Book of Common Prayer
You Will Not Abandon My Soul
A (A)Miktam[a] of David.
16 Preserve me, O God, for in you I (B)take refuge.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord;
(C)I have no good apart from you.”
4 The sorrows of those who run after[c] another god shall multiply;
their drink offerings of blood I will not pour out
or (E)take their names on my lips.
5 The Lord is (F)my chosen portion and my (G)cup;
you hold my (H)lot.
6 (I)The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
7 I bless the Lord who (J)gives me counsel;
in (K)the night also my (L)heart instructs me.[d]
8 (M)I have (N)set the Lord always before me;
because he is at my (O)right hand, I shall not be (P)shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad, and my (Q)whole being[e] rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
10 For you will not abandon my soul to (R)Sheol,
(S)or let your (T)holy one see (U)corruption.[f]
11 You make known to me (V)the path of life;
in your presence there is (W)fullness of joy;
at your right hand are (X)pleasures forevermore.
In the Shadow of Your Wings
A (Y)Prayer of David.
17 Hear a just cause, O Lord; (Z)attend to my cry!
Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!
2 From your presence (AA)let my vindication come!
Let your eyes behold the right!
3 You have (AB)tried my heart, you have (AC)visited me by (AD)night,
you have (AE)tested me, and you will find nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
4 With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips
I have avoided the ways of the violent.
5 My steps have (AF)held fast to your paths;
my feet have not slipped.
6 I (AG)call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
(AH)incline your ear to me; hear my words.
7 (AI)Wondrously show[g] your steadfast love,
O Savior of those who seek refuge
from (AJ)their adversaries at your right hand.
8 Keep me as (AK)the apple of your eye;
hide me in (AL)the shadow of your wings,
9 from the wicked who do me violence,
my deadly enemies who (AM)surround me.
10 (AN)They close their hearts to pity;
with their mouths they (AO)speak arrogantly.
11 They have now surrounded our (AP)steps;
they set their eyes to (AQ)cast us to the ground.
12 He is like a lion eager to tear,
as a young lion (AR)lurking in ambush.
13 Arise, O Lord! Confront him, subdue him!
Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,
14 from men by your hand, O Lord,
from (AS)men of the world whose (AT)portion is in this life.[h]
You fill their womb with treasure;[i]
they are satisfied with (AU)children,
and they leave their abundance to their infants.
Why Have You Forsaken Me?
To the choirmaster: according to The Doe of the Dawn. A Psalm of David.
22 (A)My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so (B)far from saving me, from the words of my (C)groaning?
2 O my God, I cry by (D)day, but you do not answer,
and by night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet you are (E)holy,
(F)enthroned on (G)the praises[a] of Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted;
they trusted, and you delivered them.
5 To you they (H)cried and were rescued;
in you they (I)trusted and were not put to shame.
6 But I am (J)a worm and not a man,
(K)scorned by mankind and (L)despised by the people.
7 All who see me (M)mock me;
they make mouths at me; they (N)wag their heads;
8 (O)“He trusts in the Lord; let him (P)deliver him;
let him rescue him, for he (Q)delights in him!”
9 Yet you are he who (R)took me from the womb;
you made me trust you at my mother's breasts.
10 On you was I cast from my birth,
and from (S)my mother's womb you have been my God.
11 Be not (T)far from me,
for trouble is near,
and there is (U)none to help.
12 Many bulls encompass me;
(V)strong bulls of (W)Bashan surround me;
13 they (X)open wide their mouths at me,
like a ravening and roaring lion.
14 I am (Y)poured out like water,
and all my bones are (Z)out of joint;
my (AA)heart is like (AB)wax;
it is melted within my breast;
15 my strength is (AC)dried up like a potsherd,
and my (AD)tongue sticks to my jaws;
you lay me in the dust of death.
16 For (AE)dogs encompass me;
a company of evildoers (AF)encircles me;
they have (AG)pierced my hands and feet[b]—
17 I can count all my bones—
they (AH)stare and gloat over me;
18 (AI)they divide my garments among them,
and for my clothing they cast lots.
19 But you, O Lord, (AJ)do not be far off!
O you my help, (AK)come quickly to my aid!
20 Deliver my soul from the sword,
my precious life from the power of (AL)the dog!
21 Save me from (AM)the mouth of the lion!
You have rescued[c] me from the horns of (AN)the wild oxen!
22 (AO)I will tell of your name to my (AP)brothers;
in the midst of the congregation I will praise you:
23 You who (AQ)fear the Lord, praise him!
All you offspring of Jacob, (AR)glorify him,
and stand in awe of him, all you offspring of Israel!
24 For he has not despised or abhorred
the affliction of (AS)the afflicted,
and he has not (AT)hidden his face from him,
but has heard, when he (AU)cried to him.
25 From you comes my praise in the great (AV)congregation;
my (AW)vows I will (AX)perform before those who fear him.
