Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 56[a]
For the music director, according to the yonath-elem-rekhoqim style;[b] a prayer[c] of David, written when the Philistines captured him in Gath.[d]
56 Have mercy on me, O God, for men are attacking me.[e]
All day long hostile enemies[f] are tormenting me.[g]
2 Those who anticipate my defeat[h] attack me all day long.
Indeed,[i] many are fighting against me, O Exalted One.[j]
3 When[k] I am afraid,
I trust in you.
4 In God—I boast in his promise[l]—
in God I trust; I am not afraid.
What can mere men[m] do to me?[n]
5 All day long they cause me trouble;[o]
they make a habit of plotting my demise.[p]
6 They stalk[q] and lurk;[r]
they watch my every step,[s]
as[t] they prepare to take my life.[u]
7 Because they are bent on violence, do not let them escape.[v]
In your anger[w] bring down the nations,[x] O God.
8 You keep track of my misery.[y]
Put my tears in your leather container.[z]
Are they not recorded in your scroll?[aa]
9 My enemies will turn back when I cry out to you for help;[ab]
I know that God is on my side.[ac]
10 In God—I boast in his promise[ad]—
in the Lord—I boast in his promise[ae]—
11 in God I trust; I am not afraid.
What can mere men[af] do to me?[ag]
12 I am obligated to fulfill the vows I made to you, O God;[ah]
I will give you the thank offerings you deserve,[ai]
13 when you deliver[aj] my life from death.
You keep my feet from stumbling,[ak]
so that I might serve[al] God as I enjoy life.[am]
Psalm 57[an]
For the music director, according to the al-tashcheth style;[ao] a prayer[ap] of David, written when he fled from Saul into the cave.[aq]
57 Have mercy on me, O God. Have mercy on me.
For in you I have taken shelter.[ar]
In the shadow of your wings[as] I take shelter
until trouble passes.
2 I cry out for help to God Most High,[at]
to the God who vindicates[au] me.
3 May he send help from heaven and deliver me[av]
from my enemies who hurl insults.[aw] (Selah)
May God send his loyal love and faithfulness.
4 I am surrounded by lions;
I lie down[ax] among those who want to devour me,[ay]
men whose teeth are spears and arrows,
whose tongues are sharp swords.[az]
5 Rise up[ba] above the sky, O God.
May your splendor cover the whole earth.[bb]
6 They have prepared a net to trap me;[bc]
I am discouraged.[bd]
They have dug a pit for me.[be]
They will fall[bf] into it. (Selah)
7 I am determined,[bg] O God. I am determined.
I will sing and praise you.
8 Awake, my soul![bh]
Awake, O stringed instrument and harp!
I will wake up at dawn.[bi]
9 I will give you thanks before the nations, O Lord.
I will sing praises to you before foreigners.[bj]
10 For your loyal love extends beyond the sky,[bk]
and your faithfulness reaches the clouds.
11 Rise up[bl] above the sky, O God.
May your splendor cover the whole earth.[bm]
Psalm 58[bn]
For the music director, according to the al-tashcheth style;[bo] a prayer[bp] of David.
58 Do you rulers really pronounce just decisions?[bq]
Do you judge people[br] fairly?
2 No![bs] You plan how to do what is unjust;[bt]
you deal out violence in the earth.[bu]
3 The wicked turn aside from birth;[bv]
liars go astray as soon as they are born.[bw]
4 Their venom is like that of a snake,[bx]
like a deaf serpent[by] that does not hear,[bz]
5 that does not respond to[ca] the magicians,
or to a skilled snake charmer.
6 O God, break the teeth in their mouths!
Smash the jawbones of the lions, O Lord.
7 Let them disappear[cb] like water that flows away.[cc]
Let them wither like grass.[cd]
8 Let them be[ce] like a snail that melts away as it moves along.[cf]
Let them be like[cg] stillborn babies[ch] that never see the sun.
9 Before the kindling is even placed under your pots,[ci]
he[cj] will sweep it away along with both the raw and cooked meat.[ck]
10 The godly[cl] will rejoice when they see vengeance carried out;
they will bathe their feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 Then[cm] observers[cn] will say,
“Yes indeed, the godly are rewarded.[co]
Yes indeed, there is a God who judges[cp] in the earth.”
Psalm 64[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
64 Listen to me,[b] O God, as I offer my lament!
Protect[c] my life from the enemy’s terrifying attacks.[d]
2 Hide me from the plots of evil men,
from the crowd of evildoers.[e]
3 They[f] sharpen their tongues like swords;
they aim their arrows, a slanderous charge,[g]
4 in order to shoot down the innocent[h] in secluded places.
They shoot at him suddenly and are unafraid of retaliation.[i]
5 They encourage one another to carry out their evil deed.[j]
They plan how to hide[k] snares,
and boast,[l] “Who will see them?”[m]
6 They devise[n] unjust schemes;
they disguise[o] a well-conceived plot.[p]
Man’s inner thoughts cannot be discovered.[q]
7 But God will shoot[r] at them;
suddenly they will be[s] wounded by an arrow.[t]
8 Their slander will bring about their demise.[u]
All who see them will shudder,[v]
9 and all people will fear.[w]
They will proclaim what God has done,[x]
and reflect on his deeds.
10 The godly will rejoice in the Lord
and take shelter in him.
All the morally upright[y] will boast.[z]
Psalm 65[aa]
For the music director, a psalm of David, a song.
65 Praise awaits you,[ab] O God, in Zion.
Vows made to you are fulfilled.
2 You hear prayers;[ac]
all people approach you.[ad]
3 Our record of sins overwhelms me,[ae]
but you forgive[af] our acts of rebellion.
