Book of Common Prayer

Psalm 5

To the Chief Musician; on wind instruments. A Psalm of David.

¹ Listen to my words, O Lord, give heed to my sighing and groaning.

² Hear the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to You do I pray.

³ In the morning You hear my voice, O Lord; in the morning I prepare [a prayer, a sacrifice] for You and watch and wait [for You to speak to my heart].

⁴ For You are not a God Who takes pleasure in wickedness; neither will the evil [man] so much as dwell [temporarily] with You.

⁵ Boasters can have no standing in Your sight; You abhor all evildoers.

⁶ You will destroy those who speak lies; the Lord abhors [and rejects] the bloodthirsty and deceitful man.

⁷ But as for me, I will enter Your house through the abundance of Your steadfast love and mercy; I will worship toward and at Your holy temple in reverent fear and awe of You.

⁸ Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies; make Your way level (straight and right) before my face.

⁹ For there is nothing trustworthy or steadfast or truthful in their talk; their heart is destruction [or a destructive chasm, a yawning gulf]; their throat is an open sepulcher; they flatter and make smooth with their tongue.^(A)

¹⁰ Hold them guilty, O God; let them fall by their own designs and counsels; cast them out because of the multitude of their transgressions, for they have rebelled against You.

¹¹ But let all those who take refuge and put their trust in You rejoice; let them ever sing and shout for joy, because You make a covering over them and defend them; let those also who love Your name be joyful in You and be in high spirits.

¹² For You, Lord, will bless the [uncompromisingly] righteous [him who is upright and in right standing with You]; as with a shield You will surround him with goodwill (pleasure and favor).

Psalm 6

To the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments, set [possibly] an octave below. A Psalm of David.

¹ O Lord, rebuke me not in Your anger nor discipline and chasten me in Your hot displeasure.

² Have mercy on me and be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am weak (faint and withered away); O Lord, heal me, for my bones are troubled.

³ My [inner] self [as well as my body] is also exceedingly disturbed and troubled. But You, O Lord, how long [until You return and speak peace to me]?

⁴ Return [to my relief], O Lord, deliver my life; save me for the sake of Your steadfast love and mercy.

⁵ For in death there is no remembrance of You; in Sheol (the place of the dead) who will give You thanks?

⁶ I am weary with my groaning; all night I soak my pillow with tears, I drench my couch with my weeping.

⁷ My eye grows dim because of grief; it grows old because of all my enemies.

⁸ Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity, for the Lord has heard the voice of my weeping.^(B)

⁹ The Lord has heard my supplication; the Lord receives my prayer.

¹⁰ Let all my enemies be ashamed and sorely troubled; let them turn back and be put to shame suddenly.

Psalm 10

¹ Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide Yourself, [veiling Your eyes] in times of trouble (distress and desperation)?

² The wicked in pride and arrogance hotly pursue and persecute the poor; let them be taken in the schemes which they have devised.

³ For the wicked man boasts (sings the praises) of his own heart’s desire, and the one greedy for gain curses and spurns, yes, renounces and despises the Lord.

⁴ The wicked one in the pride of his countenance will not seek, inquire for, and yearn for God; all his thoughts are that there is no God [so He never punishes].

⁵ His ways are grievous [or persist] at all times; Your judgments [Lord] are far above and on high out of his sight [so he never thinks about them]; as for all his foes, he sniffs and sneers at them.

⁶ He thinks in his heart, I shall not be moved; for throughout all generations I shall not come to want or be in adversity.

⁷ His mouth is full of cursing, deceit, oppression (fraud); under his tongue are trouble and sin (mischief and iniquity).

⁸ He sits in ambush in the villages; in hiding places he slays the innocent; he watches stealthily for the poor (the helpless and unfortunate).

⁹ He lurks in secret places like a lion in his thicket; he lies in wait that he may seize the poor (the helpless and the unfortunate); he seizes the poor when he draws him into his net.

¹⁰ [The prey] is crushed, sinks down; and the helpless falls by his mighty [claws].

¹¹ [The foe] thinks in his heart, God has quite forgotten; He has hidden His face; He will never see [my deed].

¹² Arise, O Lord! O God, lift up Your hand; forget not the humble [patient and crushed].

¹³ Why does the wicked [man] condemn (spurn and renounce) God? Why has he thought in his heart, You will not call to account?

¹⁴ You have seen it; yes, You note trouble and grief (vexation) to requite it with Your hand. The unfortunate commits himself to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.

¹⁵ Break the arm of the wicked man; and as for the evil man, search out his wickedness until You find no more.

¹⁶ The Lord is King forever and ever; the nations will perish out of His land.

