Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 56[a]
Boundless Trust in God
1 For the director.[b] According to Yonath elem rehoqim. A miktam of David. When the Philistines seized him at Gath.
2 Be merciful to me, O God,
for people are trampling upon me;
all day long they keep up their attack.
3 My foes pursue me all day long,
with their forces too many to number.
4 When I am terrified,
I place my trust in you.
5 In God, whose word[c] I praise,
in God I place my trust and know no fear;
what can people do to me?
6 All day long they slander me;
their one thought is to bring evil upon me.
7 In groups they hide in ambush
and spy on my every step,
determined to take my life.
8 Shall they escape in their iniquity?
Strike down the nations, O God, in your anger.
9 You have kept count of my wanderings
and stored my tears in your flask,
recording all these in your book.[d]
10 My foes will turn back
when I call out to you.
Of this I am confident:
that God is on my side.
11 In God, whose word I praise—
in the Lord, whose word I praise—
12 in God I place my trust and know no fear;
what can people do to me?
13 I am bound, O God, by vows[e] to you,
and I will pay you my debt of gratitude.
14 For you have delivered my life from death
and my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk in the presence of God[f]
in the light of the living.
Psalm 57[g]
Trust in God amid Suffering
1 For the director.[h] According to “Do not destroy.” A miktam of David. When he fled from Saul into the cave.
2 Have mercy on me, O God,
have mercy on me,
for in you my soul[i] takes refuge.
I will seek shelter in the shadow of your wings
until the time of danger has passed.
3 I call out to God Most High,
to God who takes care of me.[j]
4 May he send his help from heaven to deliver me
and put to shame those who trample upon me; Selah
may God send his kindness[k] and his faithfulness.
5 I lie prostrate in the midst of lions
who are hungrily seeking human prey.
Their teeth are spears and arrows,
and their tongues are razor-sharp swords.
6 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory shine over all the earth.[l]
7 They set a trap for my feet,
and I was overcome with distress.
They dug a pit in my path,
but they themselves fell into it. Selah
8 [m]My heart[n] is steadfast, O God,
my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and chant your praise;
9 awake, my soul!
Awake, lyre and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.[o]
10 [p]I will give thanks to you among the peoples, O Lord;
I will sing your praises among the nations.
11 For your kindness extends to the heavens;
your faithfulness, to the skies.
12 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
let your glory radiate over all the earth.
Psalm 58[q]
The Judge of Unjust Rulers
1 For the director.[r] According to “Do not destroy.” A miktam of David.
2 O you rulers,[s] do you render justice?
Do you judge your people impartially?
3 No! You devise wickedness in your hearts,[t]
and your hands bring about violence on the earth.
4 The wicked have gone astray right from the womb;
from birth these liars have taken the wrong path.[u]
5 Their venom is like that of a serpent;
they are as deaf as an asp that stops its ears
6 so as not to hear the voice of the charmer
no matter how skillful the spells he casts.[v]
7 O God, break the teeth in their mouths;
tear out the fangs of these lions, O Lord.[w]
8 [x]Cause them to vanish like water that drains off;
make them wither like grass that is trampled.[y]
9 Let them melt like a snail[z] that oozes into slime
or like a stillborn child that will never see the sun.
10 Before they sprout thorns[aa] like brambles or thistles,
may your whirlwind sweep them away.
11 The righteous will rejoice
when he sees that justice has been done,
and he will bathe his feet
in the blood[ab] of the wicked.
12 Then the people will say,
“There is truly a reward for the righteous;
there is a God who dispenses justice on the earth.”
Psalm 64[a]
Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 Listen, O God, to my cry of lament;
from the dreaded enemy preserve my life.
3 Protect me from the council of the wicked,
from the band of those who do evil.
4 They sharpen their tongues[c] like swords,
and they shoot forth their venomous words like arrows,
5 while they attack the innocent from ambush,
shooting suddenly and without fear.
6 [d]They agree on their evil plan,
and they resolve to lay snares,
saying, “Who will see us?”
7 They plot evil schemes
and devise shrewd plots;
the thoughts of their hearts[e] are hidden.
8 [f]However, God will shoot his arrows at them,[g]
and they will suddenly be struck down.
9 Their own tongues will bring them down,
and all who see them will wag their heads.[h]
10 [i]Then everyone will be in awe,
as they proclaim God’s mighty deeds
and contemplate what he has done.[j]
11 The righteous will rejoice in the Lord
and take refuge in him;
all the upright in heart will praise him.
Psalm 65[k]
Thanksgiving for Divine Blessings
1 For the director.[l] A psalm of David. A song.
2 It is fitting to offer praise to you,[m]
O God, in Zion.
To you our vows must be fulfilled,
3 for you answer our prayers.
To you all flesh must come,[n]
4 burdened by its sinful deeds.
Too heavy for us are our sins,
and only you can blot them out.[o]
5 Blessed[p] is the one whom you choose
and invite to dwell in your courts.
We will be filled with the good things of your house,
of your holy temple.