26 (AY)The afflicted[d] shall (AZ)eat and be satisfied;
those who seek him shall praise the Lord!
May your hearts (BA)live forever!
27 All (BB)the ends of the earth shall remember
and turn to the Lord,
and all (BC)the families of the nations
shall worship before you.
28 For (BD)kingship belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
29 All (BE)the prosperous of the earth eat and worship;
before him shall (BF)bow all who go down to the dust,
even the one who could not (BG)keep himself alive.
30 Posterity shall serve him;
it shall be told of the Lord to the coming (BH)generation;
31 they shall (BI)come and proclaim his righteousness to a people yet (BJ)unborn,
that he has done it.
Seek the Lord and Live
5 Hear this word that I (A)take up over you in lamentation, O house of Israel:
2 “Fallen, no more to rise,
is (B)the virgin Israel;
forsaken on her land,
with none to raise her up.”
3 For thus says the Lord God:
“The city that went out a thousand
shall have a hundred left,
and that which went out a hundred
shall have ten left
to the house of Israel.”
4 For thus says the Lord to the house of Israel:
(C)“Seek me and live;
5 but do not seek (D)Bethel,
and do not enter into (E)Gilgal
or cross over to (F)Beersheba;
for (G)Gilgal shall surely go into exile,
and (H)Bethel shall come to nothing.”
6 (I)Seek the Lord and live,
(J)lest he break out like fire in the house of Joseph,
and it devour, with none to quench it for (K)Bethel,
7 O (L)you who turn justice to wormwood[a]
and cast down righteousness to the earth!
8 He who made the (M)Pleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning
and (N)darkens the day into night,
who (O)calls for the waters of the sea
(P)and pours them out on the surface of the earth,
(Q)the Lord is his name;
9 (R)who makes destruction flash forth against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.
10 (S)They hate him who reproves (T)in the gate,
and they (U)abhor him who speaks the truth.
11 Therefore because you (V)trample on[b] the poor
and you exact taxes of grain from him,
(W)you have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not dwell in them;
(X)you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
12 For I know how many are your transgressions
and how great are your sins—
you who afflict the righteous, who (Y)take a bribe,
and (Z)turn aside the needy (AA)in the gate.
13 Therefore he who is prudent will (AB)keep silent in such a time,
(AC)for it is an evil time.
14 (AD)Seek good, and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, (AE)the God of hosts, will be with you,
as you have said.
15 (AF)Hate evil, and love good,
and establish justice (AG)in the gate;
(AH)it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.
16 Therefore thus says the Lord, (AI)the God of hosts, the Lord:
Greeting
1 Jude, a servant[a] of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
(A)To those who are called, (B)beloved in God the Father and (C)kept for[b] Jesus Christ:
2 May (D)mercy, (E)peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Judgment on False Teachers
3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our (F)common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you (G)to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For (H)certain people (I)have crept in unnoticed (J)who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert (K)the grace of our God into sensuality and (L)deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5 Now I want (M)to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that (N)Jesus, who saved[c] a people out of the land of Egypt, (O)afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And (P)the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as (Q)Sodom and Gomorrah and (R)the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and (S)pursued unnatural desire,[d] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and (T)blaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when (U)the archangel (V)Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing (W)about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, (X)“The Lord rebuke you.” 10 (Y)But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in (Z)the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain (AA)to Balaam's error and (AB)perished in Korah's rebellion. 12 These are hidden reefs[e] (AC)at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, (AD)shepherds feeding themselves; (AE)waterless clouds, (AF)swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, (AG)uprooted; 13 (AH)wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of (AI)their own shame; (AJ)wandering stars, (AK)for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.
14 It was also about these that Enoch, (AL)the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, (AM)“Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 (AN)to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have (AO)committed in such an ungodly way, and of all (AP)the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, (AQ)following their own sinful desires; (AR)they are loud-mouthed boasters, (AS)showing favoritism to gain advantage.
The Parable of the Wedding Feast
22 And again Jesus (A)spoke to them in parables, saying, 2 (B)“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a king who gave (C)a wedding feast for his son, 3 and (D)sent his servants[a] to call those who were invited to the wedding feast, but they would not come. 4 (E)Again he sent other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my (F)dinner, (G)my oxen and my fat calves have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding feast.”’ 5 But (H)they paid no attention and went off, one to his farm, another to his business, 6 while the rest seized his servants, (I)treated them shamefully, and (J)killed them. 7 The king was angry, and he sent his troops and (K)destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, but those invited were not (L)worthy. 9 Go therefore to the main roads and invite to the wedding feast as many as you find.’ 10 And those servants went out into the roads and (M)gathered all whom they found, both bad and good. So the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to look at the guests, he saw there (N)a man who had no wedding garment. 12 And he said to him, (O)‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless. 13 Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and (P)cast him into the outer darkness. In that place (Q)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ 14 For many are (R)called, but few are (S)chosen.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.