Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 61
To the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. [A Psalm] of David.
1 Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth will I cry to You, when my heart is overwhelmed and fainting; lead me to the rock that is higher than I [yes, a rock that is too high for me].
3 For You have been a shelter and a refuge for me, a strong tower against the adversary.
4 I will dwell in Your tabernacle forever; let me find refuge and trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
5 For You, O God, have heard my vows; You have given me the heritage of those who fear, revere, and honor Your name.
6 May You prolong the [true] [a]King’s life [adding days upon days], and may His years be to the last generation [of this world and the generations of the world to come].
7 May He sit enthroned forever before [the face of] God; O ordain that loving-kindness and faithfulness may watch over Him!
8 So will I sing praise to Your name forever, paying my vows day by day.
Psalm 62
To the Chief Musician; according to Jeduthun [Ethan, the noted musician, founder of an official musical family]. A Psalm of David.
1 For God alone my soul waits in silence; from Him comes my salvation.
2 He only is my Rock and my Salvation, my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be greatly moved.
3 How long will you set upon a man that you may slay him, all of you, like a leaning wall, like a tottering fence?
4 They only consult to cast him down from his height [to dishonor him]; they delight in lies. They bless with their mouths, but they curse inwardly. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
5 My soul, wait only upon God and silently submit to Him; for my hope and expectation are from Him.
6 He only is my Rock and my Salvation; He is my Defense and my Fortress, I shall not be moved.
7 With God rests my salvation and my glory; He is my Rock of unyielding strength and impenetrable hardness, and my refuge is in God!
8 Trust in, lean on, rely on, and have confidence in Him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts before Him. God is a refuge for us (a fortress and a high tower). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
9 Men of low degree [in the social scale] are emptiness (futility, a breath) and men of high degree [in the same scale] are a lie and a delusion. In the balances they go up; they are together lighter than a breath.
10 Trust not in and rely confidently not on extortion and oppression, and do not vainly hope in robbery; if riches increase, set not your heart on them.
11 God has spoken once, twice have I heard this: that power belongs to God.
12 Also to You, O Lord, belong mercy and loving-kindness, for You render to every man according to his work.(A)
Psalm 68
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A song.
1 God is [already] beginning to arise, and His enemies to scatter; let them also who hate Him flee before Him!
2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away; as wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish before the presence of God.
3 But let the [uncompromisingly] righteous be glad; let them be in high spirits and glory before God, yes, let them [jubilantly] rejoice!
4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name, cast up a highway for Him Who rides through the deserts—His name is the Lord—be in high spirits and glory before Him!
5 A father of the fatherless and a judge and protector of the widows is God in His holy habitation.
6 God places the solitary in families and gives the desolate a home in which to dwell; He leads the prisoners out to prosperity; but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
7 O God, when You went forth before Your people, when You marched through the wilderness—Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!—
8 The earth trembled, the heavens also poured down [rain] at the presence of God; yonder Sinai quaked at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9 You, O God, did send a plentiful rain; You did restore and confirm Your heritage when it languished and was weary.
10 Your flock found a dwelling place in it; You, O God, in Your goodness did provide for the poor and needy.
11 The Lord gives the word [of power]; the women who bear and publish [the news] are a great host.
12 The kings of the enemies’ armies, they flee, they flee! She who tarries at home divides the spoil [left behind].
13 Though you [the slackers] may lie among the sheepfolds [in slothful ease, yet for Israel] the wings of a dove are covered with silver, its pinions excessively green with gold [are trophies taken from the enemy].
14 When the Almighty scattered kings in [the land], it was as when it snows on Zalmon [a wooded hill near Shechem].
15 Is Mount Bashan the high mountain of summits, Mount Bashan [east of the Jordan] the mount of God?
16 Why do you look with grudging and envy, you many-peaked mountains, at the mountain [of the city called Zion] which God has desired for His dwelling place? Yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever.
17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands upon thousands. The Lord is among them as He was in Sinai, [so also] in the Holy Place (the sanctuary in Jerusalem).
18 [a]You have ascended on high. You have led away captive a train of vanquished foes; You have received gifts of men, yes, of the rebellious also, that the Lord God might dwell there with them.(A)
19 Blessed be the Lord, Who bears our burdens and carries us day by day, even the God Who is our salvation! Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
20 God is to us a God of deliverances and salvation; and to God the Lord belongs escape from death [setting us free].
21 But God will shatter the heads of His enemies, the hairy scalp of such a one as goes on still in his trespasses and guilty ways.
22 The Lord said, I will bring back [your enemies] from Bashan; I will bring them back from the depths of the [Red] Sea,
23 That you may crush them, dipping your foot in blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their share from the foe.
24 They see Your goings, O God, even the [solemn processions] of my God, my King, into the sanctuary [in holiness].
25 The singers go in front, the players on instruments last; between them the maidens are playing on tambourines.
26 Bless, give thanks, and gratefully praise God in full congregations, even the Lord, O you who are from [Jacob] the fountain of Israel.
27 There is little Benjamin in the lead [in the procession], the princes of Judah and their company, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.
