Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 5
The Refuge of the Righteous
For the choir director: with the flutes. A Davidic psalm.
1 Listen to my words, Lord;
consider my sighing.(A)
2 Pay attention to the sound of my cry,(B)
my King and my God,(C)
for I pray to You.
3 At daybreak,(D) Lord, You hear my voice;
at daybreak I plead my case to You(E) and watch expectantly.
4 For You are not a God who delights in wickedness;
evil cannot dwell with You.(F)
5 The boastful cannot stand in Your presence;(G)
You hate all evildoers.(H)
6 You destroy those who tell lies;(I)
the Lord abhors a man of bloodshed and treachery.(J)
7 But I enter Your house
by the abundance of Your faithful love;(K)
I bow down toward Your holy temple
in reverential awe of You.(L)
8 Lord, lead me in Your righteousness(M)
because of my adversaries;[a]
make Your way straight before me.(N)
9 For there is nothing reliable in what they say;[b](O)
destruction is within them;
their throat is an open grave;
they flatter with their tongues.(P)
10 Punish them, God;
let them fall by their own schemes.(Q)
Drive them out(R) because of their many crimes,
for they rebel against You.(S)
11 But let all who take refuge in You rejoice;(T)
let them shout for joy forever.
May You shelter them,(U)
and may those who love Your name boast about You.(V)
12 For You, Lord, bless the righteous one;
You surround him with favor like a shield.(W)
Psalm 6
A Prayer for Mercy
For the choir director: with stringed instruments, according to Sheminith.(X) A Davidic psalm.
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in Your anger;
do not discipline me in Your wrath.(Y)
2 Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am weak;[c](Z)
heal me,(AA) Lord, for my bones are shaking;(AB)
3 my whole being is shaken with terror.(AC)
And You, Lord—how long?(AD)
4 Turn, Lord! Rescue me;
save me because of Your faithful love.(AE)
5 For there is no remembrance of You in death;
who can thank You in Sheol?(AF)
Psalm 10
1 Lord,[a][b] why do You stand so far away?(A)
Why do You hide in times of trouble?(B)
2 In arrogance the wicked relentlessly pursue the afflicted;
let them be caught in the schemes they have devised.(C)
3 For the wicked one boasts about his own cravings;(D)
the one who is greedy curses[c] and despises the Lord.(E)
4 In all his scheming,
the wicked arrogantly thinks:[d]
“There is no accountability,
since God does not exist.”(F)
5 His ways are always secure;[e]
Your lofty judgments are beyond his sight;
he scoffs at all his adversaries.(G)
6 He says to himself, “I will never be moved—
from generation to generation without calamity.”(H)
7 Cursing, deceit, and violence fill his mouth;
trouble and malice are under his tongue.(I)
8 He waits in ambush near the villages;(J)
he kills the innocent in secret places.
His eyes are on the lookout for the helpless;(K)
9 he lurks in secret like a lion in a thicket.
He lurks in order to seize the afflicted;
he seizes the afflicted and drags him in his net.
10 So he is oppressed and beaten down;
the helpless fall because of his strength.(L)
11 He says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He hides His face and will never see.”(M)
12 Rise up, Lord God! Lift up Your hand.(N)
Do not forget the afflicted.(O)
13 Why has the wicked person despised God?
He says to himself, “You will not demand an account.”(P)
14 But You Yourself have seen trouble and grief,
observing it in order to take the matter into Your hands.(Q)
The helpless entrusts himself to You;
You are a helper of the fatherless.(R)
15 Break the arm of the wicked and evil person;(S)
call his wickedness into account
until nothing remains of it.[f](T)
16 The Lord is King forever and ever;(U)
the nations will perish from His land.(V)
17 Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;[g]
You will strengthen their hearts.
You will listen carefully,(W)
18 doing justice for the fatherless and the oppressed
so that men of the earth may terrify them no more.(X)
Psalm 11
Refuge in the Lord
For the choir director. Davidic.
