Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Deliverance and Confidence in God
For the music director, according to The Silent Dove of Distant Lands.
Of David. A miktam.
When the Philistines seized him in Gath.[a]
56 Be gracious to me, O God, because humankind has trampled me;
fighting all the day he oppresses me.
2 My enemies[b] trample all day,
because many are attacking me proudly.
3 When[c] I fear, I trust you.
4 God, whose word I praise,
God I trust; I do not fear.
What can mere flesh do to me?
5 All day they twist my words;
all their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They attack,[d] they hide, they watch my steps,[e]
as they lie in wait for my life.
7 Because of iniquity will they escape?
In anger cast down the peoples, O God.
8 You have kept count of my wonderings.
Put my tears in your bottle;
are they not in your book?
9 Then my enemies will turn back when[f] I call.[g]
This I know because[h] God is for me.
10 God, whose word I praise,
Yahweh, whose word I praise,
11 God I trust; I do not fear.
What can mere humankind do to me?
12 My vows to you, O God, are binding upon me.
I will pay thank offerings to you,
13 because you have delivered my soul from death.
Have you not kept my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before God
in the light of the living?
Prayer for Rescue from Enemies
For the music director, according to Do Not Destroy.
Of David. A miktam.
When he fled from Saul into the cave.[i]
57 Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me,
because in you my soul takes refuge.
In the shadow of your wings I will take refuge
until destruction passes by.
2 I will call to God Most High,
to God who accomplishes things concerning me.
3 He will send from heaven and save me;
he will reproach the one who tramples me. Selah
God will send his loyal love and his faithfulness.
4 My soul is among lions.
I lie down among those who devour—
the children[j] of humankind whose teeth are spears and arrows
and whose tongues are sharp swords.
5 Be exalted above the heavens, O God.
Let your glory be above all the earth.
6 They have set a net for my steps;
my soul is bowed down.
They have dug a pit before me;
they have fallen into the midst of it. Selah
7 My heart is steadfast, O God;
My heart is steadfast.
I will sing and give praise.
8 Awake, my glory;
Awake, harp and lyre.
I will awake the dawn.[k]
9 I will give you thanks among the peoples, O Lord;
I will give you praise among the nations.
10 Because your loyal love is high to the heavens,
and your faithfulness to the clouds.
11 Be exalted above the heavens, O God.
Let your glory be above all the earth.
Judgment on the Wicked
For the music director, according to Do not Destroy.
Of David. A miktam.[l]
58 Do you really speak what is right when silent?[m]
Do you judge fairly the children of humankind?[n]
2 No, in your heart you plan injustices;
in the land[o] you weigh out the violence of your hands.
3 The wicked are estranged from the womb.
They go astray from the belly, speaking lies.
4 Their venom is like snake venom;
They are like a deaf viper that closes its ear
5 so that it does not hear the voice of charmers
or the skilled caster of spells.
6 O God, break their teeth in their mouth.
Break off the fangs of the young lions, O Yahweh.
7 Let them run away like water that runs off.
When he bends the bow, let his arrows be as though they were cut off.[p]
8 Let them be like a snail that melts away as it goes;
like the stillborn of woman that do not see the sun.
9 Before your pots can feel the heat of a thornbush,
whether green or dry,[q] he will sweep it away.[r]
10 The righteous will rejoice when he sees the vengeance;
he will wash his feet in the blood of the wicked.
11 And people[s] will say, “Surely there is a reward[t] for the righteous.
Surely there is a God who judges in the land.”[u]
A Plea for Divine Retribution
For the music director. A psalm of David.[a]
64 Hear my voice, O God, in my lamenting.
Preserve my life from the fear of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret plots[b] of evildoers,
from the unrest of those who do iniquity,
3 who sharpen their tongue like a sword.
They bend their bow to shoot their arrows—bitter words,
4 to shoot from[c] their[d] hiding places at the blameless.
Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.
5 They encourage themselves in the evil matter.
They talk of secretly laying snares.
They say, “Who will see them?”
6 They carefully plot[e] injustices saying,
“We have perfected the perfect plot!”[f]
Both the inner thought[g] and heart of a man are deep.
7 But God will shoot them;
with an arrow they will suddenly be wounded.
8 [h] And they who would cause him[i] to stumble,
their own tongue will be against them.
All who gaze on them will shake.[j]
9 And then[k] all men[l] will fear,
and will declare the working of God,
and will understand his doing.
10 The righteous will rejoice in Yahweh and take refuge in him,
and all the upright in heart will boast.
Thanksgiving for God’s Provision
For the music director. A psalm of David. A song.[m]
65 Praise awaits you, O God, in Zion,
and to you the vow shall be fulfilled.
2 O you who hear prayer,
to you all flesh will come.
3 Iniquities[n] prevail over me.
As for our transgressions, you will forgive[o] them.
