Book of Common Prayer
God Sustains His Servant.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
40 I (A)waited [a]patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and (B)heard my cry.
2 He brought me up out of the (C)pit of destruction, out of the [b]miry clay,
And (D)He set my feet upon a rock (E)making my footsteps firm.
3 He put a (F)new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will (G)see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.
4 How (H)blessed is the man who has made the Lord his trust,
And (I)has not [c]turned to the proud, nor to those who (J)lapse into falsehood.
5 Many, O Lord my God, are (K)the wonders which You have done,
And Your (L)thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
If I would declare and speak of them,
They (M)would be too numerous to count.
6 [d](N)Sacrifice and meal offering You have not desired;
My ears You have [e]opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is [f]written of me.
8 (O)I delight to do Your will, O my God;
(P)Your Law is within my heart.”
9 I have (Q)proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation;
Behold, I will (R)not restrain my lips,
O Lord, (S)You know.
10 I have (T)not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;
I have (U)spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation.
11 You, O Lord, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
[g]Your (V)lovingkindness and Your truth will continually preserve me.
12 For evils beyond number have (W)surrounded me;
My (X)iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are (Y)more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my (Z)heart has [h]failed me.
13 (AA)Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me;
Make (AB)haste, O Lord, to help me.
14 Let those be (AC)ashamed and humiliated together
Who (AD)seek my [i]life to destroy it;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight [j]in my hurt.
15 Let those (AE)be [k]appalled because of their shame
Who (AF)say to me, “Aha, aha!”
16 (AG)Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation (AH)say continually,
“The Lord be magnified!”
17 Since (AI)I am afflicted and needy,
[l](AJ)Let the Lord be mindful of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Do not delay, O my God.
Prayer for Defense against Enemies.
For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding himself among us?”
54 Save me, O God, by (A)Your name,
And [c]vindicate me by (B)Your power.
2 (C)Hear my prayer, O God;
(D)Give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have (E)risen against me
And (F)violent men have (G)sought my [d]life;
They have (H)not set God before them. [e]Selah.
A Contrite Sinner’s Prayer for Pardon.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David, when [a]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 (A)Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the greatness of (B)Your compassion (C)blot out my transgressions.
2 (D)Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And (E)cleanse me from my sin.
3 For [b]I (F)know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me.
4 (G)Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is (H)evil in Your sight,
So that (I)You [c]are justified [d]when You speak
And [e]blameless when You judge.
5 Behold, I was (J)brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You desire (K)truth in the [f]innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will (L)make me know wisdom.
7 [g]Purify me (M)with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
[h]Wash me, and I shall be (N)whiter than snow.
8 [i]Make me to hear (O)joy and gladness,
Let the (P)bones which You have broken rejoice.
9 (Q)Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10 (R)Create [j]in me a (S)clean heart, O God,
And renew [k]a (T)steadfast spirit within me.
11 (U)Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your (V)Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the (W)joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a (X)willing spirit.
13 Then I will (Y)teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will [l]be (Z)converted to You.
14 Deliver me from (AA)bloodguiltiness, O God, (AB)the God of my salvation;
Then my (AC)tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, [m](AD)open my lips,
That my mouth may (AE)declare Your praise.
16 For You (AF)do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a (AG)broken spirit;
A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
God or Baal on Mount Carmel
20 So Ahab sent a message among all the sons of Israel and brought the prophets together at Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah came near to all the people and said, “(A)How long will you [a]hesitate between two opinions? (B)If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people did not answer him a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I (C)alone am left a prophet of the Lord, but Baal’s prophets are (D)450 men. 23 Now let them give us two oxen; and let them choose one ox for themselves and cut it up, and place it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other ox and lay it on the wood, and I will not put a fire under it. 24 Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord, and (E)the God who answers by fire, He is God.” And all the people said, “[b]That is a good idea.”
