Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 18[a]
For the music director, by the Lord’s servant David, who sang[b] to the Lord the words of this song when[c] the Lord rescued him from the power[d] of all his enemies, including Saul.[e]
18 He said:[f]
“I love[g] you, Lord, my source of strength![h]
2 The Lord is my high ridge,[i] my stronghold,[j] my deliverer.
My God is my rocky summit where[k] I take shelter,[l]
my shield, the horn that saves me,[m] and my refuge.[n]
3 I called[o] to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,[p]
and I was delivered from my enemies.
4 The waves[q] of death engulfed me,
the currents[r] of chaos[s] overwhelmed me.[t]
5 The ropes of Sheol tightened around me,[u]
the snares of death trapped me.[v]
6 In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried out to my God.[w]
From his heavenly temple[x] he heard my voice;
he listened to my cry for help.[y]
7 The earth heaved and shook.[z]
The roots of the mountains[aa] trembled;[ab]
they heaved because he was angry.
8 Smoke ascended from[ac] his nose;[ad]
fire devoured as it came from his mouth.[ae]
He hurled down fiery coals.[af]
9 He made the sky sink[ag] as he descended;
a thick cloud was under his feet.
10 He mounted[ah] a winged angel[ai] and flew;
he glided[aj] on the wings of the wind.[ak]
11 He shrouded himself in darkness,[al]
in thick rain clouds.[am]
12 From the brightness in front of him came
hail and fiery coals.[an]
13 The Lord thundered[ao] in[ap] the sky;
the Most High[aq] shouted.[ar]
14 He shot his[as] arrows and scattered them,[at]
many lightning bolts[au] and routed them.[av]
15 The depths[aw] of the sea[ax] were exposed;
the inner regions[ay] of the world were uncovered
by[az] your battle cry,[ba] Lord,
by the powerful breath from your nose.[bb]
16 He reached down[bc] from above and took hold of me;
he pulled me from the surging water.[bd]
17 He rescued me from my strong enemy,[be]
from those who hate me,
for they were too strong for me.
18 They confronted[bf] me in my day of calamity,
but the Lord helped me.[bg]
19 He brought me out into a wide open place;
he delivered me because he was pleased with me.[bh]
20 The Lord repaid[bi] me for my godly deeds;[bj]
he rewarded[bk] my blameless behavior.[bl]
21 For I have obeyed the Lord’s commands;[bm]
I have not rebelled against my God.[bn]
22 For I am aware of all his regulations,[bo]
and I do not reject his rules.[bp]
23 I was innocent before him,
and kept myself from sinning.[bq]
24 The Lord rewarded me for my godly deeds;[br]
he took notice of my blameless behavior.[bs]
25 You prove to be loyal[bt] to one who is faithful;[bu]
you prove to be trustworthy[bv] to one who is innocent.[bw]
26 You prove to be reliable[bx] to one who is blameless,
but you prove to be deceptive[by] to one who is perverse.[bz]
27 For you deliver oppressed[ca] people,
but you bring down those who have a proud look.[cb]
28 Indeed,[cc] you light my lamp, Lord.[cd]
My God[ce] illuminates the darkness around me.[cf]
29 Indeed,[cg] with your help[ch] I can charge against[ci] an army;[cj]
by my God’s power[ck] I can jump over a wall.[cl]
30 The one true God acts in a faithful manner;[cm]
the Lord’s promise[cn] is reliable.[co]
He is a shield to all who take shelter[cp] in him.
31 Indeed,[cq] who is God besides the Lord?
Who is a protector[cr] besides our God?[cs]
32 The one true God[ct] gives[cu] me strength;[cv]
he removes[cw] the obstacles in my way.[cx]
33 He gives me the agility of a deer;[cy]
he enables me to negotiate the rugged terrain.[cz]
34 He trains my hands for battle;[da]
my arms can bend even the strongest bow.[db]
35 You give me your protective shield;[dc]
your right hand supports me.[dd]
Your willingness to help[de] enables me to prevail.[df]
36 You widen my path;[dg]
my feet[dh] do not slip.
37 I chase my enemies and catch[di] them;
I do not turn back until I wipe them out.
38 I beat them[dj] to death;[dk]
they fall at my feet.[dl]
39 You give me strength[dm] for battle;
you make my foes kneel before me.[dn]
40 You make my enemies retreat;[do]
I destroy those who hate me.[dp]
41 They cry out, but there is no one to help them;[dq]
they cry out to the Lord,[dr] but he does not answer them.
42 I grind them as fine windblown dust;[ds]
I beat them underfoot[dt] like clay[du] in the streets.
43 You rescue me from a hostile army.[dv]
You make me[dw] a leader of nations;
people over whom I had no authority are now my subjects.[dx]
44 When they hear of my exploits, they submit to me.[dy]
Foreigners are powerless[dz] before me.
45 Foreigners lose their courage;[ea]
they shake with fear[eb] as they leave[ec] their strongholds.[ed]
46 The Lord is alive![ee]
My Protector[ef] is praiseworthy.[eg]
The God who delivers me[eh] is exalted as king.[ei]
47 The one true God[ej] completely vindicates me;[ek]
he makes nations submit to me.[el]
48 He delivers me[em] from my enemies.
You snatch me away[en] from those who attack me;[eo]
you rescue me from violent men.
49 So I will give you thanks before the nations,[ep] O Lord.
I will sing praises to you.[eq]
50 He[er] gives his king magnificent victories;[es]
he is faithful[et] to his chosen ruler,[eu]
to David and his descendants[ev] forever.”[ew]
Bildad’s First Speech to Job[a]
8 Then Bildad the Shuhite spoke up and said:
2 “How long will you speak these things,[b]
seeing[c] that the words of your mouth
are like a great[d] wind?[e]
3 Does God pervert[f] justice?[g]
Or does the Almighty pervert[h] what is right?
