Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 20
Deliverance in Battle
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 May Yahweh answer you in a day of trouble;(A)
may the name of Jacob’s God protect you.(B)
2 May He send you help from the sanctuary
and sustain you from Zion.(C)
3 May He remember all your offerings
and accept your burnt offering.(D)
4 May He give you what your heart desires(E)
and fulfill your whole purpose.(F)
5 Let us shout for joy at your victory(G)
and lift the banner in the name of our God.(H)
May Yahweh fulfill all your requests.(I)
6 Now I know that the Lord gives victory to His anointed;(J)
He will answer him from His holy heaven
with mighty victories from[a] His right hand.(K)
7 Some take pride in chariots, and others in horses,
but we take pride in the name of Yahweh our God.(L)
8 They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand firm.(M)
9 Lord, give victory to the king!(N)
May He[b] answer us on the day that we call.
Psalm 21
The King’s Victory
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 Lord, the king finds joy in Your strength.
How greatly he rejoices in Your victory!(O)
2 You have given him his heart’s desire(P)
and have not denied the request of his lips.(Q)
3 For You meet him with rich blessings;
You place a crown of pure gold on his head.(R)
4 He asked You for life, and You gave it to him—
length of days forever and ever.(S)
5 His glory is great through Your victory;
You confer majesty and splendor on him.(T)
6 You give him blessings forever;(U)
You cheer him with joy in Your presence.(V)
7 For the king relies on the Lord;
through the faithful love of the Most High
he is not shaken.(W)
8 Your hand will capture all your enemies;
your right hand will seize those who hate you.(X)
9 You will make them burn
like a fiery furnace when you appear;
the Lord will engulf them in His wrath,
and fire will devour them.(Y)
10 You will wipe their descendants from the earth
and their offspring from the human race.(Z)
11 Though they intend to harm[c] you
and devise a wicked plan, they will not prevail.(AA)
12 Instead, you will put them to flight
when you aim your bow[d] at their faces.(AB)
13 Be exalted, Lord, in Your strength;
we will sing and praise Your might.(AC)
Psalm 110
The Priestly King
A Davidic psalm.
1 This is the declaration of the Lord
to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand
until I make Your enemies Your footstool.”(A)
2 The Lord will extend Your mighty scepter from Zion.
Rule[a] over Your surrounding[b] enemies.(B)
3 Your people will volunteer
on Your day of battle.[c](C)
In holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn,
the dew of Your youth belongs to You.[d](D)
4 The Lord has sworn an oath and will not take it back:
“Forever, You are a priest
like Melchizedek.”(E)
Psalm 116
Thanks to God for Deliverance
1 I love the Lord because He has heard
my appeal for mercy.(A)
2 Because He has turned His ear to me,
I will call out to Him as long as I live.(B)
3 The ropes of death were wrapped around me,
and the torments of Sheol overcame me;
I encountered trouble and sorrow.(C)
4 Then I called on the name of Yahweh:
“Yahweh, save me!”(D)
5 The Lord is gracious and righteous;
our God is compassionate.(E)
6 The Lord guards the inexperienced;
I was helpless, and He saved me.(F)
7 Return to your rest, my soul,
for the Lord has been good to you.(G)
8 For You, Lord, rescued me from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.(H)
9 I will walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.(I)
10 I believed, even when I said,
“I am severely afflicted.”(J)
11 In my alarm I said,
“Everyone is a liar.”(K)
12 How can I repay the Lord
for all the good He has done for me?(L)
13 I will take the cup of salvation
and call on the name of Yahweh.(M)
14 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all His people.(N)
15 The death of His faithful ones
is valuable in the Lord’s sight.(O)
16 Lord, I am indeed Your servant;
I am Your servant, the son of Your female servant.
You have loosened my bonds.(P)
17 I will offer You a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and call on the name of Yahweh.(Q)
18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all His people,(R)
19 in the courts of the Lord’s house—
within you, Jerusalem.(S)
Hallelujah!
