Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 69[a]
For the music director, according to the tune of “Lilies”;[b] by David.
69 Deliver me, O God,
for the water has reached my neck.[c]
2 I sink into the deep mire
where there is no solid ground;[d]
I am in[e] deep water,
and the current overpowers me.
3 I am exhausted from shouting for help.
My throat is sore;[f]
my eyes grow tired from looking for my God.[g]
4 Those who hate me without cause
are more numerous than the hairs of my head.
Those who want to destroy me,
my enemies for no reason,[h]
outnumber me.[i]
They make me repay what I did not steal.[j]
5 O God, you are aware of my foolish sins;[k]
my guilt is not hidden from you.[l]
6 Let none who rely on you be disgraced because of me,
O Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies.[m]
Let none who seek you be ashamed because of me,
O God of Israel.
7 For I suffer[n] humiliation for your sake[o]
and am thoroughly disgraced.[p]
8 My own brothers treat me like a stranger;
they act as if I were a foreigner.[q]
9 Certainly[r] zeal for[s] your house[t] consumes me;
I endure the insults of those who insult you.[u]
10 I weep and refrain from eating food,[v]
which causes others to insult me.[w]
11 I wear sackcloth
and they ridicule me.[x]
12 Those who sit at the city gate gossip about me;
drunkards mock me in their songs.[y]
13 O Lord, may you hear my prayer and be favorably disposed to me.[z]
O God, because of your great loyal love,
answer me with your faithful deliverance.[aa]
14 Rescue me from the mud. Don’t let me sink.
Deliver me[ab] from those who hate me,
from the deep water.
15 Don’t let the current overpower me.
Don’t let the deep swallow me up.
Don’t let the Pit[ac] devour me.[ad]
16 Answer me, O Lord, for your loyal love is good.[ae]
Because of your great compassion, turn toward me.
17 Do not ignore[af] your servant,
for I am in trouble. Answer me right away.[ag]
18 Come near me and redeem me.[ah]
Because of my enemies, rescue me.
19 You know how I am insulted, humiliated, and disgraced;
you can see all my enemies.[ai]
20 Their insults are painful[aj] and make me lose heart;[ak]
I look[al] for sympathy, but receive none,[am]
for comforters, but find none.
21 They put bitter poison[an] into my food,
and to quench my thirst they give me vinegar to drink.[ao]
22 May their dining table become a trap before them.
May it be a snare for that group of friends.[ap]
23 May their eyes be blinded.[aq]
Make them shake violently.[ar]
24 Pour out your judgment[as] on them.
May your raging anger[at] overtake them.
25 May their camp become desolate,
their tents uninhabited.[au]
26 For they harass[av] the one whom you discipline;[aw]
they spread the news about the suffering of those whom you punish.[ax]
27 Hold them accountable for all their sins.[ay]
Do not vindicate them.[az]
28 May their names be deleted from the scroll of the living.[ba]
Do not let their names be listed with the godly.[bb]
29 I am oppressed and suffering.
O God, deliver and protect me.[bc]
30 I will sing praises to God’s name.[bd]
I will magnify him as I give him thanks.[be]
31 That will please the Lord more than an ox or a bull
with horns and hooves.
32 The oppressed look on—let them rejoice.
You who seek God,[bf] may you be encouraged.[bg]
33 For the Lord listens to the needy;
he does not despise his captive people.[bh]
34 Let the heavens and the earth praise him,
along with the seas and everything that swims in them.
35 For God will deliver Zion
and rebuild the cities of Judah,
and his people[bi] will again live in them and possess Zion.[bj]
36 The descendants of his servants will inherit it,
and those who are loyal to him[bk] will live in it.[bl]
Book 3 (Psalms 73-89)
Psalm 73[a]
A psalm by Asaph.
73 Certainly God is good to Israel,[b]
and to those whose motives are pure.[c]
2 But as for me, my feet almost slipped;
my feet almost slid out from under me.[d]
3 For I envied those who are proud,
as I observed[e] the prosperity[f] of the wicked.
4 For they suffer no pain;[g]
their bodies[h] are strong and well fed.[i]
5 They are immune to the trouble common to men;
they do not suffer as other men do.[j]
6 Arrogance is their necklace,[k]
and violence covers them like clothing.[l]
7 Their prosperity causes them to do wrong;[m]
their thoughts are sinful.[n]
8 They mock[o] and say evil things;[p]
they proudly threaten violence.[q]
9 They speak as if they rule in heaven,
and lay claim to the earth.[r]
10 Therefore they have more than enough food to eat,
and even suck up the water of the sea.[s]
11 They say, “How does God know what we do?
Is the Most High aware of what goes on?”[t]
12 Take a good look. This is what the wicked are like,[u]
those who always have it so easy and get richer and richer.[v]
13 I concluded,[w] “Surely in vain I have kept my motives[x] pure
and maintained a pure lifestyle.[y]
14 I suffer all day long,
and am punished every morning.”
