Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 41[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
41 How blessed[b] is the one who treats the poor properly.[c]
When trouble comes,[d] may[e] the Lord deliver him.[f]
2 May the Lord protect him and save his life.[g]
May he be blessed[h] in the land.
Do not turn him over[i] to his enemies.[j]
3 The Lord supports[k] him on his sickbed;
you have healed him from his illness.[l]
4 As for me, I said:[m]
“O Lord, have mercy on me!
Heal me, for I have sinned against you.
5 My enemies ask this cruel question about me,[n]
‘When will he finally die and be forgotten?’[o]
6 When someone comes to visit,[p] he pretends to be friendly;[q]
he thinks of ways to defame me,[r]
and when he leaves he slanders me.[s]
7 All who hate me whisper insults about me to one another;[t]
they plan ways to harm me.
8 They say,[u]
‘An awful disease[v] overwhelms him,[w]
and now that he is bedridden he will never recover.’[x]
9 Even my close friend[y] whom I trusted,
he who shared meals with me, has turned against me.[z]
10 As for you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up,
so I can pay them back!”[aa]
11 By this[ab] I know that you are pleased with me,
for my enemy does[ac] not triumph[ad] over me.
12 As for me, you uphold[ae] me because of my integrity;[af]
you allow[ag] me permanent access to your presence.[ah]
13 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise[ai]
in the future and forevermore.[aj]
We agree! We agree![ak]
Psalm 52[a]
For the music director, a well-written song[b] by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: “David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech.”[c]
52 Why do you boast about your evil plans,[d] O powerful man?
God’s loyal love protects me all day long.[e]
2 Your tongue carries out your destructive plans;[f]
it is as effective as a sharp razor, O deceiver.[g]
3 You love evil more than good,
lies more than speaking the truth.[h] (Selah)
4 You love to use all the words that destroy,[i]
and the tongue that deceives.
5 Yet[j] God will make you a permanent heap of ruins.[k]
He will scoop you up[l] and remove you from your home;[m]
he will uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)
6 When the godly see this, they will be filled with awe,
and will mock the evildoer, saying:[n]
7 “Look, here is the man who would not make[o] God his protector.
He trusted in his great wealth
and was confident about his plans to destroy others.”[p]
8 But I[q] am like a flourishing[r] olive tree in the house of God;
I continually[s] trust in God’s loyal love.
9 I will continually[t] thank you when[u] you execute judgment;[v]
I will rely on[w] you,[x] for your loyal followers know you are good.[y]
Psalm 44[a]
For the music director, by the Korahites; a well-written song.[b]
44 O God, we have clearly heard;[c]
our ancestors[d] have told us
what you did[e] in their days,
in ancient times.[f]
2 You, by your power,[g] defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land;[h]
you crushed[i] the people living there[j] and enabled our ancestors to occupy it.[k]
3 For they did not conquer[l] the land by their swords,
and they did not prevail by their strength,[m]
but rather by your power,[n] strength,[o] and good favor,[p]
for you were partial to[q] them.
4 You are my[r] king, O God.
Decree[s] Jacob’s[t] deliverance.
5 By your power[u] we will drive back[v] our enemies;
by your strength[w] we will trample down[x] our foes.[y]
6 For I do not trust in my bow,
and I do not prevail by my sword.
7 For you deliver[z] us from our enemies;
you humiliate[aa] those who hate us.
8 In God we boast all day long,
and we will continually give thanks to your name. (Selah)
9 But[ab] you rejected and embarrassed us.
You did not go into battle with our armies.[ac]
10 You made us retreat[ad] from the enemy.
Those who hate us take whatever they want from us.[ae]
11 You handed us[af] over like sheep to be eaten;
you scattered us among the nations.
12 You sold[ag] your people for a pittance;[ah]
you did not ask a high price for them.[ai]
13 You made us[aj] an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us.[ak]
14 You made us[al] an object of ridicule[am] among the nations;
foreigners treat us with contempt.[an]
15 All day long I feel humiliated[ao]
and am overwhelmed with shame,[ap]
16 before the vindictive enemy
who ridicules and insults me.[aq]
17 All this has happened to us, even though we have not rejected you[ar]
or violated your covenant with us.[as]
18 We have not been unfaithful,[at]
nor have we disobeyed your commands.[au]
19 Yet you have battered us, leaving us a heap of ruins overrun by wild dogs;[av]
you have covered us with darkness.[aw]
20 If we had rejected our God,[ax]
and spread out our hands in prayer to another god,[ay]
21 would not God discover it,
for he knows[az] a person’s secret thoughts?[ba]
22 Yet because of you[bb] we are killed all day long;
we are treated like[bc] sheep at the slaughtering block.[bd]
23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
Wake up![be] Do not reject us forever.
