Book of Common Prayer
An Urgent Plea for Help in Trouble
To the Chief Musician. Set to [a]“The Lilies.” A Psalm of David.
69 Save me, O God!
For (A)the waters have come up to my [b]neck.
2 (B)I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.
3 (C)I am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
(D)My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 Those who (E)hate me without a cause
Are more than the hairs of my head;
They are mighty who would destroy me,
Being my enemies wrongfully;
Though I have stolen nothing,
I still must restore it.
5 O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.
6 Let not those who [c]wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me;
Let not those who seek You be [d]confounded because of me, O God of Israel.
7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Shame has covered my face.
8 (F)I have become a stranger to my brothers,
And an alien to my mother’s children;
9 (G)Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
(H)And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
11 I also [e]made sackcloth my garment;
I became a byword to them.
12 Those who [f]sit in the gate speak against me,
And I am the song of the (I)drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to You,
O Lord, in the acceptable time;
O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,
Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire,
And let me not sink;
Let me be delivered from those who hate me,
And out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the floodwater overflow me,
Nor let the deep swallow me up;
And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.
16 Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good;
Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.
17 And do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am in trouble;
Hear me speedily.
18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;
Deliver me because of my enemies.
19 You know (J)my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;
My adversaries are all before You.
20 Reproach has broken my heart,
And I am full of [g]heaviness;
(K)I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;
And for (L)comforters, but I found none.
21 They also gave me gall for my food,
(M)And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 (N)Let their table become a snare before them,
And their well-being a trap.
23 (O)Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see;
And make their loins shake continually.
24 (P)Pour out Your indignation upon them,
And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.
25 (Q)Let their dwelling place be desolate;
Let no one live in their tents.
26 For they persecute the ones (R)You have struck,
And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.
27 (S)Add iniquity to their iniquity,
(T)And let them not come into Your righteousness.
28 Let them (U)be blotted out of the book of the living,
(V)And not be written with the righteous.
29 But I am poor and sorrowful;
Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30 (W)I will praise the name of God with a song,
And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.
31 (X)This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull,
Which has horns and hooves.
32 (Y)The humble shall see this and be glad;
And you who seek God, (Z)your hearts shall live.
33 For the Lord hears the poor,
And does not despise (AA)His prisoners.
BOOK THREE
Psalms 73–89
The Tragedy of the Wicked, and the Blessedness of Trust in God
A Psalm of (A)Asaph.
73 Truly God is good to Israel,
To such as are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
My steps had nearly (B)slipped.
3 (C)For I was envious of the boastful,
When I saw the prosperity of the (D)wicked.
4 For there are no [a]pangs in their death,
But their strength is firm.
5 (E)They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride serves as their necklace;
Violence covers them (F)like a garment.
7 (G)Their [b]eyes bulge with abundance;
They have more than heart could wish.
8 (H)They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;
They (I)speak [c]loftily.
9 They set their mouth (J)against the heavens,
And their tongue walks through the earth.
10 Therefore his people return here,
(K)And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
11 And they say, (L)“How does God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the ungodly,
Who are always at ease;
They increase in riches.
13 Surely I have [d]cleansed my heart in (M)vain,
And washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued,
And chastened every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
16 When I thought how to understand this,
It was [e]too painful for me—
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their (N)end.
18 Surely (O)You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awakes,
So, Lord, when You awake,
You shall despise their image.
21 Thus my heart was grieved,
And I was [f]vexed in my mind.
22 (P)I was so foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24 (Q)You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.
6 And (A)Joseph died, all his brothers, and all that generation. 7 (B)But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and [a]grew exceedingly mighty; and the land was filled with them.
8 Now there arose a new king over Egypt, (C)who did not know Joseph. 9 And he said to his people, “Look, the people of the children of Israel are more and (D)mightier than we; 10 (E)come, let us (F)deal shrewdly with them, lest they multiply, and it happen, in the event of war, that they also join our enemies and fight against us, and so go up out of the land.” 11 Therefore they set taskmasters over them (G)to afflict them with their (H)burdens. And they built for Pharaoh (I)supply cities, Pithom (J)and Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were in dread of the children of Israel. 13 So the Egyptians made the children of Israel (K)serve with [b]rigor. 14 And they (L)made their lives bitter with hard bondage—(M)in mortar, in brick, and in all manner of service in the field. All their service in which they made them serve was with rigor.
15 Then the king of Egypt spoke to the (N)Hebrew midwives, of whom the name of one was Shiphrah and the name of the other Puah; 16 and he said, “When you do the duties of a midwife for the Hebrew women, and see them on the birthstools, if it is a (O)son, then you shall kill him; but if it is a daughter, then she shall live.” 17 But the midwives (P)feared God, and did not do (Q)as the king of Egypt commanded them, but saved the male children alive. 18 So the king of Egypt called for the midwives and said to them, “Why have you done this thing, and saved the male children alive?”
19 And (R)the midwives said to Pharaoh, “Because the Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women; for they [c]are lively and give birth before the midwives come to them.”
20 (S)Therefore God dealt well with the midwives, and the people multiplied and [d]grew very mighty. 21 And so it was, because the midwives feared God, (T)that He [e]provided households for them.
22 So Pharaoh commanded all his people, saying, (U)“Every son who is [f]born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive.”
Unity and Diversity in One Body(A)
12 For (B)as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, (C)so also is Christ. 13 For (D)by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—(E)whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and (F)have all been made to drink [a]into one Spirit. 14 For in fact the body is not one member but many.
15 If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 16 And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? 18 But now (G)God has set the members, each one of them, in the body (H)just as He pleased. 19 And if they were all one member, where would the body be?
20 But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. 21 And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” 22 No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. 23 And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, 24 but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, 25 that there should be no [b]schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. 26 And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it.
Peter Confesses Jesus as the Christ(A)
27 (B)Now Jesus and His disciples went out to the towns of Caesarea Philippi; and on the road He asked His disciples, saying to them, “Who do men say that I am?”
28 So they answered, (C)“John the Baptist; but some say, (D)Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.”
29 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter answered and said to Him, (E)“You are the Christ.”
30 (F)Then He strictly warned them that they should tell no one about Him.
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection(G)
31 And (H)He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be (I)rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be (J)killed, and after three days rise again. 32 He spoke this word openly. Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. 33 But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He (K)rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not [a]mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
Take Up the Cross and Follow Him(L)
34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples also, He said to them, (M)“Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 35 For (N)whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. 36 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? 37 Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 (O)For whoever (P)is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
The Transfiguration of Christ(Q)
9 And He said to them, (R)“Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see (S)the kingdom of God [b]present with power.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.