Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble.
For the choir director; with stringed instruments, [a]upon an eight-string lyre. A Psalm of David.
6 O Lord, (A)do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor chasten me in Your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am (B)pining away;
(C)Heal me, O Lord, for (D)my bones are dismayed.
3 And my (E)soul is greatly dismayed;
But You, O Lord—(F)how long?
4 Return, O Lord, (G)rescue my [b]soul;
Save me because of Your lovingkindness.
5 For (H)there is no [c]mention of You in death;
In [d]Sheol who will give You thanks?
God, a Helper against the Treacherous.
For the choir director; [a]upon an eight-stringed lyre. A Psalm of David.
12 Help, Lord, for (A)the godly man ceases to be,
For the faithful disappear from among the sons of men.
2 They (B)speak [b]falsehood to one another;
With (C)flattering [c]lips and with a double heart they speak.
3 May the Lord cut off all flattering lips,
The tongue that (D)speaks great things;
4 Who (E)have said, “With our tongue we will prevail;
Our lips are [d]our own; who is lord over us?”
5 “Because of the (F)devastation of the afflicted, because of the groaning of the needy,
Now (G)I will arise,” says the Lord; “I will (H)set him in the safety for which he longs.”
The Lord Implored to Avenge His People.
94 O Lord, God of [a](A)vengeance,
God of [b]vengeance, [c](B)shine forth!
2 (C)Rise up, O (D)Judge of the earth,
Render recompense (E)to the proud.
3 How long shall the wicked, O Lord,
How long shall the (F)wicked exult?
4 They pour forth words, they (G)speak arrogantly;
All who do wickedness (H)vaunt themselves.
5 They (I)crush Your people, O Lord,
And (J)afflict Your heritage.
6 They (K)slay the widow and the [d]stranger
And murder the orphans.
7 (L)They have said, “[e]The Lord does not see,
Nor does the God of Jacob pay heed.”
8 Pay heed, you (M)senseless among the people;
And when will you understand, (N)stupid ones?
9 He who (O)planted the ear, [f]does He not hear?
He who formed the eye, [g]does He not see?
10 He who [h](P)chastens the nations, will He not rebuke,
Even He who (Q)teaches man knowledge?
11 The Lord (R)knows the thoughts of man,
[i]That they are a mere breath.
12 Blessed is the man whom (S)You chasten, O [j]Lord,
And (T)whom You teach out of Your law;
13 That You may grant him (U)relief from the (V)days of adversity,
Until (W)a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For (X)the Lord will not abandon His people,
Nor will He (Y)forsake His inheritance.
15 For [k](Z)judgment [l]will again be righteous,
And all the upright in heart [m]will follow it.
16 Who will (AA)stand up for me against evildoers?
Who will take his stand for me (AB)against those who do wickedness?
17 If (AC)the Lord had not been my help,
My soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.
18 If I should say, “(AD)My foot has slipped,”
Your lovingkindness, O Lord, will hold me up.
19 When my anxious thoughts [n]multiply within me,
Your (AE)consolations delight my soul.
20 Can a [o](AF)throne of destruction be allied with You,
One (AG)which devises [p]mischief by decree?
21 They (AH)band themselves together against the [q]life of the righteous
And (AI)condemn [r]the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord has been my (AJ)stronghold,
And my God the (AK)rock of my refuge.
23 He has (AL)brought back their wickedness upon them
And will [s](AM)destroy them in their evil;
The Lord our God will [t]destroy them.
17 Zion (A)stretches out her hands;
There is no one to comfort her;
The Lord has (B)commanded concerning Jacob
That the ones round about him should be his adversaries;
(C)Jerusalem has become an unclean thing among them.
18 “The Lord is (D)righteous;
For I have (E)rebelled against His [a]command;
Hear now, all peoples,
And (F)behold my [b]pain;
(G)My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.
19 “I (H)called to my lovers, but they deceived me;
My (I)priests and my elders perished in the city
While they sought food to (J)restore [c]their strength themselves.
20 “See, O Lord, for I am in distress;
My [d](K)spirit is greatly troubled;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very (L)rebellious.
In the street the sword [e]slays;
In the house it is like death.
21 “They have heard that I (M)groan;
There is no one to comfort me;
All my enemies have heard of my [f]calamity;
They are (N)glad that You have done it.
Oh, that You would bring the day which You have proclaimed,
That they may become (O)like me.
22 “Let all their wickedness come before You;
And (P)deal with them as You have dealt with me
For all my transgressions;
For my groans are many and my heart is faint.”
8 For (A)we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our (B)affliction which came to us in [a](C)Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; 9 [b]indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; 10 who (D)delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, [c]He (E)on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, 11 you also joining in (F)helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by (G)many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.
Paul’s Integrity
12 For our [d]proud confidence is this: the testimony of (H)our conscience, that in holiness and (I)godly sincerity, (J)not in fleshly wisdom but in the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially toward you. 13 For we write nothing else to you than what you read and understand, and I hope you will understand (K)until the end; 14 just as you also partially did understand us, that we are your reason to be proud as you also are ours, in (L)the day of our Lord Jesus.
15 In this confidence I intended at first to (M)come to you, so that you might [e]twice receive a [f](N)blessing; 16 [g]that is, to (O)pass [h]your way into (P)Macedonia, and again from Macedonia to come to you, and by you to be (Q)helped on my journey to Judea. 17 Therefore, I was not vacillating when I intended to do this, was I? Or what I purpose, do I purpose (R)according to the flesh, so that with me there will be yes, yes and no, no at the same time? 18 But as (S)God is faithful, (T)our word to you is not yes and no. 19 For (U)the Son of God, Christ Jesus, who was preached among you by us—by me and (V)Silvanus and (W)Timothy—was not yes and no, but is yes (X)in Him. 20 For (Y)as many as are the promises of God, (Z)in Him they are yes; therefore also through Him is (AA)our Amen to the glory of God through us. 21 Now He who (AB)establishes us with you in Christ and (AC)anointed us is God, 22 who also (AD)sealed us and (AE)gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a [i]pledge.
Jesus’ Authority Questioned
27 They *came again to Jerusalem. (A)And as He was walking in the temple, the chief priests and the scribes and the elders *came to Him, 28 and began saying to Him, “By what authority are You doing these things, or who gave You this authority to do these things?” 29 And Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question, and you answer Me, and then I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Was the baptism of John from heaven, or from men? Answer Me.” 31 They began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 32 But [a]shall we say, ‘From men’?”—they were afraid of the people, for everyone considered John to have been a real prophet. 33 Answering Jesus, they *said, “We do not know.” And Jesus *said to them, “Nor [b]will I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
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