Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 95[a]
95 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord.
Let us shout out praises to our Protector who delivers us.[b]
2 Let us enter his presence[c] with thanksgiving.
Let us shout out to him in celebration.[d]
3 For the Lord is a great God,
a great king who is superior to[e] all gods.
4 The depths of the earth are in his hand,[f]
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.
6 Come, let us bow down and worship.[g]
Let us kneel before the Lord, our Creator.
7 For he is our God;
we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep he owns.[h]
Today, if only you would obey him.[i]
8 He says,[j] “Do not be stubborn like they were at Meribah,[k]
like they were that day at Massah[l] in the wilderness,[m]
9 where your ancestors challenged my authority,[n]
and tried my patience, even though they had seen my work.
10 For forty years I was continually disgusted[o] with that generation,
and I said, ‘These people desire to go astray;[p]
they do not obey my commands.’[q]
11 So I made a vow in my anger,
‘They will never enter into the resting place I had set aside for them.’”[r]
Psalm 31[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
31 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter.
Never let me be humiliated.
Vindicate me by rescuing me.[b]
2 Listen to me.[c]
Quickly deliver me.
Be my protector and refuge,[d]
a stronghold where I can be safe.[e]
3 For you are my high ridge[f] and my stronghold;
for the sake of your own reputation[g] you lead me and guide me.[h]
4 You will free me[i] from the net they hid for me,
for you are my place of refuge.
5 Into your hand I entrust my life;[j]
you will rescue[k] me, O Lord, the faithful God.
6 I hate those who serve worthless idols,[l]
but I trust in the Lord.
7 I will be happy and rejoice in your faithfulness,
because you notice my pain
and you are aware of how distressed I am.[m]
8 You do not deliver me over to the power of the enemy;
you enable me to stand[n] in a wide open place.
9 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am in distress!
My eyes grow dim[o] from suffering.[p]
I have lost my strength.[q]
10 For my life nears its end in pain;
my years draw to a close as I groan.[r]
My strength fails me because of[s] my sin,
and my bones become brittle.[t]
11 Because of all my enemies, people disdain me;[u]
my neighbors are appalled by my suffering[v]—
those who know me are horrified by my condition;[w]
those who see me in the street run away from me.
12 I am forgotten, like a dead man no one thinks about;[x]
I am regarded as worthless, like a broken jar.[y]
13 For I hear what so many are saying,[z]
the terrifying news that comes from every direction.[aa]
When they plot together against me,
they figure out how they can take my life.
14 But I trust in you, O Lord!
I declare, “You are my God!”
15 You determine my destiny.[ab]
Rescue me from the power of my enemies and those who chase me.
16 Smile[ac] on your servant.
Deliver me because of your faithfulness.
17 O Lord, do not let me be humiliated,
for I call out to you.
May evil men be humiliated.
May they go wailing to the grave.[ad]
18 May lying lips be silenced—
lips[ae] that speak defiantly against the innocent[af]
with arrogance and contempt.
19 How great is your favor,[ag]
which you store up for your loyal followers.[ah]
In plain sight of everyone you bestow it on those who take shelter[ai] in you.[aj]
20 You hide them with you, where they are safe from the attacks[ak] of men;[al]
you conceal them in a shelter, where they are safe from slanderous attacks.[am]
21 The Lord deserves praise[an]
for he demonstrated his amazing faithfulness to me when I was besieged by enemies.[ao]
22 I jumped to conclusions and said,[ap]
“I am cut off from your presence!”[aq]
But you heard my plea for mercy when I cried out to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you faithful followers[ar] of his!
The Lord protects those who have integrity,
but he pays back in full the one who acts arrogantly.[as]
24 Be strong and confident,[at]
all you who wait on the Lord.
Psalm 35[a]
By David.
35 O Lord, fight[b] those who fight with me.
Attack those who attack me.
2 Grab your small shield and large shield,[c]
and rise up to help me.
3 Use your spear and lance[d] against[e] those who chase me.
Assure me with these words:[f] “I am your deliverer.”
4 May those who seek my life be embarrassed and humiliated.
May those who plan to harm me be turned back and ashamed.[g]
5 May they be[h] like wind-driven chaff,
as the angel of the Lord[i] attacks them.[j]
6 May their path be[k] dark and slippery,
as the angel of the Lord chases them.
7 I did not harm them, but they hid a net to catch me
and dug a pit to trap me.[l]
8 Let destruction take them by surprise.[m]
Let the net they hid catch them.
Let them fall into destruction.[n]
9 Then I will rejoice in the Lord
and be happy because of his deliverance.[o]
10 With all my strength I will say,[p]
“O Lord, who can compare to you?
