Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 70
A Call for Deliverance
For the choir director. Of David. To bring remembrance.(A)
1 God, hurry to rescue me.
Lord, hurry to help me!(B)
2 Let those who seek to kill me
be disgraced and confounded;
let those who wish me harm
be turned back and humiliated.
3 Let those who say, “Aha, aha!”
retreat because of their shame.(C)
4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;
let those who love your salvation
continually say, “God is great!” (D)
5 I am oppressed and needy;
hurry to me, God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Lord, do not delay.(E)
Psalm 71
God’s Help in Old Age
1 Lord, I seek refuge in you;
let me never be disgraced.(F)
2 In your justice, rescue and deliver me;
listen closely to me and save me.(G)
3 Be a rock of refuge for me,
where I can always go.
Give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and fortress.(H)
4 Deliver me, my God, from the power of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and oppressive.(I)
5 For you are my hope, Lord God,
my confidence from my youth.(J)
6 I have leaned on you from birth;
you took me from my mother’s womb.(K)
My praise is always about you.(L)
7 I am like a miraculous sign to many,
and you are my strong refuge.(M)
8 My mouth is full of praise
and honor to you all day long.(N)
9 Don’t discard me in my old age.
As my strength fails, do not abandon me.(O)
10 For my enemies talk about me,
and those who spy on me plot together,(P)
11 saying, “God has abandoned him;
chase him and catch him,
for there is no one to rescue him.”(Q)
12 God, do not be far from me;
my God, hurry to help me.(R)
13 May my adversaries be disgraced and destroyed;
may those who intend to harm me
be covered with disgrace and humiliation.(S)
14 But I will hope continually
and will praise you more and more.(T)
15 My mouth will tell about your righteousness
and your salvation all day long,
though I cannot sum them up.(U)
16 I come because of the mighty acts of the Lord God;
I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.(V)
17 God, you have taught me from my youth,
and I still proclaim your wondrous works.(W)
18 Even while I am old and gray,
God, do not abandon me,(X)
while I proclaim your power
to another generation,
your strength to all who are to come.(Y)
19 Your righteousness reaches the heights, God,
you who have done great things;
God, who is like you?(Z)
20 You caused me to experience
many troubles and misfortunes,(AA)
but you will revive me again.(AB)
You will bring me up again,
even from the depths of the earth.(AC)
21 You will increase my honor
and comfort me once again.(AD)
22 Therefore, I will praise you with a harp
for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing to you with a lyre,
Holy One of Israel.(AE)
23 My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praise to you
because you have redeemed me.(AF)
24 Therefore, my tongue will proclaim
your righteousness all day long,
for those who intend to harm me
will be disgraced and confounded.(AG)
Psalm 74
Prayer for Israel
A Maskil of Asaph.(A)
1 Why have you rejected us forever, God?
Why does your anger burn
against the sheep of your pasture?(B)
2 Remember your congregation,
which you purchased long ago
and redeemed as the tribe for your own possession.(C)
Remember Mount Zion where you dwell.(D)
3 Make your way[a] to the perpetual ruins,
to all that the enemy has destroyed in the sanctuary.(E)
4 Your adversaries roared in the meeting place
where you met with us.[b]
They set up their emblems as signs.(F)
5 It was like men in a thicket of trees,
wielding axes,(G)
6 then smashing all the carvings
with hatchets and picks.(H)
7 They set your sanctuary on fire;
they utterly[c] desecrated
the dwelling place of your name.(I)
8 They said in their hearts,
“Let’s oppress them relentlessly.”
They burned every place throughout the land
where God met with us.[d](J)
9 There are no signs for us to see.
There is no longer a prophet.
And none of us knows how long this will last.(K)
10 God, how long will the enemy mock?
Will the foe insult your name forever?(L)
11 Why do you hold back your hand?
Stretch out[e] your right hand and destroy them!(M)
12 God my King is from ancient times,
performing saving acts on the earth.(N)
13 You divided the sea with your strength;
you smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the water;(O)
14 you crushed the heads of Leviathan;
you fed him to the creatures of the desert. (P)
15 You opened up springs and streams;(Q)
you dried up ever-flowing rivers.(R)
16 The day is yours, also the night;
you established the moon and the sun.(S)
17 You set all the boundaries of the earth;
you made summer and winter.(T)
18 Remember this: the enemy has mocked the Lord,
and a foolish people has insulted your name.(U)
19 Do not give to beasts the life of your dove;[f]
do not forget the lives of your poor people forever.(V)
20 Consider the covenant,(W)
for the dark places of the land are full of violence.(X)
21 Do not let the oppressed turn away in shame;
let the poor and needy praise your name.(Y)
22 Rise up, God, champion your cause!(Z)
Remember the insults
that fools bring against you all day long.(AA)
23 Do not forget the clamor of your adversaries,
the tumult of your opponents that goes up constantly.(AB)
29 When they reached their father Jacob in the land of Canaan, they told him all that had happened to them: 30 “The man who is the lord of the country spoke harshly to us and accused us of spying on the country. 31 But we told him, ‘We are honest and not spies. 32 We were twelve brothers, sons of the same[a] father. One is no longer living, and the youngest is now with our father in the land of Canaan.’ 33 The man who is the lord of the country said to us, ‘This is how I will know if you are honest: Leave one brother with me, take food to relieve the hunger of your households, and go. 34 Bring back your youngest brother to me, and I will know that you are not spies but honest men. I will then give your brother back to you, and you can trade in the country.’”
35 As they began emptying their sacks, there in each man’s sack was his bag of silver! When they and their father saw their bags of silver, they were afraid.
36 Their father Jacob said to them, “It’s me that you make childless. Joseph is gone, and Simeon is gone. Now you want to take Benjamin. Everything happens to me!”
37 Then Reuben said to his father, “You can kill my two sons if I don’t bring him back to you. Put him in my care,[b] and I will return him to you.”
38 But Jacob answered, “My son will not go down with you, for his brother is dead and he alone is left.(A) If anything happens to him on your journey, you will bring my gray hairs down to Sheol in sorrow.”(B)
Glorifying God in Body and Spirit
12 “Everything is permissible(A) for me,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 “Food(B) is for the stomach and the stomach for food,” and God will do away with both of them. However, the body is not for sexual immorality(C) but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.(D) 15 Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body?(E) So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not! 16 Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh.[a](F) 17 But anyone joined(G) to the Lord is one spirit(H) with him.
18 Flee(I) sexual immorality! Every other sin[b] a person commits is outside the body, but the person who is sexually immoral(J) sins against his own body. 19 Don’t you know that your body is a temple(K) of the Holy Spirit(L) who is in you,(M) whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought(N) at a price. So glorify God with your body.[c]
Using Your Light
21 He(A) also said to them, “Is a lamp brought in to be put under a basket or under a bed?(B) Isn’t it to be put on a lampstand?(C) 22 For there is nothing hidden that will not be revealed,(D) and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let him listen.”(E) 24 And he said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear. By the measure(F) you use,(G) it will be measured to you—and more will be added(H) to you. 25 For whoever has, more will be given to him, and whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.”(I)
The Parable of the Growing Seed
26 “The kingdom of God(J) is like this,” he said. “A man scatters seed on the ground. 27 He sleeps(K) and rises(L) night(M) and day; the seed sprouts and grows, although he doesn’t know how. 28 The soil produces a crop(N) by itself—first the blade, then the head, and then the full grain(O) on the head. 29 As soon as the crop is ready, he sends for the sickle,(P) because the harvest(Q) has come.”
The Parable of the Mustard Seed
30 And(R) he said, “With what can we compare the kingdom of God,(S) or what parable(T) can we use to describe it? 31 It’s like a mustard seed(U) that, when sown upon the soil, is the smallest of all the seeds on the ground. 32 And when sown,(V) it comes up and grows taller than all the garden plants,(W) and produces large branches, so that the birds of the sky(X) can nest in its shade.”
Using Parables
33 He was speaking the word(Y) to them with many parables(Z) like these, as they were able to understand.(AA) 34 He did not speak to them without a parable. Privately, however, he explained everything to his own disciples.(AB)
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