Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer in Time of Sickness
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
41 ·Happy [Blessed] are those who ·think about [or care for] the poor [James 1:27].
·When trouble comes [L In the day of trouble/evil], the Lord will ·save [rescue; T deliver] them.
2 The Lord will ·protect [guard; keep] them and ·spare their life [keep them alive]
and will ·bless them [make them happy] in the land.
He will not ·let their enemies take them [L give their lives to their enemy; or give them over to the desire of their enemy].
3 The Lord will give them strength when they are ·sick [L on their sickbed],
and he will ·make them well again [L restore them from their bed of illness].
4 I said, “Lord, have ·mercy [compassion] on me.
Heal me, because I have sinned against you.”
5 My enemies are saying evil things about me.
They say, “When will he die and ·be forgotten [L his name/reputation perish]?”
6 Some people come to see me,
but ·they lie [L speak deceptive/vain things].
·They just come to get bad news [L Their hearts collect iniquities].
Then they go ·and gossip [L out and speak].
7 All ·my enemies [L those who hate me] whisper about me
and ·think [imagine] ·the worst [trouble; evil] about me.
8 They say, “·He has a terrible disease [or An evil spell has been cast on him].
He ·will never get out of bed again [L lies down and will not get up].”
9 ·My best and truest friend [L A man of peace in whom I trust/find support], who ate at my table,
has ·even turned against me [L lifted his heel against me; C an act of treachery; 55:12–14; Matt. 26:23; Mark 14:18; Luke 22:21; John 13:18].
10 Lord, have ·mercy [compassion] on me.
·Give me strength [L Raise me up] so I can pay them back.
11 Because my enemies do not ·defeat [triumph over; or make fun of] me,
I know you are ·pleased [delighted] with me.
12 Because I am ·innocent [blameless], you support me
and will ·let me be with you [L set me in your presence] forever.
13 ·Praise [Blessed be] the Lord, the God of Israel.
·He has always been [L …from everlasting to everlasting],
and he will always be.
Amen and amen [C verse 13 is a doxology that closes Book 1].
God Will Punish the Proud
For the director of music. A ·maskil [skillful psalm; meditation] of David. When Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and ·said [reported] to him, “David ·is in [L has come to/entered] Ahimelech’s house [1 Sam. 21:7; 22:7–23].”
52 Mighty warrior, why do you ·brag [boast] about the evil you do?
God’s ·love [loyalty] will continue ·forever [L everyday; all day].
2 You think up ·evil plans [L destruction].
Your tongue is like a sharp razor [Prov. 18:21],
making up ·lies [deception].
3 You love ·wrong [evil] more than ·right [good]
and ·lies [falsehood] more than speaking the truth. ·
4 You love words that ·bite [destroy; L swallow up]
and ·tongues that lie [deceptive tongues; James 3:1–12].
5 But God will ·ruin you [L break you down] forever.
He will grab you and ·throw [tear] you out of your tent;
he will ·tear you away [uproot you] from the land of the living. ·
6 Those who ·do right [are righteous] will see this and ·fear God [L fear; Prov. 1:7].
They will laugh at you and say,
7 “·Look what happened to [T Behold] the man
who did not ·depend on God [L make God his refuge]
but ·depended on [trusted/put his confidence in] ·his money [L the abundance of his wealth].
He grew strong by his ·evil [destructive] plans.”
8 But I am like ·an olive tree
growing [L a green olive tree] in God’s ·Temple [L house; 1:3; 92:12–13; Jer. 11:16].
I ·trust [have confidence in] God’s ·love [loyalty]
forever and ever.
9 God, I will ·thank [praise] you forever for what you have done.
With ·those who worship you [his loyal ones/saints], I will ·trust [put my confidence in] you because you are good.
A Prayer for Help
For the director of music. A ·maskil [skillful psalm; meditation] of the sons of Korah [C descendants of Kohath, son of Levi, who served as Temple musicians; 1 Chr. 6:22].
44 God, we have heard ·about you [L with our ears; 78:3].
Our ·ancestors [fathers] ·told [recited to] us
what you did in their days,
in days long ago.
2 With your ·power [L hand] you ·forced [dispossessed] the nations out of the land
and ·placed [L planted] our ancestors here.
You ·destroyed [troubled] ·those other nations [L the peoples],
but you ·made our ancestors grow strong [set them free].
3 It wasn’t their swords that ·took [possessed] the land.
It wasn’t their ·power [L arm] that gave them victory.
But it was your ·great power [L arm] and ·strength [L right hand].
