Book of Common Prayer
He Will Never Allow the Righteous to Be Shaken
For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David.
55 (A)Give ear to my prayer, O God;
And (B)do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
2 Give (C)heed to me and answer me;
I am restless in my (D)complaint and [b](E)am surely distracted,
3 Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the (F)pressure of the wicked;
For they (G)shake wickedness down upon me
And in anger they (H)bear a grudge against me.
4 My (I)heart is in anguish within me,
And the terrors of (J)death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and (K)trembling come upon me,
And [c](L)horror has covered me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and [d](M)be at rest.
7 Behold, I would wander far away,
I would (N)lodge in the wilderness. [e]Selah.
8 I would hasten to my place of refuge
From the (O)stormy wind and tempest.”
9 [f]Confuse, O Lord, (P)divide their tongues,
For I have seen (Q)violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around her upon her walls,
And wickedness and mischief are in her midst.
11 (R)Destruction is in her midst;
(S)Oppression and deceit do not depart from her [g]streets.
12 For it is (T)not an enemy who reproaches me,
Then I could bear it;
Nor is it one who hates me who (U)has magnified himself against me,
Then I could hide myself from him.
13 But it is you, a man [h]my equal,
My (V)close companion and my [i](W)familiar friend;
14 We who had sweet counsel together
(X)Walked in the house of God in the throng.
15 Let [j]death come (Y)deceitfully upon them;
Let them (Z)go down alive to Sheol,
For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.
16 As for me, I shall (AA)call upon God,
And Yahweh will save me.
17 (AB)Evening and (AC)morning and at (AD)noon, I will bring my complaint and moan,
And He will hear my voice.
18 He will (AE)redeem my soul in peace [k]from the battle which is against me,
For they are (AF)many who strive with me.
19 God will (AG)hear and [l]answer them—
Even the one (AH)who [m]sits enthroned from of old— Selah.
Because they [n]do not change,
And (AI)do not fear God.
20 [o]My companion has put forth his hands against (AJ)those who were at peace with him;
He has [p](AK)violated his covenant.
21 His [q]speech was (AL)smoother than butter,
But his heart was war;
His words were (AM)softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn (AN)swords.
I Will Give Thanks to Your Name
Of David.
138 (A)I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the (B)gods.
2 I will worship (C)toward Your holy temple
And (D)give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your [a]truth;
For You have (E)magnified Your [b]word [c]according to all Your name.
3 On the day I (F)called, You answered me;
You made me bold with (G)strength in my soul.
4 (H)All the kings of the earth, O Yahweh, will give You thanks,
When they hear the words of Your mouth.
5 And they will (I)sing of the ways of Yahweh,
For (J)great is the glory of Yahweh.
6 For (K)Yahweh is high,
Yet He (L)sees the lowly,
But the (M)one who exalts himself He knows from afar.
7 Though I (N)walk in the midst of [d]distress, You will [e](O)revive me;
You will (P)stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will (Q)save me.
8 Yahweh will (R)accomplish what concerns me;
O Yahweh, Your (S)lovingkindness endures forever;
(T)Do not fail the (U)works of Your hands.
Where Can I Go from Your Spirit?
For the choir director. Of David. A Psalm.
139 O Yahweh, You have (V)searched me and known me.
2 You (W)know [f]when I sit down and [g]when I rise up;
You (X)understand my thought from afar.
3 You [h](Y)scrutinize my [i]path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 [j]Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Yahweh, You (Z)know it all.
5 You have (AA)enclosed me behind and before,
And You have (AB)put Your hand upon me.
6 Such (AC)knowledge is (AD)too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 (AE)Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 (AF)If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, (AG)You are there.
9 If I lift up the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will (AH)lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the (AI)darkness will (AJ)bruise me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12 Even the (AK)darkness is not too dark for You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
(AL)Darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For You (AM)formed my [k]inward parts;
You (AN)wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for [l]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
(AO)Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My [m](AP)frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And (AQ)intricately woven in the (AR)depths of the earth;
16 Your (AS)eyes have seen my unshaped substance;
And in (AT)Your book all of them were written
The (AU)days that were formed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious are Your (AV)thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would (AW)outnumber the sand.
When (AX)I awake, I am still with You.
