
16 With coverlets I have spread my couch,
with brocaded cloths of Egyptian linen;
17 I have sprinkled my bed[f] with myrrh,
with aloes, and with cinnamon.
18 Come, let us drink our fill of love,
until morning, let us feast on love!
19 For my husband is not at home,[g]
he has gone on a long journey;
20 A bag of money he took with him,
he will not return home till the full moon.”
21 She wins him over by repeated urging,
with her smooth lips she leads him astray.[h](C)
22 He follows her impulsively,
like an ox that goes to slaughter;
Like a stag that bounds toward the net,
23 till an arrow pierces its liver;
Like a bird that rushes into a snare,
unaware that his life is at stake.
24 So now, children, listen to me,[i]
be attentive to the words of my mouth!
25 Do not let your heart turn to her ways,
do not go astray in her paths;
26 For many are those she has struck down dead,
numerous, those she has slain.
27 Her house is a highway to Sheol,
leading down into the chambers of death.(D)
IV. Epilogue[a]
Prayer for Sinners. 13 I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God.(A) 14 And we have this confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.(B) 15 And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, we know that what we have asked him for is ours. 16 If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray.(C) 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.
18 We know that no one begotten by God sins; but the one begotten by God he protects, and the evil one cannot touch him. 19 We know that we belong to God, and the whole world is under the power of the evil one. 20 We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us discernment to know the one who is true. And we are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.(D) 21 Children, be on your guard against idols.
The Praise of the Father. 25 (A)At that time Jesus said in reply,[a] “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. 26 Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. 27 All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.(B)
The Gentle Mastery of Christ. 28 [b]“Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened,[c] and I will give you rest. 29 [d](C)Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart; and you will find rest for yourselves. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden light.”
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