Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 16
You Will Not Abandon Me to the Grave
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A miktam[a] by David.
You Are My Lord
1 Guard me, O God, for I take refuge in you.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord.
I have no good apart from you.”[b]
3 The holy ones who are in the land are glorious.
All my delight is in them.
4 Those who chase after another god will increase their sorrows.
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood.
I will not take up their names on my lips.
You Will Not Abandon Me to the Grave
5 Lord, you are the cup that has been given to me.
You have secured an allotment for me.
6 The property lines chosen for me fall in pleasant places.
Yes, a delightful inheritance is mine.
7 I will bless the Lord, who guides me.
Even at night my heart[c] instructs me.
8 I have set the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad,
and my whole being[d] rejoices.
Even my flesh will dwell securely
10 because you will not abandon my life to the grave.
You will not let your favored one[e] see decay.
11 You have made known to me the path of life,
fullness of joy in your presence,
pleasures at your right hand forever.
Psalm 17
My Righteous Plea
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A prayer by David.
David’s Righteousness
1 Hear my righteous plea, O Lord.
Pay attention to my outcry.
Turn your ear to my prayer, which is not offered by deceitful lips.
2 May a just verdict for me come from you.
May your eyes observe the things that are right.
3 You have tested my heart.
You have visited me at night.
You have refined me;
you have found nothing wrong.
I resolved that my mouth will not overstep its bounds.
4 As for the deeds of people:
by the words from your lips
I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.
5 Keep my footsteps on your paths.
My steps have not slipped.
God’s Love
6 Indeed, I call to you because you will answer me, O God.
Turn your ear toward me. Hear what I say.
7 Perform wonders through your mercy.
By your right hand save those who seek refuge
from those who rise up against them.
8 Guard me like the pupil of your eye.[f]
In the shadow of your wings hide me
9 from the wicked who try to destroy me,
from those enemies of my life who surround me.
The Enemies’ Ruthlessness
10 Their hearts are calloused.[g]
Their mouths speak arrogantly.
11 Now they surround our steps.
They watch us to throw us to the ground.
12 He is like a lion that is eager to tear,
like a young lion crouching in its hiding place.
13 Rise, O Lord. Confront him. Bring him down.
Save my life from the wicked by your sword.
14 Save me from such men by your hand, O Lord,
from men of this world, whose reward is in this life.
Closing Confidence
14b But you fill the stomachs of those whom you treasure.[h]
Their children are satisfied,
and they leave their wealth to their children.
15 Indeed, in righteousness I will view your face.
When I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.
Psalm 22
Why Have You Forsaken Me?
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For the choir director. According to “Doe of the Dawn.”[a]
A psalm by David.
Part One: The Messiah’s Suffering
The Messiah’s Plea
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
My groaning does nothing to save me.
2 My God, I call out by day, but you do not answer.
I call out by night, but there is no relief for me.[b]
God’s Help in the Past
3 Yet you are seated as the Holy One, praised by Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted.
They trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried out to you, and they were rescued.
They trusted in you, and they were not disappointed.
God’s Present Absence
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me. They sneer.
They shake their heads.
8 They say, “Trust in the Lord.”[c]
“Let the Lord deliver him.
Let him rescue him, if he delights in him.”[d]
The Mutual Love of Father and Son
9 But you are the one who brought me out of the belly.
You made me trust when I was at my mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast on you from the womb.
From the belly of my mother you have been my God.
11 Do not be distant from me, for distress is near,
and there is no one to help.
The Power of His Enemies
12 Many bulls surround me.
Strong bulls from Bashan encircle me.
13 Enemies open their mouths wide against me,
like a lion that tears its prey and roars.
14 Like water I am poured out.
All my bones are pulled apart.
My heart has become like wax.
It has melted in the middle of my chest.
15 My strength is dried up like broken pottery,
and my tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth.
You lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me.
A band of evil men has encircled me.
They have pierced[e] my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my garments among them.
For my clothing they cast lots.
The Greater Power of God
19 But you, O Lord, do not be distant.
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver my life from the sword,
my only life from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion.
