Book of Common Prayer
Yahweh Is a Fortress
For the music director. A psalm of David.[a]
31 In you, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge.
Let me not be put to shame ever.
Deliver me by your righteousness.
2 Incline your ear to me.
Quickly deliver me.
Become my rock of refuge,
a fortified keep[b] to save me.
3 For you are my rock and my fortress.
So, for the sake of your name,
lead me and guide me.
4 Bring me out of the net that they have secretly set for me,
for you are my refuge.
5 Into your hand I commit my spirit.
You have redeemed me, O Yahweh, faithful God.[c]
6 I hate those devoted to useless idols,
but I trust Yahweh.
7 I will exult and rejoice in your loyal love.
Because you have seen my misery,
you know the distresses of my life.[d]
8 And you have not delivered me
into the hand of the enemy.
You have set my feet in a broad place.
9 Be gracious to me, O Yahweh,
because I have distress.
My eye wastes away because of vexation,
along with my soul and my body.[e]
10 For my life is at an end with sorrow,
and my years with sighing.
My strength stumbles because of my iniquity,
and my bones waste away.
11 Because of all my adversaries I have become a disgrace,
especially to my neighbors,
and a dread to my acquaintances.
Those who see me in the street flee from me.
12 I have become forgotten like one dead, out of mind.[f]
I am like a destroyed vessel.
13 For I hear the rumor of many,
“Terror on every side!”
When conspiring together against me,
they have plotted to take my life.
14 But as for me, I trust you, O Yahweh.
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times[g] are in your hand.
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies
and from those who pursue me.
16 Shine your face upon your servant.
Save me by your loyal love.
17 O Yahweh, let me not be put to shame, for I call on you.
Let the wicked be put to shame.
Let them go silently[h] to Sheol.
18 Let lying lips be dumb,
that speak against the righteous[i] unrestrained
with arrogance and contempt.
19 How abundant is your goodness
that you have stored up for those who fear you,
that you perform for those who take refuge in you
before the children of humankind.
20 You will hide them in the protection of your presence
from the plots of man.
You will hide them in a shelter from the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed is Yahweh,
because he has worked marvelously his loyal love to me
in a besieged city.
22 As for me, I said in my alarm,
“I am cut off from before your eyes.”
However you heard the voice of my supplications
when I cried to you for help.
23 Love Yahweh, all you his faithful ones.
Yahweh preserves the faithful
but repays abundantly the one who acts arrogantly.
24 Be strong and let your[j] heart show strength,
all you who wait for Yahweh.
A Prayer for Rescue from Enemies
Of David.[a]
35 Contend, O Yahweh, with my contenders;
fight those who fight me.
2 Grasp buckler and shield
and rise to my aid.
3 And draw the spear and javelin to meet those who pursue me.
Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.”
4 Let those who seek my life be shamed and humiliated.
Let those who plot calamity against me be repulsed and ashamed.
5 Let them be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of Yahweh driving them.[b]
6 Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of Yahweh pursuing them.
7 For without cause they secretly hide the pit with their net for me;
without cause they dug it for my life.
8 Let unforeseen ruin[c] come on him,
and his net that he hid, let it catch him.
Let him fall into it in ruin.
9 Then my soul will rejoice in Yahweh;
it will rejoice in his salvation.
10 All of my bones shall say, “O Yahweh, who is like you,
who delivers the poor from one stronger than he
and the poor and needy from the one who robs him?”
11 Violent witnesses rise up;
they ask me concerning what I do not know.
12 They repay me evil in place of good.
It is bereavement to my soul.
13 But as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth.
I weakened my soul with fasting,
and my prayer returned to me unanswered.[d]
14 I behaved[e] as though he were a friend or as a brother to me.
As one lamenting a mother, I was bowed down in mourning.
15 But at my stumbling they rejoiced and gathered together;
smiters whom I did not know gathered against me.
They tore and did not cease.
16 Among the ungodly of the mockers at feasts,[f]
they gnashed at me with their teeth.
17 My Lord, how long will you watch?
Restore my life from their ravages,[g]
my only life from the young lions.
18 I will give thanks to you in the great assembly;
among the mighty people I will praise you.
19 Let not those who are wrongfully my enemies[h] rejoice over me.
Nor let those who hate me without cause wink the eye.
20 For they do not speak peace,
but against the quiet ones of the land
they plan deceitful words.
21 They also made wide their mouths[i] against me.
They said, “Aha! Aha!
