Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 31
A Plea for Protection
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 Lord, I seek refuge in You;
let me never be disgraced.(A)
Save me by Your righteousness.
2 Listen closely to me; rescue me quickly.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mountain fortress to save me.(B)
3 For You are my rock and my fortress;(C)
You lead and guide me
because of Your name.(D)
4 You will free me from the net
that is secretly set for me,
for You are my refuge.(E)
5 Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;(F)
You redeem[a] me, Lord, God of truth.(G)
6 I[b] hate those who are devoted to worthless idols,
but I trust in the Lord.(H)
7 I will rejoice and be glad in Your faithful love
because You have seen my affliction.
You have known the troubles of my life(I)
8 and have not handed me over to the enemy.(J)
You have set my feet in a spacious place.(K)
9 Be gracious to me, Lord,
because I am in distress;(L)
my eyes are worn out from angry sorrow—
my whole being[c] as well.(M)
10 Indeed, my life is consumed with grief
and my years with groaning;(N)
my strength has failed
because of my sinfulness,[d]
and my bones waste away.(O)
11 I am ridiculed by all my adversaries
and even by my neighbors.
I am dreaded by my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street run from me.(P)
12 I am forgotten: gone from memory
like a dead person—like broken pottery.(Q)
13 I have heard the gossip of many;
terror is on every side.(R)
When they conspired against me,
they plotted to take my life.(S)
14 But I trust in You, Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”(T)
15 The course of my life is in Your power;(U)
deliver me from the power of my enemies
and from my persecutors.(V)
16 Show Your favor to Your servant;
save me by Your faithful love.(W)
17 Lord, do not let me be disgraced when I call on You.(X)
Let the wicked be disgraced;
let them be silent[e][f] in Sheol.(Y)
18 Let lying lips be quieted;(Z)
they speak arrogantly against the righteous
with pride and contempt.(AA)
19 How great is Your goodness
that You have stored up for those who fear You
and accomplished in the sight of everyone
for those who take refuge in You.(AB)
20 You hide them in the protection of Your presence;
You conceal them in a shelter[g]
from the schemes of men,
from quarrelsome tongues.(AC)
21 May the Lord be praised,
for He has wonderfully shown His faithful love to me
in a city under siege.[h](AD)
22 In my alarm I had said,
“I am cut off from Your sight.”(AE)
But You heard the sound of my pleading
when I cried to You for help.(AF)
Psalm 35
Prayer for Victory
Davidic.
1 Oppose my opponents, Lord;
fight those who fight me.(A)
2 Take Your shields—large and small—
and come to my aid.(B)
3 Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers,
and assure me: “I am your deliverance.”(C)
4 Let those who seek to kill me
be disgraced and humiliated;
let those who plan to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.(D)
5 Let them be like chaff in the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them away.(E)
6 Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.(F)
7 They hid their net for me without cause;
they dug a pit for me without cause.(G)
8 Let ruin come on him unexpectedly,
and let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it—to his ruin.(H)
9 Then I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will delight in His deliverance.(I)
10 My very bones will say,
“Lord, who is like You,(J)
rescuing the poor from one too strong for him,
the poor or the needy from one who robs him?”(K)
11 Malicious witnesses come forward;
they question me about things I do not know.(L)
12 They repay me evil for good,
making me desolate.(M)
13 Yet when they were sick,
my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting,
and my prayer was genuine.[a](N)
14 I went about grieving as if for my friend or brother;
I was bowed down with grief,
like one mourning a mother.(O)
15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;
they gathered against me.
Assailants I did not know
tore at me and did not stop.(P)
16 With godless mockery[b]
they gnashed their teeth at me.(Q)
17 Lord, how long will You look on?(R)
Rescue my life from their ravages,
my only one from the young lions.(S)
18 I will praise You in the great congregation;
I will exalt You among many people.(T)
19 Do not let my deceitful enemies rejoice over me;
do not let those who hate me without cause(U)
look at me maliciously.(V)
20 For they do not speak in friendly ways,
but contrive deceitful schemes[c]
against those who live peacefully in the land.(W)
21 They open their mouths wide against me and say,
“Aha, aha! We saw it!”[d](X)
22 You saw it, Lord; do not be silent.
Lord, do not be far from me.(Y)
23 Wake up and rise to my defense,
to my cause, my God and my Lord!(Z)
24 Vindicate me, Lord my God,
in keeping with Your righteousness,
and do not let them rejoice over me.(AA)
25 Do not let them say in their hearts,
“Aha! Just what we wanted.”
Do not let them say,
“We have swallowed him up!”(AB)
26 Let those who rejoice at my misfortune
be disgraced and humiliated;
let those who exalt themselves over me
be clothed with shame and reproach.(AC)
Job’s Reply to Bildad
19 Then Job answered:
2 How long will you torment me
and crush me with words?
3 You have humiliated me ten times now,
and you mistreat[a] me without shame.(A)
4 Even if it is true that I have sinned,
my mistake concerns only[b] me.
