Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 5[a]
For the music director, to be accompanied by wind instruments;[b] a psalm of David.
5 Listen to what I say,[c] Lord!
Carefully consider my complaint![d]
2 Pay attention to my cry for help,
my King and my God,
for I am praying to you!
3 Lord, in the morning[e] you will hear[f] me;[g]
in the morning I will present my case to you[h] and then wait expectantly for an answer.[i]
4 Certainly[j] you are not a God who approves of evil;[k]
evil people[l] cannot dwell with you.[m]
5 Arrogant people cannot stand in your presence;[n]
you hate[o] all who behave wickedly.[p]
6 You destroy[q] liars;[r]
the Lord despises[s] violent and deceitful people.[t]
7 But as for me,[u] because of your great faithfulness I will enter your house;[v]
I will bow down toward your holy temple as I worship you.[w]
8 Lord, lead me in your righteousness[x]
because of those who wait to ambush me,[y]
remove the obstacles in the way in which you are guiding me.[z]
9 For[aa] they do not speak the truth;[ab]
their stomachs are like the place of destruction,[ac]
their throats like an open grave,[ad]
their tongues like a steep slope leading into it.[ae]
10 Condemn them,[af] O God!
May their own schemes be their downfall.[ag]
Drive them away[ah] because of their many acts of insurrection,[ai]
for they have rebelled against you.
11 But may all who take shelter[aj] in you be happy.[ak]
May they continually[al] shout for joy.[am]
Shelter them[an] so that those who are loyal to you[ao] may rejoice.[ap]
12 Certainly[aq] you reward[ar] the godly,[as] Lord.
Like a shield you protect[at] them[au] in your good favor.[av]
Psalm 6[aw]
For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments, according to the sheminith style;[ax] a psalm of David.
6 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger.
Do not discipline me in your raging fury.[ay]
2 Have mercy on me,[az] Lord, for I am frail.
Heal me, Lord, for my bones are shaking.[ba]
3 I am absolutely terrified,[bb]
and you, Lord—how long will this continue?[bc]
4 Relent, Lord, rescue me![bd]
Deliver me because of your faithfulness.[be]
5 For no one remembers you in the realm of death.[bf]
In Sheol who gives you thanks?[bg]
6 I am exhausted as I groan.
All night long I drench my bed in tears;[bh]
my tears saturate the cushion beneath me.[bi]
7 My eyes[bj] grow dim[bk] from suffering;
they grow weak[bl] because of all my enemies.[bm]
8 Turn back from me, all you who behave wickedly,[bn]
for the Lord has heard the sound of my weeping.[bo]
9 The Lord has heard my appeal for mercy;
the Lord has accepted[bp] my prayer.
10 They will be humiliated[bq] and absolutely terrified.[br]
All my enemies will turn back and be suddenly humiliated.
Psalm 10[a]
10 Why, Lord, do you stand far off?
Why do you pay no attention during times of trouble?[b]
2 The wicked arrogantly chase the oppressed;[c]
the oppressed are trapped[d] by the schemes the wicked have dreamed up.[e]
3 Yes,[f] the wicked man[g] boasts because he gets what he wants;[h]
the one who robs others[i] curses[j] and[k] rejects the Lord.[l]
4 The wicked man is so arrogant he always thinks,
“God won’t hold me accountable; he doesn’t care.”[m]
5 He is secure at all times.[n]
He has no regard for your commands;[o]
he disdains all his enemies.[p]
6 He says to himself,[q]
“I will never[r] be shaken,
because I experience no calamity.”[s]
7 His mouth is full of curses and deceptive, harmful words;[t]
his tongue injures and destroys.[u]
8 He waits in ambush near the villages;[v]
in hidden places he kills the innocent.
His eyes look for some unfortunate victim.[w]
9 He lies in ambush in a hidden place, like a lion in a thicket.[x]
He lies in ambush, waiting to catch[y] the oppressed;
he catches the oppressed[z] by pulling in his net.[aa]
10 His victims are crushed and beaten down;
they are trapped in his sturdy nets.[ab]
11 He says to himself,[ac]
“God overlooks it;
he does not pay attention;
he never notices.”[ad]
12 Rise up, Lord![ae]
O God, strike him down.[af]
Do not forget the oppressed.
