Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 40[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
40 I relied completely[b] on the Lord,
and he turned toward me
and heard my cry for help.
2 He lifted me out of the watery pit,[c]
out of the slimy mud.[d]
He placed my feet on a rock
and gave me secure footing.[e]
3 He gave me reason to sing a new song,[f]
praising our God.[g]
May many see what God has done,
so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord.[h]
4 How blessed[i] is the one[j] who trusts in the Lord[k]
and does not seek help from[l] the proud or from liars.[m]
5 O Lord, my God, you have accomplished many things;
you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us.[n]
No one can thwart you.[o]
I want to declare your deeds and talk about them,
but they are too numerous to recount.[p]
6 Receiving sacrifices and offerings are not your primary concern.[q]
You make that quite clear to me.[r]
You do not ask for burnt sacrifices and sin offerings.
7 Then I say,
“Look, I come!
What is written in the scroll pertains to me.[s]
8 I want to do what pleases you,[t] my God.
Your law dominates my thoughts.”[u]
9 I have told the great assembly[v] about your justice.[w]
Look, I spare no words.[x]
O Lord, you know this is true.
10 I have not failed to tell about your justice;[y]
I spoke about your reliability and deliverance.
I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness.[z]
11 O Lord, you do not withhold[aa] your compassion from me.
May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me![ab]
12 For innumerable dangers[ac] surround me.
My sins overtake me
so I am unable to see;
they outnumber the hairs of my head
so my strength fails me.[ad]
13 Please be willing, O Lord, to rescue me!
O Lord, hurry and help me![ae]
14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life
be totally embarrassed and ashamed.[af]
May those who want to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.[ag]
15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
be humiliated[ah] and disgraced.[ai]
16 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you.
May those who love to experience[aj] your deliverance say continually,[ak]
“May the Lord be praised!”[al]
17 I am oppressed and needy.[am]
May the Lord pay attention to me.[an]
You are my helper and my deliverer.
O my God, do not delay.
Psalm 54[a]
For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song[b] by David. It was written when the Ziphites came and informed Saul: “David is hiding with us.”[c]
54 O God, deliver me by your name.[d]
Vindicate me[e] by your power.
2 O God, listen to my prayer.
Pay attention to what I say.[f]
3 For foreigners[g] attack me;[h]
ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life.[i] (Selah)
4 Look, God is my deliverer.[j]
The Lord is among those who support me.[k]
5 May those who wait to ambush me[l] be repaid for their evil.[m]
As a demonstration of your faithfulness,[n] destroy them.
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice[o] to you.
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
7 Surely[p] he rescues me from all trouble,[q]
and I triumph over my enemies.[r]
Psalm 51[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba.[b]
51 Have mercy on me, O God, because of[c] your loyal love.
Because of[d] your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts.[e]
2 Wash away my wrongdoing.[f]
Cleanse me of my sin.[g]
3 For I am aware of[h] my rebellious acts;
I am forever conscious of my sin.[i]
4 Against you—you above all[j]—I have sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
So[k] you are just when you confront me;[l]
you are right when you condemn me.[m]
5 Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,
a sinner the moment my mother conceived me.[n]
6 Look,[o] you desire[p] integrity in the inner man;[q]
you want me to possess wisdom.[r]
7 Cleanse me[s] with hyssop[t] and I will be pure;[u]
wash me[v] and I will be whiter than snow.[w]
8 Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven.[x]
May the bones[y] you crushed rejoice.[z]
9 Hide your face[aa] from my sins.
Wipe away[ab] all my guilt.
10 Create for me a pure heart, O God.[ac]
Renew a resolute spirit within me.[ad]
11 Do not reject me.[ae]
Do not take your holy Spirit[af] away from me.[ag]
12 Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance.
Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey.[ah]
13 Then I will teach[ai] rebels your merciful ways,[aj]
and sinners will turn[ak] to you.
14 Rescue me from the guilt of murder,[al] O God, the God who delivers me.
Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your righteousness.[am]
15 O Lord, give me the words.[an]
Then my mouth will praise you.[ao]
16 Certainly[ap] you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it;[aq]
you do not desire a burnt sacrifice.[ar]
17 The sacrifice God desires is a humble spirit[as]—
O God, a humble and repentant heart[at] you will not reject.[au]
18 Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her.[av]
Fortify[aw] the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will accept[ax] the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings;
then bulls will be sacrificed[ay] on your altar.[az]
IV. Job’s Concluding Soliloquy (29:1-31:40)
Job Recalls His Former Condition[a]
29 Then Job continued[b] his speech:
24 “If I have put my confidence in gold
or said to pure gold,
‘You are my security!’