4 If[i] your children sinned against him,
he gave them over[j] to the penalty[k] of their sin.
5 But[l] if you will look[m] to God,
and make your supplication[n] to the Almighty,
6 if you become[o] pure[p] and upright,[q]
even now he will rouse himself[r] for you,
and will restore[s] your righteous home.[t]
7 Your beginning[u] will seem so small,
since your future will flourish.[v]
8 “For inquire now of the former[w] generation,
17 Now while Peter was puzzling over[a] what the vision he had seen could signify, the men sent by Cornelius had learned where Simon’s house was[b] and approached[c] the gate. 18 They[d] called out to ask if Simon, known as Peter,[e] was staying there as a guest. 19 While Peter was still thinking seriously about[f] the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Look! Three men are looking for you. 20 But get up,[g] go down, and accompany them without hesitation,[h] because I have sent them.” 21 So Peter went down[i] to the men and said, “Here I am,[j] the person you’re looking for. Why have you come?” 22 They said, “Cornelius the centurion,[k] a righteous[l] and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation,[m] was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear a message[n] from you.” 23 So Peter[o] invited them in and entertained them as guests.
On the next day he got up and set out[p] with them, and some of the brothers from Joppa[q] accompanied him. 24 The following day[r] he entered Caesarea.[s] Now Cornelius was waiting anxiously[t] for them and had called together his relatives and close friends. 25 So when[u] Peter came in, Cornelius met[v] him, fell[w] at his feet, and worshiped[x] him. 26 But Peter helped him up,[y] saying, “Stand up. I too am a mere mortal.”[z] 27 Peter[aa] continued talking with him as he went in, and he found many people gathered together.[ab] 28 He said to them, “You know that[ac] it is unlawful[ad] for a Jew[ae] to associate with or visit a Gentile,[af] yet God has shown me that I should call no person[ag] defiled or ritually unclean.[ah] 29 Therefore when you sent for me,[ai] I came without any objection. Now may I ask why[aj] you sent for me?” 30 Cornelius[ak] replied,[al] “Four days ago at this very hour, at three o’clock in the afternoon,[am] I was praying in my house, and suddenly[an] a man in shining clothing stood before me 31 and said, ‘Cornelius, your prayer has been heard and your acts of charity[ao] have been remembered before God.[ap] 32 Therefore send to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter. This man is staying as a guest in the house of Simon the tanner,[aq] by the sea.’ 33 Therefore I sent for you at once, and you were kind enough to come.[ar] So now we are all here in the presence of God[as] to listen[at] to everything the Lord has commanded you to say to us.”[au]
Teaching in the Temple
14 When the feast was half over, Jesus went up to the temple courts[a] and began to teach.[b] 15 Then the Jewish leaders[c] were astonished[d] and said, “How does this man know so much when he has never had formal instruction?”[e] 16 So Jesus replied,[f] “My teaching is not from me, but from the one who sent me.[g] 17 If anyone wants to do God’s will,[h] he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority.[i] 18 The person who speaks on his own authority[j] desires[k] to receive honor[l] for himself; the one who desires[m] the honor[n] of the one who sent him is a man of integrity,[o] and there is no unrighteousness in him. 19 Hasn’t Moses given you the law? Yet not one of you keeps[p] the law! Why do you want[q] to kill me?”
20 The crowd[r] answered, “You’re possessed by a demon![s] Who is trying to kill you?”[t] 21 Jesus replied,[u] “I performed one miracle[v] and you are all amazed.[w] 22 However, because Moses gave you the practice of circumcision[x] (not that it came from Moses, but from the forefathers), you circumcise a male child[y] on the Sabbath. 23 But if a male child[z] is circumcised[aa] on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses is not broken,[ab] why are you angry with me because I made a man completely well[ac] on the Sabbath? 24 Do not judge according to external appearance,[ad] but judge with proper[ae] judgment.”
Questions About Jesus’ Identity
25 Then some of the residents of Jerusalem began to say, “Isn’t this the man[af] they are trying[ag] to kill? 26 Yet here he is, speaking publicly,[ah] and they are saying nothing to him.[ai] Do the ruling authorities[aj] really know that this man[ak] is the Christ?[al] 27 But we know where this man[am] comes from.[an] Whenever the Christ[ao] comes, no one will know where he comes from.”[ap]
28 Then Jesus, while teaching in the temple courts,[aq] cried out,[ar] “You both know me and know where I come from![as] And I have not come on my own initiative,[at] but the one who sent me[au] is true. You do not know him,[av] 29 but[aw] I know him, because I have come from him[ax] and he[ay] sent me.”
30 So then they tried to seize Jesus,[az] but no one laid a hand on him, because his time[ba] had not yet come. 31 Yet many of the crowd[bb] believed in him and said, “Whenever the Christ[bc] comes, he won’t perform more miraculous signs than this man did, will he?”[bd]
32 The Pharisees[be] heard the crowd[bf] murmuring these things about Jesus,[bg] so the chief priests and the Pharisees sent officers[bh] to arrest him.[bi] 33 Then Jesus said, “I will be with you for only a little while longer,[bj] and then[bk] I am going to the one who sent me. 34 You will look for me[bl] but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come.”
35 Then the Jewish leaders[bm] said to one another, “Where is he[bn] going to go that we cannot find him?[bo] He is not going to go to the Jewish people dispersed[bp] among the Greeks and teach the Greeks, is he?[bq] 36 What did he mean by saying,[br] ‘You will look for me[bs] but will not find me, and where I am you cannot come’?”
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.