Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 40[a]
Gratitude and Prayer for Help
1 For the leader. A psalm of David.
A
2 Surely, I wait for the Lord;
who bends down to me and hears my cry,(A)
3 Draws me up from the pit of destruction,
out of the muddy clay,(B)
Sets my feet upon rock,
steadies my steps,
4 And puts a new song[b] in my mouth,(C)
a hymn to our God.
Many shall look on in fear
and they shall trust in the Lord.
5 Blessed the man who sets
his security in the Lord,
who turns not to the arrogant
or to those who stray after falsehood.(D)
6 You, yes you, O Lord, my God,
have done many wondrous deeds!
And in your plans for us
there is none to equal you.(E)
Should I wish to declare or tell them,
too many are they to recount.(F)
7 [c]Sacrifice and offering you do not want;(G)
you opened my ears.
Holocaust and sin-offering you do not request;
8 so I said, “See; I come
with an inscribed scroll written upon me.
9 I delight to do your will, my God;
your law is in my inner being!”(H)
10 When I sing of your righteousness
in a great assembly,
See, I do not restrain my lips;
as you, Lord, know.(I)
11 I do not conceal your righteousness
within my heart;
I speak of your loyalty and your salvation.
I do not hide your mercy or faithfulness from a great assembly.
12 Lord, may you not withhold
your compassion from me;
May your mercy and your faithfulness
continually protect me.(J)
B
13 But evils surround me
until they cannot be counted.
My sins overtake me,
so that I can no longer see.
They are more numerous than the hairs of my head;
my courage fails me.(K)
14 Lord, graciously rescue me!(L)
Come quickly to help me, Lord!
15 May those who seek to destroy my life
be shamed and confounded.
Turn back in disgrace
those who desire my ruin.(M)
16 Let those who say to me “Aha!”(N)
Be made desolate on account of their shame.
17 While those who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you.
May those who long for your salvation
always say, “The Lord is great.”(O)
18 Though I am afflicted and poor,
my Lord keeps me in mind.
You are my help and deliverer;
my God, do not delay!
Psalm 54[a]
Confident Prayer in Great Peril
1 For the leader. On stringed instruments. A maskil of David, 2 when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “David is hiding among us.”(A)
I
3 O God, by your name[b] save me.
By your strength defend my cause.
4 O God, hear my prayer.
Listen to the words of my mouth.
5 Strangers have risen against me;
the ruthless seek my life;
they do not keep God before them.(B)
Selah
II
6 God is present as my helper;(C)
the Lord sustains my life.
7 Turn back the evil upon my foes;
in your faithfulness, destroy them.(D)
8 Then I will offer you generous sacrifice
and give thanks to your name, Lord, for it is good.
9 Because it has rescued me from every trouble,
and my eyes look down on my foes.(E)
Psalm 51[a]
The Miserere: Prayer of Repentance
1 For the leader. A psalm of David, 2 when Nathan the prophet came to him after he had gone in to Bathsheba.(A)
I
3 Have mercy on me, God, in accord with your merciful love;
in your abundant compassion blot out my transgressions.
4 Thoroughly wash away my guilt;
and from my sin cleanse me.
5 For I know my transgressions;
my sin is always before me.(B)
6 Against you, you alone have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your eyes
So that you are just in your word,
and without reproach in your judgment.(C)
7 Behold, I was born in guilt,
in sin my mother conceived me.[b](D)
8 Behold, you desire true sincerity;
and secretly you teach me wisdom.
9 Cleanse me with hyssop,[c] that I may be pure;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.(E)
10 You will let me hear gladness and joy;
the bones you have crushed will rejoice.
II
11 Turn away your face from my sins;
blot out all my iniquities.
12 A clean heart create for me, God;
renew within me a steadfast spirit.(F)
13 Do not drive me from before your face,
nor take from me your holy spirit.(G)
14 Restore to me the gladness of your salvation;
uphold me with a willing spirit.
15 I will teach the wicked your ways,
that sinners may return to you.
16 Rescue me from violent bloodshed, God, my saving God,
and my tongue will sing joyfully of your justice.(H)
17 Lord, you will open my lips;
and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
18 For you do not desire sacrifice[d] or I would give it;
a burnt offering you would not accept.(I)
19 My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit;
a contrite, humbled heart, O God, you will not scorn.
III
22 Joshua summoned the Gibeonites and said to them, “Why did you deceive us and say, ‘We live far off from you’?—You live among us! 23 Now are you accursed: every one of you shall always be a slave, hewers of wood and drawers of water, for the house of my God.” 24 They answered Joshua, “Your servants were fully informed of how the Lord, your God, commanded Moses his servant that you be given the entire land and that all its inhabitants be destroyed before you. Since, therefore, at your advance, we were in great fear for our lives, we acted as we did.(A) 25 And now that we are in your power, do with us what is good and right in your eyes.” 26 [a]Joshua did what he had decided: while he saved them from being killed by the Israelites, 27 on that day he made them, as they still are, hewers of wood and drawers of water for the community and for the altar of the Lord, in the place the Lord would choose.
