Book of Common Prayer
God the Righteous Judge
A Psalm of Asaph.
50 The (A)Mighty One, God the Lord,
Has spoken and called the earth
From the rising of the sun to its going down.
2 Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,
(B)God will shine forth.
3 Our God shall come, and shall not keep silent;
(C)A fire shall devour before Him,
And it shall be very tempestuous all around Him.
4 (D)He shall call to the heavens from above,
And to the earth, that He may judge His people:
5 “Gather (E)My saints together to Me,
(F)Those who have [a]made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.”
6 Let the (G)heavens declare His righteousness,
For (H)God Himself is Judge. Selah
7 “Hear, O My people, and I will speak,
O Israel, and I will testify against you;
(I)I am God, your God!
8 (J)I will not [b]rebuke you (K)for your sacrifices
Or your burnt offerings,
Which are continually before Me.
9 (L)I will not take a bull from your house,
Nor goats out of your folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is Mine,
And the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know all the birds of the mountains,
And the wild beasts of the field are Mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you;
(M)For the world is Mine, and all its fullness.
13 (N)Will I eat the flesh of bulls,
Or drink the blood of goats?
14 (O)Offer to God thanksgiving,
And (P)pay your vows to the Most High.
15 (Q)Call upon Me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me.”
16 But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to declare My statutes,
Or take My covenant in your mouth,
17 (R)Seeing you hate instruction
And cast My words behind you?
18 When you saw a thief, you (S)consented[c] with him,
And have been a (T)partaker with adulterers.
19 You give your mouth to evil,
And (U)your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done, and I kept silent;
(V)You thought that I was altogether like you;
But I will rebuke you,
And (W)set them in order before your eyes.
The Assured Judgment of the Wicked
To the Chief Musician. Set to [a]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David (A)when Saul sent men, and they watched the house in order to kill him.
59 Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
[b]Defend me from those who rise up against me.
2 Deliver me from the workers of iniquity,
And save me from bloodthirsty men.
3 For look, they lie in wait for my life;
(B)The mighty gather against me,
Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord.
4 They run and prepare themselves through no fault of mine.
(C)Awake to help me, and behold!
5 You therefore, O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Awake to punish all the [c]nations;
Do not be merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah
6 (D)At evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.
7 Indeed, they belch with their mouth;
(E)Swords are in their lips;
For they say, (F)“Who hears?”
8 But (G)You, O Lord, shall laugh at them;
You shall have all the [d]nations in derision.
9 I will wait for You, O You [e]his Strength;
(H)For God is my [f]defense.
10 [g]My God of mercy shall (I)come to meet me;
God shall let (J)me see my desire on my enemies.
11 Do not slay them, lest my people forget;
Scatter them by Your power,
And bring them down,
O Lord our shield.
12 (K)For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips,
Let them even be taken in their pride,
And for the cursing and lying which they speak.
13 (L)Consume them in wrath, consume them,
That they may not be;
And (M)let them know that God rules in Jacob
To the ends of the earth. Selah
14 And (N)at evening they return,
They growl like a dog,
And go all around the city.
15 They (O)wander up and down for food,
And [h]howl if they are not satisfied.
16 But I will sing of Your power;
Yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning;
For You have been my defense
And refuge in the day of my trouble.
17 To You, (P)O my Strength, I will sing praises;
For God is my defense,
My God of mercy.
Urgent Prayer for the Restored Favor of God(Q)
To the Chief Musician. (R)Set to [i]“Lily of the Testimony.” A Michtam of David. For teaching. (S)When he fought against Mesopotamia and Syria of Zobah, and Joab returned and killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
60 O God, (T)You have cast us off;
You have broken us down;
You have been displeased;
Oh, restore us again!
2 You have made the earth tremble;
You have broken it;
(U)Heal its breaches, for it is shaking.
3 (V)You have shown Your people hard things;
(W)You have made us drink the wine of [j]confusion.
4 (X)You have given a banner to those who fear You,
That it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah
5 (Y)That Your beloved may be delivered,
Save with Your right hand, and hear me.
6 God has (Z)spoken in His holiness:
“I will rejoice;
I will (AA)divide (AB)Shechem
And measure out (AC)the Valley of Succoth.
7 Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;
(AD)Ephraim also is the [k]helmet for My head;
(AE)Judah is My lawgiver.
8 (AF)Moab is My washpot;
(AG)Over Edom I will cast My shoe;
(AH)Philistia, shout in triumph because of Me.”
9 Who will bring me to the strong city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Is it not You, O God, (AI)who cast us off?
And You, O God, who did (AJ)not go out with our armies?
11 Give us help from trouble,
(AK)For the help of man is useless.
12 Through God (AL)we will do valiantly,
For it is He who shall tread down our enemies.
Praise to God for His Awesome Works
To the Chief Musician. A Song. A Psalm.
66 Make (A)a joyful shout to God, all the earth!
2 Sing out the honor of His name;
Make His praise glorious.
3 Say to God,
“How (B)awesome are Your works!
(C)Through the greatness of Your power
Your enemies shall submit themselves to You.
4 (D)All the earth shall worship You
And sing praises to You;
They shall sing praises to Your name.” Selah
5 Come and see the works of God;
He is awesome in His doing toward the sons of men.
6 (E)He turned the sea into dry land;
(F)They went through the river on foot.
There we will rejoice in Him.
7 He rules by His power forever;
His eyes observe the nations;
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah
8 Oh, bless our God, you peoples!
And make the voice of His praise to be heard,
9 Who keeps our soul among the living,
And does not allow our feet to [a]be moved.
10 For (G)You, O God, have tested us;
(H)You have refined us as silver is refined.
