Book of Common Prayer
A Cry of Distress and a Curse on Adversaries.
For the music director; according to [a]Shoshannim. A Psalm of David.
69 Save me, God,
For the (A)waters have [b]threatened my life.
2 I have sunk in deep (B)mud, and there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters, and a [c](C)flood overflows me.
3 I am (D)weary with my crying; my throat is parched;
My (E)eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 Those (F)who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head;
Those who would [d]destroy me (G)are powerful, those who oppose me with lies;
(H)What I did not steal, I then have to restore.
5 God, You know (I)my foolishness,
And (J)my guilt is not hidden from You.
6 May those who wait for You not (K)be ashamed because of me, Lord [e]God of armies;
May those who seek You not be dishonored because of me, God of Israel,
7 Because (L)for Your sake I have endured disgrace;
(M)Dishonor has covered my face.
8 I have become (N)estranged [f]from my brothers,
And a stranger to my mother’s sons.
9 For (O)zeal for Your house has consumed me,
And (P)the taunts of those who taunt You have fallen on me.
10 When I wept (Q)in my soul with fasting,
It became my (R)disgrace.
11 When I made (S)sackcloth my clothing,
I became (T)a proverb to them.
12 Those who (U)sit in the gate talk about me,
And (V)songs of mockery by those habitually drunk are about me.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to You, Lord, (W)at an acceptable time;
God, in the (X)greatness of Your mercy,
Answer me with [g]Your saving truth.
14 Rescue me from the (Y)mud and do not let me sink;
May I be (Z)rescued from those who hate me, and from the (AA)depths of water.
15 May the [h](AB)flood of water not overflow me
Nor the deep swallow me up,
Nor the (AC)pit close its mouth on me.
16 Answer me, Lord, for (AD)Your mercy is good;
(AE)According to the greatness of Your compassion, (AF)turn to me,
17 And (AG)do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am (AH)in distress; answer me quickly.
18 Come near to my soul and (AI)redeem it;
(AJ)Ransom me because of my enemies!
19 You know my (AK)disgrace, my shame, and my dishonor;
All my enemies are [i]known to You.
20 Disgrace has (AL)broken my heart, and I am so sick.
And (AM)I waited for sympathy, but there was none;
And for (AN)comforters, but I found none.
21 They also gave me [j](AO)a bitter herb in my food,
And for my thirst they (AP)gave me vinegar to drink.
22 May (AQ)their table before them become a snare;
And [k](AR)when they are at peace, may it become a trap.
23 May their (AS)eyes grow dim so that they cannot see,
And make their (AT)hips shake continually.
24 (AU)Pour out Your indignation on them,
And may Your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their [l](AV)camp be desolated;
May there be none living in their tents.
26 For they have (AW)persecuted him whom (AX)You Yourself struck,
And they tell of the pain of those whom (AY)You have [m]wounded.
27 Add (AZ)guilt to their guilt,
And (BA)may they not come into (BB)Your righteousness.
28 May they be (BC)wiped out of the (BD)book of life,
And may they not be [n](BE)recorded with the righteous.
29 But I am (BF)afflicted and in pain;
[o]May Your salvation, God, (BG)set me safely on high.
30 I will (BH)praise the name of God with song,
And (BI)exalt Him with (BJ)thanksgiving.
31 And it will (BK)please the Lord better than an ox
Or bull with horns and hoofs.
32 The (BL)humble [p]have seen it and are glad;
You who seek God, (BM)let your heart [q]revive.
33 For (BN)the Lord hears the needy,
And (BO)does not despise those of His who are prisoners.
34 (BP)Heaven and earth shall praise Him,
The seas and (BQ)everything that moves in them.
35 For God will (BR)save Zion and (BS)build the cities of Judah,
So that they may live there and (BT)possess it.
36 The [r](BU)descendants of His servants will inherit it,
And those who love His name (BV)will live in it.
BOOK 3
The End of the Wicked Contrasted with That of the Righteous.
A Psalm of Asaph.
73 God certainly is (A)good to Israel,
To those who are (B)pure in heart!
2 But as for me, (C)my feet came close to stumbling,
My steps [a]had almost slipped.
3 For I was (D)envious of the [b]arrogant
As I saw the (E)prosperity of the wicked.
4 For there are no pains in their death,
And their belly is fat.
5 They are (F)not [c]in trouble like other people,
Nor are they (G)tormented together with the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore arrogance is (H)their necklace;
The (I)garment of violence covers them.
7 Their eye [d]bulges from (J)fatness;
The imaginations of their heart overflow.
8 They (K)mock and [e]wickedly speak of oppression;
They (L)speak from on high.
9 They have (M)set their mouth [f]against the heavens,
And their tongue [g]parades through the earth.
10 Therefore [h]his people return here,
And (N)abundant waters are drunk by them.
11 They say, “(O)How does God know?
And is there knowledge [i]with the Most High?”
12 Behold, (P)these are the wicked;
And always (Q)at ease, they have increased in wealth.
13 Surely (R)in vain I have [j]kept my heart pure
And (S)washed my hands in innocence;
14 For I have been stricken (T)all day long,
And [k](U)punished every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak this way,”
Behold, I would have betrayed the (V)generation of Your children.
16 When I (W)thought of understanding this,
It was [l]troublesome in my sight
17 Until I entered the [m](X)sanctuary of God;
Then I perceived their (Y)end.
18 You indeed put them on (Z)slippery ground;
You dropped them into [n](AA)ruin.
19 How they are [o](AB)destroyed in a moment!
They are utterly swept away by (AC)sudden terrors!
