Book of Common Prayer
Trust in God Concerning the Treachery of Friends
To the Chief Musician. With [a]stringed instruments. A [b]Contemplation of David.
55 Give ear to my prayer, O God,
And do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
2 Attend to me, and hear me;
I (A)am[c] restless in my complaint, and moan noisily,
3 Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the oppression of the wicked;
(B)For they bring down trouble upon me,
And in wrath they hate me.
4 (C)My heart is severely pained within me,
And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me,
And horror has overwhelmed me.
6 So I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and be at rest.
7 Indeed, I would wander far off,
And remain in the wilderness. Selah
8 I would hasten my escape
From the windy storm and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O Lord, and divide their [d]tongues,
For I have seen (D)violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around it on its walls;
(E)Iniquity and trouble are also in the midst of it.
11 Destruction is in its midst;
(F)Oppression and deceit do not depart from its streets.
12 (G)For it is not an enemy who reproaches me;
Then I could bear it.
Nor is it one who hates me who has (H)exalted himself against me;
Then I could hide from him.
13 But it was you, a man my equal,
(I)My companion and my acquaintance.
14 We took sweet counsel together,
And (J)walked to the house of God in the throng.
15 Let death seize them;
Let them (K)go down alive into [e]hell,
For wickedness is in their dwellings and among them.
16 As for me, I will call upon God,
And the Lord shall save me.
17 (L)Evening and morning and at noon
I will pray, and cry aloud,
And He shall hear my voice.
18 He has redeemed my soul in peace from the battle that was against me,
For (M)there were many against me.
19 God will hear, and afflict them,
(N)Even He who abides from of old. Selah
Because they do not change,
Therefore they do not fear God.
20 He has (O)put forth his hands against those who (P)were at peace with him;
He has broken his [f]covenant.
21 (Q)The words of his mouth were smoother than butter,
But war was in his heart;
His words were softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn swords.
The Lord’s Goodness to the Faithful
A Psalm of David.
138 I will praise You with my whole heart;
(A)Before the gods I will sing praises to You.
2 (B)I will worship (C)toward Your holy temple,
And praise Your name
For Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have (D)magnified Your word above all Your name.
3 In the day when I cried out, You answered me,
And made me bold with strength in my soul.
4 (E)All the kings of the earth shall praise You, O Lord,
When they hear the words of Your mouth.
5 Yes, they shall sing of the ways of the Lord,
For great is the glory of the Lord.
6 (F)Though the Lord is on high,
Yet (G)He regards the lowly;
But the proud He knows from afar.
7 (H)Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand
Against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
8 (I)The Lord will [a]perfect that which concerns me;
Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever;
(J)Do not forsake the works of Your hands.
God’s Perfect Knowledge of Man
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
139 O Lord, (K)You have searched me and known me.
2 (L)You know my sitting down and my rising up;
You (M)understand my thought afar off.
3 (N)You [b]comprehend my path and my lying down,
And are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue,
But behold, O Lord, (O)You know it altogether.
5 You have [c]hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 (P)Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.
7 (Q)Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 (R)If I ascend into heaven, You are there;
(S)If I make my bed in [d]hell, behold, You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand shall lead me,
And Your right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall [e]fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
12 Indeed, (T)the darkness [f]shall not hide from You,
But the night shines as the day;
The darkness and the light are both alike to You.
13 For You formed my inward parts;
You [g]covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for [h]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.
15 (U)My [i]frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
17 (V)How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.
19 Oh, that You would (W)slay the wicked, O God!
(X)Depart from me, therefore, you [j]bloodthirsty men.
20 For they (Y)speak against You wickedly;
[k]Your enemies take Your name in vain.
21 (Z)Do I not hate them, O Lord, who hate You?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with [l]perfect hatred;
I count them my enemies.
23 (AA)Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
The Vanity of Gain and Honor
8 If you (A)see the oppression of the poor, and the violent [a]perversion of justice and righteousness in a province, do not marvel at the matter; for (B)high official watches over high official, and higher officials are over them.
9 Moreover the profit of the land is for all; even the king is served from the field.
10 He who loves silver will not be satisfied with silver;
Nor he who loves abundance, with increase.
This also is vanity.
11 When goods increase,
They increase who eat them;
So what profit have the owners
Except to see them with their eyes?
12 The sleep of a laboring man is sweet,
Whether he eats little or much;
But the abundance of the rich will not permit him to sleep.
13 (C)There is a severe evil which I have seen under the sun:
Riches kept for their owner to his hurt.
14 But those riches perish through [b]misfortune;
When he begets a son, there is nothing in his hand.
15 (D)As he came from his mother’s womb, naked shall he return,
To go as he came;
And he shall take nothing from his labor
Which he may carry away in his hand.
16 And this also is a severe evil—
Just exactly as he came, so shall he go.
And (E)what profit has he (F)who has labored for the wind?
17 All his days (G)he also eats in darkness,
And he has much sorrow and sickness and anger.
18 Here is what I have seen: (H)It is good and fitting for one to eat and drink, and to enjoy the good of all his labor in which he toils under the sun all the days of his life which God gives him; (I)for it is his [c]heritage. 19 As for (J)every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his [d]heritage and rejoice in his labor—this is the (K)gift of God. 20 For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.
23 But before faith came, we were kept under guard by the law, [a]kept for the faith which would afterward be revealed. 24 Therefore (A)the law was our [b]tutor to bring us to Christ, (B)that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
Sons and Heirs
26 For you (C)are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For (D)as many of you as were baptized into Christ (E)have put on Christ. 28 (F)There is neither Jew nor Greek, (G)there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all (H)one in Christ Jesus. 29 And (I)if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s (J)seed, and (K)heirs according to the promise.
Sons and Heirs Through Christ
4 Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, 2 but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. 3 Even so we, when we were children, (L)were in bondage under the elements of the world. 4 But (M)when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, (N)born[c] (O)of a woman, (P)born under the law, 5 (Q)to redeem those who were under the law, (R)that we might receive the adoption as sons.
6 And because you are sons, God has sent forth (S)the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, [d]“Abba, Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, (T)and if a son, then an heir [e]of God [f]through Christ.
Fears for the Church
8 But then, indeed, (U)when you did not know God, (V)you served those which by nature are not gods. 9 But now (W)after you have known God, or rather are known by God, (X)how is it that you turn again to (Y)the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? 10 (Z)You observe days and months and seasons and years. 11 I am afraid for you, (AA)lest I have labored for you in vain.
Defilement Comes from Within(A)
15 Then (B)the scribes and Pharisees who were from Jerusalem came to Jesus, saying, 2 (C)“Why do Your disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread.”
3 He answered and said to them, “Why do you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition? 4 For God commanded, saying, (D)‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, (E)‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ 5 But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, (F)“Whatever profit you might have received from me is a gift to God”— 6 then he need not honor his father [a]or mother.’ Thus you have made the [b]commandment of God of no effect by your tradition. 7 (G)Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying:
8 ‘These(H) people [c]draw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9 And in vain they worship Me,
(I)Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ”
10 (J)When He had called the multitude to Himself, He said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 (K)Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man.”
12 Then His disciples came and said to Him, “Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?”
13 But He answered and said, (L)“Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Let them alone. (M)They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch.”
15 (N)Then Peter answered and said to Him, “Explain this parable to us.”
16 So Jesus said, (O)“Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not yet understand that (P)whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and is eliminated? 18 But (Q)those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. 19 (R)For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. 20 These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.