Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 16[a]
A prayer[b] of David.
16 Protect me, O God, for I have taken shelter in you.[c]
2 I say to the Lord, “You are the Lord,
my only source of well-being.”[d]
3 As for God’s chosen people who are in the land,
and the leading officials I admired so much[e]—
4 their troubles multiply;
they desire other gods.[f]
I will not pour out drink offerings of blood to their gods,[g]
nor will I make vows in the name of their gods.[h]
5 Lord, you give me stability and prosperity;[i]
you make my future secure.[j]
6 It is as if I have been given fertile fields
or received a beautiful tract of land.[k]
7 I will praise[l] the Lord who[m] guides[n] me;
yes, during the night I reflect and learn.[o]
8 I constantly trust in the Lord;[p]
because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 So my heart rejoices
and I am happy;[q]
my life is safe.[r]
10 You will not abandon me[s] to Sheol;[t]
you will not allow your faithful follower[u] to see[v] the Pit.[w]
11 You lead me in[x] the path of life.[y]
I experience absolute joy in your presence;[z]
you always give me sheer delight.[aa]
Psalm 17[ab]
A prayer of David.
17 Lord, consider my just cause.[ac]
Pay attention to my cry for help.
Listen to the prayer
I sincerely offer.[ad]
2 Make a just decision on my behalf.[ae]
Decide what is right.[af]
3 You have scrutinized my inner motives;[ag]
you have examined me during the night.[ah]
You have carefully evaluated me, but you find no sin.
I am determined I will say nothing sinful.[ai]
4 As for the actions of people[aj]—
just as you have commanded,
I have not followed in the footsteps of violent men.[ak]
5 I carefully obey your commands;[al]
I do not deviate from them.[am]
6 I call to you because you will answer me, O God.
Listen to me![an]
Hear what I say![ao]
7 Accomplish awesome, faithful deeds,[ap]
you who powerfully deliver those who look to you for protection from their enemies.[aq]
8 Protect me as you would protect the pupil of your eye.[ar]
Hide me in the shadow of your wings.[as]
9 Protect me from[at] the wicked men who attack[au] me,
my enemies who crowd around me for the kill.[av]
10 They are calloused;[aw]
they speak arrogantly.[ax]
11 They attack me, now they surround me;[ay]
they intend to throw me to the ground.[az]
12 He[ba] is like a lion[bb] that wants to tear its prey to bits,[bc]
like a young lion crouching[bd] in hidden places.
13 Rise up, Lord!
Confront him.[be] Knock him down.[bf]
Use your sword to rescue me from the wicked man.[bg]
14 Lord, use your power to deliver me from these murderers,[bh]
from the murderers of this world.[bi]
They enjoy prosperity;[bj]
you overwhelm them with the riches they desire.[bk]
They have many children,
and leave their wealth to their offspring.[bl]
15 As for me, because I am innocent I will see your face;[bm]
when I awake you will reveal yourself to me.[bn]
Psalm 22[a]
For the music director, according to the tune “Morning Doe”;[b] a psalm of David.
22 My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?[c]
I groan in prayer, but help seems far away.[d]
2 My God, I cry out during the day,
but you do not answer,
and during the night my prayers do not let up.[e]
3 You are holy;
you sit as king receiving the praises of Israel.[f]
4 In you our ancestors[g] trusted;
they trusted in you[h] and you rescued them.
5 To you they cried out, and they were saved;
in you they trusted and they were not disappointed.[i]
6 But I[j] am a worm,[k] not a man;[l]
people insult me and despise me.[m]
7 All who see me taunt[n] me;
they mock me[o] and shake their heads.[p]
8 They say,[q]
“Commit yourself[r] to the Lord!
Let the Lord[s] rescue him!
Let the Lord[t] deliver him, for he delights in him.”[u]
9 Yes, you are the one who brought me out[v] from the womb
and made me feel secure on my mother’s breasts.
10 I have been dependent on you since birth;[w]
from the time I came out of my mother’s womb you have been my God.[x]
11 Do not remain far away from me,
for trouble is near and I have no one to help me.[y]
12 Many bulls[z] surround me;
powerful bulls of Bashan[aa] hem me in.
13 They[ab] open their mouths to devour me[ac]
like a roaring lion that rips its prey.[ad]
14 My strength drains away like water;[ae]
all my bones are dislocated.
My heart[af] is like wax;
it melts away inside me.
15 The roof of my mouth[ag] is as dry as a piece of pottery;
my tongue sticks to my gums.[ah]
You[ai] set me in the dust of death.[aj]
16 Yes,[ak] wild dogs surround me—
a gang of evil men crowd around me;
like a lion they pin my hands and feet.[al]
17 I can count[am] all my bones;
my enemies[an] are gloating over me in triumph.[ao]
18 They are dividing up my clothes among themselves;
they are rolling dice[ap] for my garments.