20 Like a (AD)dream when one awakes,
Lord, when (AE)stirred, You will (AF)despise their image.
21 When my (AG)heart was embittered
And I was (AH)pierced [p]within,
22 Then I was (AI)stupid and ignorant;
I was like an (AJ)animal [q]before You.
23 Nevertheless (AK)I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
24 You will (AL)guide me with Your plan,
And afterward (AM)receive me [r]to glory.
25 (AN)Whom do I have in heaven but You?
And with You, I desire nothing on earth.
26 My (AO)flesh and my heart may fail,
But God is the [s]strength of my heart and my (AP)portion forever.
27 For, behold, (AQ)those who are far from You will (AR)perish;
You have destroyed all those who [t](AS)are unfaithful to You.
28 But as for me, (AT)the nearness of God is good for me;
I have made the Lord [u]God my (AU)refuge,
So that I may (AV)tell of all Your works.
The Song of Deborah and Barak
5 (A)Then Deborah and Barak the son of Abinoam sang on that day, saying,
2 “(B)For [a]the leaders leading in Israel,
For (C)the people volunteering,
Bless the Lord!
3 Hear, you kings; listen, you dignitaries!
(D)I myself—to the Lord, I myself will sing,
I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel!
4 (E)Lord, when You went out from Seir,
When You marched from the field of Edom,
(F)The earth quaked, the heavens also dripped,
The clouds also dripped water.
5 (G)The mountains [b]flowed with water at the presence of the Lord,
(H)This Sinai, at the presence of the Lord, the God of Israel.
6 “In the days of (I)Shamgar the son of Anath,
In the days of (J)Jael, the roads [c]were deserted,
And travelers went by [d]roundabout ways.
7 The [e]peasantry came to an end, they came to an end in Israel,
Until I, Deborah, arose,
Until I arose, a mother in Israel.
8 (K)New gods were chosen;
Then war was in the gates.
Not a shield or a spear was seen
Among forty thousand in Israel.
9 My heart goes out to (L)the commanders of Israel,
The volunteers among the people;
Bless the Lord!
10 (M)You who ride on [f]white donkeys,
You who sit on rich carpets,
And you who travel on the road—shout in praise!
11 At the sound of those who distribute water among (N)the watering places,
There they will recount (O)the righteous deeds of the Lord,
The righteous deeds for His [g]peasantry in Israel.
Then the people of the Lord went down (P)to the gates.
12 “(Q)Awake, awake, Deborah;
Awake, awake, [h]sing a song!
Arise, Barak, and (R)lead away your captives, son of Abinoam.
13 Then survivors came down to the nobles;
The people of the Lord came down to me as warriors.
14 From Ephraim those whose root is (S)in Amalek came down,
Following you, Benjamin, with your peoples;
From Machir commanders came down,
And from Zebulun those who wield the staff of [i]office.
15 And the [j]princes of Issachar were with Deborah;
As was Issachar, so was Barak;
Into the valley they rushed (T)at his [k]heels;
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great determinations of heart.
16 Why did you sit among (U)the [l]sheepfolds,
To hear the piping for the flocks?
Among the divisions of Reuben
There were great searchings of heart.
17 (V)Gilead [m]remained across the Jordan;
And why did Dan stay on ships?
Asher sat at the seashore,
And [n]remained by its landings.
18 (W)Zebulun was a people who risked their lives,
And Naphtali too, on the high places of the field.
The Day of Pentecost
2 When (A)the day of Pentecost [a]had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled (B)the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, [b]distributing themselves, and a tongue [c]rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all (C)filled with the Holy Spirit and began to (D)speak with different [d]tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out.
5 Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, (E)devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And when (F)this sound occurred, the crowd came together and they were bewildered, because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own [e]language. 7 (G)They were amazed and astonished, saying, “[f]Why, are not all these who are speaking (H)Galileans? 8 And how is it that we each hear them in our own [g]language [h]to which we were born? 9 Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and (I)Cappadocia, (J)Pontus and [i](K)Asia, 10 (L)Phrygia and (M)Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya around (N)Cyrene, and [j](O)visitors from Rome, both Jews and [k](P)proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own [l]tongues of the mighty deeds of God.” 12 And (Q)they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others were jeering and saying, “(R)They are full of [m]sweet wine!”
Peter’s Sermon
14 But Peter, taking his stand with (S)the other eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, [n]know this, and pay attention to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you assume, (T)since it is only the [o]third hour of the day; 16 but this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘(U)And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,
‘That I will pour out My Spirit on all [p]mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
And your young men will see visions,
And your old men will [q]have dreams;
18 And even on My male and female [r]servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days,
And they will prophesy.
19 And I will [s]display wonders in the sky above
And signs on the earth below,
Blood, fire, and [t]vapor of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
21 And it shall be that (V)everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
Jesus Is Risen!
28 (A)Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, (B)Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the tomb. 2 And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred, for (C)an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away (D)the stone, and sat upon it. 3 And (E)his appearance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow. 4 The guards shook from fear of him and became like dead men. 5 And the angel said to the women, “[a](F)Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified. 6 He is not here, for He has risen, (G)just as He said. Come, see the place where He was lying. 7 And go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead; and behold, He is going ahead of you (H)to Galilee. There you will see Him; behold, I have told you.”
8 And they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to report to His disciples. 9 And behold, Jesus met them [b]and said, “[c]Rejoice!” And they came up and took hold of His feet, and worshiped Him. 10 Then Jesus *said to them, “[d](I)Do not be afraid; go, bring word to (J)My brothers to leave (K)for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”
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