Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 55[a]
Prayer in Time of Betrayal by a Friend
1 For the director.[b] On stringed instruments. A maskil of David.
2 [c]Give ear to my prayer, O God,
do not ignore my supplication.
3 Listen to my cry and answer me,
for my troubles afford me no peace.
4 I am terrified by the shouts of the enemy
and the uproar of the wicked.
For they inflict troubles upon me,
and in their anger they revile me.
5 [d]My heart[e] is filled with anguish,
and I am beset by the terrors of death.
6 Fear and trembling overpower me;
horror overwhelms me.
7 I say, “If only I had wings like a dove
so that I could fly away and be at rest!
8 I would flee away
and seek shelter in the wilderness. Selah
9 I would hurry to a place of refuge,
far from the savage wind and tempest.”
10 [f]Restrain the wicked, O Lord, and confound their speech,[g]
for I see violence and strife in the city.
11 Day and night they make their rounds on its walls,
and within it are iniquity and malice.
12 Destruction is also in its midst;
oppression and treachery pervade its streets.
13 [h]If it was an enemy who reviled me,
I could endure that.
If a foe had treated me with contempt,
I could manage to avoid him.
14 But it was you, one like myself,
a companion and a dear friend,
15 with whom I engaged in pleasant conversation
as we walked with the festive throng
in the house of God.
16 Let death strike my enemies by surprise;
let them descend alive to the netherworld,
for evil dwells in their homes
and in the depths of their hearts.[i]
17 [j]But I make my appeal to God,
and the Lord will save me.
18 Evening, morning, and noon[k]
I will cry out in my distress,
and he will hear my voice.
19 [l]He will deliver me in peace and safety
from those who are arrayed against me,
even though there are many of them.
20 God will hear me and humiliate them,
he who has been enthroned forever. Selah
For they neither change their ways
nor have any fear of God.
21 My companion treats his friends harshly
and breaks his covenant.
22 His speech is smoother than butter,
but war is in his heart.
His words are more soothing than oil,
yet in reality they are drawn swords.
23 Entrust your cares to the Lord,
and he will uphold you;[m]
he will never allow the righteous to waver.
24 But you, O God, will send the wicked
down to the pit of destruction;[n]
those who are bloodthirsty and treacherous
will not live out half their days.
But as for me,
I will put my trust in you.
Psalm 138[a]
Thanksgiving for God’s Favor
1 Of David.
I offer you thanks, O Lord, with all my heart;[b]
before the “gods” I sing your praise.
2 I bow down toward your holy temple
and I praise your name[c]
for your kindness and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
3 On the day I cried out, you answered me
and granted strength to my spirit.
4 [d]All the kings of the earth will praise you, O Lord,
when they hear the words of your mouth.
5 They will sing of the ways of the Lord:
“How great is the Lord’s glory!”
6 For though the Lord is exalted, he cares for the lowly,[e]
but he remains far distant from the proud.
7 Although I walk in the midst of hostility,
you preserve my life.
You stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and with your right hand[f] you deliver me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his plan for me.
Your kindness, O Lord, endures forever;
do not forsake the work of your hands.[g]
Psalm 139[h]
God’s Infinite Knowledge and Universal Power
1 For the director.[i] A psalm of David.
[j]O Lord, you have examined me
and you know me.
2 You know when I sit and when I stand;[k]
you perceive my thoughts from a distance.
3 You mark when I go out and when I lie down;
all my ways are open to you.
4 A word is not even on my tongue
and you, O Lord, are completely aware of it.
5 You enfold me from in front and from behind,
and you place your hand upon me.[l]
6 Your knowledge is beyond my comprehension,
far too sublime for me to attain.
7 [m]Where can I go to hide from your spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I ascend to the heavens, you are there;
if I take my rest in the netherworld, you are also there.
9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn[n]
and settle at the farthest limits of the sea,
10 even there your hand will guide me,
and your right hand will hold me fast.
11 [o]If I say, “Surely the darkness will conceal me
and the day around me will turn to night,”
12 even the darkness is not dark to you;
the night is as bright as the day,
for to you darkness and light are the same.
13 [p]You created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because I am wonderfully made;
awesome are your works,
as I know very well.
15 My body was not hidden from you
when I was being made in secret.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
you saw me in the womb.[q]
16 [r]The sum total of my days
were all recorded in your book.[s]
My life was fashioned
before it had come into being.
