Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 18
Praise for Deliverance
For the choir director. Of the servant of the Lord, David, who spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.(A) He said:
1 I love You, Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock,
my fortress, and my deliverer,(B)
my God, my mountain where I seek refuge,
my shield(C) and the horn of my salvation,(D)
my stronghold.
3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,(E)
and I was saved from my enemies.(F)
4 The ropes of death were wrapped around me;
the torrents of destruction terrified me.(G)
5 The ropes of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.(H)
6 I called to the Lord in my distress,
and I cried to my God for help.
From His temple He heard my voice,(I)
and my cry to Him reached His ears.(J)
7 Then the earth shook and quaked;
the foundations of the mountains trembled;(K)
they shook because He burned with anger.
8 Smoke rose from His nostrils,
and consuming fire came from His mouth;
coals were set ablaze by it.[a](L)
9 He parted the heavens and came down,(M)
a dark cloud beneath His feet.
10 He rode on a cherub and flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.(N)
11 He made darkness His hiding place,
dark storm clouds His canopy around Him.(O)
12 From the radiance of His presence,(P)
His clouds swept onward with hail and blazing coals.
13 The Lord thundered from[b] heaven;
the Most High projected His voice.[c](Q)
14 He shot His arrows and scattered them;
He hurled[d] lightning bolts and routed them.(R)
15 The depths of the sea became visible,
the foundations of the world were exposed,
at Your rebuke, Lord,
at the blast of the breath of Your nostrils.(S)
16 He reached down from heaven
and took hold of me;
He pulled me out of deep waters.(T)
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were too strong for me.(U)
18 They confronted me in the day of my distress,
but the Lord was my support.(V)
19 He brought me out to a spacious place;(W)
He rescued me because He delighted in me.(X)
20 The Lord rewarded me
according to my righteousness;(Y)
He repaid me
according to the cleanness of my hands.(Z)
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord
and have not turned from my God to wickedness.(AA)
22 Indeed, I have kept all His ordinances in mind[e]
and have not disregarded His statutes.(AB)
23 I was blameless toward Him(AC)
and kept myself from sinning.
24 So the Lord repaid me
according to my righteousness,(AD)
according to the cleanness of my hands in His sight.(AE)
25 With the faithful
You prove Yourself faithful;
with the blameless man
You prove Yourself blameless;
26 with the pure
You prove Yourself pure,
but with the crooked
You prove Yourself shrewd.(AF)
27 For You rescue an afflicted people,(AG)
but You humble those with haughty eyes.(AH)
28 Lord, You light my lamp;
my God illuminates my darkness.(AI)
29 With You I can attack a barrier,[f]
and with my God I can leap over a wall.(AJ)
30 God—His way is perfect;(AK)
the word of the Lord is pure.(AL)
He is a shield to all who take refuge in Him.(AM)
31 For who is God besides Yahweh?(AN)
And who is a rock? Only our God.(AO)
32 God—He clothes me with strength(AP)
and makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer(AQ)
and sets me securely on the heights.[g](AR)
34 He trains my hands for war;(AS)
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.(AT)
35 You have given me the shield of Your salvation;
Your right hand upholds me,(AU)
and Your humility exalts me.
36 You widen a place beneath me for my steps,(AV)
and my ankles do not give way.(AW)
37 I pursue my enemies and overtake them;
I do not turn back until they are wiped out.(AX)
38 I crush them, and they cannot get up;
they fall beneath my feet.(AY)
39 You have clothed me with strength for battle;(AZ)
You subdue my adversaries beneath me.(BA)
40 You have made my enemies retreat before me;[h](BB)
I annihilate those who hate me.(BC)
41 They cry for help, but there is no one to save them(BD)—
they cry to the Lord, but He does not answer them.(BE)
42 I pulverize them like dust before the wind;(BF)
I trample them[i] like mud in the streets.(BG)
43 You have freed me from the feuds among the people;
You have appointed me the head of nations;(BH)
a people I had not known serve me.(BI)
44 Foreigners submit to me grudgingly;
as soon as they hear,[j] they obey me.(BJ)
45 Foreigners lose heart
and come trembling from their fortifications.(BK)
46 The Lord lives—may my rock be praised!
The God of my salvation is exalted.(BL)
47 God—He gives me vengeance(BM)
and subdues peoples under me.(BN)
48 He frees me from my enemies.
You exalt me above my adversaries;
You rescue me from violent men.(BO)
49 Therefore I will praise You, Yahweh, among the nations;
I will sing about Your name.(BP)
50 He gives great victories to His king;(BQ)
He shows loyalty to His anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.(BR)
Bildad Speaks
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite replied:
2 How long will you go on saying these things?
Your words(A) are a blast of wind.(B)
3 Does God pervert justice?(C)
Does the Almighty pervert what is right?(D)
4 Since your children sinned against Him,
He gave them over to their rebellion.
