Book of Common Prayer
Prayer to Frustrate Conspiracy Against Israel
A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.
83 Do(A) not keep silent, O God!
Do not hold Your peace,
And do not be still, O God!
2 For behold, (B)Your enemies make a [a]tumult;
And those who hate You have [b]lifted up their head.
3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,
And consulted together (C)against Your sheltered ones.
4 They have said, “Come, and (D)let us cut them off from being a nation,
That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”
5 For they have consulted together with one [c]consent;
They [d]form a confederacy against You:
6 (E)The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;
Moab and the Hagrites;
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assyria also has joined with them;
They have helped the children of Lot. Selah
9 Deal with them as with (F)Midian,
As with (G)Sisera,
As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon,
10 Who perished at En Dor,
(H)Who became as refuse on the earth.
11 Make their nobles like (I)Oreb and like Zeeb,
Yes, all their princes like (J)Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 Who said, “Let us take for ourselves
The pastures of God for a possession.”
13 (K)O my God, make them like the whirling dust,
(L)Like the chaff before the wind!
14 As the fire burns the woods,
And as the flame (M)sets the mountains on fire,
15 So pursue them with Your tempest,
And frighten them with Your storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame,
That they may seek Your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be [e]confounded and dismayed forever;
Yes, let them be put to shame and perish,
18 (N)That they may know that You, whose (O)name alone is the Lord,
Are (P)the Most High over all the earth.
BOOK TWO
Psalms 42–72
Yearning for God in the Midst of Distresses
To the Chief Musician. A [a]Contemplation of the sons of Korah.
42 As the deer [b]pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
2 (A)My soul thirsts for God, for the (B)living God.
When shall I come and [c]appear before God?
3 (C)My tears have been my food day and night,
While they continually say to me,
(D)“Where is your God?”
4 When I remember these things,
(E)I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
(F)I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.
5 (G)Why are you [d]cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
(H)Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
[e]For the help of His countenance.
6 [f]O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From [g]the Hill Mizar.
7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
(I)All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
8 The Lord will (J)command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And (K)in the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God my Rock,
(L)“Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a [h]breaking of my bones,
My enemies [i]reproach me,
(M)While they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 (N)Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The [j]help of my countenance and my God.
Prayer to God in Time of Trouble
43 Vindicate (O)me, O God,
And (P)plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
2 For You are the God of my strength;
Why do You cast me off?
(Q)Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
Prayer that the Lord Will Restore Favor to the Land
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm (A)of the sons of Korah.
85 Lord, You have been favorable to Your land;
You have (B)brought back the captivity of Jacob.
2 You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people;
You have covered all their sin. Selah
3 You have taken away all Your wrath;
You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger.
4 (C)Restore us, O God of our salvation,
And cause Your anger toward us to cease.
5 (D)Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
6 Will You not (E)revive us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?
7 Show us Your mercy, Lord,
And grant us Your salvation.
8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak,
For He will speak peace
To His people and to His saints;
But let them not turn back to [a]folly.
9 Surely (F)His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
(G)That glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met together;
(H)Righteousness and peace have kissed.
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth,
And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 (I)Yes, the Lord will give what is good;
And our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before Him,
And shall make His footsteps our pathway.
Prayer for Mercy, with Meditation on the Excellencies of the Lord
A Prayer of David.
86 Bow down Your ear, O Lord, hear me;
For I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my [b]life, for I am holy;
You are my God;
Save Your servant who trusts in You!
3 Be merciful to me, O Lord,
For I cry to You all day long.
4 [c]Rejoice the soul of Your servant,
(J)For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
5 For (K)You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,
And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
And attend to the voice of my supplications.
7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon You,
For You will answer me.
8 (L)Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord;
Nor are there any works like Your works.
9 All nations whom You have made
Shall come and worship before You, O Lord,
And shall glorify Your name.
10 For You are great, and (M)do wondrous things;
(N)You alone are God.
11 (O)Teach me Your way, O Lord;
I will walk in Your truth;
[d]Unite my heart to fear Your name.
12 I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
And I will glorify Your name forevermore.
13 For great is Your mercy toward me,
And You have delivered my soul from the depths of [e]Sheol.
14 O God, the proud have risen against me,
And a mob of violent men have sought my life,
And have not set You before them.
15 But (P)You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious,
Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
16 Oh, turn to me, and have mercy on me!
Give Your strength to Your servant,
And save the son of Your maidservant.
17 Show me a sign for good,
That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,
Because You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Jacob’s Journey to Egypt(A)
46 So Israel took his journey with all that he had, and came to (B)Beersheba, and offered sacrifices (C)to the God of his father Isaac. 2 Then God spoke to Israel (D)in the visions of the night, and said, “Jacob, Jacob!”
And he said, “Here I am.”