4 Blessed is one whom you choose and bring near,
that he may abide in your courts.
We will be satisfied with the goodness of your house,
your holy temple.
5 By awesome deeds in righteousness you will answer us,
O God of our salvation,
you who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth
and of the far-off seas,
6 who established the mountains by his strength,
the one who is girded with might,
7 who stills the roar of the seas,
the roar of their waves,
and the commotion of the peoples,
8 so that[p] the inhabitants of the farthest reaches are in awe of your signs.
You make the dawn and sunset sing for joy.
9 You care for[q] the land[r] and water it;
you greatly enrich it.
The stream of God is filled with waters.
You provide their grain,
for so you have established it.
10 You drench its furrows,
penetrating its ridges.
With rains you soften it;
its growth you bless.
11 You crown the year with your bounty,[s]
and your wagon paths drip with richness.[t]
12 They drop on the pastures of the wilderness,
and the hills gird themselves with joy.
13 The pasturelands put on flocks,
and the valleys clothe themselves with grain.
They shout in triumph;
they even sing.
46 Now Joseph was thirty years old[a] when he stood before Pharaoh, the king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from the presence of Pharaoh and traveled through the whole land of Egypt. 47 And the land produced a plenty in the seven years of abundance. 48 And he gathered all the food of the seven years which occurred in the land of Egypt. And he stored the food in the cities. The food of the field that surrounded each city he stored in its midst. 49 And Joseph piled up grain like the sand of the sea in great abundance until he stopped counting it, for it could not be counted.[b] 50 Before the years of famine came, Asenath, daughter of Potiphera priest of On, bore two sons to him. 51 And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Manasseh, for he said, “God has caused me to forget all my hardship and all my father’s house.” 52 And the name of the second he called Ephraim, for he said, “God has made me fruitful in the land of my misfortune.” 53 And the seven years of abundance which were in the land of Egypt came to an end. 54 And the seven years of famine began to come as Joseph had said. And there was famine in all of the countries, but in the land of Egypt there was food. 55 And when all the land of Egypt was hungry the people cried out to Pharaoh for food. And Pharaoh said to all the land of Egypt, “Go to Joseph; what he says to you, you must do.” 56 And the famine was over the whole land, and Joseph opened all the storehouses[c] and sold food to the Egyptians. And the famine was severe in the land of Egypt. 57 And every land came to Egypt to Joseph to buy grain, for the famine was severe in every land.
8 Already you are satiated! Already you are rich! Apart from us you reign as kings! And would that indeed you reigned as kings, in order that we also might reign as kings with you! 9 For, I think, God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as condemned to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world and to angels and to people. 10 We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are prudent in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, but we are dishonored! 11 Until the present hour we are both hungry and thirsty and poorly clothed and roughly treated and homeless, 12 and we toil, working with our own hands. When we are[a] reviled, we bless; when we are[b] persecuted, we endure; 13 when we are[c] slandered, we encourage. We have become like the refuse of the world, the offscouring of all things, until now.
Paul’s Concern for the Corinthian Believers
14 I am not writing these things to shame you, but admonishing you as my dear children. 15 For if you have ten thousand guardians in Christ, yet you do not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I fathered you through the gospel. 16 Therefore I exhort you, become imitators of me. 17 Because of this, I have sent to you Timothy, who is my dear and faithful child in the Lord, who will remind you of my ways in Christ Jesus, just as I teach everywhere in every church. 18 But some have become arrogant, as if I were not coming to you. 19 But I am coming to you soon, if the Lord wills, and I will know not the talk of the ones who have become arrogant, but the power. 20 For the kingdom of God is not with talk, but with power. 21 What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of gentleness?
Jesus Heals Crowds by the Sea
7 And Jesus went away with his disciples to the sea,[a] and a great crowd from Galilee followed him.[b] And from Judea 8 and from Jerusalem and from Idumea and the other side of the Jordan and around Tyre and Sidon a great crowd came to him because they[c] heard all that he was doing. 9 And he told his disciples that a small boat should stand ready for him because of the crowd, so that they would not press upon him. 10 For he had healed many, so that all those who were suffering from diseases[d] pressed about him in order that they could touch him. 11 And the unclean spirits, whenever they saw him, were falling down before him and crying out, saying, “You are the Son of God!” 12 And he warned them strictly that they should not make him known.
The Selection of the Twelve Apostles
13 And he went up on the mountain and summoned those whom he wanted, and they came to him. 14 And he appointed twelve,[e] so that they would be with him and so that he could send them out to preach 15 and to have authority to expel demons. 16 And he appointed the twelve.[f] And to Simon he gave the name Peter, 17 and James the son of Zebedee and John the brother of James (and he gave to them the name Boanerges, that is, “Sons of Thunder”), 18 and Andrew, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and Matthew, and Thomas, and James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus, and Simon the Zealot,[g] 19 and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
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