11 (I)You brought us into the net;
You laid affliction on our backs.
12 (J)You have caused men to ride over our heads;
(K)We went through fire and through water;
But You brought us out to [b]rich fulfillment.
13 (L)I will go into Your house with burnt offerings;
(M)I will pay You my [c]vows,
14 Which my lips have uttered
And my mouth has spoken when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer You burnt sacrifices of fat animals,
With the sweet aroma of rams;
I will offer bulls with goats. Selah
16 Come and hear, all you who fear God,
And I will declare what He has done for my soul.
17 I cried to Him with my mouth,
And He was [d]extolled with my tongue.
18 (N)If I regard iniquity in my heart,
The Lord will not hear.
19 But certainly God (O)has heard me;
He has attended to the voice of my prayer.
20 Blessed be God,
Who has not turned away my prayer,
Nor His mercy from me!
An Invocation and a Doxology
To the Chief Musician. On [e]stringed instruments. A Psalm. A Song.
67 God be merciful to us and bless us,
And (P)cause His face to shine upon us, Selah
2 That (Q)Your way may be known on earth,
(R)Your salvation among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise You, O God;
Let all the peoples praise You.
4 Oh, let the nations be glad and sing for joy!
For (S)You shall judge the people righteously,
And govern the nations on earth. Selah
3 But when the inhabitants of (A)Gibeon (B)heard what Joshua had done to Jericho and Ai, 4 they worked craftily, and went and [a]pretended to be ambassadors. And they took old sacks on their donkeys, old wineskins torn and [b]mended, 5 old and patched sandals on their feet, and old garments on themselves; and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. 6 And they went to Joshua, (C)to the camp at Gilgal, and said to him and to the men of Israel, “We have come from a far country; now therefore, make a [c]covenant with us.”
7 Then the men of Israel said to the (D)Hivites, “Perhaps you dwell among us; so (E)how can we make a covenant with you?”
8 But they said to Joshua, (F)“We are your servants.”
And Joshua said to them, “Who are you, and where do you come from?”
9 So they said to him: (G)“From a very far country your servants have come, because of the name of the Lord your God; for we have (H)heard of His fame, and all that He did in Egypt, 10 and (I)all that He did to the two kings of the Amorites who were beyond the Jordan—to Sihon king of Heshbon, and Og king of Bashan, who was at Ashtaroth. 11 Therefore our elders and all the inhabitants of our country spoke to us, saying, ‘Take provisions with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say to them, “We are your servants; now therefore, make a covenant with us.” ’ 12 This bread of ours we took hot for our provision from our houses on the day we departed to come to you. But now look, it is dry and moldy. 13 And these wineskins which we filled were new, and see, they are torn; and these our garments and our sandals have become old because of the very long journey.”
14 Then the men of Israel took some of their provisions; (J)but they [d]did not ask counsel of the Lord. 15 So Joshua (K)made peace with them, and made a covenant with them to let them live; and the rulers of the congregation swore to them.
16 And it happened at the end of three days, after they had made a covenant with them, that they heard that they were their neighbors who dwelt near them. 17 Then the children of Israel journeyed and came to their cities on the third day. Now their cities were (L)Gibeon, Chephirah, Beeroth, and Kirjath Jearim. 18 But the children of Israel did not [e]attack them, (M)because the rulers of the congregation had sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel. And all the congregation complained against the rulers.
19 Then all the rulers said to all the congregation, “We have sworn to them by the Lord God of Israel; now therefore, we may not touch them. 20 This we will do to them: We will let them live, lest (N)wrath be upon us because of the oath which we swore to them.” 21 And the rulers said to them, “Let them live, but let them be (O)woodcutters and water carriers for all the congregation, as the rulers had (P)promised them.”
Bearing Others’ Burdens
15 We (A)then who are strong ought to bear with the [a]scruples of the weak, and not to please ourselves. 2 (B)Let each of us please his neighbor for his good, leading to [b]edification. 3 (C)For even Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, (D)“The reproaches of those who reproached You fell on Me.” 4 For (E)whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the [c]patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. 5 (F)Now may the God of patience and comfort grant you to be like-minded toward one another, according to Christ Jesus, 6 that you may (G)with one mind and one mouth glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Glorify God Together
7 Therefore (H)receive one another, just (I)as Christ also received [d]us, to the glory of God. 8 Now I say that (J)Jesus Christ has become a [e]servant to the circumcision for the truth of God, (K)to confirm the promises made to the fathers, 9 and (L)that the Gentiles might glorify God for His mercy, as it is written:
(M)“For this reason I will confess to You among the Gentiles,
And sing to Your name.”
10 And again he says:
(N)“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with His people!”
11 And again:
(O)“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles!
Laud Him, all you peoples!”
12 And again, Isaiah says:
(P)“There shall be a root of Jesse;
And He who shall rise to reign over the Gentiles,
In Him the Gentiles shall hope.”
13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all (Q)joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Peter Denies Jesus, and Weeps Bitterly(A)
69 (B)Now Peter sat outside in the courtyard. And a servant girl came to him, saying, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.”
70 But he denied it before them all, saying, “I do not know what you are saying.”
71 And when he had gone out to the gateway, another girl saw him and said to those who were there, “This fellow also was with Jesus of Nazareth.”
72 But again he denied with an oath, “I do not know the Man!”
73 And a little later those who stood by came up and said to Peter, “Surely you also are one of them, for your (C)speech betrays you.”
74 Then (D)he began to [a]curse and [b]swear, saying, “I do not know the Man!”
Immediately a rooster crowed. 75 And Peter remembered the word of Jesus who had said to him, (E)“Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” So he went out and wept bitterly.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.