Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 16
A miktam[a] by David.
1 Protect me, O El, because I take refuge in you.
2 I said to Yahweh,
“You are my Adonay. Without you, I have nothing good.”
3 Those who lead holy lives on earth
are the noble ones who fill me with joy.[b]
4 Those who quickly chase after other gods multiply their sorrows.
I will not pour out their sacrificial offerings of blood
or use my lips to speak their names.
5 Yahweh is my inheritance and my cup.
You are the one who determines my destiny.
6 Your boundary lines mark out pleasant places for me.
Indeed, my inheritance is something beautiful.
7 I will praise Yahweh, who advises me.
My conscience warns me at night.
8 I always keep Yahweh in front of me.
When he is by my side, I cannot be moved.
9 That is why my heart is glad and my soul rejoices.
My body rests securely
10 because you do not abandon my soul to the grave
or allow your holy one to decay.
11 You make the path of life known to me.
Complete joy is in your presence.
Pleasures are by your side forever.
Psalm 17
A prayer by David.
1 Hear my plea for justice, O Yahweh.
Pay attention to my cry.
Open your ears to my prayer,
which comes from lips free from deceit.
2 Let the verdict of my innocence come directly from you.
Let your eyes observe what is fair.
3 You have probed my heart.
You have confronted me at night.
You have tested me like silver,
but you found nothing wrong.
I have determined that my mouth will not sin.
4 I have avoided cruelty because of your word.
In spite of what others have done,
5 my steps have remained firmly in your paths.
My feet have not slipped.
6 I have called on you because you answer me, O El.
Turn your ear toward me.
Hear what I have to say.
7 Reveal your miraculous deeds of mercy,
O Savior of those who find refuge by your side
from those who attack them.
8 Guard me as if I were the pupil in your eye.
Hide me in the shadow of your wings.
9 Hide me from wicked people who violently attack me,
from my deadly enemies who surround me.
10 They have shut out all feeling.[c]
Their mouths have spoken arrogantly.
11 They have tracked me down.
They have surrounded me.
They have focused their attention on throwing me to the ground.
12 Each one of them is like a lion eager to tear its prey apart
and like a young lion crouching in hiding places.
13 Arise, O Yahweh; confront them!
Bring them to their knees!
With your sword rescue my life from wicked people.
14 With your power rescue me from mortals, O Yahweh,
from mortals who enjoy their inheritance only in this life.
You fill their bellies with your treasure.
Their children are satisfied with it,
and they leave what remains to their children.
15 I will see your face when I am declared innocent.
When I wake up, I will be satisfied with seeing you.
Psalm 22
For the choir director; according to ayyeleth hashachar;[a] a psalm by David.
1 My El, my El,
why have you abandoned me?
Why are you so far away from helping me,
so far away from the words of my groaning?
2 My Elohim,
I cry out by day, but you do not answer—
also at night, but I find no rest.
3 Yet, you are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.
4 Our ancestors trusted you.
They trusted, and you rescued them.
5 They cried to you and were saved.
They trusted you and were never disappointed.
6 Yet, I am a worm and not a man.
I am scorned by humanity and despised by people.
7 All who see me make fun of me.
Insults pour from their mouths.
They shake their heads and say,
8 “Put yourself in Yahweh’s hands.
Let Yahweh save him!
Let Yahweh rescue him since he is pleased with him!”
9 Indeed, you are the one who brought me out of the womb,
the one who made me feel safe at my mother’s breasts.
10 I was placed in your care from birth.
From my mother’s womb you have been my El.
11 Do not be so far away from me.
Trouble is near, and there is no one to help.
12 Many bulls have surrounded me.
Strong bulls from Bashan have encircled me.
13 They have opened their mouths to attack me
like ferocious, roaring lions.
14 I am poured out like water,
and all my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax.
It has melted within me.
15 My strength is dried up like pieces of broken pottery.
My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
You lay me down in the dust of death.
16 Dogs have surrounded me.
A mob has encircled me.
They have pierced my hands and feet.
17 I can count all my bones.
People stare.
They gloat over me.
18 They divide my clothes among themselves.
They throw dice for my clothing.
19 Do not be so far away, O Yahweh.
Come quickly to help me, O my strength.
20 Rescue my soul from the sword,
my life from vicious dogs.
21 Save me from the mouth of the lion
and from the horns of wild oxen.
You have answered me.
22 I will tell my people about your name.
I will praise you within the congregation.
23 All who fear Yahweh, praise him!
All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him!
Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel.
24 Yahweh has not despised or been disgusted
with the plight of the oppressed one.
He has not hidden his face from that person.
Yahweh heard when that oppressed person
cried out to him for help.
25 My praise comes from you while I am among those assembled for worship.
I will fulfill my vows in the presence of those who fear Yahweh.
26 Oppressed people will eat until they are full.
Those who look to Yahweh will praise him.
May you live forever.
27 All the ends of the earth will remember and return to Yahweh.
All the families from all the nations will worship you
28 because the kingdom belongs to Yahweh
and he rules the nations.
29 All prosperous people on earth will eat and worship.
All those who go down to the dust will kneel in front of him,
even those who are barely alive.
30 There will be descendants who serve him,
a generation that will be told about Adonay.
31 They will tell people yet to be born about his righteousness—
that he has finished it.
Preparations for Building the Temple(A)
5 [a]King Hiram of Tyre sent his officials to Solomon when he heard that Solomon had been anointed king to succeed his father. Hiram had always been David’s friend.
