Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 34
[A Psalm] of David; when he pretended to be insane before Abimelech, who drove him out, and he went away.
1 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My life makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble and afflicted hear and be glad.
3 O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.
4 I sought (inquired of) the Lord and required Him [of necessity and on the authority of His Word], and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.(A)
5 They looked to Him and were radiant; their faces shall never blush for shame or be confused.
6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 [a]The Angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him [who revere and worship Him with awe] and each of them He delivers.(B)
8 O taste and see that the Lord [our God] is good! Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the man who trusts and takes refuge in Him.(C)
9 O fear the Lord, you His saints [revere and worship Him]! For there is no want to those who truly revere and worship Him with godly fear.
10 The young lions lack food and suffer hunger, but they who seek (inquire of and require) the Lord [by right of their need and on the authority of His Word], none of them shall lack any beneficial thing.
11 Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you to revere and worshipfully fear the Lord.
12 What man is he who desires life and longs for many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Depart from evil and do good; seek, inquire for, and crave peace and pursue (go after) it!
15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the [uncompromisingly] righteous and His ears are open to their cry.
16 The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.(D)
17 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears, and delivers them out of all their distress and troubles.
18 The Lord is close to those who are of a broken heart and saves such as are crushed with sorrow for sin and are humbly and thoroughly penitent.
19 Many evils confront the [consistently] righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken.
21 Evil shall cause the death of the wicked; and they who hate the just and righteous shall be held guilty and shall be condemned.
22 The Lord redeems the lives of His servants, and none of those who take refuge and trust in Him shall be condemned or held guilty.
14 Therefore, behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when it shall no more be said, As the Lord lives, Who brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt,
15 But, As the Lord lives, Who brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north and from all the countries to which He had driven them. And I will bring them again to their land which I gave to their fathers.
16 Behold, I will send for many fishers, says the Lord, and they will fish them out; and afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain and from every hill and out of the clefts of the rocks.
17 For My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from My face, neither is their iniquity concealed from My eyes.
18 First [before I bring them back to their land] I will doubly recompense and punish them for their iniquity and their sin, because they have polluted My land with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with the abominable things offered to false gods with which they have filled My inheritance.
19 [Then said Jeremiah] O Lord, my Strength and my Stronghold, and my Refuge in the day of affliction, to You shall the nations come from the ends of the earth and shall say, Surely our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, emptiness, and futility, worthless things in which there is no profit!
20 Can a man make gods for himself? Such are not gods!
21 Therefore [says the Lord] behold, I will make them know—[yes] this once I will make them know My power and My might; and they will know and recognize that My name is the Lord.
14 Now after John was arrested and put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the good news (the Gospel) of the kingdom of God,
15 And saying, The [appointed period of] time is fulfilled (completed), and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ([a]have a change of mind which issues in regret for past sins and in change of conduct for the better) and believe (trust in, rely on, and adhere to) the good news (the Gospel).
16 And passing along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon [Peter] and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net [to and fro] in the sea, for they were fishermen.
17 And Jesus said to them, Come after Me and [b]be My disciples, and I will make you to become fishers of men.
18 And at once they left their nets and [[c]yielding up all claim to them] followed [with] Him [[d]joining Him as disciples and siding with His party].
19 He went on a little farther and saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who were in [their] boat putting their nets in order.
20 And immediately He called out to them, and [[e]abandoning all mutual claims] they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired men and went off after Him [[f]to be His disciples, side with His party, and follow Him].
Psalm 33
1 Rejoice in the Lord, O you [uncompromisingly] righteous [you upright in right standing with God]; for praise is becoming and appropriate for those who are upright [in heart].
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; sing praises to Him with the harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully [on the strings] with a loud and joyful sound.
4 For the word of the Lord is right; and all His work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the loving-kindness of the Lord.
6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all their host by the breath of His mouth.(A)
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as in a bottle; He puts the deeps in storage places.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord [revere and worship Him]; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.
10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nought; He makes the thoughts and plans of the peoples of no effect.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of His heart through all generations.
12 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His heritage.
13 The Lord looks from heaven, He beholds all the sons of men;
14 From His dwelling place He looks [intently] upon all the inhabitants of the earth—
15 He Who fashions the hearts of them all, Who considers all their doings.
16 No king is saved by the great size and power of his army; a mighty man is not delivered by [his] much strength.
17 A horse is devoid of value for victory; neither does he deliver any by his great power.
18 Behold, the Lord’s eye is upon those who fear Him [who revere and worship Him with awe], who wait for Him and hope in His mercy and loving-kindness,
19 To deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.
20 Our inner selves wait [earnestly] for the Lord; He is our Help and our Shield.
21 For in Him does our heart rejoice, because we have trusted (relied on and been confident) in His holy name.
22 Let Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, in proportion to our waiting and hoping for You.
16 Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; be [a]wary and wise as serpents, and be innocent (harmless, guileless, and [b]without falsity) as doves.(A)
17 Be on guard against men [whose [c]way or nature is to act in opposition to God]; for they will deliver you up to councils and flog you in their synagogues,
18 And you will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a witness to bear testimony before them and to the Gentiles (the nations).
19 But when they deliver you up, do not be anxious about how or what you are to speak; for what you are to say will be given you in that very hour and [d]moment,
20 For it is not you who are speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.
21 Brother will deliver up brother to death, and the father his child; and children will take a stand against their parents and will have them put to death.
22 And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake, but he who perseveres and endures to the end will be saved [[e]from spiritual disease and death in the world to come].
23 When they persecute you in one town [that is, pursue you in a manner that would injure you and cause you to suffer because of your belief], flee to another town; for truly I tell you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before [f] the Son of Man comes.
24 A disciple is not above his teacher, nor is a servant or slave above his master.
25 It is sufficient for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant or slave like his master. If they have called the Master of the house Beelzebub [[g]master of the dwelling], how much more will they speak evil of those of His household.(B)
26 So have no fear of them; for nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, or kept secret that will not become known.
27 What I say to you in the dark, tell in the light; and what you hear whispered in the ear, proclaim upon the housetops.
28 And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; but rather be afraid of Him who can destroy both soul and body in hell (Gehenna).
29 Are not two [h]little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s leave (consent) and notice.
30 But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Fear not, then; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32 Therefore, everyone who acknowledges Me before men and confesses Me [[i]out of a state of oneness with Me], I will also acknowledge him before My Father Who is in heaven and [j]confess [that I am abiding in] him.
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation