Book of Common Prayer
Supplication for Deliverance and Grateful Trust in God.
For the choir director; according to [a]Jonath elem rehokim. A [b]Mikhtam of David, [c]when the Philistines seized him in Gath.
56 Be gracious to me, O God, for man has [d](A)trampled upon me;
[e]Fighting all day long he (B)oppresses me.
2 My foes have [f](C)trampled upon me all day long,
For [g]they are many who (D)fight proudly against me.
3 [h]When I am (E)afraid,
[i]I will (F)put my trust in You.
4 (G)In God, whose word I praise,
In God I have put my trust;
I shall not be afraid.
(H)What can mere [j]man do to me?
5 All day long they [k](I)distort my words;
All their [l](J)thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They [m](K)attack, they lurk,
They (L)watch my [n]steps,
As they have (M)waited to take my [o]life.
7 Because of wickedness, [p](N)cast them forth,
In anger (O)put down the peoples, O God!
8 You (P)have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my (Q)tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in (R)Your book?
9 Then my enemies will (S)turn back (T)in the day when I call;
This I know, [q]that (U)God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
In the Lord, whose word I praise,
11 In God I have put my [r]trust, I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 Your (V)vows are binding upon me, O God;
I will render thank offerings to You.
13 For You have (W)delivered my soul from death,
[s]Indeed (X)my feet from stumbling,
So that I may (Y)walk before God
In the (Z)light of the [t]living.
Prayer for Rescue from Persecutors.
For the choir director; set to [u]Al-tashheth. A [v]Mikhtam of David, [w]when he fled from Saul in the cave.
57 Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me,
For my soul (AA)takes refuge in You;
And in the (AB)shadow of Your wings I will take refuge
Until destruction (AC)passes by.
2 I will cry to God Most High,
To God who (AD)accomplishes all things for me.
3 He will (AE)send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches him who [x](AF)tramples upon me. [y]Selah.
God will send forth His (AG)lovingkindness and His [z]truth.
4 My soul is among (AH)lions;
I must lie among those who breathe forth fire,
Even the sons of men, whose (AI)teeth are spears and arrows
And their (AJ)tongue a sharp sword.
5 (AK)Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
6 They have [aa]prepared a (AL)net for my steps;
My soul is (AM)bowed down;
They (AN)dug a pit before me;
They themselves have (AO)fallen into the midst of it. Selah.
7 (AP)My (AQ)heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!
8 Awake, (AR)my glory!
Awake, (AS)harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
9 (AT)I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to You among the [ab]nations.
10 For Your (AU)lovingkindness is great to the heavens
And Your [ac]truth to the clouds.
11 (AV)Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
Prayer for the Punishment of the Wicked.
For the choir director; set to [ad]Al-tashheth. A [ae]Mikhtam of David.
58 Do you indeed [af]speak righteousness, O [ag]gods?
Do you (AW)judge [ah]uprightly, O sons of men?
2 No, in heart you (AX)work unrighteousness;
On earth you (AY)weigh out the violence of your hands.
3 The wicked are estranged (AZ)from the womb;
These who speak lies (BA)go astray from [ai]birth.
4 They have venom like the (BB)venom of a serpent;
Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,
5 So that it (BC)does not hear the voice of [aj](BD)charmers,
Or a skillful caster of spells.
6 O God, (BE)shatter their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord.
7 Let them (BF)flow away like water that runs off;
When he [ak](BG)aims his arrows, let them be as [al]headless shafts.
8 Let them be as a snail which [am]melts away as it goes along,
Like the (BH)miscarriages of a woman which never see the sun.
9 Before your (BI)pots can feel the fire of thorns
He will (BJ)sweep them away with a whirlwind, the [an]green and the burning alike.
Prayer for Deliverance from Secret Enemies.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
64 Hear my voice, O God, in (A)my [a]complaint;
(B)Preserve my life from dread of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the (C)secret counsel of evildoers,
From the tumult of (D)those who do iniquity,
3 Who (E)have sharpened their tongue like a sword.
They (F)aimed bitter speech as their arrow,
4 To (G)shoot [b]from concealment at the blameless;
Suddenly they shoot at him, and (H)do not fear.
5 They [c]hold fast to themselves an evil purpose;
They [d]talk of (I)laying snares secretly;
They say, “(J)Who can see them?”
6 They [e]devise injustices, saying,
“We are [f]ready with a well-conceived plot”;
For the [g](K)inward thought and the heart of a man are [h]deep.
7 But (L)God [i]will shoot at them with an arrow;
Suddenly [j]they will be wounded.
8 So [k]they [l]will (M)make him stumble;
(N)Their own tongue is against them;
All who see them will (O)shake the head.
9 Then all men [m]will (P)fear,
And they [n]will (Q)declare the work of God,
And [o]will consider [p]what He has done.
10 The righteous man will be (R)glad in the Lord and will (S)take refuge in Him;
And all the upright in heart will glory.
God’s Abundant Favor to Earth and Man.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David. A Song.
65 There will be silence [q]before You, and praise in Zion, O God,
And to You the (T)vow will be performed.
2 O You who hear prayer,
To You (U)all [r]men come.
3 [s](V)Iniquities prevail against me;
As for our transgressions, You [t](W)forgive them.
