Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 16
You Will Not Abandon Me to the Grave
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A miktam[a] by David.
You Are My Lord
1 Guard me, O God, for I take refuge in you.
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my Lord.
I have no good apart from you.”[b]
3 The holy ones who are in the land are glorious.
All my delight is in them.
4 Those who chase after another god will increase their sorrows.
I will not pour out their drink offerings of blood.
I will not take up their names on my lips.
You Will Not Abandon Me to the Grave
5 Lord, you are the cup that has been given to me.
You have secured an allotment for me.
6 The property lines chosen for me fall in pleasant places.
Yes, a delightful inheritance is mine.
7 I will bless the Lord, who guides me.
Even at night my heart[c] instructs me.
8 I have set the Lord always before me.
Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.
9 Therefore my heart is glad,
and my whole being[d] rejoices.
Even my flesh will dwell securely
10 because you will not abandon my life to the grave.
You will not let your favored one[e] see decay.
11 You have made known to me the path of life,
fullness of joy in your presence,
pleasures at your right hand forever.
Psalm 17
My Righteous Plea
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A prayer by David.
David’s Righteousness
1 Hear my righteous plea, O Lord.
Pay attention to my outcry.
Turn your ear to my prayer, which is not offered by deceitful lips.
2 May a just verdict for me come from you.
May your eyes observe the things that are right.
3 You have tested my heart.
You have visited me at night.
You have refined me;
you have found nothing wrong.
I resolved that my mouth will not overstep its bounds.
4 As for the deeds of people:
by the words from your lips
I have kept myself from the ways of the violent.
5 Keep my footsteps on your paths.
My steps have not slipped.
God’s Love
6 Indeed, I call to you because you will answer me, O God.
Turn your ear toward me. Hear what I say.
7 Perform wonders through your mercy.
By your right hand save those who seek refuge
from those who rise up against them.
8 Guard me like the pupil of your eye.[f]
In the shadow of your wings hide me
9 from the wicked who try to destroy me,
from those enemies of my life who surround me.
The Enemies’ Ruthlessness
10 Their hearts are calloused.[g]
Their mouths speak arrogantly.
11 Now they surround our steps.
They watch us to throw us to the ground.
12 He is like a lion that is eager to tear,
like a young lion crouching in its hiding place.
13 Rise, O Lord. Confront him. Bring him down.
Save my life from the wicked by your sword.
14 Save me from such men by your hand, O Lord,
from men of this world, whose reward is in this life.
Closing Confidence
14b But you fill the stomachs of those whom you treasure.[h]
Their children are satisfied,
and they leave their wealth to their children.
15 Indeed, in righteousness I will view your face.
When I awake, I will be satisfied with seeing your likeness.
Psalm 22
Why Have You Forsaken Me?
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For the choir director. According to “Doe of the Dawn.”[a]
A psalm by David.
Part One: The Messiah’s Suffering
The Messiah’s Plea
1 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
My groaning does nothing to save me.
2 My God, I call out by day, but you do not answer.
I call out by night, but there is no relief for me.[b]
God’s Help in the Past
3 Yet you are seated as the Holy One, praised by Israel.
4 In you our fathers trusted.
They trusted and you delivered them.
5 They cried out to you, and they were rescued.
They trusted in you, and they were not disappointed.
God’s Present Absence
6 But I am a worm and not a man,
scorned by men and despised by the people.
7 All who see me mock me. They sneer.
They shake their heads.
8 They say, “Trust in the Lord.”[c]
“Let the Lord deliver him.
Let him rescue him, if he delights in him.”[d]
The Mutual Love of Father and Son
9 But you are the one who brought me out of the belly.
You made me trust when I was at my mother’s breasts.
10 I was cast on you from the womb.
From the belly of my mother you have been my God.
11 Do not be distant from me, for distress is near,
and there is no one to help.
The Power of His Enemies
12 Many bulls surround me.
Strong bulls from Bashan encircle me.
13 Enemies open their mouths wide against me,
like a lion that tears its prey and roars.
14 Like water I am poured out.
All my bones are pulled apart.
My heart has become like wax.
It has melted in the middle of my chest.
15 My strength is dried up like broken pottery,
and my tongue is stuck to the roof of my mouth.
You lay me in the dust of death.
16 For dogs have surrounded me.
A band of evil men has encircled me.
They have pierced[e] my hands and my feet.
17 I can count all my bones.
They stare and gloat over me.
18 They divide my garments among them.
For my clothing they cast lots.
The Greater Power of God
19 But you, O Lord, do not be distant.
O my Strength, come quickly to help me.
20 Deliver my life from the sword,
my only life from the power of the dog.
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion.
From the horns of the wild oxen you have answered me.[f]
Part Two: The Messiah’s Glory
The Messiah’s Vow
22 I will declare your name to my brothers.
In the midst of the congregation I will praise you.
23 You who fear the Lord, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him!
Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel!
24 For he has not despised nor detested the affliction of the afflicted.
He has not hidden his face from him,
but when he cried out to him, he heard.
25 You are the source of my praise in the great congregation.[g]
I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who fear him.
The Glory of Messiah’s Kingdom
26 The poor will eat and be satisfied.
Those who seek him will praise the Lord—
may he live in your hearts forever![h]
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the families of the nations will bow down before you.
28 For the kingdom belongs to the Lord,
and he rules over the nations.
