Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 61[a]
For the music director, to be played on a stringed instrument; written by David.
61 O God, hear my cry for help.
Pay attention to my prayer.
2 From the remotest place on earth[b]
I call out to you in my despair.[c]
Lead me[d] up to a rocky summit where I can be safe.[e]
3 Indeed,[f] you are[g] my shelter,
a strong tower that protects me from the enemy.[h]
4 I will be a permanent guest in your home;[i]
I will find shelter in the protection of your wings.[j] (Selah)
5 For you, O God, hear my vows;
you grant me the reward that belongs to your loyal followers.[k]
6 Give the king long life.
Make his lifetime span several generations.[l]
7 May he reign[m] forever before God.
Decree that your loyal love and faithfulness should protect him.[n]
8 Then I will sing praises to your name continually,[o]
as I fulfill[p] my vows day after day.
Psalm 62[q]
For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.
62 For God alone I patiently wait;[r]
he is the one who delivers me.[s]
2 He alone is my protector[t] and deliverer.
He is my refuge;[u] I will not be upended.[v]
3 How long will you threaten[w] a man like me?
All of you are murderers,[x]
as dangerous as a leaning wall or an unstable fence.[y]
4 They[z] spend all their time planning how to bring their victim[aa] down.[ab]
They love to use deceit;[ac]
they pronounce blessings with their mouths,
but inwardly they utter curses.[ad] (Selah)
5 Patiently wait for God alone, my soul![ae]
For he is the one who gives me hope.[af]
6 He alone is my protector[ag] and deliverer.
He is my refuge;[ah] I will not be shaken.
7 God delivers me and exalts me;
God is my strong protector and my shelter.[ai]
8 Trust in him at all times, you people!
Pour out your hearts before him.[aj]
God is our shelter. (Selah)
9 Men are nothing but a mere breath;
human beings are unreliable.[ak]
When they are weighed in the scales,
all of them together are lighter than air.[al]
10 Do not trust in what you can gain by oppression.[am]
Do not put false confidence in what you can gain by robbery.[an]
If wealth increases, do not become attached to it.[ao]
11 God has declared one principle;
two principles I have heard:[ap]
God is strong,[aq]
12 and you, O Lord, demonstrate loyal love.[ar]
For you repay men for what they do.[as]
Psalm 68[a]
For the music director, by David, a psalm, a song.
68 God springs into action.[b]
His enemies scatter;
his adversaries[c] run from him.[d]
2 As smoke is driven away by the wind, so you drive them away.[e]
As wax melts before fire,
so the wicked are destroyed before God.
3 But the godly[f] are happy;
they rejoice before God
and are overcome with joy.[g]
4 Sing to God! Sing praises to his name.
Exalt the one who rides on the clouds.[h]
For the Lord is his name.[i]
Rejoice before him.
5 He is a father to the fatherless
and an advocate for widows.[j]
God rules from his holy dwelling place.[k]
6 God settles in their own homes those who have been deserted;[l]
he frees prisoners and grants them prosperity.[m]
But sinful rebels live in the desert.[n]
7 O God, when you lead your people into battle,[o]
when you march through the wastelands,[p] (Selah)
8 the earth shakes.
Yes, the heavens pour down rain
before God, the God of Sinai,[q]
before God, the God of Israel.[r]
9 O God, you cause abundant showers to fall[s] on your chosen people.[t]
When they[u] are tired, you sustain them,[v]
10 for you live among them.[w]
You sustain the oppressed with your good blessings, O God.
11 The Lord speaks;[x]
many, many women spread the good news.[y]
12 Kings leading armies run away—they run away![z]
The lovely lady[aa] of the house divides up the loot.
13 When[ab] you lie down among the sheepfolds,[ac]
the wings of the dove are covered with silver
and with glittering gold.[ad]
14 When the Sovereign One[ae] scatters kings,[af]
let it snow[ag] on Zalmon.
15 The mountain of Bashan[ah] is a towering mountain;[ai]
the mountain of Bashan is a mountain with many peaks.[aj]
16 Why do you look with envy,[ak] O mountains[al] with many peaks,
at the mountain where God has decided to live?[am]
Indeed[an] the Lord will live there[ao] permanently.
17 God has countless chariots;
they number in the thousands.[ap]
The Lord comes from Sinai in holy splendor.[aq]
18 You ascend on high;[ar]
you have taken many captives.[as]
You receive tribute[at] from[au] men,
including even sinful rebels.
Indeed, the Lord God lives there.[av]
19 The Lord deserves praise.[aw]
Day after day[ax] he carries our burden,
the God who delivers us. (Selah)
20 Our God is a God who delivers;
the Lord, the Sovereign Lord, can rescue from death.[ay]
21 Indeed, God strikes the heads of his enemies,
the hairy foreheads of those who persist in rebellion.[az]
22 The Lord says,
“I will retrieve them[ba] from Bashan.
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea,
23 so that your feet may stomp[bb] in their blood,
and your dogs may eat their portion of the enemies’ corpses.”[bc]
24 They[bd] see your processions, O God—
the processions of my God, my king, who marches along in holy splendor.[be]
25 Singers walk in front;
musicians follow playing their stringed instruments,[bf]
in the midst of young women playing tambourines.[bg]
26 In your large assemblies praise God,
the Lord, in the assemblies of Israel.[bh]
27 There is little Benjamin, their ruler,[bi]
and the princes of Judah in their robes,[bj]
along with the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
28 God has decreed that you will be powerful.[bk]
O God, you who have acted on our behalf, demonstrate your power.
29 Because of your temple in Jerusalem,[bl]
kings bring tribute to you.
