Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 41
Victory in Spite of Betrayal
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 Happy is one who cares for the poor;
the Lord will save him in a day of adversity.(A)
2 The Lord will keep him and preserve him;
he will be blessed in the land.(B)
You will not give him over to the desire of his enemies.(C)
3 The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed;
You will heal him on the bed where he lies.(D)
4 I said, “Lord, be gracious to me;
heal me, for I have sinned against You.”(E)
5 My enemies speak maliciously about me:
“When will he die and be forgotten?”(F)
6 When one of them comes to visit, he speaks deceitfully;
he stores up evil in his heart;
he goes out and talks.(G)
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they plan to harm me.(H)
8 “Lethal poison has been poured into him,
and he won’t rise again from where he lies!”(I)
9 Even my friend[a] in whom I trusted,
one who ate my bread,
has raised his heel against me.(J)
10 But You, Lord, be gracious to me and raise me up;
then I will repay them.(K)
11 By this I know that You delight in me:(L)
my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.(M)
12 You supported me because of my integrity(N)
and set me in Your presence forever.(O)
13 May Yahweh, the God of Israel, be praised
from everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and amen.(P)
Psalm 52
God Judges the Proud
For the choir director. A Davidic Maskil. When Doeg the Edomite went and reported to Saul, telling him, “David went to Ahimelech’s house.”(A)
1 Why brag about evil, you hero!(B)
God’s faithful love is constant.(C)
2 Like a sharpened razor,
your tongue devises destruction,
working treachery.(D)
3 You love evil instead of good,
lying instead of speaking truthfully.(E)
4 You love any words that destroy,
you treacherous tongue!(F)
5 This is why God will bring you down forever.
He will take you, ripping you out of your tent;
He will uproot you from the land of the living.(G)
6 The righteous will look on with awe
and will ridicule him:(H)
7 “Here is the man
who would not make God his refuge,
but trusted in the abundance of his riches,
taking refuge in his destructive behavior.”[a](I)
Psalm 44
Israel’s Complaint
For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.
1 God, we have heard with our ears—
our ancestors have told us—
the work You accomplished in their days,
in days long ago:(A)
2 to plant them,
You drove out the nations with Your hand;
to settle them,
You crushed the peoples.(B)
3 For they did not take the land by their sword—
their arm did not bring them victory—
but by Your right hand, Your arm,
and the light of Your face,
for You were pleased with them.(C)
4 You are my King, my God,
who ordains[a] victories for Jacob.(D)
5 Through You we drive back our foes;
through Your name we trample our enemies.(E)
6 For I do not trust in my bow,
and my sword does not bring me victory.(F)
7 But You give us victory over our foes
and let those who hate us be disgraced.(G)
8 We boast in God all day long;
we will praise Your name forever.(H)
9 But You have rejected and humiliated us;
You do not march out with our armies.(I)
10 You make us retreat from the foe,
and those who hate us
have taken plunder for themselves.(J)
11 You hand us over to be eaten like sheep
and scatter us among the nations.(K)
12 You sell Your people for nothing;
You make no profit from selling them.(L)
13 You make us an object of reproach to our neighbors,
a source of mockery and ridicule to those around us.(M)
14 You make us a joke among the nations,
a laughingstock[b] among the peoples.(N)
15 My disgrace is before me all day long,
and shame has covered my face,(O)
16 because of the voice of the scorner and reviler,
because of the enemy and avenger.(P)
17 All this has happened to us,
but we have not forgotten You
or betrayed Your covenant.(Q)
18 Our hearts have not turned back;
our steps have not strayed from Your path.(R)
19 But You have crushed us in a haunt of jackals
and have covered us with deepest darkness.(S)
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
and spread out our hands to a foreign god,(T)
21 wouldn’t God have found this out,
since He knows the secrets of the heart?(U)
22 Because of You we are slain all day long;
we are counted as sheep to be slaughtered.(V)
Defeat at Ai
7 The Israelites, however, were unfaithful(A) regarding the things set apart for destruction. Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi, son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took some of what was set apart, and the Lord’s anger burned against the Israelites.
2 Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai, which is near Beth-aven,(B) east of Bethel, and told them, “Go up and scout the land.” So the men went up and scouted Ai.
3 After returning to Joshua they reported to him, “Don’t send all the people, but send about 2,000 or 3,000[a] men to attack Ai. Since the people of Ai are so few, don’t wear out all our people there.” 4 So about 3,000 men[b] went up there, but they fled from the men of Ai.(C) 5 The men of Ai struck down about 36 of them and chased them from outside the gate to the quarries,[c] striking them down on the descent. As a result, the people’s hearts melted and became like water.(D)
6 Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell before the ark of the Lord with his face to the ground until evening, as did the elders of Israel; they all put dust on their heads. 7 “Oh, Lord God,” Joshua said, “why did You ever bring these people across the Jordan to hand us over to the Amorites for our destruction? If only we had been content to remain on the other side of the Jordan! 8 What can I say, Lord, now that Israel has turned its back and run from its enemies? 9 When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will surround us and wipe out our name from the earth. Then what will You do about Your great name?”
10 The Lord then said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why are you on the ground?[d] 11 Israel has sinned. They have violated My covenant that I appointed for them. They have taken some of what was set apart. They have stolen, deceived, and put the things with their own belongings.(E) 12 This is why the Israelites cannot stand against their enemies. They will turn their backs and run from their enemies, because they have been set apart for destruction.(F) I will no longer be with you unless you remove from you what is set apart.
13 “Go and consecrate the people. Tell them to consecrate themselves for tomorrow,(G) for this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: There are things that are set apart among you, Israel. You will not be able to stand against your enemies until you remove what is set apart.
Love, Our Primary Duty
8 Do not owe anyone anything,[a] except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.(A) 9 The commandments:
and whatever other commandment—all are summed up by this: Love your neighbor as yourself.(C)[d]
10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Love, therefore, is the fulfillment of the law.
Put On Christ
11 Besides this, knowing the time, it is already the hour(D) for you[e] to wake up from sleep,(E) for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.(F) 12 The night is nearly over, and the daylight is near,(G) so let us discard the deeds of darkness(H) and put on the armor of light.(I) 13 Let us walk with decency,(J) as in the daylight: not in carousing and drunkenness;(K) not in sexual impurity and promiscuity; not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ,(L) and make no plans to satisfy the fleshly desires.(M)
The Prayer in the Garden
36 Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane,[a](A) and He told the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 Taking along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed.(B) 38 Then He said to them, “My soul is swallowed up in sorrow[b] —to the point of death.[c] Remain here and stay awake with Me.”(C) 39 Going a little farther,[d] He fell facedown and prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.”(D)
40 Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He asked Peter, “So, couldn’t you[e] stay awake with Me one hour? 41 Stay awake and pray, so that you won’t enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
42 Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, “My Father, if this[f] cannot pass[g] unless I drink it, Your will be done.”(E) 43 And He came again and found them sleeping, because they could not keep their eyes open.[h]
44 After leaving them, He went away again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing once more. 45 Then He came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting?[i] Look, the time is near. The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of sinners.(F) 46 Get up; let’s go! See, My betrayer is near.”
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