From the horns of the wild oxen you have answered me.[f]
Part Two: The Messiah’s Glory
The Messiah’s Vow
22 I will declare your name to my brothers.
In the midst of the congregation I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised nor detested the affliction of the afflicted.
He has not hidden his face from him,
but when he cried out to him, he heard.
25 You are the source of my praise in the great congregation.[g]
I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who fear him.
The Glory of Messiah’s Kingdom
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied.
Those who seek him will praise the Lord—
may he live in your hearts forever![h]
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations will bow down before you.
28 For the kingdom belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will eat and bow down.
All who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.[i]
30 Descendants will serve him.
For generations people will be told about the Lord.
31 They will come and proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet to be born—
because he has done it.
Round One: Job’s Third Speech
9 Then Job responded:
2 Of course I know that this is true.
But how can a man be justified before God?
3 If someone wants to argue with God,
he could not refute one charge out of a thousand.[a]
4 God has a wise heart and great power,
so who can resist God and come out of it unharmed?
5 God removes mountains from their position,
and they don’t even realize it.
He overturns mountains in his anger.
6 He shakes the earth off its foundation.
He causes its pillars to quake.
7 He speaks to the sun, and it does not rise,
and he seals up the stars.
8 He alone stretches out the heavens.
He treads on the crests of the sea.
9 He made the Bear, Orion, the Pleiades,[b]
and the constellations in the southern sky.
10 He does great things that are beyond investigation.
He does miracles that are too many to be counted.
11 Though he passes by me, I do not see him.
He moves past me, but I do not detect him.
12 If he snatches something away, who can make him bring it back?
Who can say to him, “What are you doing?”
13 God does not hold back his anger.
Even Rahab’s[c] helpers bow down beneath him.
14 How much less, then, will I be able to answer him?
I want to match words with him,
15 but even if I am in the right, I cannot answer him.
I can only plead to my judge for grace.
32 For he is not a man as I am,
so that I am able to answer him,
so that we may meet in court.
33 There is no one to mediate[a] between us,
no one who can lay his hand on both of us.
34 No one can make him take his rod away from me,
so that the dread of him would not fill me with terror!
35 If that happened, I would speak up and not be afraid.
But I have no such mediator. I am left on my own.
The Holy Spirit Comes on All Who Listen
34 Then Peter began to speak: “Now I really am beginning to understand that God does not show favoritism, 35 but in every nation, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36 He sent his word to the people of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
37 “You know what happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached. 38 God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went around doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the Devil, because God was with him.
39 “Indeed, we are witnesses of all the things he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem, yet they killed him by hanging him on a cross.[a] 40 But God raised him on the third day and caused him to be seen, 41 not by all the people, but by the witnesses God had already chosen—by us, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42 He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify solemnly that he is the one appointed by God as judge of the living and the dead. 43 All the prophets testify about him that, through his name, everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins.”
44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who were listening to the message. 45 All the circumcised believers who had come with Peter were amazed that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out, even on the Gentiles. 46 For they heard them speaking in other languages and praising God.
Then Peter responded, 47 “Certainly no one can refuse water for baptizing these people! They have received the Holy Spirit just as we have.” 48 He gave directions that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to stay for a few days.
37 On the last and most important day of the festival, Jesus stood up and called out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! 38 As the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from deep within the person who believes in me.” 39 By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were going to receive. For the Holy[a] Spirit had not yet come, because Jesus had not yet been glorified.
40 After hearing his words, some of the people said, “This is truly the Prophet.” 41 Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Surely the Christ does not come from Galilee, does he? 42 Doesn’t the Scripture say that the Christ comes from David’s descendants and from the little town of Bethlehem where David lived?” 43 So the people were divided because of him. 44 Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.
45 Then the guards came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, “Why didn’t you bring him in?”
46 The guards answered, “No one ever spoke the way this man does!”
47 So the Pharisees answered them, “You have not been deceived too, have you? 48 Have any of the rulers or Pharisees believed in him? 49 But this crowd, which does not know the law, is cursed!”
50 One of them, Nicodemus, who had come to Jesus earlier, asked, 51 “Does our law condemn a man before we hear from him and find out what he’s doing?”
52 “You are not from Galilee too, are you?” they replied. “Search and you will see that a prophet does not come from Galilee.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.