Book of Common Prayer
The One Who Rescues Me
For the choir director. Of David. A Psalm.
40 I (A)hoped [a]earnestly for Yahweh;
And He inclined to me and (B)heard my cry for help.
2 He brought me up out of the (C)pit of destruction, out of the [b]miry clay,
And (D)He set my feet upon a high rock, (E)He established my steps.
3 He put a (F)new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will (G)see and fear
And will trust in Yahweh.
4 How (H)blessed is the man who has made Yahweh his trust,
And (I)has not [c]turned to the proud, nor to those who (J)stray into falsehood.
5 Many, O Yahweh my God, are (K)the wondrous deeds You have done,
And Your (L)thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
I would declare and speak of them,
But they (M)are too numerous to recount.
6 [d](N)Sacrifice and meal offering [e]You have not desired;
My ears You have [f]opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is [g]written of me.
8 (O)I desire to do Your will, O my God;
(P)Your law is within my inner being.”
9 I (Q)proclaim good news of righteousness in the great assembly;
Behold, I do (R)not restrain my lips,
O Yahweh, (S)You know.
10 I do (T)not conceal Your righteousness within my heart;
I (U)speak of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I do not hide Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly.
11 You, O Yahweh, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
[h]Your (V)lovingkindness and Your truth will continually guard me.
12 For evils beyond number have (W)surrounded me;
My (X)iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are (Y)more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my (Z)heart has [i]failed me.
13 (AA)Be pleased, O Yahweh, to deliver me;
Make (AB)haste, O Yahweh, to help me.
14 Let those be (AC)ashamed and humiliated together
Who (AD)seek my [j]life to sweep it away;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight in [k]evil against me.
15 Let those (AE)be [l]appalled because of their shame
Who (AF)say to me, “Aha, aha!”
16 (AG)Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation (AH)say continually,
“Yahweh be magnified!”
17 As for me, (AI)I am afflicted and needy,
[m](AJ)May the Lord think of me.
You are my help and the One who rescues me;
Do not delay, O my God.
God Is My Helper
For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David. [b]When the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding himself among us?”
54 O God, save me by (A)Your name,
And render justice to me by (B)Your might.
2 (C)O God, hear my prayer;
(D)Give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have (E)risen against me
And (F)ruthless men have (G)sought my [c]life;
They have (H)not set God before them. [d]Selah.
Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God
For the choir director. A Psalm of David. When [a]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 (A)Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the abundance of (B)Your compassion (C)blot out my transgressions.
2 (D)Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And (E)cleanse me from my sin.
3 For [b]I (F)know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me.
4 (G)Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is (H)evil in Your sight,
So that (I)You [c]are justified [d]when You speak
And pure when You judge.
5 Behold, I was (J)brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You delight in (K)truth in the [e]innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will (L)make me know wisdom.
7 [f]Purify me (M)with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
[g]Wash me, and I shall be (N)whiter than snow.
8 [h]Make me to hear (O)joy and gladness,
Let the (P)bones which You have crushed rejoice.
9 (Q)Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10 (R)Create [i]in me a (S)clean heart, O God,
And renew [j]a (T)steadfast spirit within me.
11 (U)Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your (V)Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the (W)joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a (X)willing spirit.
13 Then I will (Y)teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will [k]be (Z)converted to You.
14 Deliver me from (AA)bloodguiltiness, O God, (AB)the God of my salvation;
Then my (AC)tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, [l](AD)open my lips,
That my mouth may (AE)declare Your praise.
16 For You (AF)do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a (AG)broken spirit;
A broken and a [m]contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Yahweh or Baal on Mount Carmel
20 So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and gathered the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came near to all the people and said, “(A)How long will you be limping between two opinions? (B)If Yahweh is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I (C)alone am left a prophet of Yahweh, but Baal’s prophets are (D)450 men. 23 Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but place no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and put it on the wood, and I will not place fire under it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of Yahweh, and (E)the God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people answered and said, “[a]That is a good word.”
25 So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but place no fire under it.” 26 Then they took the ox which [b]was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, “O Baal, answer us.” But there was (F)no voice and no one answered. And they [c]limped about the altar which [d]they had made. 27 Now it happened at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or relieving himself, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.” 28 So they cried with a loud voice and (G)gashed themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. 29 Now it happened when noon had passed, that they prophesied (H)until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no [e]one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And (I)he repaired the altar of Yahweh which had been pulled down. 31 Then Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of Yahweh had come, saying, “(J)Israel shall be your name.” 32 And with the stones he built an altar in (K)the name of Yahweh, and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two [f]seahs of seed. 33 (L)Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and placed it on the wood. 34 And he said, “Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” And he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 35 And the water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water.
Yahweh Answers, He Is God
36 (M)Now it happened at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “(N)O Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that (O)You are God in Israel and that I am Your slave and (P)I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Answer me, O Yahweh, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Yahweh, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.” 38 Then the (Q)fire of Yahweh fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 And all the people saw it and fell on their faces and said, “(R)Yahweh, He is God; Yahweh, He is God.” 40 Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to (S)the brook Kishon, (T)and slaughtered them there.
Righteousness Through Faith in Christ
3 Finally, my brothers, (A)rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.
2 Beware of the (B)dogs! Beware of the (C)evil workers! Beware of the [a]mutilation! 3 For (D)we are the [b]circumcision, who (E)worship [c]in the Spirit of God and (F)boast in (G)Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, 4 although (H)I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: 5 (I)circumcised the eighth day, of the (J)nation of Israel, of the (K)tribe of Benjamin, a (L)Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, (M)a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, (N)a persecutor of the church; as to the (O)righteousness which is in the Law, found (P)blameless.
7 But (Q)whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss because of the surpassing value of [d](R)knowing (S)Christ Jesus my Lord, [e]for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in Him, not having (T)a righteousness of my own which is from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, (U)the righteousness which is from God upon faith, 10 that I may (V)know Him and (W)the power of His resurrection and [f](X)the fellowship of His sufferings, being (Y)conformed to His death, 11 [g]in order that I may (Z)attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Pressing On Toward the Goal
12 Not that I have already (AA)obtained it or have already (AB)become perfect, but I press on [h]so that I may (AC)lay hold of that [i]for which also I (AD)was laid hold of by (AE)Christ Jesus. 13 Brothers, I do not consider myself as having laid hold of it yet, but one thing I do: (AF)forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I (AG)press on toward the goal for the prize of the (AH)upward call of God in (AI)Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as are [j](AJ)perfect, think this way; and if in anything you (AK)think differently, (AL)God will reveal that also to you. 16 However, let us keep [k](AM)walking in step with the same standard to which we have attained.
The Preaching of John the Baptist
3 Now (A)in those days [a](B)John the Baptist *[b]came, [c]preaching in the (C)wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “(D)Repent, for (E)the kingdom of heaven [d]is at hand.” 3 For this is the (F)one referred to [e]by Isaiah the prophet, saying,
“(G)The voice of one [f]crying in the wilderness,
‘(H)Make ready the way of the [g]Lord,
Make His paths straight!’”
4 Now John himself had [h](I)a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was (J)locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem (K)was going out to him, and all Judea, and all (L)the district around the Jordan; 6 and they were being (M)baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the (N)Pharisees and (O)Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You (P)brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from (Q)the wrath to come? 8 (R)Therefore bear fruit (S)in keeping with repentance; 9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘(T)We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 10 And the (U)axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore (V)every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “As for me, (W)I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; (X)He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His (Y)winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will (Z)gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the (AA)chaff with (AB)unquenchable fire.”
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.