6 Through your awesome deeds[q] of righteousness,
you respond to us, O God, our Savior;
you are the hope of all the ends of the earth
and of the far-off islands.
7 Clothed in your great power,
you hold the mountains in place.[r]
8 You quiet the roaring of the seas,
the turbulence of their waves,
and the turmoil of the nations.[s]
9 Those who dwell at the ends of the earth
are awestruck by your wonders.[t]
You call forth songs of joy
from sunrise and sunset.
10 You care for the earth and water it,
making it most fertile.
The streams of God[u] are filled with water
to provide grain for its people.
Thus, you prepare the earth for growth:
11 you water its furrows
and level its ridges;
you soften it with showers
and bless its yield.[v]
12 You crown the year with your bounty,[w]
and your tracks dispense fertility.
13 The pastures of the wilderness overflow,
and the hills are covered with rejoicing.
14 The meadows are clothed with flocks,
and the valleys are decked out with grain;
in their joy they shout and sing together.[x]
Chapter 16[a]
The Day of Atonement. The Lord spoke to Moses after the two sons of Aaron died, after they came before the Lord. 2 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother that he should not come into the sanctuary, inside of the veil, before the seat of atonement that is on the Ark whenever he wants, lest he die, for I will appear in the cloud over the seat of atonement. 3 Aaron is to come into the sanctuary with a young bull for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering. 4 He shall put on the holy linen tunic and the linen undergarments. He shall wrap the linen sash around himself and put on the linen turban. He shall put these holy garments on after he has washed his body with water. 5 He shall take two kid goats as a sin offering and one ram as a burnt offering from the assembly of the children of Israel.6 “Aaron shall offer the young bull as a sin offering for himself, making atonement for himself and his household. 7 He shall then take the two goats and bring them before the Lord, at the entrance to the tent of meeting. 8 Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats, designating one goat for the Lord and the other one for the scapegoat.[b] 9 Aaron shall take the goat upon which the Lord’s lot fell and shall offer it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat upon which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and to send it out into the wilderness as the scapegoat.
11 “Aaron shall bring the young bull of the sin offering that is for himself and make atonement for himself and for his household. He shall slay the young bull as a sin offering for himself.[c] 12 Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals from the fire on the altar before the Lord. His hands are to be full of finely ground sweet incense. He shall bring these inside the veil. 13 He shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, so that the cloud of incense might cover the seat of atonement that is on the Testimony, lest he die. 14 He shall take some of the blood from the young bull, and shall sprinkle it with his finger upon the east part of the seat of atonement. Seven times he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger in front of the seat of atonement.
15 “He shall then slay the goat of the sin offering for the people and he shall bring its blood inside the veil. He shall do the same thing with this blood as he did with the blood of the young bull. He shall sprinkle it on the seat of atonement and in front of the seat of atonement. 16 Thus he shall make atonement for the sanctuary, for the uncleanness of the children of Israel, for their transgressions, and for all their sins. This is what he shall do for the tent of meeting that resides in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 No one is to be inside of the tent of meeting when he enters to make atonement in the sanctuary, until the time that he exits, so that he can make atonement for himself and for his household and for all of the assembly of Israel. 18 He shall go to the altar that is before the Lord and he shall make atonement for it. He shall take some of the blood of the young bull and some of the blood of the goat and he shall put it on the horns around the altar. 19 He shall sprinkle the blood upon it with his finger seven times, cleansing it and purifying it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
13 The Dead and the Living at the Lord’s Coming.[a] We do not wish you to be uncertain, brethren, about those who have fallen asleep.[b] You should not grieve as do those who have no hope. 14 For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so too do we believe that God will bring forth with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
15 Indeed, we can assure you, on the word of the Lord himself, that we who are still alive at the coming of the Lord will not have any advantage over those who have fallen asleep.[c] 16 When the command is given, at the sound of the archangel’s voice and the call of God’s trumpet, the Lord himself will descend from heaven, and those who have died in Christ will be the first to rise.
17 Then those of us who are still alive and are left will be caught up[d] together with them on clouds in the air to meet the Lord. And so, we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore, comfort one another[e] with these words.
The True Practice of Religion[a]
Chapter 6
Giving Alms in Secret. 1 “Beware of performing righteous deeds before others in order to impress them. If you do so, you will receive no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 Therefore, whenever you give alms, do not trumpet your generosity, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets in order to win the praise of others. Amen, I say to you, they have already received their reward. 3 But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. 4 Your almsgiving must be done in secret. And your Father who sees everything that is done in secret will reward you.
Praying in Secret. 5 “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners so that others may observe them doing so. Amen, I say to you, they have already received their reward. 6 But when you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father who sees everything that is done in secret will reward you.
16 Fasting in Secret.[a]“Whenever you fast, do not assume a gloomy expression like the hypocrites who contort their faces so that others may realize that they are fasting. Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward. 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, 18 so that the fact that you are fasting will not be obvious to others but only to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees everything that is done in secret will reward you.
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