29 All the rich of the earth will eat and bow down.
All who go down to the dust will kneel before him—
those who cannot keep themselves alive.[i]
30 Descendants will serve him.
For generations people will be told about the Lord.
31 They will come and proclaim his righteousness
to a people yet to be born—
because he has done it.
Solomon Prepares to Build the Temple
5 Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon because he heard that Solomon had been anointed king in his father’s place, and because Hiram had been a dear friend of David all his days.[a]
2 Solomon sent the following message to Hiram.
3 You know that my father David was not able to build a house for the Name of the Lord his God, because of the wars that swirled around him until the Lord put his enemies under the soles of his feet. 4 But now the Lord my God has given me rest on every side. I have no adversary and face no dangerous situations. 5 Listen to this! I intend to build a house for the Name of the Lord my God, just as the Lord told my father, “Your son, whom I will put on your throne in your place, will build the house for my Name.” 6 Now give the order to cut cedar logs for me from Lebanon. My servants will work with your servants, and I will reimburse you whatever you specify as the pay for your servants, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut lumber like the Sidonians.
7 When Hiram heard Solomon’s words, he was very happy and he said:
Blessed be the Lord this day because he has given David a wise son to rule over this great people.
8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon:
I have heard the message you sent me. I will provide all the cedar and fir logs that you desire. 9 My servants will bring the logs down from Lebanon to the sea, and I will put them into the sea as rafts and float them to the place that you tell me. Then we will dismantle them there, and you can transport them up from there. In exchange, you will provide all the food I desire for my palace.
10 So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and fir that he desired. 11 In return, Solomon gave Hiram one hundred twenty thousand bushels[b] of wheat as provisions for his palace and one hundred twenty thousand gallons[c] of beaten[d] olive oil. Solomon gave this amount to Hiram every year. 12 The Lord gave wisdom to Solomon just as he had promised him, so there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they made a treaty.
13 King Solomon drafted a labor force from all over Israel. It numbered thirty thousand men. 14 He sent ten thousand men per month to Lebanon in shifts. They would spend one month in Lebanon. Then for two months they would be at home. Adoniram was in charge of this forced labor. 15 Solomon had seventy thousand men to transport materials and eighty thousand men to quarry stones in the mountains, 16 not counting the officials who were overseeing the work for Solomon. There were thirty-three hundred men supervising the people who were doing the work. 17 The king gave a command, and they quarried large, high-quality stones to serve as a foundation for the temple building, which was made of trimmed stones. 18 Solomon’s builders and Hiram’s builders and the men from Gebal[e] cut and prepared the wood and stones to construct the temple building.[f]
The Construction of the Temple
6 In the four hundred eightieth year after the people of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, during the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month named Ziv,[g] which is the second month, Solomon began to build the house for the Lord.
7 While the building was under construction, only stones that had been finished at the quarry were used in the building. No hammer or chisel or any other iron tool was heard in the building while it was under construction.
Safe on Malta
28 Once we were safely on shore, we learned that the island was called Malta. 2 The natives showed us extraordinary kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all, because it had started to rain and was cold.
3 As Paul gathered a bundle of sticks and laid it on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened itself on his hand. 4 When the natives saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he escaped from the sea, Justice[a] has not allowed him to live.”
5 However, Paul shook the snake off into the fire and was not harmed. 6 The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had waited for a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
7 In the nearby vicinity was an estate that belonged to a man named Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us and entertained us hospitably as his guests for three days. 8 The father of Publius happened to be sick in bed, suffering from a fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, prayed, laid his hands on him, and healed him.
9 After that happened, others on the island who were sick also came and were healed. 10 They honored us in many ways, and when we were going to sail, they put on board whatever we needed.
On to Rome
11 After three months, we set sail in an Alexandrian ship that had wintered at the island. Its figurehead was the Twin Brothers.[b] 12 We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. 13 From there we sailed up the coast and arrived at Rhegium. After one day a south wind sprang up, and on the second day we came to Puteoli. 14 There we found some brothers[c] and were invited to stay with them for seven days. And so we came to Rome. 15 The brothers there heard the news about us and came as far as the Forum of Appius and Three Taverns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and was encouraged.
God’s Witness Reaches Rome
16 When we entered Rome,[d] Paul was allowed to live by himself with a soldier who guarded him.
Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial
27 Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away because of me. For it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’[a] 28 But after I am raised, I will go ahead of you into Galilee.”
29 But Peter said to him, “Even if all fall away, I will not.”
30 Jesus said to him, “Amen I tell you: Today—this very night—before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.”
31 But Peter kept saying emphatically, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you.” And they all said the same thing.
Gethsemane
32 They went to a place named Gethsemane. Jesus told his disciples, “Sit here while I pray.” 33 Then he took Peter, James, and John along with him and began to be troubled and distressed. 34 He said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow, even to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch.”
35 Going forward a little, he fell on the ground and prayed that, if it were possible, the hour might pass from him. 36 He also said, “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
37 When he returned to the disciples, he found them sleeping. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Were you not strong enough to keep watch for one hour? 38 Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
39 Again he went away and prayed, saying the same thing. 40 When he returned, he found them sleeping, for their eyes were heavy. They did not know what they should answer him. 41 He returned the third time and said to them, “Are you going to continue sleeping and resting? It is enough. The hour has come. Look, the Son of Man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. 42 Rise, let us go. Look, my betrayer is near.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.