Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 70[a]
For the music director, by David; written to get God’s attention.[b]
70 O God, please be willing to rescue me.[c]
O Lord, hurry and help me.[d]
2 May those who are trying to take my life
be embarrassed and ashamed.[e]
May those who want to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.[f]
3 May those who say, “Aha! Aha!”
be driven back[g] and disgraced.[h]
4 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you.
May those who love to experience[i] your deliverance say continually,[j]
“May God[k] be praised!”[l]
5 I am oppressed and needy.[m]
O God, hurry to me.[n]
You are my helper and my deliverer.
O Lord,[o] do not delay.
Psalm 71[p]
71 In you, O Lord, I have taken shelter.
Never let me be humiliated.
2 Vindicate me by rescuing me.[q]
Listen to me.[r] Deliver me.[s]
3 Be my protector and refuge,[t]
a stronghold where I can be safe.[u]
For you are my high ridge[v] and my stronghold.
4 My God, rescue me from the power[w] of the wicked,
from the hand of the cruel oppressor.
5 For you are my hope;
O Sovereign Lord, I have trusted in you since I was young.[x]
6 I have leaned on you since birth;[y]
you pulled me[z] from my mother’s womb.
I praise you continually.[aa]
7 Many are appalled when they see me,[ab]
but you are my secure shelter.
8 I praise you constantly
and speak of your splendor all day long.[ac]
9 Do not reject me in my old age.[ad]
When my strength fails, do not abandon me.
10 For my enemies talk about me;
those waiting for a chance to kill me plot my demise.[ae]
11 They say,[af] “God has abandoned him.
Run and seize him, for there is no one who will rescue him.”
12 O God, do not remain far away from me.
My God, hurry and help me.[ag]
13 May my accusers be humiliated and defeated.
May those who want to harm me[ah] be covered with scorn and disgrace.
14 As for me, I will wait continually,
and will continue to praise you.[ai]
15 I will tell about your justice,
and all day long proclaim your salvation,[aj]
though I cannot fathom its full extent.[ak]
16 I will come and tell about[al] the mighty acts of the Sovereign Lord.
I will proclaim your justice—yours alone.
17 O God, you have taught me since I was young,
and I am still declaring[am] your amazing deeds.
18 Even when I am old and gray,[an]
O God, do not abandon me,
until I tell the next generation about your strength,
and those coming after me about your power.[ao]
19 Your justice, O God, extends to the skies above;[ap]
you have done great things.[aq]
O God, who can compare to you?[ar]
20 Though you have allowed me to experience much trouble and distress,[as]
revive me once again.[at]
Bring me up once again[au] from the depths of the earth.
21 Raise me to a position of great honor.[av]
Turn and comfort me.[aw]
22 I will express my thanks to you with a stringed instrument,
praising[ax] your faithfulness, O my God.
I will sing praises to you accompanied by a harp,
O Holy One of Israel.[ay]
23 My lips will shout for joy. Yes,[az] I will sing your praises.
I will praise you when you rescue me.[ba]
24 All day long my tongue will also tell about your justice,
for those who want to harm me[bb] will be embarrassed and ashamed.[bc]
Psalm 74[a]
A well-written song[b] by Asaph.
74 Why, O God, have you permanently rejected us?[c]
Why does your anger burn[d] against the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember your people[e] whom you acquired in ancient times,
whom you rescued[f] so they could be your very own nation,[g]
as well as Mount Zion, where you dwell.
3 Hurry[h] to the permanent ruins,
and to all the damage the enemy has done to the temple.[i]
4 Your enemies roar[j] in the middle of your sanctuary;[k]
they set up their battle flags.[l]
5 They invade like lumberjacks
swinging their axes in a thick forest.[m]
6 And now[n] they are tearing down[o] all its engravings[p]
with axes[q] and crowbars.[r]
7 They set your sanctuary on fire;
they desecrate your dwelling place by knocking it to the ground.[s]
8 They say to themselves,[t]
“We will oppress all of them.”[u]
They burn down all the places in the land where people worship God.[v]
9 We do not see any signs of God’s presence;[w]
there are no longer any prophets,[x]
and we have no one to tell us how long this will last.[y]
10 How long, O God, will the adversary hurl insults?
Will the enemy blaspheme your name forever?
11 Why do you remain inactive?
Intervene and destroy him.[z]
12 But God has been my[aa] king from ancient times,
performing acts of deliverance on the earth.[ab]
13 You destroyed[ac] the sea by your strength;
you shattered the heads of the sea monster[ad] in the water.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;[ae]
you fed[af] him to the people who live along the coast.[ag]
15 You broke open the spring and the stream;[ah]
you dried up perpetually flowing rivers.[ai]
16 You established the cycle of day and night;[aj]
you put the moon[ak] and sun in place.[al]
17 You set up all the boundaries[am] of the earth;
you created the cycle of summer and winter.[an]
18 Remember how[ao] the enemy hurls insults, O Lord,[ap]
and how a foolish nation blasphemes your name.
19 Do not hand the life of your dove[aq] over to a wild animal.
Do not continue to disregard[ar] the lives of your oppressed people.
20 Remember your covenant promises,[as]
for the dark regions of the earth are full of places where violence rules.[at]
21 Do not let the afflicted be turned back in shame.
Let the oppressed and poor praise your name.[au]
22 Rise up, O God. Defend your honor.[av]
Remember how fools insult you all day long.[aw]
23 Do not disregard[ax] what your enemies say,[ay]
or the unceasing shouts of those who defy you.[az]
Ignorance of the Future Demands Diligence in the Present
11 Send[a] your grain[b] overseas,[c]
for after many days you will get a return.[d]
2 Divide your merchandise[e] among seven or even eight[f] investments,[g]
for you do not know[h] what calamity[i] may happen on earth.
3 If the clouds are full of rain, they will empty themselves on the earth,
and whether a tree falls to the south or to the north, the tree will lie wherever it falls.
4 He who watches the wind will not sow,
and he who observes the clouds will not reap.[j]
5 Just as you do not know the path[k] of the wind,
or how the bones form[l] in the womb of a pregnant woman,[m]
so you do not know the work of God who makes everything.
6 Sow your seed in the morning,
and do not stop working[n] until the evening;[o]
for you do not know which activity[p] will succeed[q]—
whether this one or that one, or whether both will prosper equally.[r]
Life Should Be Enjoyed Because Death is Inevitable
16 But I say, live[a] by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.[b] 17 For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires[c] that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to[d] each other, so that you cannot do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 19 Now the works of the flesh[e] are obvious:[f] sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, 20 idolatry, sorcery,[g] hostilities,[h] strife,[i] jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions,[j] factions, 21 envying,[k] murder,[l] drunkenness, carousing,[m] and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!
22 But the fruit of the Spirit[n] is love,[o] joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,[p] 23 gentleness, and[q] self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ[r] have crucified the flesh[s] with its passions[t] and desires.
Peter’s Confession
13 When[a] Jesus came to the area of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples,[b] “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 They answered, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah,[c] and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered,[d] “You are the Christ,[e] the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus answered him,[f] “You are blessed, Simon son of Jonah, because flesh and blood[g] did not reveal this to you, but my Father in heaven! 18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[h] will not overpower it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.” 20 Then he instructed his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.[i]
NET Bible® copyright ©1996-2017 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. http://netbible.com All rights reserved.