Book of Common Prayer
He Will Never Allow the Righteous to Be Shaken
For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David.
55 (A)Give ear to my prayer, O God;
And (B)do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
2 Give (C)heed to me and answer me;
I am restless in my (D)complaint and [b](E)am surely distracted,
3 Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the (F)pressure of the wicked;
For they (G)shake wickedness down upon me
And in anger they (H)bear a grudge against me.
4 My (I)heart is in anguish within me,
And the terrors of (J)death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and (K)trembling come upon me,
And [c](L)horror has covered me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and [d](M)be at rest.
7 Behold, I would wander far away,
I would (N)lodge in the wilderness. [e]Selah.
8 I would hasten to my place of refuge
From the (O)stormy wind and tempest.”
9 [f]Confuse, O Lord, (P)divide their tongues,
For I have seen (Q)violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around her upon her walls,
And wickedness and mischief are in her midst.
11 (R)Destruction is in her midst;
(S)Oppression and deceit do not depart from her [g]streets.
12 For it is (T)not an enemy who reproaches me,
Then I could bear it;
Nor is it one who hates me who (U)has magnified himself against me,
Then I could hide myself from him.
13 But it is you, a man [h]my equal,
My (V)close companion and my [i](W)familiar friend;
14 We who had sweet counsel together
(X)Walked in the house of God in the throng.
15 Let [j]death come (Y)deceitfully upon them;
Let them (Z)go down alive to Sheol,
For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.
16 As for me, I shall (AA)call upon God,
And Yahweh will save me.
17 (AB)Evening and (AC)morning and at (AD)noon, I will bring my complaint and moan,
And He will hear my voice.
18 He will (AE)redeem my soul in peace [k]from the battle which is against me,
For they are (AF)many who strive with me.
19 God will (AG)hear and [l]answer them—
Even the one (AH)who [m]sits enthroned from of old— Selah.
Because they [n]do not change,
And (AI)do not fear God.
20 [o]My companion has put forth his hands against (AJ)those who were at peace with him;
He has [p](AK)violated his covenant.
21 His [q]speech was (AL)smoother than butter,
But his heart was war;
His words were (AM)softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn (AN)swords.
I Will Give Thanks to Your Name
Of David.
138 (A)I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the (B)gods.
2 I will worship (C)toward Your holy temple
And (D)give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your [a]truth;
For You have (E)magnified Your [b]word [c]according to all Your name.
3 On the day I (F)called, You answered me;
You made me bold with (G)strength in my soul.
4 (H)All the kings of the earth, O Yahweh, will give You thanks,
When they hear the words of Your mouth.
5 And they will (I)sing of the ways of Yahweh,
For (J)great is the glory of Yahweh.
6 For (K)Yahweh is high,
Yet He (L)sees the lowly,
But the (M)one who exalts himself He knows from afar.
7 Though I (N)walk in the midst of [d]distress, You will [e](O)revive me;
You will (P)stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will (Q)save me.
8 Yahweh will (R)accomplish what concerns me;
O Yahweh, Your (S)lovingkindness endures forever;
(T)Do not fail the (U)works of Your hands.
Where Can I Go from Your Spirit?
For the choir director. Of David. A Psalm.
139 O Yahweh, You have (V)searched me and known me.
2 You (W)know [f]when I sit down and [g]when I rise up;
You (X)understand my thought from afar.
3 You [h](Y)scrutinize my [i]path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 [j]Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Yahweh, You (Z)know it all.
5 You have (AA)enclosed me behind and before,
And You have (AB)put Your hand upon me.
6 Such (AC)knowledge is (AD)too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 (AE)Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 (AF)If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, (AG)You are there.
9 If I lift up the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will (AH)lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the (AI)darkness will (AJ)bruise me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12 Even the (AK)darkness is not too dark for You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
(AL)Darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For You (AM)formed my [k]inward parts;
You (AN)wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for [l]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
(AO)Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My [m](AP)frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And (AQ)intricately woven in the (AR)depths of the earth;
16 Your (AS)eyes have seen my unshaped substance;
And in (AT)Your book all of them were written
The (AU)days that were formed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious are Your (AV)thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would (AW)outnumber the sand.
When (AX)I awake, I am still with You.
19 Oh that You would (AY)slay the wicked, O God!
(AZ)O (BA)men of bloodshed, depart from me.
20 For they (BB)speak [n]against You wickedly,
And Your enemies [o](BC)take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not (BD)hate those who hate You, O Yahweh?
And do I not (BE)revile those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
A Remnant Will Return
20 Now it will be in that day, that the (A)remnant of Israel and those of the house of Jacob (B)who have escaped, will never again rely on the one who struck them, but will truly (C)rely on Yahweh, the Holy One of Israel.
21 A (D)remnant will return, the remnant of Jacob, to the (E)mighty God.
22 For (F)though your people, O Israel, may be like the sand of the sea,
Only a remnant within them will return;
A (G)destructive end is decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
23 For a complete destruction, one that is decreed, (H)Lord Yahweh of hosts will do in the midst of the whole land.
24 Therefore thus says Lord Yahweh of hosts, “O My people who inhabit (I)Zion, (J)do not fear the Assyrian [a]who (K)strikes you with the rod and lifts up his staff against you, the way Egypt did. 25 For in a very (L)little while (M)My indignation against you will end and My anger will be directed to their destruction.” 26 And Yahweh of hosts will (N)waken a scourge against him like the slaughter of (O)Midian at the rock of Oreb; and His (P)staff will be over the sea and He will lift it up (Q)the way He did in Egypt. 27 So it will be in that day, that [b]his (R)burden will be removed from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke will be broken because (S)of fatness.
Keep Yourselves in the Love of God
17 But you, (A)beloved, (B)must remember the words that were spoken beforehand by (C)the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18 that they were saying to you, “(D)In the last time there will be mockers, (E)following after their own ungodly lusts.” 19 These are the ones who cause divisions, [a](F)worldly-minded, not having the Spirit. 20 But you, (G)beloved, (H)building yourselves up on your most holy (I)faith, (J)praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in the love of God, (K)waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. 22 And on some, who are doubting, have mercy; 23 and for others, save, (L)snatching them out of the fire; and on others have mercy with fear, (M)hating even the tunic polluted by the flesh.
24 (N)Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to (O)make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with (P)great joy, 25 to the (Q)only (R)God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, (S)be glory, majesty, might, and authority, (T)before all time and now and [b]forever. Amen.
The Preaching of John the Baptist
3 Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, when (A)Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, and (B)Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip was tetrarch of the region of Ituraea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias was tetrarch of Abilene, 2 during the high priesthood of (C)Annas and (D)Caiaphas, (E)the word of God came to John, the son of Zechariah, in the wilderness. 3 And he came into all (F)the district around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins; 4 as it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet,
“(G)The voice of one crying in the wilderness,
‘Make ready the way of the [a]Lord,
Make His paths straight.
5 (H)Every ravine will be filled,
And every mountain and hill will be [b]brought low;
The crooked will be straight,
And the rough roads smooth.
6 (I)And all [c]flesh will (J)see the salvation of God.’”
7 So he was saying to the crowds who were going out to be baptized by him, “(K)You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? 8 Therefore bear fruits in keeping with repentance, and (L)do not begin to say [d]to yourselves, ‘(M)We have Abraham for our father,’ for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 9 But indeed the axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore, (N)every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.”
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