Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 31[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
31 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter.
Never let me be humiliated.
Vindicate me by rescuing me.[b]
2 Listen to me.[c]
Quickly deliver me.
Be my protector and refuge,[d]
a stronghold where I can be safe.[e]
3 For you are my high ridge[f] and my stronghold;
for the sake of your own reputation[g] you lead me and guide me.[h]
4 You will free me[i] from the net they hid for me,
for you are my place of refuge.
5 Into your hand I entrust my life;[j]
you will rescue[k] me, O Lord, the faithful God.
6 I hate those who serve worthless idols,[l]
but I trust in the Lord.
7 I will be happy and rejoice in your faithfulness,
because you notice my pain
and you are aware of how distressed I am.[m]
8 You do not deliver me over to the power of the enemy;
you enable me to stand[n] in a wide open place.
9 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress!
My eyes grow dim[o] from suffering.[p]
I have lost my strength.[q]
10 For my life nears its end in pain;
my years draw to a close as I groan.[r]
My strength fails me because of[s] my sin,
and my bones become brittle.[t]
11 Because of all my enemies, people disdain me;[u]
my neighbors are appalled by my suffering[v]—
those who know me are horrified by my condition;[w]
those who see me in the street run away from me.
12 I am forgotten, like a dead man no one thinks about;[x]
I am regarded as worthless, like a broken jar.[y]
13 For I hear what so many are saying,[z]
the terrifying news that comes from every direction.[aa]
When they plot together against me,
they figure out how they can take my life.
14 But I trust in you, O Lord!
I declare, “You are my God!”
15 You determine my destiny.[ab]
Rescue me from the power of my enemies and those who chase me.
16 Smile[ac] on your servant.
Deliver me because of your faithfulness.
17 O Lord, do not let me be humiliated,
for I call out to you.
May evil men be humiliated.
May they go wailing to the grave.[ad]
18 May lying lips be silenced—
lips[ae] that speak defiantly against the innocent[af]
with arrogance and contempt.
19 How great is your favor,[ag]
which you store up for your loyal followers.[ah]
In plain sight of everyone you bestow it on those who take shelter[ai] in you.[aj]
20 You hide them with you, where they are safe from the attacks[ak] of men;[al]
you conceal them in a shelter, where they are safe from slanderous attacks.[am]
21 The Lord deserves praise[an]
for he demonstrated his amazing faithfulness to me when I was besieged by enemies.[ao]
22 I jumped to conclusions and said,[ap]
“I am cut off from your presence!”[aq]
But you heard my plea for mercy when I cried out to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you faithful followers[ar] of his!
The Lord protects those who have integrity,
but he pays back in full the one who acts arrogantly.[as]
24 Be strong and confident,[at]
all you who wait on the Lord.
Psalm 35[a]
By David.
35 O Lord, fight[b] those who fight with me.
Attack those who attack me.
2 Grab your small shield and large shield,[c]
and rise up to help me.
3 Use your spear and lance[d] against[e] those who chase me.
Assure me with these words:[f] “I am your deliverer.”
4 May those who seek my life be embarrassed and humiliated.
May those who plan to harm me be turned back and ashamed.[g]
5 May they be[h] like wind-driven chaff,
as the angel of the Lord[i] attacks them.[j]
6 May their path be[k] dark and slippery,
as the angel of the Lord chases them.
7 I did not harm them, but they hid a net to catch me
and dug a pit to trap me.[l]
8 Let destruction take them by surprise.[m]
Let the net they hid catch them.
Let them fall into destruction.[n]
9 Then I will rejoice in the Lord
and be happy because of his deliverance.[o]
10 With all my strength I will say,[p]
“O Lord, who can compare to you?