Our eyes have seen it.”
22 You have seen, O Yahweh. Do not be deaf.
O Lord, do not be far from me.
23 Wake up and rouse yourself for my right,
for my cause, O my God and my Lord.
24 Vindicate me according to your righteousness,
O Yahweh my God,
and do not let them rejoice over me.
25 Do not let them say in their hearts,[j] “Aha, our desire.”
Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let them be shamed and abashed altogether,
who rejoice at my misfortune.
Let them put on shame and insult,
who magnify themselves against me.
27 Let them shout for joy and be glad,
who delight in my vindication;
and let them say continually, “Yahweh is great,
who delights in the welfare of his servant.”
28 Then my tongue will proclaim your righteousness,
and your praise all day.
10 And Yahweh continued to speak to Ahaz, saying, 11 “Ask for a sign for yourself from Yahweh God; make it deep as Sheol or make it high as above.” 12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put Yahweh to the test.”
13 Then he said, “Hear, house of David! Is it too little for you to make men weary, that you should also make my God weary? 14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you[a] a sign. Look! the virgin[b] is with child and she is about to give birth to a son, and she shall call his name ‘God with us.’ 15 He shall eat curds and honey until he knows to reject the evil and to choose the good. 16 For before the boy knows to reject the evil and to choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be abandoned.[c]
That Day
17 “Yahweh will bring on you and on your people and on the house of your ancestor[d] days that have not come since the day Ephraim departed from Judah: the king of Assyria.” 18 And this shall happen: On that day, Yahweh will whistle for the fly that is at the end of the stream of Egypt and the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 19 And all of them will come and settle in the rivers of the cliffs and in the clefts of the rocks and on all of the thornbushes and watering places. 20 On that day, the Lord will shave the head and the hair of the feet with a razor of the one hired from beyond the river—with the king of Assyria—and it will even take off the beard. 21 And this shall happen: on that day, a young man will keep a young cow of the herd and two sheep alive. 22 And this shall happen: because of the abundance of milk production, he will eat curds, for every one that is left in the midst of the land will eat curds and honey. 23 And this shall happen on that day: Every place where there are a thousand vines[e] for a thousand silver pieces will become briers,[f] and it will be thornbushes.[g] 24 One will go there with arrows and bow, for all of the land will be briers[h] and thornbushes.[i] 25 And as for all of the hills that they hoed with the hoe, you will not go there, for fear of briers[j] and thornbushes.[k] And it will become like pastureland for cattle and overtrodden land for sheep.
Stand Firm and Hold Fast
13 But we ought to give thanks to God always concerning you, brothers dearly loved by the Lord, because God has chosen you as first fruits for salvation by the sanctification of the Spirit and faith in the truth, 14 for which purpose he called[a] you through our gospel for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions which you were taught, whether by spoken word or by letter from us. 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us eternal encouragement and good hope by grace, 17 encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good work and word.
Paul’s Prayer Request
3 Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may progress and be honored, just as also it was with you, 2 and that we may be delivered from evil and wicked people, for not all have the faith[b]. 3 But the Lord is faithful, who will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one. 4 And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are both doing and you will do the things that we are commanding. 5 Now may the Lord direct your hearts toward the love of God and toward the patient endurance of Christ.
The Lord’s Supper
14 And when the hour came, he reclined at the table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired[a] to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you that I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took in hand a cup, and[b] after[c] giving thanks he said, “Take this and share it[d] among yourselves. 18 For I tell you,[e] from now on I will not drink of the product of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 And he took bread, and[f] after[g] giving thanks, he broke it[h] and gave it[i] to them, saying, “This is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 20 And in the same way the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for you.
21 “But behold, the hand of the one who is betraying me is with me on the table! 22 For the Son of Man is going according to what has been determined, but woe to that man by whom he is betrayed!” 23 And they began to debate with one another who then of them it could be who was going to do this.
A Dispute About Who Is Greatest
24 And a dispute also occurred among them as to which of them was recognized as being greatest. 25 So he said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles[j] lord it over them, and those who have authority over them are called benefactors. 26 But you are not to be like this! But the one who is greatest among you must become like the youngest, and the one who leads like the one who serves. 27 For who is greater, the one who reclines at the table or the one who serves? Is it not the one who reclines at the table? But I am in your midst as the one who serves.
28 “And you are the ones who have remained[k] with me in my trials, 29 and I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred on me, 30 that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software