28 Your God has commanded your strength [your might in His service and impenetrable hardness to temptation]; O God, display Your might and strengthen what You have wrought for us!
29 [Out of respect] for Your temple at Jerusalem kings shall bring gifts to You.
30 Rebuke the wild beasts dwelling among the reeds [in Egypt], the herd of bulls (the leaders) with the calves of the peoples; trample underfoot those who lust for tribute money; scatter the peoples who delight in war.
31 Princes shall come out of Egypt; Ethiopia shall hasten to stretch out her hands [with the offerings of submission] to God.
32 Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praises to the Lord! Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!
33 [Sing praises] to Him Who rides upon the heavens, the ancient heavens; behold, He sends forth His voice, His mighty voice.
34 Ascribe power and strength to God; His majesty is over Israel, and His strength and might are in the skies.
35 O God, awe-inspiring, profoundly impressive, and terrible are You out of Your holy places; the God of Israel Himself gives strength and fullness of might to His people. Blessed be God!
2 And the word of the Lord came to me [Jeremiah], saying,
2 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says the Lord: I [earnestly] remember the kindness and devotion of your youth, your love after your betrothal [in Egypt] and marriage [at Sinai] when you followed Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.
3 Israel was holiness [something set apart from ordinary purposes, dedicated] to the Lord, the firstfruits of His harvest [of which no stranger was allowed to partake]; all who ate of it [injuring Israel] offended and became guilty; evil came upon them, says the Lord.
4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel.
5 Thus says the Lord: What unrighteousness did your fathers find in Me, that they went far from Me and [habitually] went after emptiness, falseness, and futility and themselves became fruitless and worthless?
6 Nor did they say, Where is the Lord, Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, Who led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and pits, through a land of drought and of the shadow of death and deep darkness, through a land that no man passes through and where no man dwells?
7 And I brought you into a plentiful land to enjoy its fruits and good things. But when you entered, you defiled My land and made My heritage an abomination [detestable and loathsome].
8 [Even] the priests did not say, Where is the Lord? And those who handle the law [given by God to Moses] knew Me not. The rulers and secular shepherds also transgressed against Me, and the prophets prophesied by [the authority and in the name of] Baal and followed after things that do not profit.
9 Therefore I will still contend with you [by inflicting further judgments on you], says the Lord, and with your children’s children will I contend.
10 For cross over to the coasts of Cyprus [to the west] and see, send also to Kedar [to the east] and carefully consider; and see whether there has been such a thing as this:
11 Has a nation [ever] changed its gods, even though they are not gods? But My people have changed their Glory [God] for that which does not profit.
12 Be astonished and appalled, O heavens, at this; be shocked and shrivel up with horror, says the Lord [at the behavior of the people].
13 For My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, and they have hewn for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns which cannot hold water.
16 For I am not ashamed of the Gospel (good news) of Christ, for it is God’s power working unto salvation [for deliverance from eternal death] to everyone who believes with a personal trust and a confident surrender and firm reliance, to the Jew first and also to the Greek,
17 For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith [disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith]. As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith.(A)
18 For God’s [holy] wrath and indignation are revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who in their wickedness repress and hinder the truth and make it inoperative.
19 For that which is known about God is evident to them and made plain in their inner consciousness, because God [Himself] has shown it to them.
20 For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification],(B)
21 Because when they knew and recognized Him as God, they did not honor and glorify Him as God or give Him thanks. But instead they became futile and [a]godless in their thinking [with vain imaginings, foolish reasoning, and stupid speculations] and their senseless minds were darkened.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools [professing to be smart, they made simpletons of themselves].
23 And by them the glory and majesty and excellence of the immortal God were exchanged for and represented by images, resembling mortal man and birds and beasts and reptiles.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their [own] hearts to sexual impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves [abandoning them to the degrading power of sin],
25 Because they exchanged the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, Who is blessed forever! Amen (so be it).(C)
43 But after these two days Jesus went on from there into Galilee—
44 Although He Himself declared that a prophet has no honor in his own country.
45 However, when He came into Galilee, the Galileans also welcomed Him and took Him to their hearts eagerly, for they had seen everything that He did in Jerusalem during the Feast; for they too had attended the Feast.
46 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son was lying ill in Capernaum.
47 Having heard that Jesus had come back from Judea into Galilee, he went away to meet Him and began to beg Him to come down and cure his son, for he was lying at the point of death.
48 Then Jesus said to him, Unless you see signs and miracles happen, you [people] never will believe (trust, have faith) at all.
49 The king’s officer pleaded with Him, Sir, do come down at once before my little child is dead!
50 Jesus answered him, Go in peace; your son will live! And the man put his trust in what Jesus said and started home.
51 But even as he was on the road going down, his servants met him and reported, saying, Your son lives!
52 So he asked them at what time he had begun to get better. They said, Yesterday during the seventh hour (about one o’clock in the afternoon) the fever left him.
53 Then the father knew that it was at that very hour when Jesus had said to him, Your son will live. And he and his entire household believed (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Jesus).
54 This is the second sign (wonderwork, miracle) that Jesus performed after He had come out of Judea into Galilee.
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