30 Sound your battle cry against[bm] the wild beast of the reeds,[bn]
and the nations that assemble like a herd of calves led by bulls.[bo]
They humble themselves[bp] and offer gold and silver as tribute.[bq]
God[br] scatters[bs] the nations that like to do battle.
31 They come with red cloth[bt] from Egypt.
Ethiopia[bu] voluntarily offers tribute[bv] to God.
32 O kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.
Sing praises to the Lord, (Selah)
33 to the one who rides through the sky from ancient times.[bw]
Look! He thunders loudly.[bx]
34 Acknowledge God’s power,[by]
his sovereignty over Israel,
and the power he reveals in the skies.[bz]
35 You are awe-inspiring, O God, as you emerge from your holy temple.[ca]
It is the God of Israel[cb] who gives the people power and strength.
God deserves praise![cc]
14 Here is[a] another[b] enigma[c] that occurs on earth:
Sometimes there are righteous people who get what the wicked deserve,[d]
and sometimes there are wicked people who get what the righteous deserve.[e]
I said, “This also is an enigma.”
Enjoy Life In Spite of Its Injustices
15 So I recommend the enjoyment of life,[f]
for there is nothing better on earth[g] for a person to do[h] except[i] to eat, drink, and enjoy[j] life.[k]
So[l] joy[m] will accompany him in his toil
during the days of his life that God gives him on earth.[n]
Limitations of Human Wisdom
16 When I tried[o] to gain[p] wisdom
and to observe the activity[q] on earth—
even though it prevents anyone from sleeping day or night[r]—
17 then I discerned all that God has done:[s]
No one really comprehends what happens[t] on earth.[u]
Despite all human[v] efforts to discover it, no one can ever grasp[w] it.[x]
Even if[y] a wise person claimed[z] that he understood,
he would not really comprehend[aa] it.[ab]
Everyone Will Die
9 So I reflected on all this,[ac] attempting to clear[ad] it all up.
I concluded that[ae] the righteous and the wise, as well as their works, are in the hand of God;
whether a person will be loved or hated[af]—
no one knows what lies ahead.[ag]
2 Everyone shares the same fate[ah]—
the righteous and the wicked,
the good and the bad,[ai]
the ceremonially clean and unclean,
those who offer sacrifices and those who do not.
What happens to the good person, also happens to the sinner;[aj]
what happens to those who make vows, also happens to those who are afraid to make vows.
3 This is the unfortunate fact[ak] about everything that happens on earth:[al]
the same fate awaits[am] everyone.
In addition to this, the hearts of all people[an] are full of evil,
and there is folly in their hearts during their lives—then they die.[ao]
Better to Be Poor but Alive than Rich but Dead
4 But whoever is among[ap] the living[aq] has hope;
a live dog is better than a dead lion.
5 For the living know that they will die, but the dead do not know anything;
they have no further reward—and even the memory of them disappears.[ar]
6 What they loved,[as] as well as what they hated[at] and envied,[au] perished long ago,
and they no longer have a part in anything that happens on earth.[av]
Life is Brief, so Cherish its Joys
7 Go, eat your food[aw] with joy,
and drink your wine with a happy heart,
because God has already approved your works.
8 Let your clothes always be white,
and do not spare precious ointment on your head.
9 Enjoy[ax] life with your beloved wife[ay] during all the days of your fleeting[az] life
that God[ba] has given you on earth[bb] during all your fleeting days;[bc]
for that is your reward in life and in your burdensome work[bd] on earth.[be]
10 Whatever you find to do with your hands,[bf]
do it with all your might,
because there is neither work nor planning nor knowledge nor wisdom in the grave,[bg]
the place where you will eventually go.[bh]
An Appeal from Allegory
21 Tell me, you who want to be under the law, do you not understand the law?[a] 22 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the[b] slave woman and the other by the free woman. 23 But one, the son by the slave woman, was born by natural descent,[c] while the other, the son by the free woman, was born through the promise. 24 These things may be treated as an allegory,[d] for these women represent two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai bearing children for slavery; this is Hagar. 25 Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. 26 But the Jerusalem above is free,[e] and she is our mother. 27 For it is written:
“Rejoice, O barren woman who does not bear children;[f]
break forth and shout, you who have no birth pains,
because the children of the desolate woman are more numerous
than those of the woman who has a husband.”[g]
28 But you,[h] brothers and sisters,[i] are children of the promise like Isaac. 29 But just as at that time the one born by natural descent[j] persecuted the one born according to the Spirit,[k] so it is now. 30 But what does the scripture say? “Throw out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman will not share the inheritance with the son”[l] of the free woman. 31 Therefore, brothers and sisters,[m] we are not children of the slave woman but of the free woman.
Healing Many Others
29 When he left there, Jesus went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up a mountain, where he sat down. 30 Then[a] large crowds came to him bringing with them the lame, blind, crippled, mute, and many others. They[b] laid them at his feet, and he healed them. 31 As a result, the crowd was amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing, and they praised the God of Israel.
The Feeding of the Four Thousand
32 Then Jesus called his disciples and said, “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have already been here with me three days and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry since they may faint on the way.” 33 The disciples said to him, “Where can we get enough bread in this desolate place to satisfy so great a crowd?” 34 Jesus said to them, “How many loaves do you have?” They replied, “Seven—and a few small fish.” 35 After instructing the crowd to sit down on the ground, 36 he took the seven loaves and the fish, and after giving thanks, he broke them and began giving them to the disciples, who then gave them to the crowds.[c] 37 They[d] all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the broken pieces left over, seven baskets full. 38 Not counting children and women,[e] there were 4,000 men who ate.[f] 39 After sending away the crowd, he got into the boat[g] and went to the region of Magadan.[h]
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