4 How blessed[ag] is the one whom you choose,
and allow to live in your palace courts.[ah]
May we be satisfied with the good things of your house—
your holy palace.[ai]
5 You answer our prayers by performing awesome acts of deliverance,
O God, our savior.[aj]
All the ends of the earth trust in you,[ak]
as well as those living across the wide seas.[al]
6 You created the mountains by your power,[am]
and demonstrated your strength.[an]
7 You calmed the raging seas[ao]
and their roaring waves,
as well as the commotion made by the nations.[ap]
8 Even those living in the remotest areas are awestruck by your acts;[aq]
you cause those living in the east and west to praise you.[ar]
9 You visit the earth and give it rain;[as]
you make it rich and fertile.[at]
God’s streams are full of water;[au]
you provide grain for the people of the earth,[av]
for you have prepared the earth in this way.[aw]
10 You saturate[ax] its furrows,
and soak[ay] its plowed ground.[az]
With rain showers you soften its soil,[ba]
and make its crops grow.[bb]
11 You crown the year with your good blessings,[bc]
and you leave abundance in your wake.[bd]
12 The pastures in the wilderness glisten with moisture,[be]
and the hills are clothed with joy.[bf]
13 The meadows are clothed with sheep,
and the valleys are covered with grain.
They shout joyfully, yes, they sing.
Job’s Reply to God’s Challenge
40 Then the Lord answered[a] Job:
2 “Will the one who contends[b] with the Almighty correct him?[c]
Let the person who accuses God give him an answer!”
3 Then Job answered the Lord:
4 “Indeed, I am completely unworthy[d]—how could I reply to you?
I put[e] my hand over my mouth to silence myself.[f]
5 I have spoken once, but I cannot answer;
twice, but I will say no more.”[g]
The Lord’s Second Speech[h]
6 Then the Lord answered[i] Job from the whirlwind:
7 “Get ready for a difficult task[j] like a man.
I will question you and you will inform me.
8 Would you indeed annul[k] my justice?
Would you declare me guilty so that you might be right?
9 Do you have an arm as powerful as God’s,[l]
and can you thunder with a voice like his?
10 Adorn yourself, then, with majesty and excellency,
and clothe yourself with glory and honor.
11 Scatter abroad[m] the abundance[n] of your anger.
Look at every proud man[o] and bring him low;
12 Look at every proud man and abase him;
crush the wicked on the spot.[p]
13 Hide them in the dust[q] together,
imprison[r] them[s] in the grave.[t]
14 Then I myself will acknowledge[u] to you
that your own right hand can save you.[v]
The Description of Behemoth[w]
15 “Look now at Behemoth,[x] which I made as[y] I made you;
it eats grass like the ox.
16 Look[z] at its strength in its loins,
and its power in the muscles of its belly.
17 It makes its tail stiff[aa] like a cedar,
the sinews of its thighs are tightly wound.
18 Its bones are tubes of bronze,
its limbs like bars of iron.
19 It ranks first among the works of God,[ab]
the One who made it
has furnished it with a sword.[ac]
20 For the hills bring it food,[ad]
where all the wild animals play.
21 Under the lotus trees it lies,
in the secrecy of the reeds and the marsh.
22 The lotus trees conceal it in their[ae] shadow;
the poplars by the stream conceal it.
23 If the river rages,[af] it is not disturbed,
it is secure,[ag] though the Jordan
should surge up to its mouth.
24 Can anyone catch it by its eyes,[ah]
or pierce its nose with a snare?[ai]
Paul and Barnabas Part Company
36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return[a] and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord[b] to see how they are doing.”[c] 37 Barnabas wanted to bring John called Mark along with them too, 38 but Paul insisted[d] that they should not take along this one who had left them in Pamphylia[e] and had not accompanied them in the work. 39 They had[f] a sharp disagreement,[g] so that they parted company. Barnabas took along[h] Mark and sailed away to Cyprus,[i] 40 but Paul chose Silas and set out, commended[j] to the grace of the Lord by the brothers and sisters.[k] 41 He passed through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening[l] the churches.
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas
16 He also came to Derbe[m] and to Lystra.[n] A disciple[o] named Timothy was there, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer,[p] but whose father was a Greek.[q] 2 The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well[r] of him.[s] 3 Paul wanted Timothy[t] to accompany him, and he took[u] him and circumcised[v] him because of the Jews who were in those places,[w] for they all knew that his father was Greek.[x] 4 As they went through the towns,[y] they passed on[z] the decrees that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the Gentile believers[aa] to obey.[ab] 5 So the churches were being strengthened in the faith and were increasing in number every day.[ac]
55 Now the Jewish Feast of Passover[a] was near, and many people went up to Jerusalem from the rural areas before the Passover to cleanse themselves ritually.[b] 56 Thus they were looking for Jesus,[c] and saying to one another as they stood in the temple courts,[d] “What do you think? That he won’t come to the feast?” 57 (Now the chief priests and the Pharisees[e] had given orders that anyone who knew where Jesus[f] was should report it, so that they could arrest[g] him.)[h]
Jesus’ Anointing
12 Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, whom he[i] had raised from the dead. 2 So they prepared a dinner for Jesus[j] there. Martha[k] was serving, and Lazarus was among those present at the table[l] with him. 3 Then Mary took three quarters of a pound[m] of expensive aromatic oil from pure nard[n] and anointed the feet of Jesus. She[o] then wiped his feet dry with her hair. (Now the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfumed oil.)[p] 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (the one who was going to betray him)[q] said, 5 “Why wasn’t this oil sold for 300 silver coins[r] and the money[s] given to the poor?” 6 (Now Judas[t] said this not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief. As keeper of the money box,[u] he used to steal what was put into it.)[v] 7 So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. She has kept it for the day of my burial.[w] 8 For you will always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me!”[x]
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