You rescue[q] the oppressed from those who try to overpower them,[r]
the oppressed and needy from those who try to rob them.”[s]
11 Violent men perjure themselves,[t]
and falsely accuse me.[u]
12 They repay me evil for the good I have done;[v]
I am overwhelmed with sorrow.[w]
13 When they were sick, I wore sackcloth,[x]
and refrained from eating food.[y]
(If I am lying, may my prayers go unanswered.)[z]
14 I mourned for them as I would for a friend or my brother.[aa]
I bowed down[ab] in sorrow as if I were mourning for my mother.[ac]
15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together;
they gathered together to ambush me.[ad]
They tore at me without stopping to rest.[ae]
16 When I tripped, they taunted me relentlessly,[af]
and tried to bite me.[ag]
17 O Lord, how long are you going to watch this?
Rescue[ah] me[ai] from their destructive attacks;
guard my life[aj] from the young lions.
18 Then I will give you thanks in the great assembly;[ak]
I will praise you before a large crowd of people.[al]
19 Do not let those who are my enemies for no reason[am] gloat[an] over me.
Do not let those who hate me without cause carry out their wicked schemes.[ao]
20 For they do not try to make peace with others,[ap]
but plan ways to deceive those who live peacefully in the land.[aq]
21 They are ready to devour me;[ar]
they say, “Aha! Aha! We’ve got you!”[as]
22 But you take notice,[at] Lord; do not be silent!
O Lord, do not remain far away from me.
23 Rouse yourself, wake up[au] and vindicate me.[av]
My God and Lord, defend my just cause.[aw]
24 Vindicate me by your justice, O Lord my God.
Do not let them gloat[ax] over me.
25 Do not let them say to themselves,[ay] “Aha! We have what we wanted!”[az]
Do not let them say, “We have devoured him.”
26 May those who rejoice in my troubles be totally embarrassed and ashamed.[ba]
May those who arrogantly taunt me be covered with shame and humiliation.[bb]
27 May those who desire my vindication shout for joy and rejoice.
May they continually say,[bc] “May the Lord be praised,[bd] for he wants his servant to be secure.”[be]
28 Then I will tell others about your justice,[bf]
and praise you all day long.[bg]
Job’s Reply to Bildad[a]
19 Then Job answered:
2 “How long will you torment me[b]
and crush[c] me with your words?[d]
3 These ten times[e] you have been reproaching me;[f]
you are not ashamed to attack me.[g]
4 But even if it were[h] true that I have erred,[i]
my error[j] remains solely my concern!
5 If indeed[k] you would exalt yourselves[l] above me
and plead my disgrace against me,[m]
6 know[n] then that God has wronged me[o]
and encircled[p] me with his net.[q]
Job’s Abandonment and Affliction
14 My kinsmen have failed me;
my friends[a] have forgotten me.[b]
15 My guests[c] and my servant girls
consider[d] me a stranger;
I am a foreigner[e] in their eyes.
16 I summon[f] my servant, but he does not respond,
even though I implore[g] him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is repulsive[h] to my wife;
I am loathsome[i] to my brothers.[j]
18 Even youngsters have scorned me;
when I get up,[k] they scoff at me.[l]
19 All my closest friends[m] detest me;
and those whom[n] I love have turned against me.[o]
20 My bones stick to my skin and my flesh;[p]
I have escaped[q] alive[r] with only the skin of my teeth.
21 Have pity on me, my friends, have pity on me,
for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Why do you pursue me like God does?[s]
Will you never be satiated with my flesh?[t]
Job’s Assurance of Vindication
23 “O that[u] my words were written down!
O that they were written on a scroll![v]
24 O that with an iron chisel and with lead[w]
they were engraved in a rock forever!
