Book of Common Prayer
O Lord, Do Not Delay
To the choirmaster. Of David, (A)for the memorial offering.
70 (B)Make haste, O God, to deliver me!
O Lord, make haste to help me!
2 Let them be put to shame and confusion
who seek my life!
Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
3 Let them turn back because of their shame
who say, “Aha, Aha!”
4 May all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you!
May those who love your salvation
say evermore, “God is great!”
5 But I am poor and needy;
(C)hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay!
Forsake Me Not When My Strength Is Spent
71 (D)In you, O Lord, do I take refuge;
let me never be put to shame!
2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
incline your ear to me, and save me!
3 Be to me a rock of (E)refuge,
to which I may continually come;
you have (F)given the command to save me,
for you are my (G)rock and my fortress.
4 (H)Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man.
5 For you, O Lord, are my (I)hope,
my trust, O Lord, from my youth.
6 Upon you I have leaned (J)from before my birth;
you are he who (K)took me from my mother's womb.
My praise is continually of you.
7 I have been as (L)a portent to many,
but you are my strong refuge.
8 My (M)mouth is filled with your praise,
and with your glory all the day.
9 (N)Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
forsake me not when my strength is spent.
10 For my enemies speak concerning me;
those who (O)watch for my life (P)consult together
11 and say, “God has forsaken him;
pursue and seize him,
for there is none to deliver him.”
12 O God, be not (Q)far from me;
O my God, (R)make haste to help me!
13 May my accusers be (S)put to shame and consumed;
(T)with scorn and disgrace may they be covered
who (U)seek my hurt.
14 But I will (V)hope continually
and will (W)praise you yet more and more.
15 My (X)mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
of your deeds of salvation all the day,
for (Y)their number is past my knowledge.
16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord God I will come;
I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.
17 O God, from my youth you have taught me,
and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds.
18 So even to (Z)old age and gray hairs,
O God, (AA)do not forsake me,
until I proclaim your might to another generation,
your power to all those to come.
19 Your (AB)righteousness, O God,
reaches the high heavens.
You who have done (AC)great things,
O God, (AD)who is like you?
20 You who have (AE)made me see many troubles and calamities
will (AF)revive me again;
from the depths of the earth
you will bring me up again.
21 You will increase my greatness
and comfort me again.
22 I will also praise you with (AG)the harp
for your faithfulness, O my God;
I will sing praises to you with the lyre,
O (AH)Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy,
when I sing praises to you;
my soul also, which you have (AI)redeemed.
24 And my (AJ)tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long,
for they have been (AK)put to shame and disappointed
who sought to do me hurt.
Arise, O God, Defend Your Cause
A Maskil[a] of (A)Asaph.
74 O God, why do you (B)cast us off forever?
Why does your anger (C)smoke against (D)the sheep of your pasture?
2 (E)Remember your congregation, which you have (F)purchased of old,
which you have (G)redeemed to be (H)the tribe of your heritage!
Remember Mount Zion, (I)where you have dwelt.
3 Direct your steps to (J)the perpetual ruins;
the enemy has destroyed everything in the sanctuary!
4 Your foes have (K)roared in the midst of your meeting place;
(L)they set up their (M)own signs for (N)signs.
5 They were like those who swing (O)axes
in a forest of trees.[b]
6 And all its (P)carved wood
they broke down with hatchets and hammers.
7 They (Q)set your sanctuary on fire;
they (R)profaned (S)the dwelling place of your name,
bringing it down to the ground.
8 They (T)said to themselves, “We will utterly subdue them”;
they burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our (U)signs;
(V)there is no longer any prophet,
and there is none among us who knows how long.
10 How long, O God, (W)is the foe to scoff?
Is the enemy to revile your name forever?
11 Why (X)do you hold back your hand, your right hand?
Take it from the fold of your garment[c] and destroy them!
12 Yet (Y)God my King is from of old,
working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You (Z)divided the sea by your might;
you (AA)broke the heads of (AB)the sea monsters[d] on the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of (AC)Leviathan;
you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness.
15 You (AD)split open springs and brooks;
you (AE)dried up ever-flowing streams.
16 Yours is the day, yours also the night;
you have established (AF)the heavenly lights and the sun.
17 You have (AG)fixed all the boundaries of the earth;
you have made (AH)summer and winter.
18 (AI)Remember this, O Lord, how the enemy scoffs,
and (AJ)a foolish people reviles your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of your (AK)dove to the wild beasts;
(AL)do not forget the life of your poor forever.
Paul's Visions and His Thorn
12 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and (A)revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man (B)in Christ who fourteen years ago was (C)caught up to (D)the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, (E)God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into (F)paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, (G)God knows— 4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, (H)except of my weaknesses— 6 though if I should wish to boast, (I)I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. 7 So (J)to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,[a] (K)a thorn was given me in the flesh, (L)a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 (M)Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, (N)“My grace is sufficient for you, for (O)my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that (P)the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 (Q)For the sake of Christ, then, (R)I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For (S)when I am weak, then I am strong.
The Triumphal Entry
28 And when he had said these things, (A)he went on ahead, (B)going up to Jerusalem. 29 (C)When he drew near to Bethphage and (D)Bethany, at (E)the mount that is called Olivet, he sent (F)two of the disciples, 30 saying, “Go into the village in front of you, where on entering you will find a colt tied, (G)on which no one has ever yet sat. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If anyone asks you, ‘Why are you untying it?’ you shall say this: ‘The Lord has need of it.’” 32 So those who were sent went away and found it (H)just as he had told them. 33 And as they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying the colt?” 34 And they said, “The Lord has need of it.” 35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it. 36 And as he rode along, they (I)spread their cloaks on the road. 37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—(J)the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice (K)for all the mighty works that they had seen, 38 saying, (L)“Blessed is (M)the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and (N)glory in the highest!” 39 (O)And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.” 40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, (P)the very stones would cry out.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.