5 If you really want to appear superior(B) to me
and would use my disgrace as evidence against me,
6 then understand that it is God who has wronged me
and caught me in His net.(C)
7 I cry out: “Violence!” but get no response;(D)
I call for help, but there is no justice.
14 My relatives stop coming by,
and my close friends have forgotten me.
15 My house guests[a] and female servants regard me as a stranger;
I am a foreigner in their sight.(A)
16 I call for my servant, but he does not answer,
even if I beg him with my own mouth.
17 My breath is offensive to my wife,
and my own family[b] finds me repulsive.
18 Even young boys scorn me.
When I stand up, they mock me.(B)
19 All of my best friends[c] despise me,(C)
and those I love have turned against me.(D)
20 My skin and my flesh cling to my bones;
I have escaped by the skin of my teeth.
21 Have mercy on me, my friends,(E) have mercy,
for God’s hand(F) has struck me.(G)
22 Why do you persecute me as God does?
Will you never get enough of my flesh?
23 I wish that my words were written down,
that they were recorded on a scroll
24 or were inscribed in stone forever
by an iron stylus and lead!
25 But I know my living Redeemer,[d](H)
and He will stand on the dust[e] at last.[f](I)
26 Even after my skin has been destroyed,[g]
yet I will see God in[h] my flesh.(J)
27 I will see Him myself;
my eyes will look at Him, and not as a stranger.[i]
My heart longs[j] within me.(K)
Paul’s Sermon in Antioch of Pisidia
13 Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia. John, however, left them and went back to Jerusalem.(A) 14 They continued their journey from Perga and reached Antioch in Pisidia. On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down.(B) 15 After the reading of the Law and the Prophets, the leaders of the synagogue sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any message of encouragement for the people, you can speak.”(C)
16 Then Paul stood up and motioned with his hand and said: “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen!(D) 17 The God of this people Israel chose our ancestors, exalted the people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and led them out of it with a mighty[a] arm.(E) 18 And for about 40 years He put up with them[b] in the wilderness;(F) 19 then after destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan,(G) He gave their land to them as an inheritance. 20 This all took about 450 years. After this, He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.(H) 21 Then they asked for a king, so God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years.(I) 22 After removing him,(J) He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man loyal to Me,(K)[c] who will carry out all My will.’
23 “From this man’s descendants, according to the promise, God brought the Savior, Jesus,[d] to Israel.(L) 24 Before He came to public attention,[e] John had previously proclaimed a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.(M) 25 Then as John was completing his life’s work, he said, ‘Who do you think I am? I am not the One. But look! Someone is coming after me, and I am not worthy to untie the sandals on His feet.’(N)
18 The Jews did not believe this about him—that he was blind and received sight—until they summoned the parents of the one who had received his sight.
19 They asked them, “Is this your son, the one you say was born blind? How then does he now see?”
20 “We know this is our son and that he was born blind,” his parents answered. 21 “But we don’t know how he now sees, and we don’t know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he’s of age. He will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said these things because they were afraid of the Jews, since the Jews had already agreed that if anyone confessed Him as Messiah,(A) he would be banned from the synagogue. 23 This is why his parents said, “He’s of age; ask him.”
24 So a second time they summoned the man who had been blind and told him, “Give glory(B) to God.[a](C) We know that this man is a sinner!”
25 He answered, “Whether or not He’s a sinner, I don’t know. One thing I do know: I was blind, and now I can see!”
26 Then they asked him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?”
27 “I already told you,” he said, “and you didn’t listen. Why do you want to hear it again? You don’t want to become His disciples too, do you?”
28 They ridiculed him: “You’re that man’s disciple, but we’re Moses’(D) disciples. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses. But this man—we don’t know where He’s from!”(E)
30 “This is an amazing thing,” the man told them. “You don’t know where He is from, yet He opened my eyes! 31 We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners,(F) but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will,(G) He listens to him.(H) 32 Throughout history[b] no one has ever heard of someone opening the eyes of a person born blind.(I) 33 If this man were not from God, He wouldn’t be able to do anything.”(J)
34 “You were born entirely in sin,”(K) they replied, “and are you trying to teach us?” Then they threw him out.[c](L)
The Blind Man’s Sight and the Pharisees’ Blindness
35 When Jesus heard that they had thrown the man out, He found him and asked, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”[d](M)
36 “Who is He, Sir,(N) that I may believe in Him?” he asked.
37 Jesus answered, “You have seen Him; in fact, He is the One speaking with you.”
38 “I believe, Lord!” he said, and he worshiped Him.
39 Jesus said, “I came into this world(O) for judgment,(P) in order that those who do not see will see and those who do see will become blind.”(Q)
40 Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard these things and asked Him, “We aren’t blind too, are we?”
41 “If you were blind,” Jesus told them, “you wouldn’t have sin.[e](R) But now that you say, ‘We see’—your sin remains.
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