19 But you, O Lord, do not remain far away.
You are my source of strength.[aq] Hurry and help me![ar]
20 Deliver me[as] from the sword.
Save[at] my life[au] from the claws[av] of the wild dogs.
21 Rescue me from the mouth of the lion,[aw]
and from the horns of the wild oxen.[ax]
You have answered me.[ay]
22 I will declare your name to my countrymen.[az]
In the middle of the assembly I will praise you.
23 You loyal followers of the Lord,[ba] praise him.
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him.
All you descendants of Israel, stand in awe of him.[bb]
24 For he did not despise or detest the suffering[bc] of the oppressed.[bd]
He did not ignore him;[be]
when he cried out to him, he responded.[bf]
25 You are the reason I offer praise[bg] in the great assembly;
I will fulfill my promises before the Lord’s loyal followers.[bh]
26 Let the oppressed eat and be filled.[bi]
Let those who seek his help praise the Lord.
May you[bj] live forever!
27 Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him.[bk]
Let all the nations[bl] worship you.[bm]
28 For the Lord is king[bn]
and rules over the nations.
29 All the thriving people[bo] of the earth will join the celebration and worship;[bp]
all those who are descending into the grave[bq] will bow before him,
including those who cannot preserve their lives.[br]
30 A whole generation[bs] will serve him;
they will tell the next generation about the Lord.[bt]
31 They will come and tell about his saving deeds;[bu]
they will tell a future generation what he has accomplished.[bv]
God’s Grief over Humankind’s Wickedness
6 When humankind[a] began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born[b] to them,[c] 2 the sons of God[d] saw that the daughters of humankind were beautiful. Thus they took wives for themselves from any they chose. 3 So the Lord said, “My Spirit will not remain in[e] humankind indefinitely,[f] since[g] they[h] are mortal.[i] They[j] will remain for 120 more years.”[k]
4 The Nephilim[l] were on the earth in those days (and also after this)[m] when the sons of God would sleep with[n] the daughters of humankind, who gave birth to their children.[o] They were the mighty heroes[p] of old, the famous men.[q]
5 But the Lord saw[r] that the wickedness of humankind had become great on the earth. Every inclination[s] of the thoughts[t] of their minds[u] was only evil[v] all the time.[w] 6 The Lord regretted[x] that he had made humankind on the earth, and he was highly offended.[y] 7 So the Lord said, “I will wipe humankind, whom I have created, from the face of the earth—everything from humankind to animals,[z] including creatures that move on the ground and birds of the air, for I regret that I have made them.”
8 But[aa] Noah found favor[ab] in the sight of[ac] the Lord.
12 See to it,[a] brothers and sisters,[b] that none of you has[c] an evil, unbelieving heart that forsakes[d] the living God.[e] 13 But exhort one another each day, as long as it is called “Today,” that none of you may become hardened by sin’s deception. 14 For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence[f] firm until the end. 15 As it says,[g] “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks![h] Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”[i] 16 For which ones heard and rebelled? Was it not all who came out of Egypt under Moses’ leadership?[j] 17 And against whom was God[k] provoked for forty years? Was it not those who sinned, whose dead bodies fell in the wilderness?[l] 18 And to whom did he swear they would never enter into his rest, except those who were disobedient? 19 So[m] we see that they could not enter because of unbelief.
Turning Water into Wine
2 Now on the third day there was a wedding at Cana in Galilee.[a] Jesus’ mother[b] was there, 2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding.[c] 3 When the wine ran out, Jesus’ mother said to him, “They have no wine left.”[d] 4 Jesus replied,[e] “Woman,[f] why are you saying this to me?[g] My time[h] has not yet come.” 5 His mother told the servants, “Whatever he tells you, do it.”[i]
6 Now there were six stone water jars there for Jewish ceremonial washing,[j] each holding twenty or thirty gallons.[k] 7 Jesus told the servants,[l] “Fill the water jars with water.” So they filled them up to the very top. 8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the head steward,”[m] and they did. 9 When[n] the head steward tasted the water that had been turned to wine, not knowing where it came from[o] (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), he[p] called the bridegroom 10 and said to him, “Everyone[q] serves the good wine first, and then the cheaper[r] wine when the guests[s] are drunk. You have kept the good wine until now!” 11 Jesus did this as the first of his miraculous signs,[t] in Cana of Galilee. In this way he revealed[u] his glory, and his disciples believed in him.[v]
Cleansing the Temple
12 After this he went down to Capernaum[w] with his mother and brothers[x] and his disciples, and they stayed there a few days.
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.