Book of Common Prayer
My Help and My Deliverer
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
40 I (A)waited patiently for the Lord;
he inclined to me and (B)heard my cry.
2 He drew me up from (C)the pit of destruction,
out of (D)the miry bog,
and (E)set my feet upon a rock,
(F)making my steps secure.
3 He put (G)a new song in my mouth,
a song of praise to our God.
Many will (H)see and fear,
and put their trust in the Lord.
4 Blessed is the man who (I)makes
the Lord his trust,
who does not turn to the proud,
to those who (J)go astray after a lie!
5 You have multiplied, O Lord my God,
your (K)wondrous deeds and your (L)thoughts toward us;
none can compare with you!
I will proclaim and tell of them,
yet they are (M)more than can be told.
6 (N)In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted,
but you have given me an open (O)ear.[a]
Burnt offering and sin offering
you have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I have come;
in the scroll of the book it is written (P)of me:
8 (Q)I delight to do your will, O my God;
your law is (R)within my heart.”
9 I have told the glad news of deliverance[b]
in (S)the great congregation;
behold, I have not (T)restrained my lips,
(U)as you know, O Lord.
10 I have not hidden your deliverance within my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and your salvation;
I have not concealed your steadfast love and your faithfulness
from the great congregation.
11 As for you, O Lord, you will not restrain
your mercy from me;
your (V)steadfast love and your faithfulness will
ever preserve me!
12 For evils have (W)encompassed me
beyond number;
my (X)iniquities have overtaken me,
and I cannot (Y)see;
they are (Z)more than the hairs of my head;
my heart (AA)fails me.
13 (AB)Be pleased, O Lord, to (AC)deliver me!
O Lord, (AD)make haste to help me!
14 (AE)Let those be put to shame and disappointed altogether
who seek to snatch away my life;
let those be (AF)turned back and brought to dishonor
who delight in my hurt!
15 Let those be appalled because of their shame
who (AG)say to me, “Aha, Aha!”
The Lord Upholds My Life
To the choirmaster: with (A)stringed instruments. A Maskil[a] of David, (B)when the Ziphites went and told Saul, “Is not David hiding among us?”
54 O God, save me by your (C)name,
and vindicate me by your might.
2 O God, (D)hear my prayer;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 (E)For (F)strangers[b] have risen against me;
ruthless men (G)seek my life;
they do not set God before themselves. Selah
Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when (A)Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 (B)Have mercy on me,[a] O God,
according to your steadfast love;
according to your (C)abundant mercy
(D)blot out my transgressions.
2 (E)Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and (F)cleanse me from my sin!
3 (G)For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is ever before me.
4 (H)Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil (I)in your sight,
(J)so that you may be justified in your words
and blameless in your judgment.
5 Behold, (K)I was brought forth in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.
6 Behold, you delight in truth in (L)the inward being,
and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart.
7 Purge me (M)with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
(N)wash me, and I shall be (O)whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
(P)let the bones (Q)that you have broken rejoice.
9 (R)Hide your face from my sins,
and (S)blot out all my iniquities.
10 (T)Create in me a (U)clean heart, O God,
and (V)renew a right[b] spirit within me.
11 (W)Cast me not away from your presence,
and take not (X)your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation,
and uphold me with a willing spirit.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will (Y)return to you.
14 Deliver me from (Z)bloodguiltiness, O God,
O (AA)God of my salvation,
and (AB)my tongue will sing aloud of your (AC)righteousness.
15 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 (AD)For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it;
you will not be pleased with a burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are (AE)a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Judgment on Arrogant Assyria
5 Woe to Assyria, (A)the rod of my anger;
the staff in their hands is my fury!
6 Against a (B)godless nation I send him,
and against the people of my wrath I command him,
to take (C)spoil and seize plunder,
and to (D)tread them down like the mire of the streets.
7 But he (E)does not so intend,
and his heart does not so think;
but it is in his heart to destroy,
and to cut off nations not a few;
8 for he says:
(F)“Are not my commanders all kings?
9 (G)Is not (H)Calno like (I)Carchemish?
Is not (J)Hamath like (K)Arpad?
(L)Is not (M)Samaria like Damascus?
10 As my hand has reached to (N)the kingdoms of the idols,
whose carved images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 shall I not do to Jerusalem and (O)her idols
(P)as I have done to Samaria and her images?”
12 (Q)When the Lord has finished all his work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, (R)he[a] will punish the speech[b] of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the boastful look in his eyes. 13 (S)For he says:
“By the strength of my hand I have done it,
and by my wisdom, for I have understanding;
I remove the boundaries of peoples,
and plunder their treasures;
like a bull I bring down those who sit on thrones.
14 My hand has found like a nest
the wealth of the peoples;
and as one gathers eggs that have been forsaken,
so I have gathered all the earth;
and there was none that moved a wing
or opened the mouth or chirped.”
15 Shall (T)the axe boast over him who hews with it,
or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it?
As if a rod should wield him who lifts it,
or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood!
16 Therefore the Lord God of hosts
will send wasting sickness among his (U)stout warriors,
and under his glory (V)a burning will be kindled,
like the burning of fire.
17 (W)The light of Israel will become a fire,
and (X)his Holy One a flame,
and (Y)it will burn and devour
his thorns and briers (Z)in one day.
18 The glory of (AA)his forest and of his (AB)fruitful land
the Lord will destroy, both soul and body,
and it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 The remnant of the trees of his forest will be so few
that a child can write them down.
17 (A)These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. (B)For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, (C)speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely (D)escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them (E)freedom, (F)but they themselves are slaves[a] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, (G)after they have escaped the defilements of the world (H)through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, (I)the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For (J)it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from (K)the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The (L)dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”
2 (A)Now when John heard (B)in prison about the deeds of (C)the Christ, he sent word by (D)his disciples 3 and said to him, “Are you (E)the one who is to come, or shall we (F)look for another?” 4 And Jesus answered them, “Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5 (G)the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers[a] are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and (H)the poor have good news preached to them. 6 And blessed is the one who (I)is not offended by me.”
7 As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out (J)into the wilderness to see? (K)A reed shaken by the wind? 8 What then did you go out to see? A man[b] dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses. 9 What then did you go out to see? (L)A prophet?[c] Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. 10 This is he of whom it is written,
(M)“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.’
11 Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has arisen no one greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 (N)From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,[d] and the violent take it by force. 13 (O)For all the Prophets and the Law prophesied until John, 14 and if you are willing to accept it, he is (P)Elijah who is to come. 15 (Q)He who has ears to hear,[e] let him hear.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.