·You were with them [L …and the light of your face] because you ·loved [delighted in] them.
4 My God, you are my King.
·Your commands led Jacob’s people to victory [or You command victory for Jacob; C Jacob is another name for Israel].
5 With your help we pushed ·back [down] our enemies.
In your name we trampled those who ·came [rose up] against us.
6 I don’t trust my bow to help me,
and my sword can’t ·save me [give me victory].
7 You ·saved us from [gave us victory over] our foes,
and you made ·our enemies [L those who hate us] ashamed.
8 We will praise God every day;
we will ·praise [give thanks to] your name forever. ·
9 But you have rejected us and ·shamed [humiliated] us.
You don’t ·march [L go out] with our armies anymore [Ex. 15:3; 2 Chr. 20:20–21].
10 You let our enemies push us back,
and those who hate us have ·taken our wealth [plundered us].
11 You ·gave us away [made us] like sheep ·to be eaten [for slaughter]
and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sold your people for nothing
and made no profit on the sale.
13 You made us a ·joke [reproach] to our neighbors;
those around us ·laugh [ridicule] and make fun of us.
14 You made us a ·joke [byword; proverb] to the other nations;
people shake their heads.
15 I am always in disgrace,
and ·I am [L my face is] covered with shame.
16 My enemy is getting ·even [revenge]
with ·insults [taunts] and curses.
17 All these things have happened to us,
but we have not forgotten you
or ·failed to keep [been false to; betrayed] our ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with you [C perhaps a reference to the covenant with Moses; Ex. 19–24].
18 Our hearts haven’t turned ·away [back] from you,
and ·we haven’t stopped following you [L our steps have not departed from your way].
19 But you crushed us in this place where ·wild dogs [jackals] live [C desolate areas],
and you covered us with ·deep darkness [or the shadow of death; Nah. 1:8].
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or ·lifted [L spread] our hands in prayer to ·foreign [L strange] gods,
21 ·God would have known [L Would not God discover this…?],
because he knows ·what is in [L the secrets of] our hearts.
22 But for you we are ·in danger of death [L killed] all the time.
People think we are worth no more than sheep to be ·killed [slaughtered; Is. 53:7].
23 Wake up, Lord! Why are you sleeping?
Get up! Don’t reject us forever [Lam. 5:22].
24 Why do you hide your face from us?
Have you forgotten our ·pain [affliction] and ·troubles [oppression]?
25 We have ·been pushed down [sunk down] into the ·dirt [dust];
·we are flat on the ground [L our stomachs cleave to the earth].
26 ·Get [Rise] up and help us.
Because of your ·love [loyalty], ·save [redeem; ransom] us.
The Sin of Achan
7 But the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] ·did not obey the Lord [L acted unfaithfully in regard to the devoted things; 6:17]. There was a man from the tribe of Judah named Achan. (He was the son of Carmi and grandson of Zabdi, who was the son of Zerah.) Because Achan kept some of the ·things that were to be given to the Lord [L devoted things], the ·Lord became very angry [L Lord’s anger burned] at the Israelites.
2 Joshua sent some men from Jericho to Ai [C the name means “dump,” indicating that it should have been an easy military target], which was near Beth Aven, east of Bethel. He told them, “Go to Ai and spy out the area.” So the men went to spy on Ai.
3 Later they came back to Joshua and said, “There are ·only a few people [few soldiers] in Ai, so we will not need all our people to defeat them. Send only two or three thousand men to fight. ·There is no need to send [or Don’t tire out] all of our people.” 4 So about three thousand men went up to Ai, but ·the people of Ai beat them badly [L they fled from the men of Ai]. 5 The people of Ai killed about thirty-six Israelites and then chased the rest from the city gate all the way down to ·the canyon [or the stone quarries; or Shebarim], killing them as they went down the hill. When the Israelites saw this, ·they lost their courage [L the heart of the people melted and became like water].
6 Then Joshua tore his ·clothes in sorrow [L clothes]. He ·bowed [fell] facedown on the ground before the Ark of the Lord and stayed there until evening. The ·leaders [L elders] of Israel did the same thing. They also threw ·dirt [dust] on their heads [C to show their sorrow]. 7 Then Joshua said, “·Lord God [or Sovereign Lord], why did you bring our people across the Jordan River ·and then let the Amorites destroy us [to give us into the hands of the Amorites]? ·We would have [L If only we had] been happy to stay on the other side of the Jordan. 8 Lord, ·there is nothing I can say now [what can I say now that…]. Israel has ·been beaten by [fled from; L turned their back before] the enemy. 9 The Canaanites and all the other people in this country will hear about this and will ·surround [encircle] and ·kill us all [L cut off our name from the earth]! Then what will you do for your own great name?”