¹⁷ O Lord, You have heard the desire and the longing of the humble and oppressed; You will prepare and strengthen and direct their hearts, You will cause Your ear to hear,

¹⁸ To do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man, who is of the earth, may not terrify them any more.

Psalm 11

To the Chief Musician or Choir Leader. [A Psalm] of David.

¹ In the Lord I take refuge [and put my trust]; how can you say to me, Flee like a bird to your mountain?

² For see, the wicked are bending the bow; they make ready their arrow upon the string, that they [furtively] in darkness may shoot at the upright in heart.

³ If the foundations are destroyed, what can the [unyieldingly] righteous do, or what has He [the Righteous One] wrought or accomplished?

⁴ The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven. His eyes behold; His eyelids test and prove the children of men.^(A)

⁵ The Lord tests and proves the [unyieldingly] righteous, but His soul abhors the wicked and him who loves violence.^(B)

⁶ Upon the wicked He will rain quick burning coals or snares; fire, brimstone, and a [dreadful] scorching wind shall be the portion of their cup.

⁷ For the Lord is [rigidly] righteous, He loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold His face, or He beholds the upright.

²⁷ Now the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah after the king had burned the scroll with the words which Baruch wrote at the dictation of Jeremiah, [and the Lord] said:

²⁸ Take another scroll and write on it all the former words that were on the first scroll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah burned.

²⁹ And concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah you shall say, Thus says the Lord: You have burned this scroll, saying, Why have you written on it that the king of Babylon shall surely come and destroy this land and shall cut off man and beast from it?

³⁰ Therefore thus says the Lord concerning Jehoiakim king of Judah: ^[a]He shall have no [heir] to sit upon the throne of David, and his dead body shall be cast out to the heat by day and to the frost by night.

³¹ And I will punish him and his offspring and his servants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the men of Judah all the evil that I have pronounced against them—but they would not hear.

³² Then Jeremiah took another scroll and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, who wrote on it at the dictation of Jeremiah all the words of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burned in the fire; and besides them many similar words were added.

37 And Zedekiah son of Josiah, whom ^[b]Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon made king in the land of Judah, reigned instead of Coniah [also called Jeconiah and Jehoiachin] son of Jehoiakim.

² But neither he nor his servants nor the people of the land listened to and obeyed the words of the Lord which He spoke through the prophet Jeremiah.

14 Eagerly pursue and seek to acquire [this] love [make it your aim, your great quest]; and earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual endowments (gifts), especially that you may prophesy (^[a]interpret the divine will and purpose in inspired preaching and teaching).

² For one who speaks in an [unknown] tongue speaks not to men but to God, for no one understands or catches his meaning, because in the [Holy] Spirit he utters secret truths and hidden things [not obvious to the understanding].

³ But [on the other hand], the one who prophesies [who ^[b]interprets the divine will and purpose in inspired preaching and teaching] speaks to men for their upbuilding and constructive spiritual progress and encouragement and consolation.

⁴ He who speaks in a [strange] tongue edifies and improves himself, but he who prophesies [^[c]interpreting the divine will and purpose and teaching with inspiration] edifies and improves the church and promotes growth [in Christian wisdom, piety, holiness, and happiness].

⁵ Now I wish that you might all speak in [unknown] tongues, but more especially [I want you] to prophesy (to be inspired to preach and interpret the divine will and purpose). He who prophesies [who is inspired to preach and teach] is greater (more useful and more important) than he who speaks in [unknown] tongues, unless he should interpret [what he says], so that the church may be edified and receive good [from it].

⁶ Now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in [unknown] tongues, how shall I make it to your advantage unless I speak to you either in revelation (disclosure of God’s will to man) in knowledge or in prophecy or in instruction?

⁷ If even inanimate musical instruments, such as the flute or the harp, do not give distinct notes, how will anyone [listening] know or understand what is played?

⁸ And if the war bugle gives an uncertain (indistinct) call, who will prepare for battle?

⁹ Just so it is with you; if you in the [unknown] tongue speak words that are not intelligible, how will anyone understand what you are saying? For you will be talking into empty space!

¹⁰ There are, I suppose, all these many [to us unknown] tongues in the world [somewhere], and none is destitute of [its own power of] expression and meaning.

¹¹ But if I do not know the force and significance of the speech (language), I shall seem to be a foreigner to the one who speaks [to me], and the speaker who addresses [me] will seem a foreigner to me.

¹² So it is with yourselves; since you are so eager and ambitious to possess spiritual endowments and manifestations of the [Holy] Spirit, [concentrate on] striving to excel and to abound [in them] in ways that will build up the church.

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.