24 Why do you look the other way,[bf]
and ignore[bg] the way we are oppressed and mistreated?[bh]
25 For we lie in the dirt,
with our bellies pressed to the ground.[bi]
26 Rise up and help us.
Rescue us[bj] because of your loyal love.
Achan Sins and is Punished
7 But the Israelites disobeyed the command about the city’s riches.[a] Achan son of Carmi, son of Zabdi,[b] son of Zerah, from the tribe of Judah, stole some of the riches.[c] The Lord was furious with the Israelites.[d]
2 Joshua sent men from Jericho to Ai (which is located near Beth Aven, east of Bethel) and instructed them, “Go up and spy on the land.” So the men went up and spied on Ai. 3 They returned and reported to Joshua,[e] “Don’t send the whole army.[f] About two or three thousand men are adequate to defeat Ai.[g] Don’t tire out the whole army, for Ai is small.”[h]
4 So about 3,000 men went up, but they fled from the men of Ai. 5 The men of Ai killed about thirty-six of them and chased them from in front of the city gate all the way to the fissures[i] and defeated them on the steep slope.[j] The people’s[k] courage melted away like water.[l]
6 Joshua tore his clothes;[m] he and the leaders[n] of Israel lay face down on the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening[o] and threw dirt on their heads.[p] 7 Joshua prayed,[q] “O, Sovereign Lord! Why did you bring these people across the Jordan to hand us over to the Amorites so they could destroy us? If only we had been satisfied to live on the other side of the Jordan! 8 O Lord, what can I say now that Israel has retreated[r] before its enemies? 9 When the Canaanites and all who live in the land hear about this, they will turn against us and destroy the very memory of us[s] from the earth. What will you do to protect your great reputation?”[t]
10 The Lord responded[u] to Joshua, “Get up! Why are you lying there face down?[v] 11 Israel has sinned; they have violated my covenantal commandment![w] They have taken some of the riches;[x] they have stolen them and deceitfully put them among their own possessions.[y] 12 The Israelites are unable to stand before their enemies; they retreat because they have become subject to annihilation.[z] I will no longer be with you,[aa] unless you destroy what has contaminated you.[ab] 13 Get up! Ritually consecrate the people and tell them this: ‘Ritually consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, because this is what the Lord God of Israel has said, “You are contaminated,[ac] O Israel! You will not be able to stand before your enemies until you remove what is contaminating you.”[ad]
Exhortation to Love Neighbors
8 Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments,[a] “Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not covet,”[b] (and if there is any other commandment) are summed up in this, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[c] 10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Motivation to Godly Conduct
11 And do this[d] because we know[e] the time, that it is already the hour for us to awake from sleep, for our salvation is now nearer than when we became believers. 12 The night has advanced toward dawn; the day is near. So then we must lay aside the works of darkness, and put on the weapons of light. 13 Let us live decently as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in discord and jealousy. 14 Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires.[f]
Gethsemane
36 Then Jesus went with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to the disciples, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took with him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and became anguished and distressed. 38 Then he said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved, even to the point of death. Remain here and stay awake with me.” 39 Going a little farther, he threw himself down with his face to the ground and prayed,[a] “My Father, if possible,[b] let this cup[c] pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will.” 40 Then he came to the disciples and found them sleeping. He[d] said to Peter, “So, couldn’t you stay awake with me for one hour? 41 Stay awake and pray that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” 42 He went away a second time and prayed,[e] “My Father, if this cup[f] cannot be taken away unless I drink it, your will must be done.” 43 He came again and found them sleeping; they could not keep their eyes open.[g] 44 So leaving them again, he went away and prayed for the third time, saying the same thing once more. 45 Then he came to the disciples and said to them, “Are you still sleeping and resting? Look, the hour is approaching, and the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 46 Get up, let us go. Look! My betrayer[h] is approaching!”
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