15 If I had publicized these thoughts,[z]
I would have betrayed your people.[aa]
16 When I tried to make sense of this,
it was troubling to me.[ab]
17 Then I entered the precincts of God’s temple,[ac]
and understood the destiny of the wicked.[ad]
18 Surely[ae] you put them in slippery places;
you bring them down[af] to ruin.
19 How desolate they become in a mere moment.
Terrifying judgments make their demise complete.[ag]
20 They are like a dream after one wakes up.[ah]
O Lord, when you awake[ai] you will despise them.[aj]
21 Yes,[ak] my spirit was bitter,[al]
and my insides felt sharp pain.[am]
22 I was ignorant[an] and lacked insight;[ao]
I was as senseless as an animal before you.[ap]
23 But I am continually with you;
you hold my right hand.
24 You guide[aq] me by your wise advice,
and then you will lead me to a position of honor.[ar]
25 Whom do I have in heaven but you?
On earth there is no one I desire but you.[as]
26 My flesh and my heart may grow weak,[at]
but God always[au] protects my heart and gives me stability.[av]
27 Yes,[aw] look! Those far from you[ax] die;
you destroy everyone who is unfaithful to you.[ay]
28 But as for me, God’s presence is all I need.[az]
I have made the Sovereign Lord my shelter,
as[ba] I declare all the things you have done.
Judgment on Jehoiakim
13 “‘Sure to be judged[a] is the king who builds his palace using injustice
and treats people unfairly while adding its upper rooms.[b]
He makes his countrymen work for him for nothing.
He does not pay them for their labor.
14 He says, “I will build myself a large palace
with spacious upper rooms.”
He cuts windows in its walls,
panels it[c] with cedar, and paints its rooms red.[d]
15 Does it make you any more of a king
that you outstrip everyone else in[e] building with cedar?
Just think about your father.
He was content that he had food and drink.[f]
He did what was just and right.[g]
So things went well with him.
16 He upheld the cause of the poor and needy.
So things went well for Judah.’[h]
The Lord says,
‘That is a good example of what it means to know me.[i]
17 But you are always thinking and looking
for ways to increase your wealth by dishonest means.
Your eyes and your heart are set
on killing some innocent person
and committing fraud and oppression.’”[j]
18 So[k] the Lord has this to say about Josiah’s son, King Jehoiakim of Judah:
“People will not mourn for him, saying,
‘This makes me sad, my brother!
This makes me sad, my sister!’
They will not mourn for him, saying,
‘Poor, poor lord! Poor, poor majesty!’[l]
19 He will be left unburied just like a dead donkey.
His body will be dragged off and thrown outside the gates of Jerusalem.[m]
Warning to Jerusalem
20 “People of Jerusalem,[n] go up to Lebanon and cry out in mourning.
Go to the land of Bashan and cry out loudly.
Cry out in mourning from the mountains of Moab.[o]
For your allies[p] have all been defeated.
21 While you were feeling secure I gave you warning.[q]
But you said, ‘I refuse to listen to you.’
That is the way you have acted from your earliest history onward.[r]
Indeed, you have never paid attention to me.
22 My judgment will carry off all your leaders like a storm wind![s]
Your allies will go into captivity.
Then you will certainly[t] be disgraced and put to shame
because of all the wickedness you have done.
23 You may feel as secure as a bird
nesting in the cedars of Lebanon.
But O how you[u] will groan[v] when the pains of judgment come on you.
They will be like those of a woman giving birth to a baby.”[w]
12 So then,[a] brothers and sisters,[b] we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh 13 (for if you live according to the flesh, you will[c] die),[d] but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are[e] the sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery leading again to fear,[f] but you received the Spirit of adoption,[g] by whom[h] we cry, “Abba,[i] Father.” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness to[j] our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 And if children, then heirs (namely, heirs of God and also fellow heirs with Christ)[k]—if indeed we suffer with him so we may also be glorified with him.
18 For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared[l] to the coming glory that will be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly but because of God[m] who subjected it—in hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. 23 Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,[n] groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption,[o] the redemption of our bodies.[p] 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance.[q]
26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray,[r] but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. 27 And he[s] who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit[t] intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will.
41 Then the Jews who were hostile to Jesus[a] began complaining about him because he said, “I am the bread that came down from heaven,” 42 and they said, “Isn’t this Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How can he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” 43 Jesus replied,[b] “Do not complain about me to one another.[c] 44 No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him,[d] and I will raise him up at the last day. 45 It is written in the prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’[e] Everyone who hears and learns from the Father[f] comes to me. 46 (Not that anyone has seen the Father except the one who is from God—he[g] has seen the Father.)[h] 47 I tell you the solemn truth,[i] the one who believes[j] has eternal life.[k] 48 I am the bread of life.[l] 49 Your ancestors[m] ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This[n] is the bread that has come down from heaven, so that a person[o] may eat from it and not die. 51 I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats from this bread he will live forever. The bread[p] that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”
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