Psalm 117
Universal Call to Praise
Job’s Reply to Bildad
9 Then Job answered:
10 I am disgusted with my life.(A)
I will express my complaint
and speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 I will say to God:
“Do not declare me guilty!
Let me know why You prosecute me.
3 Is it good for You to oppress,
to reject the work of Your hands,
and favor[a] the plans of the wicked?
4 Do You have eyes of flesh,
or do You see as a human sees?
5 Are Your days like those of a human,
or Your years like those of a man,(B)
6 that You look for my wrongdoing(C)
and search for my sin,
7 even though You know that I am not wicked
and that there is no one who can deliver from Your hand?
8 “Your hands shaped me and formed me.
Will You now turn and destroy me?
9 Please remember that You formed me like clay.
Will You now return me to dust?(D)
16 If I am proud,[a] You hunt me like a lion
and again display Your miraculous power against me.(A)
17 You produce new witnesses[b] against me
and multiply Your anger toward me.
Hardships assault me, wave after wave.[c]
18 “Why did You bring me out of the womb?(B)
I should have died and never been seen.
19 I wish[d] I had never existed
but had been carried from the womb to the grave.(C)
20 Are my days not few? Stop it![e]
Leave me alone, so that I can smile a little
21 before I go to a land of darkness and gloom,(D)
never to return.
22 It is a land of blackness like the deepest darkness,
gloomy and chaotic,
where even the light is like[f] the darkness.”
Gentile Salvation Defended
11 The apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles had welcomed God’s message also. 2 When Peter went up to Jerusalem, those who stressed circumcision[a] argued with him,(A) 3 saying, “You visited uncircumcised men and ate with them!”(B)
4 Peter began to explain to them in an orderly sequence, saying: 5 “I(C) was in the town of Joppa praying, and I saw, in a visionary state, an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners from heaven, and it came to me. 6 When I looked closely and considered it, I saw the four-footed animals of the earth, the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky. 7 Then I also heard a voice telling me, ‘Get up, Peter; kill and eat!’
8 “‘No, Lord!’ I said. ‘For nothing common or ritually unclean has ever entered my mouth!’ 9 But a voice answered from heaven a second time, ‘What God has made clean, you must not call common.’
10 “Now this happened three times, and then everything was drawn up again into heaven. 11 At that very moment, three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were. 12 Then the Spirit told me to accompany them with no doubts at all. These six brothers accompanied me, and we went into the man’s house.(D) 13 He reported to us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send[b] to Joppa, and call for Simon, who is also named Peter. 14 He will speak a message[c] to you that you and all your household(E) will be saved by.’
15 “As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came down on them, just as on us at the beginning.(F) 16 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’(G) 17 Therefore, if God gave them the same gift that He also gave to us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, how could I possibly hinder God?”(H)
18 When they heard this they became silent. Then they glorified God, saying, “So God has granted repentance resulting in life[d] even to the Gentiles!”(I)
The Light of the World
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again: “I am(A) the light(B) of the world. Anyone who follows Me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.”(C)
13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “You are testifying about Yourself. Your testimony is not valid.”[a]
14 “Even if I testify about Myself,” Jesus replied, “My testimony is valid,[b] because I know where I came from and where I’m going. But you don’t know where I come from or where I’m going.(D) 15 You judge(E) by human standards.[c](F) I judge no one.(G) 16 And if I do judge, My judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent Me judge(H) together.(I) 17 Even in your law it is written that the witness of two men is valid.(J) 18 I am the One who testifies(K) about Myself, and the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.”
19 Then they asked Him, “Where is Your Father?”
“You know neither Me nor My Father,”(L) Jesus answered. “If you knew Me, you would also know My Father.”(M) 20 He spoke these words by the treasury,[d](N) while teaching in the temple complex. But no one seized Him, because His hour[e] had not come.
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