2 Solomon sent word to Hiram, by saying, 3 “You know that my father David was surrounded by war. He couldn’t build a temple for the name of Yahweh our Elohim until Yahweh let him defeat his enemies. 4 But Yahweh my Elohim has surrounded me with peace. I have no rival and no trouble. 5 Now I’m thinking of building a temple for the name of Yahweh my Elohim as Yahweh spoke to my father David: ‘Your son, whom I will put on your throne to succeed you, will build a temple for my name.’ 6 So order men to cut down cedars from Lebanon for me. My workers will work with your workers. I will pay you whatever wages you ask for your workers. You know we don’t have any skilled lumberjacks like those from Sidon.”
7 Hiram was very glad to hear what Solomon had said. Hiram responded, “May Yahweh be praised today. He has given David a wise son to rule this great nation.”
8 Hiram sent men to Solomon to say, “I’ve received the message you sent me. I will do everything you want in regard to the cedar and cypress logs. 9 My workers will bring logs from Lebanon to the sea, and I will have them make them into rafts to go by sea to any place you specify. There I will have them taken apart, and you can use them. You can pay me by providing food for my palace.” 10 So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and cypress wood he wanted. 11 Solomon gave Hiram 120,000 bushels of wheat and 120,000 gallons of pure olive oil. Solomon paid Hiram this much every year.
12 Yahweh gave Solomon wisdom as he had promised. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they made a treaty with one another.
13 King Solomon forced 30,000 men from all over Israel to work for him. 14 He sent a shift of 10,000 men to Lebanon for a month. They would spend one month in Lebanon and two months at home. Adoniram was in charge of forced labor.
15 Solomon had 70,000 men who carried heavy loads, 70,000 who quarried stone in the mountains, 16 and 3,300 foremen who were in charge of the workers. 17 The king commanded them to quarry large, expensive blocks of stone in order to provide a foundation of cut stone for the temple. 18 Solomon’s workmen, Hiram’s workmen, and men from Gebal quarried the stone and prepared the logs and stone to build the temple.
The Temple Built in Seven Years(B)
6 Solomon began to build Yahweh’s temple 480 years after Israel left Egypt. He began building in the month of Ziv (the second month) of the fourth year of his reign over Israel.
7 The temple was built with stone blocks that were finished at the quarry. No hammer, chisel, or any other iron tool made a sound at the temple construction site.
Paul on the Island of Malta
28 When we were safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. 2 The people who lived on the island were unusually kind to us. They made a fire and welcomed all of us around it because of the rain and the cold.
3 Paul gathered a bundle of brushwood and put it on the fire. The heat forced a poisonous snake out of the brushwood. The snake bit Paul’s hand and wouldn’t let go. 4 When the people who lived on the island saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer! He may have escaped from the sea, but justice won’t let him live.”
5 Paul shook the snake into the fire and wasn’t harmed. 6 The people were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead. But after they had waited a long time and saw nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.
7 A man named Publius, who was the governor of the island, had property around the area. He welcomed us and treated us kindly, and for three days we were his guests. 8 His father happened to be sick in bed. He was suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went to him, prayed, placed his hands on him, and made him well.
9 After that had happened, other sick people on the island went to Paul and were made well. 10 They showed respect for us in many ways, and when we were going to set sail, they put whatever we needed on board.
Paul Sails from Malta to Rome
11 After three months we sailed on an Alexandrian ship that had spent the winter at the island. The ship had the gods Castor and Pollux carved on its front. 12 We stopped at the city of Syracuse and stayed there for three days. 13 We sailed from Syracuse and arrived at the city of Rhegium. The next day a south wind began to blow, and two days later we arrived at the city of Puteoli. 14 In Puteoli we discovered some believers who begged us to spend a week with them.
15 Believers in Rome heard that we were coming, so they came as far as the cities of Appius’ Market and Three Taverns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and felt encouraged. So we finally arrived in the city of Rome.[a] 16 After our arrival, Paul was allowed to live by himself, but he had a soldier who guarded him.
Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial(A)
27 Then Yeshua said to them, “All of you will abandon me. Scripture says,
‘I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered.’
28 “But after I am brought back to life, I will go to Galilee ahead of you.”
29 Peter said to him, “Even if everyone else abandons you, I won’t.”
30 Yeshua said to Peter, “I can guarantee this truth: Tonight, before a rooster crows twice, you will say three times that you don’t know me.”
31 But Peter said very strongly, “Even if I have to die with you, I will never say that I don’t know you.” All the other disciples said the same thing.
Jesus Prays in the Garden of Gethsemane(B)
32 Then they came to a place called Gethsemane. He said to his disciples, “Stay here while I pray.”
33 He took Peter, James, and John with him and began to feel distressed and anguished. 34 He said to them, “My anguish is so great that I feel as if I’m dying. Wait here, and stay awake.”
35 After walking a little farther, he fell to the ground and prayed that if it were possible he might not have to suffer what was ahead of him. 36 He said, “Abba![a] Father! You can do anything. Take this cup of suffering away from me. But let your will be done rather than mine.”
37 He went back and found them asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you sleeping? Couldn’t you stay awake for one hour? 38 Stay awake, and pray that you won’t be tempted. You want to do what’s right, but you’re weak.”
39 He went away again and prayed the same prayer as before. 40 He found them asleep because they couldn’t keep their eyes open. They didn’t even know what they should say to him.
41 He came back a third time and said to them, “You might as well sleep now. It’s all over.[b] The time has come for the Son of Man to be handed over to sinners. 42 Get up! Let’s go! The one who is betraying me is near.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.