17 How precious to me are your designs, O God!
How vast in number they are!
18 If I were to attempt to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.
When I awake,[t]
I am still with you.
19 [u]If only you would slay the wicked, O God,
and the bloodthirsty would leave me![v]
20 They blaspheme your name
and treacherously rise up against you.[w]
21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord,
and loathe those who rise up against you?
22 My hatred for them is unlimited;
I regard them as my personal enemies.
23 Examine me, O God, and know my heart;[x]
test me and understand my thoughts.
Chapter 35
1 The one who observes the law multiplies his offerings;
2 one who keeps the commandments sacrifices a peace offering.
3 The one who returns a kindness offers choice flour,[a]
4 and one who gives alms presents a sacrifice of praise.
5 If you wish to please the Lord, abandon wickedness;
to forsake wrongdoing is a sacrifice of atonement.
6 Do not appear before the Lord empty-handed,
7 for all that you offer is in fulfillment of the commandments.
8 The offering of the righteous enriches the altar,
and its pleasing odor rises before the Most High.
9 The sacrifice of the righteous is acceptable,
nor will it ever be forgotten.
10 Have a spirit of generosity when you honor the Lord;
do not begrudge the firstfruits of your labor.
11 With every gift show a cheerful countenance,
and dedicate your tithes in a spirit of joy.
12 Give to the Most High as he has given to you,
as generously as your means allow.
13 For the Lord never neglects to repay,
and he will reward you sevenfold.
[The man who gives to the poor makes God his debtor;
who will make recompense if not God?][b]
God Judges According to the Heart[c]
14 Do not offer God a bribe, for he will not accept it,
15 and do not place your hope in a dishonest sacrifice.
For the Lord is a judge,
and he is completely impartial.
16 He will not show favoritism to the detriment of the poor,
and he listens to the cries of the oppressed.
17 He does not ignore the supplication of the orphan,
or that of the widow when she pours out her complaint.
11 A Beast Rises from the Earth.[a] Then I saw another beast, this one rising up out of the earth. It had two horns like those of a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. 12 It wielded all the authority of the first beast on its behalf, and it forced the earth and all its inhabitants to worship the first beast, whose mortal wound had been healed. 13 It performed great signs, even making fire come down from heaven to earth in the sight of all.
14 By the signs it was allowed to perform on behalf of the beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth, persuading them to erect an image for the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet lived. 15 It was permitted to give life to the beast’s image so that it could even speak and cause all those to be put to death who would not worship the image of the beast.
16 It also forced all the people, both small and great, both rich and poor, both free and slave, to be branded on the right hand or on the forehead. 17 No one could buy or sell anything except one who has been branded with the name of the beast or with the number of its name.
18 There is wisdom here. Let anyone who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a person. The number is six hundred and sixty-six.
32 Treasure in Heaven.[a]“Fear not, little flock, for your Father has chosen to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions and give to those in need. Provide money bags for yourselves that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven that no thief can come near and no moth can destroy. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart also be.
Parables about Watchfulness[b]
35 The Parable of the Vigilant Steward.[c]“Fasten your belts for service and have your lamps lit. 36 Be like servants who are waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that they may open the door as soon as he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he arrives. Amen, I say to you, he will fasten his belt, have them recline to eat, and proceed to wait on them himself. 38 If he comes in the second watch[d] or in the third and finds them still awake, blessed are those servants.
39 The Hour of the Son of Man.[e]“But keep this in mind: if the owner of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 So you must also be prepared, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.”
41 The Parable of the Faithful Servant.[f] Then Peter asked, “Lord, are you directing this parable to us or do you mean it for everyone?” 42 The Lord replied, “Who then is the faithful and wise steward whom his master will put in charge of his household to give its members their allotment of food at the proper time? 43 Blessed is that servant if his master finds him doing so when he arrives home. 44 Truly I tell you, he will put him in charge of all his property.
45 “But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is detained in arriving,’ and he proceeds to beat the menservants and the maids, and to eat and drink and get drunk, 46 the master of that servant will return on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know. He will punish him and assign him a place with the unfaithful.
47 “The servant who knew his master’s wishes but did not get ready or do what his master wanted will receive a severe beating. 48 But the one who did not know those wishes, and who acted in such a manner as to deserve a beating, will be beaten less severely. Much will be demanded of a person to whom much has been given, and even more will be asked of a person to whom more has been entrusted.
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