Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 25
[A Psalm] of David.
1 Unto You, O Lord, do I bring my life.
2 O my God, I trust, lean on, rely on, and am confident in You. Let me not be put to shame or [my hope in You] be disappointed; let not my enemies triumph over me.
3 Yes, let none who trust and wait hopefully and look for You be put to shame or be disappointed; let them be ashamed who forsake the right or deal treacherously without cause.
4 Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths.
5 Guide me in Your truth and faithfulness and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You [You only and altogether] do I wait [expectantly] all the day long.
6 Remember, O Lord, Your tender mercy and loving-kindness; for they have been ever from of old.
7 Remember not the sins (the lapses and frailties) of my youth or my transgressions; according to Your mercy and steadfast love remember me, for Your goodness’ sake, O Lord.
8 Good and upright is the Lord; therefore will He instruct sinners in [His] way.
9 He leads the humble in what is right, and the humble He teaches His way.
10 All the paths of the Lord are mercy and steadfast love, even truth and faithfulness are they for those who keep His covenant and His testimonies.
11 For Your name’s sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity and my guilt, for [they are] great.
12 Who is the man who reverently fears and worships the Lord? Him shall He teach in the way that he should choose.
13 He himself shall dwell at ease, and his offspring shall inherit the land.
14 The secret [of the sweet, satisfying companionship] of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its [deep, inner] meaning.(A)
15 My eyes are ever toward the Lord, for He will pluck my feet out of the net.
16 [Lord] turn to me and be gracious to me, for I am lonely and afflicted.
17 The troubles of my heart are multiplied; bring me out of my distresses.
18 Behold my affliction and my pain and forgive all my sins [of thinking and doing].
19 Consider my enemies, for they abound; they hate me with cruel hatred.
20 O keep me, Lord, and deliver me; let me not be ashamed or disappointed, for my trust and my refuge are in You.
21 Let integrity and uprightness preserve me, for I wait for and expect You.
22 Redeem Israel, O God, out of all their troubles.
Psalm 9
To the Chief Musician; set for [possibly] soprano voices. A Psalm of David.
1 I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth (recount and tell aloud) all Your marvelous works and wonderful deeds!
2 I will rejoice in You and be in high spirits; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High!
3 When my enemies turned back, they stumbled and perished before You.
4 For You have maintained my right and my cause; You sat on the throne judging righteously.
5 You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever.
6 The enemy have been cut off and have vanished in everlasting ruins, You have plucked up and overthrown their cities; the very memory of them has perished and vanished.
7 But the Lord shall remain and continue forever; He has prepared and established His throne for judgment.(A)
8 And He will judge the world in righteousness (rightness and equity); He will minister justice to the peoples in uprightness.(B)
9 The Lord also will be a refuge and a high tower for the oppressed, a refuge and a stronghold in times of trouble (high cost, destitution, and desperation).
10 And they who know Your name [who have experience and acquaintance with Your mercy] will lean on and confidently put their trust in You, for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek (inquire of and for) You [on the authority of God’s Word and the right of their necessity].(C)
11 Sing praises to the Lord, Who dwells in Zion! Declare among the peoples His doings!
12 For He Who avenges the blood [of His people shed unjustly] remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the afflicted (the poor and the humble).
13 Have mercy upon me and be gracious to me, O Lord; consider how I am afflicted by those who hate me, You Who lift me up from the gates of death,
14 That I may show forth (recount and tell aloud) all Your praises! In the gates of the Daughter of Zion I will rejoice in Your salvation and Your saving help.
15 The nations have sunk down in the pit that they made; in the net which they hid is their own foot caught.
16 The Lord has made Himself known; He executes judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. Higgaion [meditation]. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
17 The wicked shall be turned back [headlong into premature death] into Sheol (the place of the departed spirits of the wicked), even all the nations that forget or are forgetful of God.
18 For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the expectation and hope of the meek and the poor shall not perish forever.
19 Arise, O Lord! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before You.
20 Put them in fear [make them realize their frail nature], O Lord, that the nations may know themselves to be but men. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
Psalm 15
A Psalm of David.