Chapter 10
The Siege of Gibeon. 1 Now when Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had captured Ai and put it under the ban, and had done to that city and its king as he had done to Jericho and its king,(B) and that the inhabitants of Gibeon had made their peace with Israel, remaining among them, 2 there was great fear abroad, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities, greater even than Ai, and all its men were warriors. 3 So Adonizedek, king of Jerusalem, sent to Hoham, king of Hebron, Piram, king of Jarmuth, Japhia, king of Lachish, and Debir, king of Eglon, with this message: 4 “Come and help me attack Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”(C) 5 The five Amorite kings, of Jerusalem, Hebron, Jarmuth, Lachish, and Eglon,[b] gathered with all their forces, and marched against Gibeon to make war on it. 6 Thereupon, the Gibeonites sent an appeal to Joshua in his camp at Gilgal: “Do not abandon your servants. Come up here quickly and save us. Help us, because all the Amorite kings of the mountain country have joined together against us.”(D)
Joshua’s Victory. 7 So Joshua marched up from Gilgal with all his army and all his warriors. 8 The Lord said to Joshua: Do not fear them, for I have delivered them into your power. Not one of them will be able to withstand you. 9 After an all-night march from Gilgal, Joshua made a surprise attack upon them, 10 and the Lord threw them into disorder before Israel. The Israelites inflicted a great slaughter on them at Gibeon and pursued them down the Beth-horon slope, attacking them as far as Azekah and Makkedah.
11 While they fled before Israel along the descent of Beth-horon, the Lord hurled great stones from the heavens[c] above them all the way to Azekah, killing many.(E) More died from these hailstones than the Israelites killed with the sword. 12 It was then, when the Lord delivered up the Amorites to the Israelites, that Joshua prayed to the Lord, and said in the presence of Israel:
Sun, stand still at Gibeon,
Moon, in the valley of Aijalon!
13 The sun stood still,
the moon stayed,
while the nation took vengeance on its foes.(F)
This is recorded[d] in the Book of Jashar. The sun halted halfway across the heavens; not for an entire day did it press on. 14 Never before or since was there a day like this, when the Lord obeyed the voice of a man; for the Lord fought for Israel. 15 Then Joshua and all Israel returned to the camp at Gilgal.
VII. Conclusion
Apostle to the Gentiles. 14 [a]I myself am convinced about you, my brothers, that you yourselves are full of goodness,[b] filled with all knowledge, and able to admonish one another. 15 But I have written to you rather boldly in some respects to remind you, because of the grace given me by God(A) 16 to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in performing the priestly service of the gospel of God, so that the offering up of the Gentiles may be acceptable, sanctified by the holy Spirit.(B) 17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to boast in what pertains to God. 18 For I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to lead the Gentiles to obedience by word and deed,(C) 19 by the power of signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit [of God], so that from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum[c] I have finished preaching the gospel of Christ. 20 Thus I aspire[d] to proclaim the gospel not where Christ has already been named, so that I do not build on another’s foundation,(D) 21 but as it is written:(E)
“Those who have never been told of him shall see,
and those who have never heard of him shall understand.”[e]
Paul’s Plans; Need for Prayers. 22 That is why I have so often been prevented from coming to you. 23 But now, since I no longer have any opportunity in these regions and since I have desired to come to you for many years,(F) 24 I hope to see you in passing as I go to Spain and to be sent on my way there by you, after I have enjoyed being with you for a time.(G)
Chapter 27
Jesus Before Pilate. 1 [a]When it was morning,(A) all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel[b] against Jesus to put him to death. 2 They bound him, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.
The Death of Judas. 3 (B)Then Judas, his betrayer, seeing that Jesus had been condemned, deeply regretted what he had done. He returned the thirty pieces of silver[c] to the chief priests and elders,(C) 4 saying, “I have sinned in betraying innocent blood.” They said, “What is that to us? Look to it yourself.” 5 [d]Flinging the money into the temple, he departed and went off and hanged himself. 6 The chief priests gathered up the money, but said, “It is not lawful to deposit this in the temple treasury, for it is the price of blood.” 7 After consultation, they used it to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. 8 That is why that field even today is called the Field of Blood. 9 Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet,[e] “And they took the thirty pieces of silver, the value of a man with a price on his head, a price set by some of the Israelites, 10 (D)and they paid it out for the potter’s field just as the Lord had commanded me.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.