4 How (X)blessed is the one whom You (Y)choose and bring near to You
To dwell in Your courts.
We will be (Z)satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Your holy temple.
5 By (AA)awesome deeds You answer us in righteousness, O (AB)God of our salvation,
You who are the trust of all the (AC)ends of the earth and of the farthest [u](AD)sea;
6 Who (AE)establishes the mountains by His strength,
Being (AF)girded with might;
7 Who (AG)stills the roaring of the seas,
The roaring of their waves,
And the (AH)tumult of the peoples.
8 They who dwell in the (AI)ends of the earth stand in awe of Your signs;
You make the [v]dawn and the sunset shout for joy.
9 You visit the earth and (AJ)cause it to overflow;
You greatly (AK)enrich it;
The [w](AL)stream of God is full of water;
You prepare their (AM)grain, for thus You prepare [x]the earth.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
You [y]settle its ridges,
You soften it (AN)with showers,
You bless its growth.
11 You have crowned the year [z]with Your [aa](AO)bounty,
And Your [ab]paths (AP)drip with fatness.
12 (AQ)The pastures of the wilderness drip,
And the (AR)hills gird themselves with rejoicing.
13 The meadows are (AS)clothed with flocks
And the valleys are (AT)covered with grain;
They (AU)shout for joy, yes, they sing.
46 Now Joseph was (A)thirty years old when he [a]stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and went through all the land of Egypt. 47 During the seven years of plenty the land brought forth [b]abundantly. 48 So he gathered all the food of these seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt and placed the food in the cities; he placed in every city the food from its own surrounding fields. 49 Thus Joseph stored up grain [c]in great abundance like the sand of the sea, until he stopped [d]measuring it, for it was [e]beyond measure.
The Sons of Joseph
50 Now before the year of famine came, (B)two sons were born to Joseph, whom Asenath, the daughter of Potiphera priest of [f]On, bore to him. 51 Joseph named the firstborn [g]Manasseh, “For,” he said, “God has made me forget all my trouble and all my father’s household.” 52 He named the second [h]Ephraim, “For,” he said, “(C)God has made me fruitful in the land of my affliction.”
53 When the seven years of plenty which had been in the land of Egypt came to an end, 54 and (D)the seven years of famine began to come, just as Joseph had said, then there was famine in all the lands, but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. 55 So when all the land of Egypt was famished, the people cried out to Pharaoh for bread; and Pharaoh said to all the Egyptians, “Go to Joseph; (E)whatever he says to you, you shall do.” 56 When the famine was spread over all the face of the earth, then Joseph opened all [i]the storehouses, and sold to the Egyptians; and the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57 The people of all the earth came to Egypt to buy grain from Joseph, because (F)the famine was severe in all the earth.
8 You are (A)already filled, you have already become rich, you have become kings without us; and indeed, I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you. 9 For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men (B)condemned to death; because we (C)have become a spectacle to the world, [a]both to angels and to men. 10 We are (D)fools for Christ’s sake, but (E)you are prudent in Christ; (F)we are weak, but you are strong; you are distinguished, but we are without honor. 11 To this present hour we are both (G)hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed, and are roughly treated, and are homeless; 12 and we toil, (H)working with our own hands; when we are (I)reviled, we bless; when we are (J)persecuted, we endure; 13 when we are slandered, we try to [b]conciliate; we have (K)become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things, even until now.
14 I do not write these things to (L)shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved (M)children. 15 For if you were to have countless (N)tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in (O)Christ Jesus I (P)became your father through the (Q)gospel. 16 Therefore I exhort you, be (R)imitators of me. 17 For this reason I (S)have sent to you (T)Timothy, who is my (U)beloved and faithful child in the Lord, and he will remind you of my ways which are in Christ, (V)just as I teach everywhere in every church. 18 Now some have become [c](W)arrogant, as though I were not (X)coming to you. 19 But I (Y)will come to you soon, (Z)if the Lord wills, and I shall find out, not the [d]words of those who are (AA)arrogant but their power. 20 For the kingdom of God does (AB)not consist in [e]words but in power. 21 What do you desire? (AC)Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
7 (A)Jesus withdrew to the sea with His disciples; and (B)a great multitude from Galilee followed; and also from Judea, 8 and from Jerusalem, and from (C)Idumea, and beyond the Jordan, and the vicinity of (D)Tyre and Sidon, a great number of people heard of all that He was doing and came to Him. 9 (E)And He told His disciples that a boat should stand ready for Him because of the crowd, so that they would not crowd Him; 10 for He had (F)healed many, with the result that all those who had (G)afflictions pressed around Him in order to (H)touch Him. 11 Whenever the unclean spirits saw Him, they would fall down before Him and shout, “You are (I)the Son of God!” 12 And He (J)earnestly warned them not to [a]tell who He was.
The Twelve Are Chosen
13 And He *went up on (K)the mountain and *(L)summoned those whom He Himself wanted, and they came to Him. 14 And He appointed twelve, so that they would be with Him and that He could send them out to preach, 15 and to have authority to cast out the demons. 16 And He appointed the twelve: (M)Simon (to whom He gave the name Peter), 17 and [b]James, the son of Zebedee, and John the brother of [c]James (to them He gave the name Boanerges, which means, “Sons of Thunder”); 18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and [d]James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the [e]Zealot; 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Him.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.