Book of Common Prayer
A Psalm of Complaint and of Praise.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
31 (A)In You, Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never (B)be [a]put to shame;
(C)In Your righteousness rescue me.
2 (D)Incline Your ear to me, rescue me quickly;
Be a (E)rock of [b]strength for me,
A [c]stronghold to save me.
3 For You are my rock and (F)my fortress;
For the (G)sake of Your name You will lead me and guide me.
4 You will (H)pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my (I)strength.
5 (J)Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;
You have (K)redeemed me, Lord, (L)God of [d]truth.
6 I hate those who (M)devote themselves to worthless [e]idols,
But I (N)trust in the Lord.
7 I will (O)rejoice and be glad in Your faithfulness,
Because You have (P)seen my misery;
You have known the troubles of my soul,
8 And You have not (Q)handed me over to the enemy;
You have set my feet in a large place.
9 Be gracious to me, Lord, for (R)I am in distress;
My (S)eye is wasted away from grief, (T)my soul and my body too.
10 For my life is spent with (U)sorrow
And my years with sighing;
My (V)strength has failed because of my guilt,
And (W)my [f]body has wasted away.
11 Because of all my adversaries, I have become a (X)disgrace,
Especially to my (Y)neighbors,
And an object of dread to my acquaintances;
Those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I am (Z)forgotten like a dead person, out of mind;
I am like a broken vessel.
13 For I have heard the [g](AA)slander of many,
(AB)Terror is on every side;
While they (AC)took counsel together against me,
They (AD)schemed to take away my life.
14 But as for me, I trust in You, Lord,
I say, “(AE)You are my God.”
15 My (AF)times are in Your hand;
(AG)Rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from those who persecute me.
16 Make Your (AH)face shine upon Your servant;
(AI)Save me in Your faithfulness.
17 Let me not be (AJ)put to shame, Lord, for I call upon You;
Let the (AK)wicked be put to shame, let them (AL)be silent in [h]Sheol.
18 Let the (AM)lying lips be speechless,
Which (AN)speak arrogantly against the righteous
With pride and contempt.
19 How great is Your (AO)goodness,
Which You have stored up for those who fear You,
Which You have performed for those who (AP)take refuge in You,
(AQ)Before the sons of mankind!
20 You hide them in the (AR)secret place of Your presence from the (AS)conspiracies of mankind;
You keep them secretly in a [i]shelter from the (AT)strife of tongues.
21 (AU)Blessed be the Lord,
For He has shown His (AV)marvelous faithfulness to me in a besieged (AW)city.
22 As for me, (AX)I said in my alarm,
“I am (AY)cut off from Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You (AZ)heard the sound of my pleadings
When I called to You for help.
Prayer for Rescue from Enemies.
A Psalm of David.
35 Contend, Lord, with those who (A)contend with me;
Fight against those who (B)fight against me.
2 Take hold of [a](C)buckler and shield
And rise up as (D)my help.
3 Draw also the spear and [b]the battle-axe to meet those who pursue me;
Say to my soul, “I am (E)your salvation.”
4 Let those be (F)ashamed and dishonored who seek my [c]life;
Let those be (G)turned back and humiliated who devise evil against me.
5 Let them be (H)like chaff before the wind,
With the angel of the Lord driving them on.
6 Let their way be dark and (I)slippery,
With the angel of the Lord pursuing them.
7 For (J)they (K)hid their net for me without cause;
Without cause they dug a pit for my soul.
8 Let (L)destruction come upon him when he is unaware,
And (M)let the net which he hid catch him;
Let him fall into that very (N)destruction.
9 So my soul shall (O)rejoice in the Lord;
It shall (P)rejoice in His salvation.
10 All my (Q)bones will say, “Lord, (R)who is like You,
Who rescues the afflicted from one (S)who is too strong for him,
And (T)the afflicted and the poor from one who robs him?”
11 (U)Malicious witnesses rise up;
They ask me things that I do not know.
12 They (V)repay me evil for good,
To the bereavement of my soul.
13 But as for me, (W)when they were sick, my (X)clothing was sackcloth;
I (Y)humbled my soul with fasting,
But my (Z)prayer kept returning to [d]me.
14 I went about as though it were my friend or brother;
I (AA)bowed down [e]in mourning, like one who mourns for a mother.
15 But (AB)at my [f]stumbling they rejoiced and gathered themselves together;
The [g](AC)afflicted people whom I did not know gathered together against me,
They [h](AD)slandered me without ceasing.
16 Like godless jesters at a feast,
They (AE)gnashed at me with their teeth.
17 Lord, (AF)how long will You look on?
Rescue my soul (AG)from their ravages,
My (AH)only life from the lions.
18 I will (AI)give You thanks in the great congregation;
I will (AJ)praise You among a mighty people.
19 (AK)Do not let those who are wrongfully (AL)my enemies rejoice over me;
Nor let those (AM)who hate me for no reason [i](AN)wink maliciously.
20 For they do not speak peace,
But they devise (AO)deceitful words against those who are quiet in the land.
21 They (AP)opened their mouth wide against me;
They said, “(AQ)Aha, aha! Our eyes have seen it!”