5 But if you earnestly seek(E) God
and ask the Almighty for mercy,(F)
6 if you are pure and upright,
then He will move even now on your behalf
and restore the home where your righteousness dwells.(G)
7 Then, even if your beginnings were modest,
your final days will be full of prosperity.(H)
Peter Visits Cornelius
17 While Peter was deeply perplexed about what the vision he had seen might mean, the men who had been sent by Cornelius, having asked directions to Simon’s house, stood at the gate. 18 They called out, asking if Simon, who was also named Peter, was lodging there.
19 While Peter was thinking about the vision, the Spirit told him, “Three men are here looking for you.(A) 20 Get up, go downstairs, and accompany them with no doubts at all, because I have sent them.”(B)
21 Then Peter went down to the men and said, “Here I am, the one you’re looking for. What is the reason you’re here?”
22 They said, “Cornelius, a centurion, an upright and God-fearing man, who has a good reputation with the whole Jewish nation, was divinely directed by a holy angel to call you to his house and to hear a message from you.”(C) 23 Peter then invited them in and gave them lodging.
The next day he got up and set out with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa went with him.(D) 24 The following day he entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 When Peter entered, Cornelius met him, fell at his feet, and worshiped him.
26 But Peter helped him up and said, “Stand up! I myself am also a man.”(E) 27 While talking with him, he went on in and found that many had come together there. 28 Peter said to them, “You know it’s forbidden for a Jewish man to associate with or visit a foreigner.(F) But God has shown me that I must not call any person common or unclean.(G) 29 That’s why I came without any objection when I was sent for. So I ask: Why did you send for me?”
30 Cornelius replied, “Four days ago at this hour, at three in the afternoon,[a] I was[b] praying in my house. Just then a man in a dazzling robe stood before me(H) 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your acts of charity have been remembered in God’s sight. 32 Therefore send someone to Joppa and invite Simon here, who is also named Peter. He is lodging in Simon the tanner’s house by the sea.’[c] 33 Therefore I immediately sent for you, and you did the right thing in coming. So we are all present before God, to hear everything you have been commanded by the Lord.”
14 When the festival was already half over, Jesus went up into the temple complex(A) and began to teach. 15 Then the Jews were amazed and said, “How does He know the Scriptures,(B) since He hasn’t been trained?”
16 Jesus answered them, “My teaching isn’t Mine but is from the One who sent Me.(C) 17 If anyone wants to do His will,(D) he will understand whether the teaching is from God or if I am speaking on My own. 18 The one who speaks for himself seeks his own glory.(E) But He who seeks the glory(F) of the One who sent Him is true,(G) and there is no unrighteousness in Him.(H) 19 Didn’t Moses(I) give you the law? Yet none of you keeps the law!(J) Why do you want to kill Me?”
20 “You have a demon!” the crowd responded. “Who wants to kill You?”
21 “I did one work,(K) and you are all amazed,” Jesus answered. 22 “Consider this: Moses has given you circumcision(L)—not that it comes from Moses but from the fathers(M)—and you circumcise a man on the Sabbath.(N) 23 If a man receives circumcision on the Sabbath(O) so that the law of Moses(P) won’t be broken, are you angry at Me because I made a man entirely well on the Sabbath? 24 Stop judging(Q) according to outward appearances; rather judge according to righteous judgment.”
The Identity of the Messiah
25 Some of the people of Jerusalem(R) were saying, “Isn’t this the man they want to kill? 26 Yet, look! He’s speaking publicly and they’re saying nothing to Him. Can it be true that the authorities(S) know He is the Messiah?(T) 27 But we know where this man is from.(U) When the Messiah comes, nobody will know where He is from.”
28 As He was teaching in the temple complex,(V) Jesus cried out, “You know Me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on My own, but the One who sent Me(W) is true. You don’t know Him;(X) 29 I know Him because I am from Him, and He sent Me.”(Y)
30 Then they tried to seize Him. Yet no one laid a hand on Him because His hour[a] had not yet come. 31 However, many from the crowd believed in Him and said, “When the Messiah comes, He won’t perform more signs than this man has done,(Z) will He?”
32 The Pharisees(AA) heard the crowd muttering these things about Him, so the chief priests(AB) and the Pharisees sent temple police to arrest Him.
33 Then Jesus said, “I am only with you for a short time.(AC) Then I’m going to the One who sent Me.(AD) 34 You will look for Me, but you will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come.”(AE)
35 Then the Jews(AF) said to one another, “Where does He intend to go so we won’t find Him? He doesn’t intend to go to the Dispersion[b](AG) among the Greeks(AH) and teach the Greeks, does He? 36 What is this remark He made: ‘You will look for Me, and you will not find Me; and where I am, you cannot come’(AI)?”
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