19 Oh that You would (AY)slay the wicked, O God!
(AZ)O (BA)men of bloodshed, depart from me.
20 For they (BB)speak [n]against You wickedly,
And Your enemies [o](BC)take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not (BD)hate those who hate You, O Yahweh?
And do I not (BE)revile those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
Joseph Interprets Pharaoh’s Dream
41 Now it happened at the end of two full years that Pharaoh had a dream, and behold, he was standing by the Nile. 2 And behold, from the Nile there came up seven cows, sleek and [a]fat; and they grazed in the (A)reeds. 3 Then behold, seven other cows came up after them from the Nile, [b]ugly and [c]thin, and they stood by the other cows on the bank of the Nile. 4 And the ugly and [d]thin cows ate up the seven sleek and fat cows. Then Pharaoh awoke. 5 He again fell asleep and dreamed a second time; and behold, seven ears of grain came up on a single stalk, plump and good. 6 And behold, seven ears, thin and scorched by the east wind, sprouted up after them. 7 And the thin ears swallowed up the seven plump and full ears. Then Pharaoh awoke, and behold, it was a dream. 8 Now it happened that in the morning (B)his spirit was troubled, so he sent and called for all the [e](C)magicians of Egypt and all its (D)wise men. And Pharaoh recounted to them his dream, but (E)there was no one who could interpret them to Pharaoh.
9 Then the chief cupbearer spoke to Pharaoh, saying, “I would bring to remembrance today (F)my own [f]offenses. 10 Pharaoh was (G)furious with his servants, and (H)he put me in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard, both me and the chief baker. 11 (I)And we had a dream [g]on the same night, [h]he and I; each of us dreamed according to the interpretation of his own dream. 12 Now there was with us a Hebrew youth, a (J)slave of the captain of the bodyguard, and we recounted them to him, and (K)he interpreted our dreams for us. To each one he interpreted according to his own dream. 13 And just (L)as he interpreted for us, so it happened; he restored me in my [i]office, but he hanged him.”
Servants of Christ
4 Let a man consider us in this manner, as (A)servants of Christ and (B)stewards of (C)the mysteries of God. 2 In this case, moreover, it is required [a]of stewards that one be found faithful. 3 But to me it is a very small thing that I may be examined by you, or by any human [b]court. In fact, I do not even examine myself. 4 For I (D)am conscious of nothing against myself, yet I am not by this (E)acquitted. But the one who examines me is the Lord. 5 Therefore (F)do not go on [c]passing judgment before [d]the time, but wait (G)until the Lord comes who will both (H)bring to light the things hidden in the darkness and make manifest the motives of hearts. And then each one’s (I)praise will come to him from God.
6 Now these things, brothers, I have applied to myself and Apollos for your sakes, so that in us you may learn not to go beyond (J)what is written, so that no one of you will (K)become puffed up (L)on behalf of one against the other. 7 For who regards you as superior? (M)What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?
Lord of the Sabbath
23 (A)And it happened that He was passing through the grainfields on the Sabbath, and His disciples began to make their way along while (B)picking the heads of grain. 24 And the Pharisees were saying to Him, “Look, (C)why are they doing what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” 25 And He *said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and he and his companions became hungry; 26 how he entered the house of God around the time of (D)Abiathar the high priest, and ate the [a]consecrated bread, which (E)is not lawful for anyone to eat except the priests, and he also gave it to those who were with him?” 27 And Jesus was saying to them, “(F)The Sabbath [b]was made [c]for man, and (G)not man [d]for the Sabbath. 28 Consequently the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
Jesus Heals a Man on the Sabbath
3 (H)And He (I)entered again into a synagogue; and a man was there with a withered hand. 2 (J)And they were watching Him to see if He would heal him on the Sabbath, (K)so that they might accuse Him. 3 And He *said to the man with the withered hand, “[e]Get up and come forward!” 4 And He *said to them, “Is it lawful to do good or to do harm on the Sabbath, to save a life or to kill?” But they kept silent. 5 And after (L)looking around at them with anger, grieved at their hardness of heart, He *said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored. 6 And the Pharisees went out and immediately began taking counsel together with the (M)Herodians against Him, as to how they might destroy Him.
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