1 Lord, who shall dwell [temporarily] in Your tabernacle? Who shall dwell [permanently] on Your holy hill?
2 He who walks and lives uprightly and blamelessly, who works rightness and justice and speaks and thinks the truth in his heart,
3 He who does not slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, nor takes up a reproach against his neighbor;
4 In whose eyes a vile person is despised, but he who honors those who fear the Lord (who revere and worship Him); who swears to his own hurt and does not change;
5 [He who] does not put out his money for [a]interest [to one of his own people] and who will not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.(A)
8 Woe to those who join house to house [and by violently expelling the poorer occupants enclose large acreage] and join field to field until there is no place for others and you are made to dwell alone in the midst of the land!
9 In my [Isaiah’s] ears the Lord of hosts said, Of a truth many houses shall be desolate, even great and beautiful ones shall be without inhabitant.
10 For ten acres of vineyard shall yield only about eight gallons, and ten bushels of seed will produce but one bushel.
11 Woe unto those who rise early in the morning, that they may pursue strong drink, who tarry late into the night till wine inflames them!
12 They have lyre and harp, tambourine and flute and wine at their feasts, but they do not regard the deeds of the Lord, neither do they consider the operation of His hands [in mercy and in judgment].
18 Woe to those who draw [calamity] with cords of iniquity and falsehood, who bring punishment to themselves with a cart rope of wickedness,
19 Who say, Let [the Holy One] make haste and speed His [prophesied] vengeance, that we may see it; and let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come, that we may know it!
20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!
21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent and shrewd in their own sight!
22 Woe to those who are mighty heroes at drinking wine and men of strength in mixing alcoholic drinks!—
23 Who justify and acquit the guilty for a bribe, but take away the rights of the innocent and righteous from them!
5 But as to the suitable times and the precise seasons and dates, brethren, you have no necessity for anything being written to you.
2 For you yourselves know perfectly well that the day of the [return of the] Lord will come [as unexpectedly and suddenly] as a thief in the night.
3 When people are saying, All is well and secure, and, There is peace and safety, then in a moment unforeseen destruction (ruin and death) will come upon them as suddenly as labor pains come upon a woman with child; and they shall by no means escape, for there will be no escape.
4 But you are not in [given up to the power of] darkness, brethren, for that day to overtake you by surprise like a thief.
5 For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we do not belong either to the night or to darkness.
6 Accordingly then, let us not sleep, as the rest do, but let us keep wide awake (alert, watchful, cautious, and on our guard) and let us be sober (calm, collected, and circumspect).
7 For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk, get drunk at night.
8 But we belong to the day; therefore, let us be sober and put on the breastplate (corslet) of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation.
9 For God has not appointed us to [incur His] wrath [He did not select us to condemn us], but [that we might] obtain [His] salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)
10 Who died for us so that whether we are still alive or are dead [at Christ’s appearing], we might live together with Him and share His life.
11 Therefore encourage (admonish, exhort) one another and edify (strengthen and build up) one another, just as you are doing.
20 But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by armies, then know and understand that its desolation has come near.
21 Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, and let those who are inside [the city] get out of it, and let not those who are out in the country come into it;
22 For those are days of vengeance [of rendering full justice or satisfaction], that all things that are written may be fulfilled.
23 Alas for those who are pregnant and for those who have babies which they are nursing in those days! For great misery and anguish and distress shall be upon the land and indignation and punishment and retribution upon this people.
24 They will fall by [a]the mouth and the edge of the sword and will be led away as captives to and among all nations; and Jerusalem will be trodden down by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled (completed).(A)
25 And there will be signs in the sun and moon and stars; and upon the earth [there will be] distress (trouble and anguish) of nations in bewilderment and perplexity [[b]without resources, left wanting, embarrassed, in doubt, not knowing which way to turn] at the roaring ([c]the echo) of the tossing of the sea,(B)
26 Men swooning away or expiring with fear and dread and apprehension and expectation of the things that are coming on the world; for the [very] powers of the heavens will be shaken and [d]caused to totter.
27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with great (transcendent and overwhelming) power and [all His kingly] glory (majesty and splendor).(C)
28 Now when these things begin to occur, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption (deliverance) is drawing near.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation