Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 40[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
40 I relied completely[b] on the Lord,
and he turned toward me
and heard my cry for help.
2 He lifted me out of the watery pit,[c]
out of the slimy mud.[d]
He placed my feet on a rock
and gave me secure footing.[e]
3 He gave me reason to sing a new song,[f]
praising our God.[g]
May many see what God has done,
so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord.[h]
4 How blessed[i] is the one[j] who trusts in the Lord[k]
and does not seek help from[l] the proud or from liars.[m]
5 O Lord, my God, you have accomplished many things;
you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us.[n]
No one can thwart you.[o]
I want to declare your deeds and talk about them,
but they are too numerous to recount.[p]
6 Receiving sacrifices and offerings are not your primary concern.[q]
You make that quite clear to me.[r]
You do not ask for burnt sacrifices and sin offerings.
7 Then I say,
“Look, I come!
What is written in the scroll pertains to me.[s]
8 I want to do what pleases you,[t] my God.
Your law dominates my thoughts.”[u]
9 I have told the great assembly[v] about your justice.[w]
Look, I spare no words.[x]
O Lord, you know this is true.
10 I have not failed to tell about your justice;[y]
I spoke about your reliability and deliverance.
I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness.[z]
11 O Lord, you do not withhold[aa] your compassion from me.
May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me![ab]
12 For innumerable dangers[ac] surround me.
My sins overtake me
so I am unable to see;
they outnumber the hairs of my head
so my strength fails me.[ad]
13 Please be willing, O Lord, to rescue me!
O Lord, hurry and help me![ae]
14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life
be totally embarrassed and ashamed.[af]
May those who want to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.[ag]
15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
be humiliated[ah] and disgraced.[ai]
16 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you.
May those who love to experience[aj] your deliverance say continually,[ak]
“May the Lord be praised!”[al]
17 I am oppressed and needy.[am]
May the Lord pay attention to me.[an]
You are my helper and my deliverer.
O my God, do not delay.
Psalm 54[a]
For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song[b] by David. It was written when the Ziphites came and informed Saul: “David is hiding with us.”[c]
54 O God, deliver me by your name.[d]
Vindicate me[e] by your power.
2 O God, listen to my prayer.
Pay attention to what I say.[f]
3 For foreigners[g] attack me;[h]
ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life.[i] (Selah)
4 Look, God is my deliverer.[j]
The Lord is among those who support me.[k]
5 May those who wait to ambush me[l] be repaid for their evil.[m]
As a demonstration of your faithfulness,[n] destroy them.
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice[o] to you.
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
7 Surely[p] he rescues me from all trouble,[q]
and I triumph over my enemies.[r]
Psalm 51[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba.[b]
51 Have mercy on me, O God, because of[c] your loyal love.
Because of[d] your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts.[e]
2 Wash away my wrongdoing.[f]
Cleanse me of my sin.[g]
3 For I am aware of[h] my rebellious acts;
I am forever conscious of my sin.[i]
4 Against you—you above all[j]—I have sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
So[k] you are just when you confront me;[l]
you are right when you condemn me.[m]
5 Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,
a sinner the moment my mother conceived me.[n]
6 Look,[o] you desire[p] integrity in the inner man;[q]
you want me to possess wisdom.[r]
7 Cleanse me[s] with hyssop[t] and I will be pure;[u]
wash me[v] and I will be whiter than snow.[w]
8 Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven.[x]
May the bones[y] you crushed rejoice.[z]
9 Hide your face[aa] from my sins.
Wipe away[ab] all my guilt.
10 Create for me a pure heart, O God.[ac]
Renew a resolute spirit within me.[ad]
11 Do not reject me.[ae]
Do not take your holy Spirit[af] away from me.[ag]
12 Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance.
Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey.[ah]
13 Then I will teach[ai] rebels your merciful ways,[aj]
and sinners will turn[ak] to you.
14 Rescue me from the guilt of murder,[al] O God, the God who delivers me.
Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your righteousness.[am]
15 O Lord, give me the words.[an]
Then my mouth will praise you.[ao]
16 Certainly[ap] you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it;[aq]
you do not desire a burnt sacrifice.[ar]
17 The sacrifice God desires is a humble spirit[as]—
O God, a humble and repentant heart[at] you will not reject.[au]
18 Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her.[av]
Fortify[aw] the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will accept[ax] the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings;
then bulls will be sacrificed[ay] on your altar.[az]
15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for your wife, you must no longer call her Sarai;[a] Sarah[b] will be her name. 16 I will bless her and will give you a son through her. I will bless her and she will become a mother of nations.[c] Kings of countries[d] will come from her!”
17 Then Abraham bowed down with his face to the ground and laughed[e] as he said to himself,[f] “Can[g] a son be born to a man who is a hundred years old?[h] Can Sarah[i] bear a child at the age of ninety?”[j] 18 Abraham said to God, “O that[k] Ishmael might live before you!”[l]
19 God said, “No, Sarah your wife is going to bear you a son, and you will name him Isaac.[m] I will confirm my covenant with him as a perpetual[n] covenant for his descendants after him. 20 As for Ishmael, I have heard you.[o] I will indeed bless him, make him fruitful, and give him a multitude of descendants.[p] He will become the father of twelve princes;[q] I will make him into a great nation. 21 But I will establish my covenant with Isaac, whom Sarah will bear to you at this set time next year.” 22 When he finished speaking with Abraham, God went up from him.[r]
23 Abraham took his son Ishmael and every male in his household (whether born in his house or bought with money)[s] and circumcised them[t] on that very same day, just as God had told him to do. 24 Now Abraham was 99 years old[u] when he was circumcised;[v] 25 his son Ishmael was thirteen years old[w] when he was circumcised. 26 Abraham and his son Ishmael were circumcised on the very same day. 27 All the men of his household, whether born in his household or bought with money from a foreigner, were circumcised with him.
11 And every priest stands day after day[a] serving and offering the same sacrifices again and again—sacrifices that can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest[b] had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right hand[c] of God, 13 where he is now waiting[d] until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet.[e] 14 For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy. 15 And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us, for after saying,[f] 16 “This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put[g] my laws on their hearts and I will inscribe them on their minds,”[h] 17 then he says,[i] “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no longer.”[j] 18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Drawing Near to God in Enduring Faith
19 Therefore, brothers and sisters,[k] since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us[l] through the curtain, that is, through his flesh,[m] 21 and since we have a great priest[n] over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings,[o] because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience[p] and our bodies washed in pure water. 23 And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. 24 And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works,[q] 25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day[r] drawing near.[s]
The Feeding of the Five Thousand
6 After this[a] Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee (also called the Sea of Tiberias).[b] 2 A large crowd was following him because they were observing the miraculous signs he was performing on the sick. 3 So Jesus went on up the mountainside[c] and sat down there with his disciples. 4 (Now the Jewish Feast of the Passover[d] was near.)[e] 5 Then Jesus, when he looked up[f] and saw that a large crowd was coming to him, said to Philip, “Where can we buy bread so that these people may eat?” 6 (Now Jesus[g] said this to test him, for he knew what he was going to do.)[h] 7 Philip replied,[i] “200 silver coins worth[j] of bread would not be enough for them, for each one to get a little.” 8 One of Jesus’ disciples,[k] Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “Here is a boy who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what good[l] are these for so many people?”
10 Jesus said, “Have[m] the people sit down.” (Now there was a lot of grass in that place.)[n] So the men[o] sat down, about 5,000 in number. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed the bread to those who were seated. He then did the same with the fish,[p] as much as they wanted. 12 When they were all satisfied, Jesus[q] said to his disciples, “Gather up the broken pieces that are left over, so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with broken pieces from the five barley loaves[r] left over by the people who had eaten.
14 Now when the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus[s] performed, they began to say to one another, “This is certainly the Prophet[t] who is to come into the world.”[u] 15 Then Jesus, because he knew they were going to come and seize him by force to make him king, withdrew again up the mountainside alone.[v]
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