Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 70[a]
For the music director, by David; written to get God’s attention.[b]
70 O God, please be willing to rescue me.[c]
O Lord, hurry and help me.[d]
2 May those who are trying to take my life
be embarrassed and ashamed.[e]
May those who want to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.[f]
3 May those who say, “Aha! Aha!”
be driven back[g] and disgraced.[h]
4 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you.
May those who love to experience[i] your deliverance say continually,[j]
“May God[k] be praised!”[l]
5 I am oppressed and needy.[m]
O God, hurry to me.[n]
You are my helper and my deliverer.
O Lord,[o] do not delay.
Psalm 71[p]
71 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter.
Never let me be humiliated.
2 Vindicate me by rescuing me.[q]
Listen to me.[r] Deliver me.[s]
3 Be my protector and refuge,[t]
a stronghold where I can be safe.[u]
For you are my high ridge[v] and my stronghold.
4 My God, rescue me from the power[w] of the wicked,
from the hand of the cruel oppressor.
5 For you are my hope;
O Sovereign Lord, I have trusted in you since I was young.[x]
6 I have leaned on you since birth;[y]
you pulled me[z] from my mother’s womb.
I praise you continually.[aa]
7 Many are appalled when they see me,[ab]
but you are my secure shelter.
8 I praise you constantly
and speak of your splendor all day long.[ac]
9 Do not reject me in my old age.[ad]
When my strength fails, do not abandon me.
10 For my enemies talk about me;
those waiting for a chance to kill me plot my demise.[ae]
11 They say,[af] “God has abandoned him.
Run and seize him, for there is no one who will rescue him.”
12 O God, do not remain far away from me.
My God, hurry and help me.[ag]
13 May my accusers be humiliated and defeated.
May those who want to harm me[ah] be covered with scorn and disgrace.
14 As for me, I will wait continually,
and will continue to praise you.[ai]
15 I will tell about your justice,
and all day long proclaim your salvation,[aj]
though I cannot fathom its full extent.[ak]
16 I will come and tell about[al] the mighty acts of the Sovereign Lord.
I will proclaim your justice—yours alone.
17 O God, you have taught me since I was young,
and I am still declaring[am] your amazing deeds.
18 Even when I am old and gray,[an]
O God, do not abandon me,
until I tell the next generation about your strength,
and those coming after me about your power.[ao]
19 Your justice, O God, extends to the skies above;[ap]
you have done great things.[aq]
O God, who can compare to you?[ar]
20 Though you have allowed me to experience much trouble and distress,[as]
revive me once again.[at]
Bring me up once again[au] from the depths of the earth.
21 Raise me to a position of great honor.[av]
Turn and comfort me.[aw]
22 I will express my thanks to you with a stringed instrument,
praising[ax] your faithfulness, O my God.
I will sing praises to you accompanied by a harp,
O Holy One of Israel.[ay]
23 My lips will shout for joy. Yes,[az] I will sing your praises.
I will praise you when you rescue me.[ba]
24 All day long my tongue will also tell about your justice,
for those who want to harm me[bb] will be embarrassed and ashamed.[bc]
Psalm 74[a]
A well-written song[b] by Asaph.
74 Why, O God, have you permanently rejected us?[c]
Why does your anger burn[d] against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember your people[e] whom you acquired in ancient times,
whom you rescued[f] so they could be your very own nation,[g]
as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell.
3 Hurry[h] to the permanent ruins,
and to all the damage the enemy has done to the temple.[i]
4 Your enemies roar[j] in the middle of your sanctuary;[k]
they set up their battle flags.[l]
5 They invade like lumberjacks
swinging their axes in a thick forest.[m]
6 And now[n] they are tearing down[o] all its engravings[p]
with axes[q] and crowbars.[r]
7 They set your sanctuary on fire;
they desecrate your dwelling place by knocking it to the ground.[s]
8 They say to themselves,[t]
“We will oppress all of them.”[u]
They burn down all the places in the land where people worship God.[v]
9 We do not see any signs of God’s presence;[w]
there are no longer any prophets,[x]
and we have no one to tell us how long this will last.[y]
10 How long, O God, will the adversary hurl insults?
Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
11 Why do you remain inactive?
Intervene and destroy him.[z]
12 But God has been my[aa] king from ancient times,
performing acts of deliverance on the earth.[ab]
13 You destroyed[ac] the sea by your strength;
you shattered the heads of the sea monster[ad] in the water.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;[ae]
you fed[af] him to the people who live along the coast.[ag]
15 You broke open the spring and the stream;[ah]
you dried up perpetually flowing rivers.[ai]
16 You established the cycle of day and night;[aj]
you put the moon[ak] and sun in place.[al]
17 You set up all the boundaries[am] of the earth;
you created the cycle of summer and winter.[an]
18 Remember how[ao] the enemy hurls insults, O Lord,[ap]
and how a foolish nation blasphemes your name.
19 Do not hand the life of your dove[aq] over to a wild animal.
Do not continue to disregard[ar] the lives of your oppressed people.
