Book of Common Prayer
For the choir leader; a psalm by David.
140 Rescue me from evil people, O Lord.
Keep me safe from violent people.
2 They plan evil things in their hearts.
They start fights every day.
3 They make their tongues as sharp as a snake’s ⌞fang⌟.
Their lips hide the venom of poisonous snakes. Selah
4 Protect me from the hands of wicked people, O Lord.
Keep me safe from violent people.
They try to trip me.
5 Arrogant people have laid a trap for me.
They have spread out a net with ropes.
They have set traps for me along the road. Selah
6 I said to the Lord, “You are my God.”
O Lord, open your ears to hear my plea for pity.
7 O Lord Almighty, the strong one who saves me,
you have covered my head in the day of battle.
8 O Lord, do not give wicked people what they want.
Do not let their evil plans succeed,
⌞or⌟ they will become arrogant. Selah
9 Let the heads of those who surround me
be covered with their own threats.
10 Let burning coals fall on them.
Let them be thrown into a pit, never to rise again.
11 Do not let slanderers prosper on earth.
Let evil hunt down violent people with one blow after another.
12 I know that the Lord will defend the rights of those who are oppressed
and the cause of those who are needy.
13 Indeed, righteous people will give thanks to your name.
Decent people will live in your presence.
A maskil [a] by David when he was in the cave; a prayer.
142 Loudly, I cry to the Lord.
Loudly, I plead with the Lord for mercy.
2 I pour out my complaints in his presence
and tell him my troubles.
3 When I begin to lose hope,
you ⌞already⌟ know what I am experiencing.
⌞My enemies⌟ have hidden a trap for me on the path where I walk.
4 Look to my right and see that no one notices me.
Escape is impossible for me.
No one cares about me.
5 I call out to you, O Lord.
I say, “You are my refuge,
my own inheritance in this world of the living.”
6 Pay attention to my cry for help
because I am very weak.
Rescue me from those who pursue me
because they are too strong for me.
7 Release my soul from prison
so that I may give thanks to your name.
Righteous people will surround me
because you are good to me.
A psalm by David.
141 O Lord, I cry out to you, “Come quickly.”
Open your ears to me when I cry out to you.
2 Let my prayer be accepted
as sweet-smelling incense in your presence.
Let the lifting up of my hands in prayer be accepted
as an evening sacrifice.
3 O Lord, set a guard at my mouth.
Keep watch over the door of my lips.
4 Do not let me be persuaded to do anything evil
or to become involved with wickedness,
with people who are troublemakers.
Do not let me taste their delicacies.
5 A righteous person may strike me or correct me out of kindness.
It is like lotion for my head.
My head will not refuse it,
because my prayer is directed against evil deeds.
6 When their judges are thrown off a cliff,
they will listen to what I have to say.
It will sound pleasant ⌞to them⌟.
7 As someone plows and breaks up the ground,
so our bones will be planted at the mouth of the grave.
8 My eyes look to you, Lord Almighty.
I have taken refuge in you.
Do not leave me defenseless.
9 Keep me away from the trap they set for me
and from the traps set by troublemakers.
10 Let wicked people fall into their own nets,
while I escape unharmed.
A psalm by David.
143 O Lord, listen to my prayer.
Open your ears to hear my urgent requests.
Answer me because you are faithful and righteous.
2 Do not take me to court for judgment,
because there is no one alive
who is righteous in your presence.
3 The enemy has pursued me.
He has ground my life into the dirt.
He has made me live in dark places
like those who have died long ago.
4 That is why I begin to lose hope
and my heart is in a state of shock.
5 I remember the days long ago.
I reflect on all that you have done.
I carefully consider what your hands have made.
6 I stretch out my hands to you in prayer.
Like parched land, my soul thirsts for you. Selah
7 Answer me quickly, O Lord.
My spirit is worn out.
Do not hide your face from me,
or I will be like those who go into the pit.
8 Let me hear about your mercy in the morning,
because I trust you.
Let me know the way that I should go,
because I long for you.
9 Rescue me from my enemies, O Lord.
I come to you for protection.
10 Teach me to do your will, because you are my God.
May your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
11 O Lord, keep me alive for the sake of your name.
Because you are righteous, lead me out of trouble.
12 In keeping with your mercy, wipe out my enemies
and destroy all who torment me,
because I am your servant.
14 They raise their voices.
They shout for joy.
From the sea they sing joyfully about the Lord’s majesty.
15 Honor the Lord in the east.
Honor the name of the Lord God of Israel along the coastlands.
16 From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise
that honor the Righteous One.
But I kept saying,
“I’m wasting away! I’m wasting away!
How horrible it is for me!
Traitors continue to betray,
and their treachery grows worse and worse.”
17 Disasters, pits, and traps
are in store for those who live on earth.
18 Whoever flees from news of a disaster will fall into a pit.
Whoever climbs out of that pit will be caught in a trap.
The floodgates in the sky will be opened,
and the foundations of the earth will shake.
19 The earth will be completely broken.
The earth will shake back and forth violently.
The earth will stagger.
20 The earth will stumble like a drunk
and sway like a shack in the wind.
Its disobedience weighs heavy on it.
It will fall and not get up again.
21 On that day the Lord will punish heaven’s armies in heaven
and earth’s kings on earth.
22 They’ll be gathered like prisoners in a jail
and locked in prison.
After a long time they’ll be punished.
23 The moon will be embarrassed.
The sun will be ashamed,
because the Lord of Armies will rule
on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem.
He will be glorious in the presence of his respected leaders.
13 Who will harm you if you are devoted to doing what is good? 14 But even if you suffer for doing what God approves, you are blessed. Don’t be afraid of those who want to harm you. Don’t get upset. 15 But dedicate your lives to Christ as Lord. Always be ready to defend your confidence ⌞in God⌟ when anyone asks you to explain it. However, make your defense with gentleness and respect. 16 Keep your conscience clear. Then those who treat the good Christian life you live with contempt will feel ashamed that they have ridiculed you. 17 After all, if it is God’s will, it’s better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong.
18 This is true because Christ suffered for our sins once. He was an innocent person, but he suffered for guilty people so that he could bring you to God. His body was put to death, but he was brought to life through his spirit. 19 In it he also went to proclaim his victory to the spirits kept in prison. 20 They are like those who disobeyed long ago in the days of Noah when God waited patiently while Noah built the ship. In this ship a few people—eight in all—were saved by water. 21 Baptism, which is like that water, now saves you. Baptism doesn’t save by removing dirt from the body. Rather, baptism is a request to God for a clear conscience. It saves you through Jesus Christ, who came back from death to life. 22 Now Christ has gone to heaven where he holds the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the throne. Angels, rulers, and powers have been placed under his authority.
4 Since Christ has suffered physically, take the same attitude that he had. (A person who has suffered physically no longer sins.) 2 That way you won’t be guided by sinful human desires as you live the rest of your lives on earth. Instead, you will be guided by what God wants you to do. 3 You spent enough time in the past doing what unbelievers like to do. You were promiscuous, had sinful desires, got drunk, went to wild parties, and took part in the forbidden worship of false gods. 4 Unbelievers insult you now because they are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of wild living. 5 They will give an account to the one who is ready to judge the living and the dead. 6 After all, the Good News was told to people like that, although they are now dead. It was told to them so that they could be judged like humans in their earthly lives and live like God in their spiritual lives.
For the Third Time Jesus Foretells That He Will Die and Come Back to Life(A)
17 When Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, he took the twelve apostles aside and said to them privately, 18 “We’re going to Jerusalem. There the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the experts in Moses’ Teachings. They will condemn him to death 19 and hand him over to foreigners. They will make fun of him, whip him, and crucify him. But on the third day he will be brought back to life.”
A Mother Makes a Request(B)
20 Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her two sons. She bowed down in front of him to ask him for a favor.
21 “What do you want?” he asked her.
She said to him, “Promise that one of my sons will sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”
22 Jesus replied, “You don’t realize what you’re asking. Can you drink the cup that I’m going to drink?”
“We can,” they told him.
23 Jesus said to them, “You will drink my cup. But I don’t have the authority to grant you a seat at my right or left. My Father has already prepared these positions for certain people.”
24 When the other ten apostles heard about this, they were irritated with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called the apostles and said, “You know that the rulers of nations have absolute power over people and their officials have absolute authority over people. 26 But that’s not the way it’s going to be among you. Whoever wants to become great among you will be your servant. 27 Whoever wants to be most important among you will be your slave. 28 It’s the same way with the Son of Man. He didn’t come so that others could serve him. He came to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.”
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