Book of Common Prayer
Let Us Sing Songs of Praise
95 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord;
let us (A)make a joyful noise to (B)the rock of our salvation!
2 Let us (C)come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us (D)make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
3 For the Lord is (E)a great God,
and a great King (F)above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth;
the heights of the mountains are his also.
5 The sea is his, for (G)he made it,
and his hands formed (H)the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us (I)kneel before the Lord, our (J)Maker!
7 For he is our (K)God,
and we are the people of his (L)pasture,
and the sheep of his hand.
(M)Today, if you (N)hear his voice,
8 (O)do not harden your hearts, as at (P)Meribah,
as on the day at (Q)Massah in the wilderness,
9 when your fathers put me to the (R)test
and put me to the proof, though they had seen my (S)work.
10 (T)For forty years I loathed that generation
and said, “They are a people who go astray in their heart,
and they have not known (U)my ways.”
11 Therefore I (V)swore in my wrath,
“They shall not enter (W)my rest.”
Save Me, O God
To the choirmaster: according to (A)Lilies. Of David.
69 Save me, O God!
For (B)the waters have come up to my neck.[a]
2 I sink in deep (C)mire,
where there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters,
and the flood (D)sweeps over me.
3 (E)I am weary with my crying out;
(F)my throat is parched.
(G)My eyes grow dim
with (H)waiting for my God.
4 (I)More in number than the hairs of my head
are (J)those who hate me (K)without cause;
mighty are those who would destroy me,
(L)those who attack me with lies.
What I did not steal
must I now restore?
5 O God, you know my folly;
the wrongs I have done are not hidden from you.
6 Let not those who hope in you (M)be put to shame through me,
O Lord God of hosts;
let not those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me,
O God of Israel.
7 For it is (N)for your sake that I have borne reproach,
that dishonor has covered my face.
8 I have become (O)a stranger to my brothers,
an alien to my mother's sons.
9 For (P)zeal for your house has consumed me,
and (Q)the reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and humbled[b] my soul with fasting,
it became my reproach.
11 When I made (R)sackcloth my clothing,
I became (S)a byword to them.
12 I am the talk of those who (T)sit in the gate,
and the drunkards make (U)songs about me.
13 But as for me, my (V)prayer is to you, O Lord.
At (W)an acceptable time, O God,
in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.
14 Deliver me
from sinking in (X)the mire;
(Y)let me be delivered from my enemies
and from (Z)the deep waters.
15 Let not the flood sweep over me,
or the deep swallow me up,
or (AA)the pit close (AB)its mouth over me.
16 Answer me, O Lord, for your (AC)steadfast love is good;
according to your abundant (AD)mercy, (AE)turn to me.
17 (AF)Hide not your face from your servant,
(AG)for I am in distress; (AH)make haste to answer me.
18 Draw near to my soul, redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies!
19 You know my (AI)reproach,
and my shame and my dishonor;
my foes are all known to you.
20 (AJ)Reproaches have broken my heart,
so that I am in (AK)despair.
I (AL)looked for (AM)pity, but there was none,
and for (AN)comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me (AO)poison for food,
and for my thirst they gave me (AP)sour wine to drink.
22 (AQ)Let their own (AR)table before them become a snare;
(AS)and when they are at peace, let it become a trap.[c]
23 (AT)Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see,
(AU)and make their loins tremble continually.
24 Pour out your indignation upon them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.
25 (AV)May their camp be a desolation;
let no one dwell in their tents.
26 For they (AW)persecute him whom (AX)you have struck down,
and they recount the pain of (AY)those you have wounded.
27 (AZ)Add to them punishment upon punishment;
may they have no acquittal from you.[d]
28 Let them be (BA)blotted out of the book of the living;
let them not be (BB)enrolled among the righteous.
29 But I am afflicted and in pain;
let your salvation, O God, (BC)set me on high!
30 I will (BD)praise the name of God with a song;
I will (BE)magnify him with (BF)thanksgiving.
31 This will (BG)please the Lord more than an ox
or a bull (BH)with horns and hoofs.
32 When (BI)the humble see it they will be glad;
you who seek God, (BJ)let your hearts revive.
33 For the Lord hears the needy
and (BK)does not despise his own people who are prisoners.
Book Three
God Is My Strength and Portion Forever
A Psalm of (A)Asaph.
73 Truly God is good to (B)Israel,
to those who are (C)pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled,
my steps had nearly slipped.
3 (D)For I was (E)envious of the arrogant
when I saw the (F)prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they have no pangs until death;
their bodies are fat and sleek.
5 They are not in trouble as others are;
they are not (G)stricken like the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore pride is (H)their necklace;
violence covers them as (I)a garment.
7 Their (J)eyes swell out through fatness;
their hearts overflow with follies.
8 They scoff and (K)speak with malice;
loftily they threaten oppression.
9 They set their mouths against the heavens,
and their tongue struts through the earth.