25 As for me, I know that my Redeemer[x] lives,
and that as the last[y]
he will stand upon the earth.[z]
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,[aa]
yet in my flesh[ab] I will see God,[ac]
27 whom I will see for myself,[ad]
and whom my own eyes will behold,
and not another.[ae]
My heart[af] grows faint within me.[ag]
Paul and Barnabas at Pisidian Antioch
13 Then Paul and his companions put out to sea[a] from Paphos[b] and came to Perga[c] in Pamphylia,[d] but John[e] left them and returned to Jerusalem.[f] 14 Moving on from[g] Perga,[h] they arrived at Pisidian Antioch,[i] and on the Sabbath day they went into[j] the synagogue[k] and sat down. 15 After the reading from the law and the prophets,[l] the leaders of the synagogue[m] sent them a message,[n] saying, “Brothers,[o] if you have any message[p] of exhortation[q] for the people, speak it.”[r] 16 So Paul stood up,[s] gestured[t] with his hand and said,
“Men of Israel,[u] and you Gentiles who fear God,[v] listen: 17 The God of this people Israel[w] chose our ancestors[x] and made the people great[y] during their stay as foreigners[z] in the country[aa] of Egypt, and with uplifted arm[ab] he led them out of it. 18 For[ac] a period of about forty years he put up with[ad] them in the wilderness.[ae] 19 After[af] he had destroyed[ag] seven nations[ah] in the land of Canaan, he gave his people their land as an inheritance.[ai] 20 All this took[aj] about 450 years. After this[ak] he gave them judges until the time of[al] Samuel the prophet. 21 Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul son of Kish, a man from the tribe of Benjamin, who ruled[am] forty years. 22 After removing him, God[an] raised up[ao] David their king. He testified about him:[ap] ‘I have found David[aq] the son of Jesse to be a man after my heart,[ar] who will accomplish everything I want him to do.’[as] 23 From the descendants[at] of this man[au] God brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus, just as he promised.[av] 24 Before[aw] Jesus[ax] arrived, John[ay] had proclaimed a baptism for repentance[az] to all the people of Israel. 25 But while John was completing his mission,[ba] he said repeatedly,[bb] ‘What do you think I am? I am not he. But look, one is coming after me. I am not worthy to untie the sandals on his feet!’[bc]
18 Now the Jewish religious leaders[a] refused to believe[b] that he had really been blind and had gained his sight until at last they summoned[c] the parents of the man who had become able to see.[d] 19 They asked the parents,[e] “Is this your son, whom you say[f] was born blind? Then how does he now see?” 20 So his parents replied,[g] “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. 21 But we do not know how he is now able to see, nor do we know who caused him to see.[h] Ask him, he is a mature adult.[i] He will speak for himself.” 22 (His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jewish religious leaders.[j] For the Jewish leaders had already agreed that anyone who confessed Jesus[k] to be the Christ[l] would be put out[m] of the synagogue.[n] 23 For this reason his parents said, “He is a mature adult,[o] ask him.”)[p]
24 Then they summoned[q] the man who used to be blind[r] a second time and said to him, “Promise before God to tell the truth.[s] We know that this man[t] is a sinner.” 25 He replied,[u] “I do not know whether he is a sinner. I do know one thing—that although I was blind, now I can see.” 26 Then they said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he cause you to see?”[v] 27 He answered,[w] “I told you already and you didn’t listen.[x] Why do you want to hear it[y] again? You people[z] don’t want to become his disciples too, do you?”
28 They[aa] heaped insults[ab] on him, saying,[ac] “You are his disciple![ad] We are disciples of Moses! 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses! We do not know where this man[ae] comes from!” 30 The man replied,[af] “This is a remarkable thing,[ag] that you don’t know where he comes from, and yet he caused me to see![ah] 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to[ai] sinners, but if anyone is devout[aj] and does his will, God[ak] listens to[al] him.[am] 32 Never before[an] has anyone heard of someone causing a man born blind to see.[ao] 33 If this man[ap] were not from God, he could do nothing.” 34 They replied,[aq] “You were born completely in sinfulness,[ar] and yet you presume to teach us?”[as] So they threw him out.
The Man’s Response to Jesus
35 Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, so he found the man[at] and said to him, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”[au] 36 The man[av] replied,[aw] “And who is he, sir, that[ax] I may believe in him?” 37 Jesus told him, “You have seen him; he[ay] is the one speaking with you.”[az] 38 [He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.[ba] 39 Jesus[bb] said,][bc] “For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight,[bd] and the ones who see may become blind.”
40 Some of the Pharisees[be] who were with him heard this[bf] and asked him,[bg] “We are not blind too, are we?”[bh] 41 Jesus replied,[bi] “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin,[bj] but now because you claim that you can see,[bk] your guilt[bl] remains.[bm]
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