22 (AR)You have seen it, Lord, (AS)do not keep silent;
Lord, (AT)do not be far from me.
23 (AU)Stir Yourself, and awake to my right
And to my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 (AV)Judge me, Lord my God, according to Your righteousness,
And (AW)do not let them rejoice over me.
25 Do not let them say in their heart, “(AX)Aha, our desire!”
Do not let them say, “We have (AY)swallowed him up!”
26 May (AZ)those be ashamed and altogether humiliated who rejoice at my distress;
May those who (BA)exalt themselves over me be (BB)clothed with shame and dishonor.
Job Feels Insulted
19 Then Job responded,
2 “How long will you torment [a]me
And crush me with words?
3 These ten times you have insulted me;
You are not ashamed to wrong me.
4 Even if I have truly done wrong,
My error stays with me.
5 If indeed you (A)exalt yourselves against me
And prove my disgrace to me,
6 Know then that (B)God has wronged me
And has surrounded me with (C)His net.
Everything Is Against Him
7 “Behold, (D)I cry, ‘Violence!’ but I get no answer;
I shout for help, but there is no justice.
14 My relatives have failed,
And my (A)close friends have forgotten me.
15 Those who live in my house and my servant women consider me a stranger.
I am a foreigner in their sight.
16 I call to my servant, but he does not answer;
I have to implore his favor with my mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife,
And I am loathsome to my own brothers.
18 Even young children despise me;
I stand up and they speak against me.
19 All [a]my (B)associates loathe me,
And those I love have turned against me.
20 My (C)bone clings to my skin and my flesh,
And I have escaped only by the skin of my teeth.
21 Pity me, pity me, you friends of mine,
For the (D)hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you (E)persecute me as God does,
And are not satisfied with my flesh?
Job Says My Redeemer Lives
23 “Oh that my words were written!
Oh that they were (F)recorded in a book!
24 That with an iron stylus and lead
They were engraved in the rock forever!
25 Yet as for me, I know that (G)my Redeemer lives,
And at the last, He will take His stand on the [b]earth.
26 Even after my skin [c]is destroyed,
Yet from my flesh I will (H)see God,
27 Whom I, on my part, shall behold for myself,
And whom my eyes will see, and not another.
My [d]heart (I)faints [e]within me!
13 Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from (A)Paphos and came to (B)Perga in (C)Pamphylia; but (D)John left them and returned to Jerusalem. 14 But going on from Perga, they arrived at (E)Pisidian (F)Antioch, and on (G)the Sabbath day they went into (H)the synagogue and sat down. 15 After (I)the reading of the Law and (J)the Prophets, (K)the synagogue officials sent word to them, saying, “[a]Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.” 16 Paul stood up, and (L)motioning with his hand said,
“Men of Israel, and (M)you who fear God, listen: 17 The God of this people Israel (N)chose our fathers and [b](O)made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm (P)He led them out from it. 18 For (Q)a period of about forty years (R)He put up with them in the wilderness. 19 (S)When He had destroyed (T)seven nations in the land of Canaan, He (U)distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took (V)about 450 years. 20 After these things He (W)gave them judges until (X)Samuel the prophet. 21 Then they (Y)asked for a king, and God gave them (Z)Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years. 22 After He had (AA)removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘(AB)I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My [c]will.’ 23 (AC)From the descendants of this man, (AD)according to promise, God has brought to Israel (AE)a Savior, Jesus, 24 after (AF)John had proclaimed, before [d]His coming, a (AG)baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. 25 And while John (AH)was completing his course, (AI)he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, One is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’
18 (A)The Jews then did not believe it about him, that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight, 19 and they questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” 20 His parents then answered and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they (B)were afraid of the [a]Jews; for the Jews (C)had already reached the decision that if anyone confessed Him to be [b]Christ, (D)he was to be excommunicated from the synagogue. 23 It was for this reason that his parents said, “(E)He is of age; ask him.”
24 So for a second time they summoned the man who had been blind, and said to him, “(F)Give glory to God; we know that (G)this Man is a sinner.” 25 He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “(H)I told you already and you did not (I)listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?” 28 They spoke abusively to him and said, “You are His disciple, but (J)we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this Man, (K)we do not know where He is from.” 30 The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is the amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes! 31 We know that (L)God does not listen to sinners; but if someone is [c]God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him. 32 [d]Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 (M)If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “(N)You were born entirely in sins, and yet you are teaching us?” So they [e](O)put him out.
Jesus Affirms His Deity
35 Jesus heard that they had [f](P)put him out, and upon finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the (Q)Son of Man?” 36 He answered [g]by saying, “And (R)who is He, [h]Sir, that I may believe in Him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and (S)He is the One who is talking with you.” 38 And he said, “I believe, Lord.” And he (T)worshiped Him. 39 And Jesus said, “(U)For judgment I came into this world, so that (V)those who do not see may see, and (W)those who see may become blind.” 40 Those who were with Him from the Pharisees heard these things and said to Him, “(X)We are not blind too, are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “(Y)If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now that you maintain, ‘(Z)We see,’ your sin remains.
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