3 So He said, “I am God, (E)the God of your father; do not fear to go down to Egypt, for I will (F)make of you a great nation there. 4 (G)I will go down with you to Egypt, and I will also surely (H)bring you up again; and (I)Joseph [a]will put his hand on your eyes.”
5 Then (J)Jacob arose from Beersheba; and the sons of Israel carried their father Jacob, their little ones, and their wives, in the [b]carts (K)which Pharaoh had sent to carry him. 6 So they took their livestock and their goods, which they had acquired in the land of Canaan, and went to Egypt, (L)Jacob and all his descendants with him. 7 His sons and his sons’ sons, his daughters and his sons’ daughters, and all his descendants he brought with him to Egypt.
Jacob Settles in Goshen
28 Then he sent Judah before him to Joseph, (A)to point out before him the way to Goshen. And they came (B)to the land of Goshen. 29 So Joseph made ready his (C)chariot and went up to Goshen to meet his father Israel; and he presented himself to him, and (D)fell on his neck and wept on his neck a good while.
30 And Israel said to Joseph, (E)“Now let me die, since I have seen your face, because you are still alive.”
31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and to his father’s household, (F)“I will go up and tell Pharaoh, and say to him, ‘My brothers and those of my father’s house, who were in the land of Canaan, have come to me. 32 And the men are (G)shepherds, for their occupation has been to feed livestock; and they have brought their flocks, their herds, and all that they have.’ 33 So it shall be, when Pharaoh calls you and says, (H)‘What is your occupation?’ 34 that you shall say, ‘Your servants’ (I)occupation has been with livestock (J)from our youth even till now, both we and also our fathers,’ that you may dwell in the land of Goshen; for every shepherd is (K)an[a] abomination to the Egyptians.”
A Pattern of Self-Denial
9 Am (A)I not an apostle? Am I not free? (B)Have I not seen Jesus Christ our Lord? (C)Are you not my work in the Lord? 2 If I am not an apostle to others, yet doubtless I am to you. For you are (D)the [a]seal of my apostleship in the Lord.
3 My defense to those who examine me is this: 4 (E)Do we have no [b]right to eat and drink? 5 Do we have no right to take along [c]a believing wife, as do also the other apostles, (F)the brothers of the Lord, and (G)Cephas? 6 Or is it only Barnabas and I (H)who have no right to refrain from working? 7 Who ever (I)goes to war at his own expense? Who (J)plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who (K)tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock?
8 Do I say these things as a mere man? Or does not the law say the same also? 9 For it is written in the law of Moses, (L)“You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about? 10 Or does He say it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written, that (M)he who plows should plow in hope, and he who threshes in hope should be partaker of his hope. 11 (N)If we have sown spiritual things for you, is it a great thing if we reap your material things? 12 If others are partakers of this right over you, are we not even more?
(O)Nevertheless we have not used this right, but endure all things (P)lest we hinder the gospel of Christ. 13 (Q)Do you not know that those who minister the holy things eat of the things of the (R)temple, and those who serve at the altar partake of the offerings of the altar? 14 Even so (S)the Lord has commanded (T)that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel.
15 But (U)I have used none of these things, nor have I written these things that it should be done so to me; for (V)it would be better for me to die than that anyone should make my boasting void.
Feeding the Five Thousand(A)
30 (B)Then the apostles gathered to Jesus and told Him all things, both what they had done and what they had taught. 31 (C)And He said to them, “Come aside by yourselves to a deserted place and rest a while.” For (D)there were many coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat. 32 (E)So they departed to a deserted place in the boat by themselves.
33 But [a]the multitudes saw them departing, and many (F)knew Him and ran there on foot from all the cities. They arrived before them and came together to Him. 34 (G)And Jesus, when He came out, saw a great multitude and was moved with compassion for them, because they were like (H)sheep not having a shepherd. So (I)He began to teach them many things. 35 (J)When the day was now far spent, His disciples came to Him and said, “This is a deserted place, and already the hour is late. 36 Send them away, that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy themselves [b]bread; for they have nothing to eat.”
37 But He answered and said to them, “You give them something to eat.”
And they said to Him, (K)“Shall we go and buy two hundred denarii worth of bread and give them something to eat?”
38 But He said to them, “How many loaves do you have? Go and see.”
And when they found out they said, (L)“Five, and two fish.”
39 Then He (M)commanded them to make them all sit down in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat down in ranks, in hundreds and in fifties. 41 And when He had taken the five loaves and the two fish, He (N)looked up to heaven, (O)blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to His disciples to set before them; and the two fish He divided among them all. 42 So they all ate and were filled. 43 And they took up twelve baskets full of fragments and of the fish. 44 Now those who had eaten the loaves were [c]about five thousand men.
Jesus Walks on the Sea(P)
45 (Q)Immediately He [d]made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while He sent the multitude away. 46 And when He had sent them away, He (R)departed to the mountain to pray.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.