Book of Common Prayer
O Lord, Be Gracious to Me
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
41 (A)Blessed is the one who considers the poor![a]
(B)In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
2 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you (C)do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health.[b]
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, (D)be gracious to me;
(E)heal me,[c] for I have sinned against you!”
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And when one comes to see me, (F)he utters empty words,
while his heart gathers iniquity;
when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.[d]
8 They say, “A deadly thing is poured out[e] on him;
he will not rise again from where he lies.”
9 Even my (G)close friend in whom I trusted,
who (H)ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!
11 By this I know that (I)you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
12 But (J)you have upheld me because of (K)my integrity,
and (L)set me in your presence (M)forever.
13 (N)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.
The Steadfast Love of God Endures
To the choirmaster. A Maskil[a] of David, when (A)Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
2 Your (B)tongue plots destruction,
like (C)a sharp razor, you (D)worker of deceit.
3 You love evil more than good,
and (E)lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
4 You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.
5 But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and (F)tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from (G)the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous shall (H)see and fear,
and shall (I)laugh at him, saying,
7 “See the man who would not make
God his refuge,
but (J)trusted in the abundance of his riches
and sought refuge in his own destruction!”[b]
Come to Our Help
To the choirmaster. (A)A Maskil[a] of the Sons of Korah.
44 O God, we have heard with our ears,
(B)our fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
(C)in the days of old:
2 you with your own hand (D)drove out the nations,
but (E)them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but (F)them you set free;
3 for not (G)by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
and (H)the light of your face,
(I)for you delighted in them.
4 (J)You are my King, O God;
(K)ordain salvation for Jacob!
5 Through you we (L)push down our foes;
through your name we (M)tread down those who rise up against us.
6 For not in (N)my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes
and have (O)put to shame those who hate us.
8 (P)In God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
9 But you have (Q)rejected us and disgraced us
and (R)have not gone out with our armies.
10 You have made us (S)turn back from the foe,
and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like (T)sheep for slaughter
and have (U)scattered us among the nations.
12 (V)You have sold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.
13 You have made us (W)the taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and (X)scorn of those around us.
14 You have made us (Y)a byword among the nations,
(Z)a laughingstock[b] among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and (AA)shame has covered my face
16 at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
at the sight of (AB)the enemy and the avenger.
17 (AC)All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our (AD)steps (AE)departed from your way;
19 yet you have (AF)broken us in the place of (AG)jackals
and covered us with (AH)the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or (AI)spread out our hands to (AJ)a foreign god,
21 (AK)would not God discover this?
(AL)For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yet (AM)for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 (AN)Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! (AO)Do not reject us forever!
24 Why (AP)do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our (AQ)soul is bowed down to the dust;
our belly clings to the ground.
26 Rise up; (AR)come to our help!
(AS)Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!
Elihu Rebukes Job's Three Friends
32 So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he was (A)righteous in his own eyes. 2 Then Elihu the son of Barachel (B)the Buzite, of the family of Ram, burned with anger. He burned with anger at Job because he justified himself (C)rather than God. 3 He burned with anger also at Job's three friends because they had found no answer, although they had (D)declared Job to be in the wrong. 4 Now Elihu had waited to speak to Job because they were older than he. 5 And when Elihu saw that there was no answer in the mouth of these three men, he burned with anger.
6 And Elihu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered and said:
“I am young in years,
and you are (E)aged;
therefore I was timid and afraid
to declare my opinion to you.
7 I said, ‘Let days speak,
and many years teach wisdom.’
8 But it is (F)the spirit in man,
(G)the breath of the Almighty, that makes him (H)understand.
9 (I)It is not the old[a] who are wise,
nor the aged who understand what is right.
10 Therefore I say, ‘Listen to me;
let me also declare my opinion.’
19 Behold, my belly is like wine that has no vent;
like new (A)wineskins ready to burst.
20 (B)I must speak, that I may find (C)relief;
I must open my lips and answer.
21 I will not (D)show partiality to any man
or use flattery toward any person.
22 For I do not know how to flatter,
else my Maker would soon take me away.
Elihu Rebukes Job
33 “But now, hear my speech, O Job,
and listen to all my words.
19 “Man is also rebuked with pain on his bed
and with continual strife in his (A)bones,
20 so that his (B)life loathes bread,
and his appetite (C)the choicest food.
21 His flesh is so wasted away that it cannot be seen,
and his bones that were not seen (D)stick out.
22 His soul draws near (E)the pit,
and his life to (F)those who bring death.
23 If there be for him (G)an angel,
(H)a mediator, (I)one of the thousand,
to declare to man what is (J)right for him,
24 and he is merciful to him, and says,
‘Deliver him from going down into the pit;
I have found (K)a ransom;
25 let his flesh (L)become fresh with youth;
let him return to the days of his youthful vigor’;
26 then man[a] (M)prays to God, and he accepts him;
he (N)sees his face with a shout of joy,
and he (O)restores to man his righteousness.
27 He sings before men and says:
‘I (P)sinned and perverted what was right,
and it was not repaid to me.
28 He has redeemed my (Q)soul from going down (R)into the pit,
and my life shall (S)look upon the light.’
44 The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. 45 (A)But (B)when the Jews[a] saw the crowds, they were filled with (C)jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, (D)reviling him. 46 And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God (E)be spoken first to you. (F)Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves (G)unworthy of eternal life, behold, we (H)are turning to the Gentiles. 47 (I)For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,
(J)“‘I have made you (K)a light for the Gentiles,
that you may (L)bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and (M)glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region. 50 (N)But the Jews incited the devout (O)women of high standing and the leading men of the city, (P)stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and (Q)drove them out of their district. 51 But they (R)shook off the dust from their feet against them and went to Iconium. 52 And the disciples were filled (S)with joy and (T)with the Holy Spirit.
19 (A)There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. 20 Many of them said, (B)“He has a demon, and (C)is insane; why listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. (D)Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
I and the Father Are One
22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, (E)in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are (F)the Christ, (G)tell us plainly.” 25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. (H)The works that I do (I)in my Father's name bear witness about me, 26 but (J)you do not believe because you are not among my sheep. 27 (K)My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 (L)I give them eternal life, and (M)they will never perish, and (N)no one will snatch them out of my hand. 29 My Father, (O)who has given them to me,[a] (P)is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of (Q)the Father's hand. 30 (R)I and the Father are one.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.