Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 50[a]
The Worship Acceptable to God
1 A psalm of Asaph.[b]
[c]The Lord, the God of gods,[d]
has spoken and summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 From Zion, perfect in beauty,
God shines forth.
3 Our God is coming, and he will not be silent;
he is preceded by a devouring fire,
and a raging tempest surrounds him.[e]
4 He summons the heavens above
and the earth to judge his people:
5 “Gather before me my faithful servants
who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”[f]
6 The heavens proclaim his saving justice,
for God himself is the judge.[g] Selah
7 [h]“Listen, my people, and I will speak.
O Israel, I will testify against you.
I am God, your God.
8 I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices,
for your burnt offerings are constantly before me.
9 “I will not accept a young bull from your homes
or goats from your folds.
10 For all the living creatures of the forest are mine,
animals by the thousands on my hills.
11 I know every bird of the air,
and whatever moves in the fields belongs to me.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
for the world is mine, and all that it holds.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 “Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
15 Then if you cry out to me in time of trouble,
I will rescue you, and you will honor me.”
16 [i]But to the wicked God says:
“How can you recite my statutes
or profess my covenant on your lips?
17 For you loathe my instruction
and cast my words behind you.
18 “When you meet a thief, you join him;
you revel in the company of adulterers.
19 You employ your mouth for evil,
and your tongue frames deceit.
20 “You willingly speak against your brother
and slander the child of your own mother.
21 When you do such things, can I remain silent?
Do you think that I am[j] like you?
I will correct you
and set the charge before your face.
22 “Remember this, you who forget God,[k]
lest I tear you to pieces
and there be no one to rescue you.
23 He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors me;
to him who follows my way
I will show the salvation of God.”
Psalm 59[a]
Against Wicked Enemies
1 For the director.[b] According to “Do not destroy.” A miktam of David. When Saul sent people to watch David’s house in order to kill him.
2 Rescue me, O my God, from my enemies;
defend me[c] against those who rise up against me.
3 Deliver me from those who do evil;
save me from the violence of the bloodthirsty.
4 They are lying in wait to take my life;
the powerful gather together against me.
For no offense or sin of mine, O Lord,
5 for no guilt of mine,
they stand ready to attack me.
Rise up to help me, and look on my plight;
6 you, Lord, God of hosts,[d] are the God of Israel.
Rouse yourself and punish all the nations;
show no mercy to these wicked deceivers. Selah
7 They return each evening,
snarling like dogs
as they prowl through the city.
8 [e]See what spews from their mouths—
they spew forth from their lips,
and they assert, “Who is there to hear us?”
9 However, you laugh at them, O Lord;
you show your disdain for all the nations.
10 [f]O my strength, I will keep watch for you,
for you, O God, are my fortress,
11 O God of mercy.
May God go before me
and allow me to have my way with my enemies.
12 Do not put them to death,
lest my people forget.[g]
Scatter them in your power
and bring them to their knees,
O Lord, our shield.[h]
13 For the sins of their mouths
and the words of their lips,
let them be trapped in their pride.
For the curses and lies they speak,
14 put an end to them in your wrath;
put an end to them until they are no more.
Then it will be known to the ends of the earth
that God is the ruler over Jacob.[i] Selah
15 [j]They return each evening,
snarling like dogs
as they prowl through the city.
16 They roam about searching for food,
and they growl if they do not have their fill.
17 But I will sing of your strength;
when morning dawns, I will proclaim your kindness.[k]
For you have been my fortress,
my refuge in times of trouble.
18 O my Strength, I will sing your praises,
for you, O God, are my fortress,
the God who shows me love.[l]
Psalm 60[m]
Prayer To End Wars
1 For the director.[n] According to “The Lily of. . . .” A miktam of David (for teaching), 2 when he fought against Aram-naharaim and Aram-zobah; and when Joab, coming back, slew twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
3 O God, you have turned away from us
and left us defenseless.
Although your anger was aroused,
now come to our aid.
4 You shook the earth[o] and split it apart;
repair its cracks, for it continues to shake.
5 You have inflicted hardships on your people;
you have given us wine that made us stagger.[p]
6 But for those who fear you,
you have raised up a banner
to unfurl against the bow.[q] Selah
7 [r]With your right hand come to our aid and answer us
so that those you love may be delivered.
8 [s]God has promised from his sanctuary,
“In triumph I will apportion Shechem
and measure out the Valley of Succoth.
9 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine;
Ephraim is my helmet,[t]
Judah is my scepter.
10 Moab is my washbasin;[u]
upon Edom I will plant my sandal;
over Philistia I will shout in triumph.”
11 [v]Who will lead me into the fortified city?[w]
Who will guide me into Edom?
12 Is it not you, O God, who have rejected us
and no longer go forth with our armies?
13 Grant us your help against our enemies,
for any human assistance is worthless.
14 With God’s help we will be victorious,
for he will overwhelm our foes.
Psalm 114[a]
The Lord’s Wonders at the Exodus
1 [b]When Israel came out of Egypt,
the house of Jacob from a people of alien tongue,
2 Judah became God’s sanctuary
and Israel his domain.
3 [c]The sea fled at the sight;
the Jordan turned back.
4 The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs of the flock.
5 [d]What causes you to flee, O sea?
Why, O Jordan, do you turn back?