You rescue[q] the oppressed from those who try to overpower them,[r]
the oppressed and needy from those who try to rob them.”[s]
11 Violent men perjure themselves,[t]
and falsely accuse me.[u]
12 They repay me evil for the good I have done;[v]
I am overwhelmed with sorrow.[w]
13 When they were sick, I wore sackcloth,[x]
and refrained from eating food.[y]
(If I am lying, may my prayers go unanswered.)[z]
14 I mourned for them as I would for a friend or my brother.[aa]
I bowed down[ab] in sorrow as if I were mourning for my mother.[ac]
15 But when I stumbled, they rejoiced and gathered together;
they gathered together to ambush me.[ad]
They tore at me without stopping to rest.[ae]
16 When I tripped, they taunted me relentlessly,[af]
and tried to bite me.[ag]
17 O Lord, how long are you going to watch this?
Rescue[ah] me[ai] from their destructive attacks;
guard my life[aj] from the young lions.
18 Then I will give you thanks in the great assembly;[ak]
I will praise you before a large crowd of people.[al]
19 Do not let those who are my enemies for no reason[am] gloat[an] over me.
Do not let those who hate me without cause carry out their wicked schemes.[ao]
20 For they do not try to make peace with others,[ap]
but plan ways to deceive those who live peacefully in the land.[aq]
21 They are ready to devour me;[ar]
they say, “Aha! Aha! We’ve got you!”[as]
22 But you take notice,[at] Lord; do not be silent!
O Lord, do not remain far away from me.
23 Rouse yourself, wake up[au] and vindicate me.[av]
My God and Lord, defend my just cause.[aw]
24 Vindicate me by your justice, O Lord my God.
Do not let them gloat[ax] over me.
25 Do not let them say to themselves,[ay] “Aha! We have what we wanted!”[az]
Do not let them say, “We have devoured him.”
26 May those who rejoice in my troubles be totally embarrassed and ashamed.[ba]
May those who arrogantly taunt me be covered with shame and humiliation.[bb]
27 May those who desire my vindication shout for joy and rejoice.
May they continually say,[bc] “May the Lord be praised,[bd] for he wants his servant to be secure.”[be]
28 Then I will tell others about your justice,[bf]
and praise you all day long.[bg]
Promises of Good for Covenant Obedience
12 If you obey these ordinances and are careful to do them, the Lord your God will faithfully keep covenant with you[a] as he promised[b] your ancestors. 13 He will love and bless you, and make you numerous. He will bless you with many children,[c] with the produce of your soil, your grain, your new wine, your olive oil, the offspring of your oxen, and the young of your flocks in the land that he promised your ancestors to give you. 14 You will be blessed beyond all peoples; there will be no barrenness[d] among you or your livestock. 15 The Lord will protect you from all sickness, and you will not experience any of the terrible diseases that you knew in Egypt; instead he will inflict them on all those who hate you.
Exhortation to Destroy Canaanite Paganism
16 You must destroy[e] all the people whom the Lord your God is about to deliver over to you; you must not pity them or worship[f] their gods, for that will be a snare to you.
Conduct Consistent with Sound Teaching
2 But as for you, communicate the behavior that goes with[a] sound teaching. 2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled,[b] sound in faith, in love, and in endurance.[c] 3 Older women likewise are to exhibit behavior fitting for those who are holy, not slandering, not slaves to excessive drinking, but teaching what is good. 4 In this way[d] they will train[e] the younger women to love their husbands, to love their children, 5 to be self-controlled,[f] pure, fulfilling their duties at home,[g] kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the message[h] of God may not be discredited.[i] 6 Encourage younger men likewise to be self-controlled,[j] 7 showing yourself to be an example of good works in every way. In your teaching show integrity, dignity, 8 and a sound message that cannot be criticized, so that any opponent will be at a loss,[k] because he has nothing evil to say about us. 9 Slaves[l] are to be subject to their own masters in everything,[m] to do what is wanted and not talk back, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith,[n] in order to bring credit to[o] the teaching of God our Savior in everything.
11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people.[p] 12 It trains us[q] to reject godless ways[r] and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing[s] of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ.[t] 14 He[u] gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his,[v] who are eager to do good.[w] 15 So communicate these things with the sort of exhortation or rebuke[x] that carries full authority.[y] Don’t let anyone look down[z] on you.
35 Again the next day John[a] was standing there[b] with two of his disciples. 36 Gazing at Jesus as he walked by, he said, “Look, the Lamb of God!”[c] 37 When John’s[d] two disciples heard him say this,[e] they followed Jesus.[f] 38 Jesus turned around and saw them following and said to them, “What do you want?”[g] So they said to him, “Rabbi” (which is translated Teacher),[h] “where are you staying?” 39 Jesus[i] answered,[j] “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day. Now it was about four o’clock in the afternoon.[k]
Andrew’s Declaration
40 Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two disciples who heard what John said[l] and followed Jesus.[m] 41 He first[n] found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah!”[o] (which is translated Christ).[p] 42 Andrew brought Simon[q] to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, “You are Simon, the son of John.[r] You will be called Cephas” (which is translated Peter).[s]
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