Book of Common Prayer
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.
2 Now Ahaziah fell through the lattice in his upper chamber in Samaria, and lay sick; so he sent messengers, telling them, “Go, inquire of (A)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, (B)whether I shall recover from this sickness.” 3 But the angel of the Lord said to Elijah (C)the Tishbite, “Arise, go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going to inquire of (D)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? 4 Now therefore thus says the Lord, (E)You shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” So Elijah went.
5 The messengers returned to the king, and he said to them, “Why have you returned?” 6 And they said to him, “There came a man to meet us, and said to us, ‘Go back to the king who sent you, and say to him, Thus says the Lord, Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of (F)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’” 7 He said to them, “What kind of man was he who came to meet you and told you these things?” 8 They answered him, (G)“He wore a garment of hair, with a belt of leather about his waist.” And he said, “It is Elijah the Tishbite.”
9 Then the king sent to him a captain of fifty men with his fifty. He went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, (H)“O man of God, the king says, ‘Come down.’” 10 But Elijah answered the captain of fifty, “If I am a man of God, (I)let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then fire came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
11 Again the king sent to him another captain of fifty men with his fifty. And he answered and said to him, “O man of God, this is the king's order, ‘Come down quickly!’” 12 But Elijah answered them, “If I am a man of God, (J)let fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty.” Then the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed him and his fifty.
13 Again the king sent the captain of a third fifty with his fifty. And the third captain of fifty went up and came and fell on his knees before Elijah and entreated him, “O man of God, please let my life, and the life of these fifty servants of yours, (K)be precious in your sight. 14 Behold, fire came down from heaven and consumed the two former captains of fifty men with their fifties, but now let my life be precious in your sight.” 15 Then the angel of the Lord said to Elijah, “Go down with him; do not be afraid of him.” So he arose and went down with him to the king 16 and said to him, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Because you have sent messengers to inquire of (L)Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron—is it because there is no God in Israel to inquire of his word?—therefore you shall not come down from the bed to which you have gone up, but you shall surely die.’”
17 So he died according to the word of the Lord that Elijah had spoken. Jehoram became king in his place (M)in the second year of Jehoram the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, because Ahaziah had no son.
16 (A)Do you not know that you[a] are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For (B)God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.
18 (C)Let no one deceive himself. (D)If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For (E)the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, (F)“He catches the wise in their craftiness,” 20 and again, (G)“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 So (H)let no one boast in men. For (I)all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, 23 and (J)you are Christ's, and (K)Christ is God's.
11 (A)“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely (B)on my account. 12 (C)Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for (D)so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Salt and Light
13 “You are the salt of the earth, (E)but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet.
14 (F)“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 (G)Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so (H)that[a] they may see your good works and (I)give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.