20 Remember your covenant promises,[as]
for the dark regions of the earth are full of places where violence rules.[at]
21 Do not let the afflicted be turned back in shame.
Let the oppressed and poor praise your name.[au]
22 Rise up, O God. Defend your honor.[av]
Remember how fools insult you all day long.[aw]
23 Do not disregard[ax] what your enemies say,[ay]
or the unceasing shouts of those who defy you.[az]
4 Now Deborah, a prophetess,[a] wife of Lappidoth, was[b] leading[c] Israel at that time. 5 She would sit[d] under the Date Palm Tree of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the Ephraimite hill country. The Israelites would come up to her to have their disputes settled.[e]
6 She summoned[f] Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali. She said to him, “Is it not true that the Lord God of Israel is commanding you? Go, march to Mount Tabor! Take with you 10,000 men from Naphtali and Zebulun. 7 I will bring Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to you at the Kishon River, along with his chariots and huge army.[g] I will hand him over to you.” 8 Barak said to her, “If you go with me, I will go. But if you do not go with me, I will not go.” 9 She said, “I will indeed go with you. But you will not gain fame[h] on the expedition you are undertaking,[i] for the Lord will turn Sisera over to a woman.”[j] Deborah got up and went with Barak to Kedesh. 10 Barak summoned men from Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh, and 10,000 men followed him;[k] Deborah went up with him as well. 11 Now Heber the Kenite had moved away[l] from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law. He lived[m] near the great tree in Zaanannim near Kedesh.
12 When Sisera heard[n] that Barak son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor, 13 he[o] ordered[p] all his chariotry—900 chariots with iron-rimmed wheels—and all the troops he had with him to go from Harosheth Haggoyim to the Kishon River. 14 Deborah said to Barak, “Spring into action,[q] for this is the day the Lord is handing Sisera over to you![r] Has the Lord not taken the lead?”[s] So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with 10,000 men following him. 15 The Lord routed[t] Sisera, all his chariotry, and all his army with the edge of the sword.[u] Sisera jumped out of[v] his chariot and ran away on foot. 16 Now Barak chased the chariots and the army all the way to Harosheth Haggoyim. Sisera’s whole army died[w] by the edge of the sword; not even one survived![x]
17 Now Sisera ran away on foot to the tent of Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite, for King Jabin of Hazor and the family of Heber the Kenite had made a peace treaty.[y] 18 Jael came out to welcome Sisera. She said to him, “Stop and rest,[z] my lord. Stop and rest with me. Don’t be afraid.” So Sisera[aa] stopped to rest in her tent, and she put a blanket over him. 19 He said to her, “Give me a little water to drink, because I’m thirsty.” She opened a goatskin container of milk and gave him some milk to drink. Then she covered him up again. 20 He said to her, “Stand watch at the entrance to the tent. If anyone comes along and asks you, ‘Is there a man here?’ say, ‘No.’” 21 Then Jael wife of Heber took a tent peg in one hand and a hammer in the other.[ab] She crept up on him, drove the tent peg through his temple into the ground[ac] while he was asleep from exhaustion,[ad] and he died. 22 Now Barak was chasing Sisera. Jael went out to welcome him. She said to him, “Come here and I will show you the man you are searching for.” He went with her into the tent,[ae] and there he saw Sisera sprawled out dead[af] with the tent peg through his temple.
23 That day God humiliated King Jabin of Canaan before the Israelites.
15 In those days[a] Peter stood up among the believers[b] (a gathering of about 120 people) and said, 16 “Brothers,[c] the scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit foretold through[d] David concerning Judas—who became the guide for those who arrested Jesus— 17 for he was counted as one of us and received a share in this ministry.”[e] 18 (Now this man Judas[f] acquired a field with the reward of his unjust deed,[g] and falling headfirst[h] he burst open in the middle and all his intestines[i] gushed out. 19 This[j] became known to all who lived in Jerusalem, so that in their own language[k] they called that field[l] Hakeldama, that is, “Field of Blood.”) 20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his house become deserted,[m] and let there be no one to live in it,’[n] and ‘Let another take his position of responsibility.’[o] 21 Thus one of the men[p] who have accompanied us during all the time the Lord Jesus associated with[q] us, 22 beginning from his baptism by John until the day he[r] was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness of his resurrection together with us.” 23 So they[s] proposed two candidates:[t] Joseph called Barsabbas (also called Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed,[u] “Lord, you know the hearts of all. Show us which one of these two you have chosen 25 to assume the task[v] of this service[w] and apostleship from which Judas turned aside[x] to go to his own place.”[y] 26 Then[z] they cast lots for them, and the one chosen was Matthias;[aa] so he was counted with the eleven apostles.[ab]
55 Many[a] women who had followed Jesus from Galilee and given him support[b] were also there, watching from a distance. 56 Among them were Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of the sons of Zebedee.
Jesus’ Burial
57 Now when it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who was also a disciple of Jesus.[c] 58 He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.[d] Then Pilate ordered that it be given to him. 59 Joseph[e] took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth,[f] 60 and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut in the rock.[g] Then he rolled a great stone across the entrance[h] of the tomb and went away. 61 (Now Mary Magdalene and the other Mary were sitting there, opposite the tomb.)
The Guard at the Tomb
62 The[i] next day (which is after the day of preparation) the chief priests and the Pharisees[j] assembled before Pilate 63 and said, “Sir, we remember that while that deceiver was still alive he said, ‘After three days I will rise again.’ 64 So give orders to secure the tomb until the third day. Otherwise his disciples may come and steal his body[k] and say to the people, ‘He has been raised from the dead,’ and the last deception will be worse than the first.” 65 Pilate said to them, “Take[l] a guard of soldiers. Go and make it as secure as you can.” 66 So[m] they went with the soldiers[n] of the guard and made the tomb secure by sealing the stone.
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