13 Why does the wicked man reject God?[ag]
He says to himself,[ah] “You[ai] will not hold me accountable.”[aj]
14 You have taken notice,[ak]
for[al] you always see[am] one who inflicts pain and suffering.[an]
The unfortunate victim entrusts his cause to you;[ao]
you deliver[ap] the fatherless.[aq]
15 Break the arm[ar] of the wicked and evil man.
Hold him accountable for his wicked deeds,[as]
which he thought you would not discover.[at]
16 The Lord rules forever![au]
The nations are driven out of his land.[av]
17 Lord, you have heard[aw] the request[ax] of the oppressed;
you make them feel secure because you listen to their prayer.[ay]
18 You defend[az] the fatherless and oppressed,[ba]
so that mere mortals may no longer terrorize them.[bb]
Psalm 11[bc]
For the music director, by David.
11 In the Lord I have taken shelter.[bd]
How can you say to me,[be]
“Flee to a mountain like a bird.[bf]
2 For look, the wicked[bg] prepare[bh] their bows,[bi]
they put their arrows on the strings,
to shoot in the darkness[bj] at the morally upright.[bk]
3 When the foundations[bl] are destroyed,
what can the godly[bm] accomplish?”[bn]
4 The Lord is in his holy temple;[bo]
the Lord’s throne is in heaven.[bp]
His eyes[bq] watch;[br]
his eyes[bs] examine[bt] all people.[bu]
5 The Lord approves of[bv] the godly,[bw]
but he[bx] hates[by] the wicked and those who love to do violence.[bz]
6 May he rain down[ca] burning coals[cb] and brimstone[cc] on the wicked!
A whirlwind is what they deserve.[cd]
7 Certainly[ce] the Lord is just;[cf]
he rewards godly deeds.[cg]
The upright will experience his favor.[ch]
The Levitical Cities
35 [a] Then the Lord spoke to Moses in the rift valley plains[b] of Moab along the Jordan near Jericho. He said: 2 “Instruct the Israelites to give[c] the Levites towns to live in from the inheritance the Israelites[d] will possess. You must also give the Levites grazing land around the towns. 3 Thus they will have towns in which to live, and their grazing lands will be for their cattle, for their possessions, and for all their animals.
The Cities of Refuge
9 Then the Lord spoke to Moses: 10 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘When you cross over the Jordan River[a] into the land of Canaan, 11 you must then designate some towns as towns of refuge for you, to which a person who has killed someone unintentionally may flee. 12 And they must stand as your towns of refuge from the avenger in order that the killer may not die until he has stood trial before the community. 13 These towns that you must give shall be your six towns for refuge.
14 “‘You must give three towns on this side of the Jordan, and you must give three towns in the land of Canaan; they must be towns of refuge. 15 These six towns will be places of refuge for the Israelites, and for the resident foreigner, and for the settler among them, so that anyone who kills any person accidentally may flee there.
30 “Whoever kills any person, the murderer must be put to death by the testimony[a] of witnesses, but one witness cannot[b] testify against any person to cause him to be put to death. 31 Moreover, you must not accept a ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; he must surely be put to death. 32 And you must not accept a ransom for anyone who has fled to a town of refuge, to allow him to return home and live on his own land before the death of the high priest.[c]
33 “‘You must not pollute the land where you live, for blood defiles the land, and the land cannot be cleansed of the blood that is shed there, except by the blood of the person who shed it. 34 Therefore do not defile the land that you will inhabit, in which I live, for I the Lord live among the Israelites.’”
31 What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 Indeed, he who[a] did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, freely give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against God’s elect?[b] It is God who justifies. 34 Who is the one who will condemn? Christ[c] is the one who died (and more than that, he was raised), who is at the right hand of God, and who also is interceding for us. 35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will trouble, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?[d] 36 As it is written, “For your sake we encounter death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[e] 37 No, in all these things we have complete victory[f] through him[g] who loved us! 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor heavenly rulers,[h] nor things that are present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
13 “But woe to you, experts in the law[a] and you Pharisees, hypocrites![b] You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven![c] For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in.[d]
15 “Woe to you, experts in the law[e] and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert,[f] and when you get one,[g] you make him twice as much a child of hell[h] as yourselves!
16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing.[i] But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.’ 17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing.[j] But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.’ 19 You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. 21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it. 22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.
23 “Woe to you, experts in the law[k] and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth[l] of mint, dill, and cumin,[m] yet you neglect what is more important in the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You[n] should have done these things without neglecting the others. 24 Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel![o]
25 “Woe to you, experts in the law[p] and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup,[q] so that the outside may become clean too!
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