1 I have taken refuge in the Lord.(Y)
How can you say to me,
“Escape to the mountain like a bird
2 For look, the wicked string the bow;
they put the[i] arrow on the bowstring
to shoot from the shadows at the upright in heart.(AA)
3 When the foundations are destroyed,
what can the righteous do?”(AB)
4 The Lord is in His holy temple;(AC)
the Lord’s throne is in heaven.(AD)
His eyes watch; He examines[j] everyone.
5 The Lord examines the righteous and the wicked.
He hates the lover of violence.(AE)
6 He will rain burning coals[k] and sulfur on the wicked;
a scorching wind will be their portion.[l](AF)
7 For the Lord is righteous; He loves righteous deeds.
The upright will see His face.(AG)
Cities for the Levites
35 The Lord again spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan across from Jericho: 2 “Command the Israelites to give cities out of their hereditary property for the Levites to live in and pastureland around the cities.(A) 3 The cities will be for them to live in, and their pasturelands will be for their herds, flocks, and all their other animals.
Cities of Refuge
9 The Lord said to Moses, 10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When you cross the Jordan into the land of Canaan, 11 designate cities to serve as cities of refuge for you, so that a person who kills someone unintentionally may flee there.(A) 12 You will have the cities as a refuge from the avenger, so that the one who kills someone will not die until he stands trial before the assembly. 13 The cities you select will be your six cities of refuge. 14 Select three cities across the Jordan and three cities in the land of Canaan to be cities of refuge. 15 These six cities will serve as a refuge for the Israelites and for the foreigner or temporary resident among them, so that anyone who kills a person unintentionally may flee there.
30 “If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death based on the word of witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of one witness.(A) 31 You are not to accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of killing someone; he must be put to death. 32 Neither should you accept a ransom for the person who flees to his city of refuge, allowing him to return and live in the land before the death of the high priest.[a]
33 “Do not defile the land where you are,[b] for bloodshed defiles the land,(B) and there can be no atonement for the land because of the blood that is shed on it, except by the blood of the person who shed it. 34 Do not make the land unclean where you live and where I reside; for I, Yahweh, reside among the Israelites.”
The Believer’s Triumph
31 What then are we to say about these things?(A)
If God is for us, who is against us?(B)
32 He did not even spare His own Son(C)
but offered Him up for us all;(D)
how will He not also with Him grant us everything?
33 Who can bring an accusation against God’s elect?(E)
God is the One who justifies.(F)
34 Who is the one who condemns?(G)
Christ Jesus is the One who died,(H)
but even more, has been raised;(I)
He also is at the right hand of God(J)
and intercedes for us.(K)
35 Who can separate us from the love of Christ?
Can affliction(L) or anguish or persecution(M)
or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
36 As it is written:
Because of You
we are being put to death all day long;(N)
we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.(O)[a]
37 No, in all these things we are more than victorious(P)
through Him who loved us.(Q)
38 For I am persuaded that not even death or life,(R)
angels or rulers,(S)
things present or things to come,(T) hostile powers,
39 height or depth, or any other created thing
will have the power to separate us
from the love of God(U) that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!(V)
13 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You lock up the kingdom of heaven from people. For you don’t go in, and you don’t allow those entering to go in.(A)
[14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and make long prayers just for show.[a] This is why you will receive a harsher punishment.][b]
15 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to make one proselyte,(B) and when he becomes one, you make him twice as fit for hell[c] as you are!
16 “Woe to you, blind guides,(C) who say, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the sanctuary, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath(D) by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by his oath.’[d] 17 Blind fools![e] For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that sanctified the gold? 18 Also, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the altar, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath by the gift that is on it is bound by his oath.’[f] 19 Blind people![g] For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift?(E) 20 Therefore, the one who takes an oath by the altar takes an oath by it and by everything on it. 21 The one who takes an oath by the sanctuary takes an oath by it and by Him who dwells(F) in it. 22 And the one who takes an oath by heaven takes an oath by God’s throne(G) and by Him who sits on it.(H)
23 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You pay a tenth of[h] mint, dill, and cumin,[i] yet you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice,(I) mercy, and faith. These things should have been done without neglecting the others. 24 Blind guides!(J) You strain out a gnat, yet gulp down a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed[j] and self-indulgence!(K) 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup,[k] so the outside of it[l] may also become clean.
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