Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 30[a]
Thanksgiving for Deliverance from Death
1 A psalm. A song for the dedication of the temple. Of David.
2 I will exalt you, O Lord,
for you have raised me out of the depths[b]
and have not let my enemies exult over me.
3 O Lord, my God,
I called to you and you healed me.[c]
4 O Lord, you lifted me up from the netherworld;[d]
you saved me from sinking into the pit.
5 Sing praise to the Lord, O you his saints;[e]
give thanks to his holy name.
6 For his anger lasts for only a moment,
while his goodwill endures for a lifetime.
Weeping may last throughout the night,[f]
but at daybreak there is rejoicing.
7 In time of good fortune, I said,
“Nothing can ever sway me.”[g]
8 O Lord, in your goodness
you established me as an impregnable mountain;
however, when you hid your face,
I was filled with terror.
9 [h]To you, O Lord, I cried out,
and I implored my God for mercy:
10 “What advantage would my death provide
if I descend into the pit?
Can the dust praise you?
Can it proclaim your faithfulness?
11 Listen, O Lord, and have mercy on me;
O Lord, be my helper.”
12 You have turned my mourning into dancing;
you have taken away my sackcloth[i]
and clothed me with joy.
13 My heart[j] will therefore sing
in unceasing praise to you;
O Lord, my God,
I will praise you forever.
Psalm 32[a]
The Joy of Being Forgiven
1 Of David. A maskil.[b]
[c]Blessed is the one whose offense is forgiven,
whose sin is erased.
2 Blessed is the one to whom the Lord charges no guilt
and in whose spirit there is no guile.
3 As long as I remained silent,[d]
my body wasted away
as the result of my groaning throughout the day.
4 For day and night
your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength withered steadily
as though consumed by the summer heat.[e] Selah
5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
and I made no attempt to conceal my guilt.
I said, “I will confess my offenses[f] to the Lord,”
and you removed the guilt of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore, let everyone who is faithful pray to you
where you may be found.[g]
Even if great floods threaten,
they will never reach him.
7 You are a place of refuge for me;
you preserve me from trouble
and surround me with songs of deliverance.[h] Selah
8 I will instruct you
and guide you in the way you should go;
I will counsel you
and keep my eyes upon you.
9 Do not behave without understanding
like a horse or a mule;
if its temper is not curbed with bit and bridle,
it will not come near you.
10 The wicked has a multitude of troubles,
but the man who trusts in the Lord
is surrounded by kindness.[i]
11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous;
shout for joy, all you upright of heart.[j]
Book II—Psalms 42–72[a]
Psalm 42[b]
Prayer of Longing for God
1 For the director.[c] A maskil of the sons of Korah.
2 As a deer longs for running streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.[d]
3 My soul[e] thirsts for God, the living God.
When shall I come to behold the face of God?
4 My tears have become my food
day and night,
while people taunt me all day long, saying,
“Where is your God?”
5 As I pour out my soul,
I recall those times
when I journeyed with the multitude
and led them in procession to the house of God,
amid loud cries of joy and thanksgiving
on the part of the crowd keeping festival.
6 Why are you so disheartened, O my soul?
Why do you sigh within me?
Place your hope in God,
for I will once again praise him,
my Savior and my God.[f]
7 My soul is disheartened within me;
therefore, I remember you
from the land of Jordan and Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.[g]
8 The depths of the sea resound
in the roar of your waterfalls;[h]
all your waves and your breakers
sweep over me.
9 During the day the Lord grants his kindness,
and at night his praise is with me,
a prayer to the living God.[i]
10 I say to God, my Rock,[j]
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about in mourning
while my enemy oppresses me?”
11 It crushes my bones
when my foes taunt me,
jeering at me all day long,
“Where is your God?”[k]
12 Why are you so disheartened, O my soul?
Why do you sigh within me?
Place your hope in God;
for I will once again praise him,
my Savior and my God.[l]
Psalm 43[m]
Prayer To Worship God Anew
1 Grant me your justice, O God,
and plead my cause against a godless nation;
rescue me from those who are deceitful and unjust.
2 You, O God, are my refuge;
why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about in mourning,
while my enemy oppresses me?
3 Send forth your light and your truth;[n]
they will serve as my guide.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place of your dwelling.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to the God of my joy and delight,
and I will praise you[o] with the harp,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you so disheartened, O my soul?
Why do you sigh within me?
Place your hope in God;
for I will once again praise him,
my Savior and my God.[p]
17 [a]You should say to yourselves, “These nations were stronger than we were. How did we ever drive them out?” 18 Do not be afraid of them. Remember what the Lord, your God, did to Pharaoh and to the whole of Egypt. 19 You saw with your own eyes the tremendous trials, signs, and wonders, how with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm the Lord, your God, brought you out. The Lord, your God, will do the same things to all of those people of whom you are afraid. 20 The Lord, your God, will destroy them by sending hornets into the midst of those who survived and are hiding. 21 Do not be afraid of them, for the Lord, your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God. 22 Little by little the Lord, your God, will drive out those nations before you. You will not be able to eliminate them immediately, lest the wild animals around you multiply too much. 23 The Lord, your God, will hand them over to you, throwing them into a great confusion until they are totally wiped out. 24 He will deliver kings into your hands, and you will wipe out their names from under the heavens. No one will be able to stand up to you. You will destroy them.
25 You are to burn the idols of their gods in the fire. Do not seek after the gold or the silver that covers them, nor take it for yourselves, lest it become a snare for you. It is an abomination to the Lord, your God. 26 Nor should you bring an abomination into your house, or you, like it, will be set aside for destruction. Loathe and detest it, for it is something that is cursed.
Chapter 3
1 Remind everyone to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey them, to be ready to perform any honorable task,[a] 2 to slander no one, to avoid quarrels, to be gentle, and to be gracious to everyone.
3 For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, and enslaved by various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy. We ourselves were hateful, and we hated one another.
4 But when the goodness and loving kindness
of God our Savior appeared,
5 [b]not because of any righteous deeds on our part
but because of his mercy,
he saved us through the bath of rebirth
and renewal by the Holy Spirit,
6 whom he lavished on us abundantly
through Jesus Christ our Savior,
7 so that we might be justified by his grace
and become heirs in hope of eternal life.
8 This saying can be trusted.
Be Devoted to Good Works.[c] I want you to stress these points, so that those who have come to believe in God will be determined to devote themselves to good works. All this is right and beneficial for people. 9 But avoid foolish arguments, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the Law, for they are unprofitable and futile.
10 Warn a heretic once or twice, but afterward reject him. 11 You may be sure that such a person is perverted and sinful and stands self-condemned.
Conclusion[d]
12 Final Message. As soon as I have sent Artemas[e] or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, where I intend to spend the winter. 13 Send Zenas the lawyer and Apollos[f] on their way, and see to it that they lack nothing. 14 Meanwhile, our people must be taught to devote themselves to good works in order to meet urgent needs[g] so that they will not be unfruitful.
15 Farewell. All those with me send you greetings. Greetings to those who love us in the faith.
Grace be with all of you.[h]
43 The next day Jesus[a] decided to go to Galilee. Encountering Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip came from the same town, Bethsaida,[b] as Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael[c] and said to him, “We have found the one about whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip replied, “Come and see.”
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Behold, a true Israelite, in whom there is no deception.”[d] 48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip summoned you, when you were under the fig tree,[e] I saw you.” 49 Nathanael said to him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.” 50 Jesus responded, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that.” 51 Then he added, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”[f]
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