6 Why do you skip like rams, O mountains,
and like lambs of the flock, O hills?
7 [e]Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob,
8 who turns the rock into a pool of water,
and flint into a flowing spring.
Psalm 115[f]
Hymn to the Lord, the One God
1 [g]Not to us,[h] O Lord, not to us,
but to your name give glory
because of your kindness and faithfulness.
2 Why should the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”[i]
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever he pleases.[j]
4 Their idols are merely silver and gold,
the work of human hands.[k]
5 They have mouths but they cannot speak;
they have eyes but they cannot see.
6 They have ears but they cannot hear;
they have noses but they cannot smell.
7 They have hands but they cannot feel;
they have feet but they cannot walk;
their throats can emit no sound.
8 Those who make them end up like them,
as do all who place their trust in them.
9 [l]The house of Israel trusts in the Lord;
he is their help and their shield.
10 The house of Aaron trusts in the Lord;
he is their help and their shield.
11 Those who fear the Lord trust in the Lord;
he is their help and their shield.
12 [m]The Lord will be mindful of us and bless us;
he will bless the house of Israel;
he will bless the house of Aaron.
13 He will bless those who fear the Lord,
the small no less than the great.[n]
14 [o]May the Lord cause you to increase,
both you and your children.
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
16 [p]The heavens belong to the Lord,
but he has given the earth to humanity.
17 It is not the dead who praise the Lord,
those who sink into silence.[q]
18 It is we who bless the Lord
from this time forward and forevermore.[r]
Alleluia.
Chapter 34
The New Tablets of the Law. 1 The Lord said to Moses, “Cut two stone tablets like the first ones. I will write on these tablets the words that were on the first tablets, the ones you broke. 2 Be ready in the morning. Tomorrow morning you must climb up Mount Sinai and remain on the summit of the mountain with me. 3 No one is to climb up with you. No one should be on the summit of the mountain nor anywhere on the mountain. Even the flocks and the herds are not to graze in front of that mountain.”
4 Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first ones. He arose early in the morning and climbed up Mount Sinai, as the Lord had commanded him, with the two stone tablets in his hands.
The Lord Shows Himself to Moses.5 The Lord came down in a cloud and stood with him there and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed in front of him proclaiming, “The Lord, the Lord, a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and fidelity, 7 who shows mercy to thousands. He forgives iniquity and transgression and sin, but will by no means forgive the iniquity of the fathers, visiting it upon their sons and their sons’ sons, to the third and fourth generation.”
8 Moses quickly bowed down to the ground and worshiped. 9 He said, “If I have found favor with you, my Lord, let the Lord walk in our midst. Yet, it is an obstinate people. Pardon our iniquity and sin and take us for your own inheritance.”
10 A New Book of the Law.[a] The Lord said, “Behold, I am going to establish a covenant with you. I will perform marvelous deeds before all your people, things that have never been done before anywhere on the earth or among any people. All the people in whose midst you dwell will see the work of the Lord, for it is a wondrous thing that I will do with you.
11 “Observe what I command you today. I will drive out the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. 12 Take care not to make any covenants with the inhabitants of the land that you are about to enter, lest it become a snare to you. 13 You are to tear down their altars, smash their pillars, and cut down their sacred trees.[b] 14 You must not worship any other god, for the Lord is called Jealous, for he is a jealous God.
15 “Do not make a covenant with the people of that land lest, when they commit fornication for their gods and perform sacrifices to their gods, they invite you and you eat of their sacrifice.[c] 16 Do not take their daughters as wives for your sons lest, when their daughters commit fornication to their gods, they cause your sons to commit fornication with their gods as well.
17 “Do not make any molten gods for yourselves.
13 The Word of God Is at Work.[a] We also unceasingly give thanks to God because, when we handed on the word of God to you, you accepted it not as a human word but as what it truly is, the word of God, which is at work in you who believe. 14 Indeed, brethren, you have become imitators of the Churches of God that are in Judea in Christ Jesus. For you have suffered the same treatment from your own countrymen as they did from the Jews, 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the Prophets and also persecuted us.
They displease God and have become enemies of the entire human race 16 by trying to prevent us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way, they constantly reach the full measure of their sins. The wrath of God has begun to overtake them at last.
17 The Glory and Joy of the Apostles.[b] Brethren, when we were separated from you for a brief time—in body but not in heart—we had an intense longing to see you again face to face. 18 Therefore, we were determined to come to visit you—I, Paul, on more than one occasion—but Satan thwarted us.[c] 19 For what is our hope or our joy or our crown of honor in the presence of our Lord Jesus upon his return? Is it not you yourselves? 20 You truly are our glory and our joy.[d]
21 Anger.[a]“You have heard that your ancestors were told: ‘You shall not kill, and anyone who kills will be subject to judgment.’ 22 But I say this to you: Anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment, and whoever addresses his brother in an insulting way will answer for it before the Sanhedrin, and whoever calls his brother a fool will be liable to the fires of Gehenna.[b]
23 “Therefore, when offering your gift at the altar, if you should remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there at the altar and first go to be reconciled with your brother. Then return and offer your gift.
25 “Come to terms quickly with your opponent while you are on the way to court with him. If you fail to do so, he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge will put you in the custody of the guard, and you will be thrown into prison. 26 Believe the truth of what I tell you: you will not be given your freedom until you have paid your debt down to the last penny.[c]
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