25 if I have rejoiced because of the extent of my wealth,
or because of the great wealth my hand had gained,
26 if I looked at the sun[a] when it was shining,
and the moon advancing as a precious thing,
27 so that my heart was secretly enticed,
and my hand threw them a kiss from my mouth,[b]
28 then this[c] also would be iniquity to be judged,[d]
for I would have been false[e] to God above.
29 If[f] I have rejoiced over the misfortune of my enemy[g]
or exulted[h] because calamity[i] found him—
30 I[j] have not even permitted my mouth[k] to sin
by asking[l] for his life through a curse—
31 if[m] the members of my household[n] have never said,[o]
‘If only there were[p] someone
who has not been satisfied from Job’s[q] meat!’—
32 But[r] no stranger[s] had to spend the night outside,
for I opened my doors to the traveler[t]—
33 if[u] I have covered my transgressions as men do,[v]
by hiding[w] iniquity in my heart,[x]
34 because I was terrified[y] of the great multitude,[z]
and the contempt of families terrified me,
so that I remained silent
and would not go outdoors—
Job’s Appeal
35 “If only I had[aa] someone to hear me!
Here is my signature[ab]—
let the Almighty answer me!
If only I had an indictment[ac]
that my accuser had written.[ad]
36 Surely[ae] I would wear it proudly[af] on my shoulder,
I would bind[ag] it on me like a crown;
37 I would give him an accounting of my steps;
like a prince I would draw near to him.
Job’s Final Solemn Oath[ah]
38 “If my land cried out against me[ai]
and all its furrows wept together,
39 if I have eaten its produce without paying,[aj]
or caused the death[ak] of its owners,[al]
40 then let thorns sprout up in place of wheat,
and in place of barley, noxious weeds.”[am]
The words of Job are ended.
12 The whole group kept quiet[a] and listened to Barnabas and Paul while they explained all the miraculous signs[b] and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. 13 After they stopped speaking,[c] James replied,[d] “Brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon[e] has explained[f] how God first concerned himself[g] to select[h] from among the Gentiles[i] a people for his name. 15 The[j] words of the prophets agree[k] with this, as it is written,
16 ‘After this[l] I[m] will return,
and I will rebuild the fallen tent[n] of David;
I will rebuild its ruins and restore[o] it,
17 so that the rest of humanity[p] may seek the Lord,
namely,[q] all the Gentiles[r] I have called to be my own,’[s] says the Lord,[t] who makes these things 18 known[u] from long ago.[v]
19 “Therefore I conclude[w] that we should not cause extra difficulty[x] for those among the Gentiles[y] who are turning to God, 20 but that we should write them a letter[z] telling them to abstain[aa] from things defiled[ab] by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled[ac] and from blood. 21 For Moses has had those who proclaim him in every town from ancient times,[ad] because he is read aloud[ae] in the synagogues[af] every Sabbath.”
30 (Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still in the place where Martha had come out to meet him.) 31 Then the people[a] who were with Mary[b] in the house consoling her saw her[c] get up quickly and go out. They followed her, because they thought she was going to the tomb to weep[d] there.
32 Now when Mary came to the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people[e] who had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved[f] in spirit and greatly distressed.[g] 34 He asked,[h] “Where have you laid him?”[i] They replied,[j] “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept.[k] 36 Thus the people who had come to mourn[l] said, “Look how much he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “This is the man who caused the blind man to see![m] Couldn’t he have done something to keep Lazarus[n] from dying?”
Lazarus Raised from the Dead
38 Jesus, intensely moved[o] again, came to the tomb. (Now it was a cave, and a stone was placed across it.)[p] 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”[q] Martha, the sister of the deceased,[r] replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell,[s] because he has been buried[t] four days.”[u] 40 Jesus responded,[v] “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away[w] the stone. Jesus looked upward[x] and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me.[y] 42 I knew that you always listen to me,[z] but I said this[aa] for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When[ab] he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice,[ac] “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth,[ad] and a cloth wrapped around his face.[ae] Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him[af] and let him go.”
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.