Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 41[a]
Trust in God in Sickness and Misfortune
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 [c]Blessed is he who has concern for the weak;
in time of trouble the Lord will deliver him.
3 The Lord will protect him and keep him alive;
he will make him happy on earth
and not abandon him to the will of his enemies.
4 The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed
and bring him back to health.
5 Once I prayed, “O Lord, have mercy on me;
heal me, for I have sinned[d] against you.
6 In their malice my enemies say of me,
‘When will he die and his name be forgotten?’
7 When someone comes to visit me,
he utters words without sincerity;
his heart[e] harbors slander,
and on departing he gives voice to it.
8 “All my enemies whisper against me
and conjure up the worst in my regard.
9 ‘He has a fatal disease,’ they say;
‘he will never rise up from his sickbed.’
10 “Even my friend whom I trusted,
the one who dined at my table,
has risen up[f] against me.
11 But you, O Lord, be merciful to me;
make me well[g] so that I may pay them back.”
12 By this I know that you are pleased with me—
that my enemy fails to triumph over me.
13 Because of my innocence you uphold me
and let me stand in your presence forever.
14 Blessed[h] be the Lord, the God of Israel,
forever and forever.
Amen and Amen.
Psalm 52[a]
Prayer for Help against Calumniators
1 For the director.[b] A maskil of David. 2 When Doeg the Edomite went and told Saul, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelech.”
3 Why do you boast of your evil deeds,
you champion of malice?[c]
All day long 4 you plot harm;
your tongue is like a sharpened razor,
you master of deceit.
5 [d]You love evil rather than good,
and lies rather than truthful speech. Selah
6 You wallow in destructive talk,
you tongue of deceit.
7 [e]This is the reason why God will crush you
and destroy you once and for all.
He will snatch you from your tent[f]
and uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
8 The righteous will see and be afraid;
they will mock him:
9 “This is the man
who refused to accept God as his refuge.
Rather, he placed his trust in his abundant riches
and gathered strength by his crimes.”
10 [g]But I am like a green olive tree[h]
in the house of God.
I place my trust forever and ever
in the kindness of God.
11 I will praise you forever
for what you have done,[i]
and in the presence of the saints
I will proclaim the goodness of your name.
Psalm 44[a]
Past Glory and Present Need of God’s People
1 For the director.[b] A maskil of the sons of Korah.
2 [c]O God, we have heard with our ears,
our ancestors have told us,
of the deeds you performed in their days,
in the days of old.
3 To establish them in the land,
you drove out the nations with your own hand;
you crushed the peoples
so that our ancestors could flourish.
4 It was not their own swords that won them the land,
nor did their own arms make them victorious;
rather, it was your right hand and your arm
and the light of your face,[d]
because you loved them.
5 You are my[e] King and my God,
who bestowed victories upon Jacob.
6 Through you we throw back our enemies;
through your name[f] we crush our assailants.
7 It is not in my bow that I trust,
nor can my sword ensure my victory.
8 It is you who saved us from our enemies;
you scattered in confusion those who hate us.
9 In God we boast the whole day long,
and we will praise your name forever. Selah
10 [g]But now you have rejected and humiliated us,
and you no longer accompany our armies.[h]
11 You have forced us to retreat[i] before the enemy;
those who hate us plunder us unceasingly.
12 You have handed us over like sheep to be slaughtered
and scattered us among the nations.
13 You have sold your people for nothing,
receiving no gain from their sale.
14 You have subjected us to the contempt of our neighbors,
to the mockery and scorn of all who are near.
15 You have made us a byword to the nations;
the peoples shake their heads[j] at us.
16 All day long I am confronted by my disgrace,
and my face is covered with shame
17 as I hear the shouts of taunting and abuse
and see the hateful enemy seeking revenge.
18 All this has happened to us
even though we have not forgotten you
or been false to your covenant.[k]
19 Our hearts[l] have not turned back,
nor have our feet wandered from your path.
20 Yet you have crushed us,
forced us to live among the jackals,[m]
and covered us with darkness.
21 If we had forgotten the name[n] of our God
or lifted up our hands to a foreign god,
22 would not God have discovered it,
he who knows the secrets of the heart?
23 For your sake we are put to death all day long;
we are treated like sheep destined to be slaughtered.[o]
24 Awake, O Lord. Why[p] do you sleep?
Rise up, and do not abandon us forever.
25 Why do you hide your face[q]
and continue to ignore our misery and our sufferings?
26 We have been brought down to the dust;
our bodies cling to the ground.[r]
27 Rise up and come to our aid;
redeem us for the sake of your kindness.[s]
The Golden Calf and the Renewal of the Covenant
Chapter 32
The Golden Calf. 1 When the people saw that Moses delayed coming down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and told him, “Make a god to walk before us, because we do not know what has happened to Moses, the one who brought us out of the land of Egypt.”