25 So Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one ox for yourselves and prepare it first for you are many, and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.” 26 Then they took the ox which [c]was given them and they prepared it and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon saying, “O Baal, answer us.” But there was (F)no voice and no one answered. And they [d]leaped about the altar which [e]they made. 27 It came about at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Call out with a loud voice, for he is a god; either he is occupied or gone aside, or is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and needs to be awakened.” 28 So they cried with a loud voice and (G)cut themselves according to their custom with swords and lances until the blood gushed out on them. 29 When midday was past, they [f]raved (H)until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice; but there was no voice, no one answered, and no [g]one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And (I)he repaired the altar of the Lord which had been torn down. 31 Elijah took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the Lord had come, saying, “(J)Israel shall be your name.” 32 So with the stones he built an altar in (K)the name of the Lord, and he made a trench around the altar, large enough to hold two [h]measures of seed. 33 (L)Then he arranged the wood and cut the ox in pieces and laid it on the wood. 34 And he said, “Fill four pitchers with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood.” And he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time. And he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 35 The water flowed around the altar and he also filled the trench with water.
Elijah’s Prayer
36 (M)At the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “(N)O Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, today let it be known that (O)You are God in Israel and that I am Your servant and (P)I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that You, O Lord, are God, and that You have turned their heart back again.” 38 Then the (Q)fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “(R)The Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God.” 40 Then Elijah said to them, “Seize the prophets of Baal; do not let one of them escape.” So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to (S)the brook Kishon, (T)and slew them there.
The Goal of Life
3 Finally, my brethren, (A)rejoice in the Lord. To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.
2 Beware of the (B)dogs, beware of the (C)evil workers, beware of the [a]false circumcision; 3 for (D)we are the true [b]circumcision, who (E)worship in the Spirit of God and (F)glory in (G)Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, 4 although (H)I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: 5 (I)circumcised the eighth day, of the (J)nation of Israel, of the (K)tribe of Benjamin, a (L)Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, (M)a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, (N)a persecutor of the church; as to the (O)righteousness which is in the Law, found (P)blameless.
7 But (Q)whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 More than that, I count all things to be loss [c]in view of the surpassing value of [d](R)knowing (S)Christ Jesus my Lord, [e]for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, 9 and may be found in Him, not having (T)a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, (U)the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, 10 that I may (V)know Him and (W)the power of His resurrection and [f](X)the fellowship of His sufferings, being (Y)conformed to His death; 11 [g]in order that I may (Z)attain to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already (AA)obtained it or have already (AB)become perfect, but I press on [h]so that I may (AC)lay hold of that [i]for which also I (AD)was laid hold of by (AE)Christ Jesus. 13 Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: (AF)forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, 14 I (AG)press on toward the goal for the prize of the (AH)upward call of God in (AI)Christ Jesus. 15 Let us therefore, as many as are [j](AJ)perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a (AK)different attitude, (AL)God will reveal that also to you; 16 however, let us keep [k](AM)living by that same standard to which we have attained.
The Preaching of John the Baptist
3 Now (A)in those days (B)John the Baptist *[a]came, [b]preaching in the (C)wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “(D)Repent, for (E)the kingdom of heaven [c]is at hand.” 3 For this is the (F)one referred to [d]by Isaiah the prophet when he said,
“(G)The voice of one [e]crying in the wilderness,
‘(H)Make ready the way of the Lord,
Make His paths straight!’”
4 Now John himself had [f](I)a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was (J)locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem (K)was going out to him, and all Judea and all (L)the district around the Jordan; 6 and they were being (M)baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the (N)Pharisees and (O)Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, “You (P)brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from (Q)the wrath to come? 8 (R)Therefore bear fruit (S)in keeping with repentance; 9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘(T)We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 10 The (U)axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore (V)every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “As for me, (W)I baptize you [g]with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; (X)He will baptize you [h]with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His (Y)winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will (Z)gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the (AA)chaff with (AB)unquenchable fire.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.