Book of Common Prayer
O Lord, Be Gracious to Me
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
41 (A)Blessed is the one who considers the poor![a]
(B)In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
2 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you (C)do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health.[b]
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, (D)be gracious to me;
(E)heal me,[c] for I have sinned against you!”
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And when one comes to see me, (F)he utters empty words,
while his heart gathers iniquity;
when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.[d]
8 They say, “A deadly thing is poured out[e] on him;
he will not rise again from where he lies.”
9 Even my (G)close friend in whom I trusted,
who (H)ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!
11 By this I know that (I)you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
12 But (J)you have upheld me because of (K)my integrity,
and (L)set me in your presence (M)forever.
13 (N)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.
The Steadfast Love of God Endures
To the choirmaster. A Maskil[a] of David, when (A)Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
2 Your (B)tongue plots destruction,
like (C)a sharp razor, you (D)worker of deceit.
3 You love evil more than good,
and (E)lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
4 You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.
5 But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and (F)tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from (G)the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous shall (H)see and fear,
and shall (I)laugh at him, saying,
7 “See the man who would not make
God his refuge,
but (J)trusted in the abundance of his riches
and sought refuge in his own destruction!”[b]
Come to Our Help
To the choirmaster. (A)A Maskil[a] of the Sons of Korah.
44 O God, we have heard with our ears,
(B)our fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
(C)in the days of old:
2 you with your own hand (D)drove out the nations,
but (E)them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but (F)them you set free;
3 for not (G)by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
and (H)the light of your face,
(I)for you delighted in them.
4 (J)You are my King, O God;
(K)ordain salvation for Jacob!
5 Through you we (L)push down our foes;
through your name we (M)tread down those who rise up against us.
6 For not in (N)my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes
and have (O)put to shame those who hate us.
8 (P)In God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
9 But you have (Q)rejected us and disgraced us
and (R)have not gone out with our armies.
10 You have made us (S)turn back from the foe,
and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like (T)sheep for slaughter
and have (U)scattered us among the nations.
12 (V)You have sold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.
13 You have made us (W)the taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and (X)scorn of those around us.
14 You have made us (Y)a byword among the nations,
(Z)a laughingstock[b] among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and (AA)shame has covered my face
16 at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
at the sight of (AB)the enemy and the avenger.
17 (AC)All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our (AD)steps (AE)departed from your way;
19 yet you have (AF)broken us in the place of (AG)jackals
and covered us with (AH)the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or (AI)spread out our hands to (AJ)a foreign god,
21 (AK)would not God discover this?
(AL)For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yet (AM)for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 (AN)Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! (AO)Do not reject us forever!
24 Why (AP)do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our (AQ)soul is bowed down to the dust;
our belly clings to the ground.
26 Rise up; (AR)come to our help!
(AS)Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!
16 Bind up (A)the testimony; (B)seal the teaching[a] among my disciples. 17 I will (C)wait for the Lord, who is (D)hiding his face from the house of Jacob, and I will hope in him. 18 (E)Behold, I and (F)the children whom the Lord has given me are signs and portents in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwells on Mount Zion. 19 And when they say to you, “Inquire of the (G)mediums and the necromancers who chirp and mutter,” should not a people inquire of their God? Should they inquire of (H)the dead on behalf of the living? 20 (I)To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no (J)dawn. 21 They will pass through the land,[b] greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against[c] their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. 22 (K)And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into (L)thick darkness.
For to Us a Child Is Born
9 [d] But there will be no (M)gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he (N)brought into contempt the land of (O)Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he (P)has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations.[e]
Greeting
1 Simeon[a] Peter, a servant[b] and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have obtained (A)a faith of equal standing with ours (B)by the righteousness of our (C)God and Savior Jesus Christ:
2 (D)May grace and peace be multiplied to you (E)in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Confirm Your Calling and Election
3 His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him (F)who called us to[c] his own glory and excellence,[d] 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become (G)partakers of the divine nature, (H)having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith (I)with virtue,[e] and virtue (J)with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control (K)with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness (L)with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection (M)with love. 8 For if these qualities[f] are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or (N)unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he (O)is blind, having forgotten that he was (P)cleansed from his former sins. 10 Therefore, brothers,[g] be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and (Q)election, for if you practice these qualities (R)you will never fall. 11 For in this way there will be richly provided for you (S)an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Jesus Prays on the Mount of Olives
39 (A)And he came out and went, (B)as was his custom, to (C)the Mount of Olives, and the disciples followed him. 40 (D)And when he came to (E)the place, he said to them, (F)“Pray that you may not (G)enter into temptation.” 41 And he withdrew from them about a stone's throw, and (H)knelt down and prayed, 42 saying, (I)“Father, if you are willing, remove (J)this cup from me. (K)Nevertheless, not my will, but yours, be done.” 43 And there appeared to him (L)an angel from heaven, strengthening him. 44 And (M)being in agony he prayed more earnestly; and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground.[a] 45 And when he rose from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping for sorrow, 46 and he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Rise and (N)pray that you may not enter into temptation.”
Betrayal and Arrest of Jesus
47 (O)While he was still speaking, there came a crowd, and the man called (P)Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He drew near to Jesus to kiss him, 48 but Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?” 49 And when those who were around him saw what would follow, they said, “Lord, shall we strike (Q)with the sword?” 50 And one of them struck the servant[b] of the high priest and cut off his right ear. 51 But Jesus said, “No more of this!” And he touched his ear and healed him. 52 Then Jesus said to the chief priests and (R)officers of the temple and elders, who had come out against him, “Have you come out as against a robber, with swords and clubs? 53 When (S)I was with you day after day in the temple, you did not lay hands on me. But this is (T)your hour, and (U)the power of darkness.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.