2 Aaron answered them, “Take the gold earrings off your wives and sons and daughters and bring them to me.” 3 All the people took off their gold earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took the gold from their hands and fashioned it with a chisel and made a molten calf.[a] They said, “Behold your God, O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.” 5 Seeing this, Aaron built an altar before the calf and proclaimed, “Tomorrow shall be a feast in honor of the Lord.” 6 The following day they rose early, offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings. The people sat down and ate and drank. They then rose to divert themselves.
7 The Lord said to Moses, “Leave, go down, because your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt, have become perverse. 8 They have quickly departed from the way that I have commanded them. They have made a molten calf for themselves, and have bowed down before it. They have offered sacrifices and said, ‘Behold your God, Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ”
9 The Lord also said to Moses, “I have observed this people, and I have seen that it is a stubborn people. 10 Now let me be, so that my rage can blaze out against them and destroy them. I will then make you a great nation.”
11 The Prayer of Moses. But Moses entreated the Lord, his God, and said, “Why, O Lord, will you let your rage blaze out against your people, whom you brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand? 12 Why should the Egyptians be able to say about them, ‘He brought them out for evil purposes, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn back your wrath and change your mind about harming your people. 13 Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by yourself and said, ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars of the heavens. All this land, of which I have spoken, I will give to your descendants as their possession forever.’ ” 14 Then the Lord changed his mind and decided not to harm his people.
15 Moses Shatters the Tablets of the Law. Moses left and went down the mountain with the two tablets of Testimony in his hands, tablets written on both sides. They were written on one side and the other. 16 The tablets were made by God, and the writing on them was God’s writing.
17 Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, and he cried out to Moses, “There are battle sounds coming from the camp!” 18 But Moses answered, “It is not the shout of victory, nor the sound of defeat. It is the sound of singing that I hear.”
19 When they drew near the camp, he saw the calf and the dancing. Moses became very angry. He flung down the tablets, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20 He then seized the calf that they had made and burned it with fire. He ground it down until it was a powder and scattered it on water that he made the children of Israel drink.
18 The Christian Family.[a]Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not treat them harshly. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not provoke your children lest they lose heart.
22 Slaves and Masters. Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only when you are being observed or in order to please them, but wholeheartedly, out of reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, do it wholeheartedly, as if you were doing it for the Lord and not for others, 24 since you know that you will receive from the Lord an inheritance as your reward for you are serving the Lord Christ. 25 But anyone who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done. There will not be any favoritism shown.
Chapter 4
1 Masters, be just and fair in your treatment of your slaves, knowing that you too have a Master in heaven.
Assiduous Prayer.[b] 2 Persevere in prayer, with alert minds and thankful hearts. 3 At the same time, pray for us too, so that God may open a door to us to proclaim the word, the mystery of Christ, for which I am in prison. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it as clearly as I should.
Christian Behavior.[c] 5 Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the most of your opportunity. 6 Let your speech always be gracious and seasoned with wisdom, so that you will know how to respond properly to all.
Conclusion
Tychicus and Onesimus.[d] 7 Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a beloved brother, a faithful minister, and a fellow servant in the Lord. 8 I am sending him to you for this very purpose, so that you will know how we are and that he may cheer your hearts. 9 He will be accompanied by Onesimus, our trustworthy and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you about everything that has happened here.
10 Paul’s Coworkers. Aristarchus,[e] my fellow prisoner, sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, make him welcome.) 11 And Jesus who is called Justus also greets you. Of all those who are of the circumcision, these are the only ones who are working with me for the kingdom of God, and they have been a great comfort to me.
12 Epaphras sends you greetings. He is one of you, a servant of Christ Jesus, and he is always pleading earnestly in his prayers on your behalf so that you may seek perfection and fulfill the will of God. 13 I can testify for him that he has worked tirelessly for you and those in Laodicea and Hierapolis.[f] 14 Luke,[g] the beloved physician, and Demas send you greetings.
15 Notes for the Laodiceans. Give my greetings to the brethren in Laodicea, and to Nymphas[h] and the Church in her house. 16 Then when this letter has been read to you, see to it that it is also read to the Church at Laodicea; and I ask you in turn to read my letter that is coming from Laodicea. 17 Also tell Archippus:[i] “See that you carry out fully the ministry that you received in the Lord.”
18 Paul’s Signature.[j] I, Paul, write this farewell in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.
Chapter 5
The Sermon on the Mount—Magna Carta of the Christian Life[a]
The Beatitudes.[b] When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain. After he was seated, his disciples gathered around him. 2 Then he began to teach them as follows:3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they will have their fill.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will obtain mercy.
8 Blessed are the pure of heart, for they will see God.
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted in the cause of justice,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
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