10 The Lord said to Joshua, “Stand up! Why are you down on your face? 11 The Israelites have sinned; they have broken the ·agreement [covenant; treaty] I commanded them to obey. They took some of the ·things I commanded them to destroy [devoted things]. They have stolen and lied and have ·taken those things for themselves [L put them among their own belongings]. 12 That is why the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] cannot ·face [stand before] their enemies. They ·turn away from the fight and run [fled/turned their backs before their enemies], because I have ·commanded that they be destroyed [devoted them for destruction]. I will not ·help [L be with] you anymore unless you destroy ·everything as I commanded [the things devoted for destruction from among] you.
13 “Now go! ·Make the people holy [Consecrate the people]. Tell them, ‘·Set yourselves apart to the Lord [Consecrate yourselves] for tomorrow. The Lord, the God of Israel, says ·some of you are keeping things he commanded you to destroy [L there are devoted things among you, Israel!]. You will never ·defeat [L stand before] your enemies until you ·throw away those things [L remove the devoted things from among you].
Loving Others
8 Do not owe ·people [L anyone] anything, except always owe love to each other, because the person who loves others has ·obeyed all [fulfilled] the law. 9 [L For] The law says, “You must not be guilty of adultery. You must not murder anyone. You must not steal. You must not ·want to take your neighbor’s things [covet; Ex. 20:13–15, 17; Deut. 5:17–21].” All these commands and all others are really summed up in this one ·rule [command; word]: “Love your neighbor as you love yourself [Lev. 19:18].” 10 Love never ·hurts [does wrong/evil to] a neighbor, so loving is ·obeying all [fulfilling] the law.
11 Do this ·because you know the times in which we live [L knowing the time/season]. It is ·now [or already the] ·time [hour] for you to wake up from your sleep, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. 12 The night [C a metaphor for the present evil age] is ·almost finished [advancing], and the day [C the time of final judgment and reward] is ·almost here [near; or at hand]. So we should ·stop doing [put aside; cast off] ·things that belong to [L the deeds/works of] darkness and ·take up the weapons [or put on the armor] ·used for fighting in [or that belong to; L of] the light. 13 Let us ·live [walk] ·in a right way [properly; decently], like people who belong to the day. We should not have wild parties or get drunk. There should be no ·sexual sins of any kind [L sexual immorality or debauchery/sensuality], no ·fighting [strife; quarrels] or jealousy. 14 But clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ and ·forget about satisfying [or give no opportunity to the desires of; or don’t think about ways to gratify] ·your sinful self [the sinful nature; T the flesh].
Jesus Prays Alone(A)
36 Then Jesus went with his ·followers [disciples] to a place called Gethsemane. He said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.” 37 He took Peter and the two sons of Zebedee with him, and he began to be very ·sad [sorrowful] and ·troubled [anguished; distressed]. 38 He said to them, “My ·heart [soul] is ·full of sorrow [overwhelmed with grief], to the point of death. Stay here and ·watch [stay awake; be alert] with me.”
39 After walking a little farther away from them, Jesus fell [with his face] to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, ·do not give me [L let pass from me] this ·cup of suffering [L cup; C suffering is metaphorically portrayed as something bitter to drink]. But do ·what you want [your will], not ·what I want [my will].” 40 Then Jesus went back to his ·followers [disciples] and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “You men could not ·stay awake [watch] with me for one hour? 41 ·Stay awake [Keep watch] and pray for strength ·against temptation [or not to fail the test]. The spirit ·wants to do what is right [is willing], but ·the body [or human nature; T the flesh] is weak.”
42 Then Jesus went away a second time and prayed, “My Father, if it is not possible for ·this painful thing [L this thing; C the cup of suffering; v. 39] to be taken from me, and if I must ·do [drink] it, ·I pray that what you want [L may your] will be done.”
43 Then he went back to his ·followers [disciples], and again he found them asleep, because their eyes were heavy. 44 So Jesus left them and went away and prayed a third time, saying the same thing.
45 Then Jesus went back to his ·followers [disciples] and said, “·Are you still sleeping and resting? [or Go ahead, sleep and have your rest!] The time has come for the Son of Man to be ·handed over to [L betrayed/delivered into the hands of] sinful people. 46 Get up, we must go. Look, here comes ·the man who has turned against me [my betrayer].”
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