10 Therefore his people turn back to them,
and find (L)no fault in them.[a]
11 And they say, (M)“How can God know?
Is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the wicked;
always at ease, they (N)increase in riches.
13 All in vain have I (O)kept my heart clean
and (P)washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all the day long I have been (Q)stricken
and (R)rebuked (S)every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
I would have betrayed (T)the generation of your children.
16 But when I thought how to understand this,
it seemed to me (U)a wearisome task,
17 until I went into (V)the sanctuary of God;
then I discerned their (W)end.
18 Truly you set them in (X)slippery places;
you make them fall to ruin.
19 How they are destroyed (Y)in a moment,
swept away utterly by (Z)terrors!
20 Like (AA)a dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when (AB)you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.
21 When my soul was embittered,
when I was pricked in heart,
22 I was (AC)brutish and ignorant;
I was like (AD)a beast toward you.
23 Nevertheless, I am continually with you;
you (AE)hold my right hand.
24 You (AF)guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will (AG)receive me to glory.
25 (AH)Whom have I in heaven but you?
And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.
26 (AI)My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is (AJ)the strength[b] of my heart and my (AK)portion (AL)forever.
Jerusalem Refused to Repent
5 (A)Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
look and take note!
Search her squares to see
(B)if you can find a man,
one who does justice
and seeks truth,
(C)that I may pardon her.
2 (D)Though they say, “As the Lord lives,”
(E)yet they swear falsely.
3 O Lord, do not your eyes look for truth?
(F)You have struck them down,
but they felt no anguish;
you have consumed them,
but they refused to take correction.
(G)They have made their faces harder than rock;
they have refused to repent.
4 Then I said, “These are only the poor;
they have no sense;
(H)for they do not know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.
5 I will go to the great
and will speak to them,
for they know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.”
(I)But they all alike had broken the yoke;
they had burst the bonds.
6 Therefore (J)a lion from the forest shall strike them down;
a (K)wolf from the desert shall devastate them.
(L)A leopard is watching their cities;
everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,
because their transgressions are many,
their (M)apostasies are great.
7 (N)“How can I pardon you?
Your children have forsaken me
(O)and have sworn by those who are no gods.
(P)When I fed them to the full,
(Q)they committed adultery
(R)and trooped to the houses of whores.
8 They were well-fed, lusty stallions,
(S)each neighing (T)for his neighbor's wife.
9 (U)Shall I not punish them for these things?
declares the Lord;
and shall I not avenge myself
on a nation such as this?
25 For circumcision indeed is of value (A)if you obey the law, but if you break the law, your circumcision becomes uncircumcision. 26 So, if (B)a man who is uncircumcised keeps (C)the precepts of the law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded[a] as circumcision? 27 Then he who is physically[b] uncircumcised but keeps the law (D)will condemn you who have (E)the written code[c] and circumcision but break the law. 28 For (F)no one is a Jew (G)who is merely one outwardly, nor is circumcision outward and physical. 29 But a Jew is one (H)inwardly, and (I)circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the letter. (J)His praise is not from man but from God.
God's Righteousness Upheld
3 Then what advantage has the Jew? Or what is the value of circumcision? 2 Much in every way. To begin with, (K)the Jews were entrusted with (L)the oracles of God. 3 (M)What if some were unfaithful? (N)Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? 4 By no means! (O)Let God be true though (P)every one were a liar, as it is written,
5 But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict (S)wrath on us? ((T)I speak in a human way.) 6 By no means! For then how could (U)God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie God's truth abounds to his glory, (V)why am I still being condemned as a sinner? 8 And why not (W)do evil that good may come?—as some people slanderously charge us with saying. Their condemnation is just.
No One Is Righteous
9 What then? Are we Jews[d] any better off?[e] No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both (X)Jews and (Y)Greeks, are (Z)under sin, 10 as it is written:
(AA)“None is righteous, no, not one;
11 no one understands;
no one seeks for God.
12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless;
no one does good,
not even one.”
13 (AB)“Their throat is (AC)an open grave;
they use their tongues to deceive.”
(AD)“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
14 (AE)“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
15 (AF)“Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 in their paths are ruin and misery,
17 and (AG)the way of peace they have not known.”
18 (AH)“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Witnesses to Jesus
30 (A)“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and (B)my judgment is just, because (C)I seek not my own will (D)but the will of him who sent me. 31 (E)If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is (F)another who bears witness about me, and (G)I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 (H)You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that (I)the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and (J)shining lamp, and (K)you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 But (L)the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For (M)the works that the Father has given me (N)to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, (O)bear witness about me that (P)the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me (Q)has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, (R)his form you have never seen, 38 and (S)you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 (T)You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and (U)it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet (V)you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 41 (W)I do not receive glory from people. 42 But (X)I know that you do not have (Y)the love of God within you. 43 I have come (Z)in my Father's name, and (AA)you do not receive me. (AB)If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and (AC)do not seek the glory that comes from (AD)the only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, (AE)on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for (AF)he wrote of me. 47 But (AG)if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.