Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 40[a]
Thanksgiving and Prayer for Help
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David.
2 [c]I waited patiently for the Lord;
then he stooped down and heard my cry.
3 He raised me up from the desolate pit,
out of the mire of the swamp;
he set my feet upon a rock,
giving me a firm footing.
4 He put a new song[d] in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will look on and be awestruck,
and they will place their trust in the Lord.
5 Blessed[e] is the man
who places his trust in the Lord,
who does not follow the arrogant
or those who go astray after falsehoods.
6 How innumerable, O Lord, my God,
are the wonders you have worked;
no one can compare with you
in the plans you have made for us.
I would proclaim them and recount them,
but there are far too many to enumerate.
7 [f]Sacrifice and offering you did not desire,
but you have made my ears receptive.[g]
Burnt offerings and sin offerings
you did not demand.
8 [h]Then I said, “Behold I come;
it is written of me in the scroll of the book.
9 To do your will, O God, is my delight;
your law is in my heart.”[i]
10 I have proclaimed your righteousness in the great assembly;
I did not seal my lips,
as you well know, O Lord.
11 I have not concealed your righteousness within the depths of my heart;
I have spoken of your faithfulness and salvation.
I have not concealed your kindness and your truth
in the great assembly.
12 O Lord, do not withhold your mercy from me;
may your kindness[j] and your truth keep me safe forever.
13 I am surrounded by evils without number;
my sins have so engulfed me that I cannot see.
They outnumber the hairs on my head,
and my heart sinks within me.[k]
14 [l]Be pleased, O Lord, to rescue me
O Lord, come quickly to my aid.
15 [m]May all those who seek to take my life
endure shame and confusion.
May all those who desire my ruin
be turned back and humiliated.
16 May those who cry out to me, “Aha, aha!”[n]
be overcome with shame and dismay.
17 But may all who seek you
rejoice in you and be jubilant.
May those who love your salvation
cry out forever, “The Lord be magnified.”
18 Even though I am poor and needy,[o]
the Lord keeps me in his thoughts.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay.
Psalm 54[a]
Prayer in Time of Danger
1 For the director.[b] On stringed instruments. A maskil of David. 2 When the Ziphites came to Saul and said, “David is hiding among us.”
3 O God, save me by your name;[c]
vindicate me by your power.
4 Hear my prayer, O God;
give ear to the words of my mouth.
5 Strangers[d] have risen against me;
those who are ruthless seek my life,
and they have no thought of God. Selah
6 Surely God is my helper;
the Lord is the one who sustains me.
7 May their own evil recoil on my foes:
you who are faithful, destroy them.[e]
8 [f]I will freely offer sacrifice to you,
and I will praise your name, O Lord, for it is good.
9 For you have rescued me from all my troubles,
and my eyes have seen the downfall of my enemies.
Psalm 51[a]
The “Miserere”: Repentance for Sin
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of David. 2 When Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bathsheba.
3 Have mercy on me, O God,
in accord with your kindness;[c]
in your abundant compassion
wipe away my offenses.
4 Wash me completely from my guilt,
and cleanse me from my sin.
5 For I am fully aware of my offense,
and my sin is ever before me.
6 Against you, you alone,[d] have I sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
Therefore, you are right in accusing me
and just in passing judgment.
7 Indeed, I was born in iniquity,
and in sin did my mother conceive me.[e]
8 But you desire sincerity of heart;[f]
and you endow my innermost being with wisdom.
9 Sprinkle me with hyssop[g] so that I may be cleansed;
wash me until I am whiter than snow.
10 Let me experience joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed exult.
11 Hide your face from my sins,
and wipe out all my offenses.
12 Create[h] in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a resolute spirit within me.
13 Do not cast me out from your presence
or take away from me your Holy Spirit.[i]
14 Restore to me the joy of being saved,
and grant me the strength of a generous spirit.
15 I will teach your ways to the wicked,
and sinners will return to you.
16 Deliver me from bloodguilt,[j] O God,
the God of my salvation,
and I will proclaim your righteousness.
17 O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth will proclaim your praise.
18 For you take no delight in sacrifice;
if I were to make a burnt offering,
you would refuse to accept it.[k]
19 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
a contrite and humble heart,[l] O God,
you will not spurn.
20 [m]In your kindness, deal favorably with Zion;
build up the walls of Jerusalem.
21 Then you will delight in righteous sacrifices,
in burnt offerings and whole oblations,
and young bulls will be offered on your altar.
22 Joshua then summoned them and he said to them, “You have deceived us by telling us that you came from a distant land when you actually live in our midst. 23 Now, therefore, you will be cursed, you shall always be slaves, cutting firewood and drawing water for the house of my God.”
24 They answered Joshua, “Your servants were informed on how the Lord, your God, commanded Moses, his servant, to give you all the land and to kill all of the inhabitants in the land ahead of you. We truly feared for our lives, for you would have done this thing. 25 So therefore, we are in your hands. Do whatever you consider to be right to us.” 26 And so this is what he did to them: he rescued them out of the hands of the Israelites so that they did not kill them, 27 but Joshua established them that day as the ones who would cut firewood and draw water for the assembly and for the altar of the Lord in the place that he would choose, which they still do today.
Chapter 10
Conspiracy against Gibeon.[a] 1 Now Adoni-zedek, the king of Jerusalem, heard that Joshua had taken Ai and had totally destroyed it, doing to Ai and its king what he had already done to Jericho and its king, and also how the inhabitants of Gibeon had made peace with Israel and were living near them. 2 He and his people were shocked, for Gibeon was one of the larger cities, large enough to be one of the royal cities. It was larger than Ai, and all its men were mighty warriors. 3 Adoni-zedek appealed to Hoham, the king of Hebron, Piram, the king of Jarmuth, Japhia, the king of Lachish, and Debir, the king of Eglon, saying, 4 “Come up and assist me with an attack on Gibeon, for it has made peace with Joshua and the Israelites.”
5 The five kings of the Amorites, the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish, and the king of Eglon, and all of their armies went up and encamped outside of Gibeon to attack it. 6 The Gibeonites sent a message to Joshua who was in his camp at Gilgal saying, “Do not abandon your servants! Come up quickly to us and save us. All of the kings of the Amorites who live in the hill country have gathered forces against us.”
Joshua Rescues Gibeon. 7 So Joshua and all of his fighting men went up along with his most valiant warriors. 8 The Lord said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them. I have delivered them into your hands. Not one of them will be able to withstand you.” 9 Joshua marched from Gilgal all night and took them by surprise. 10 The Lord routed them before Israel. They killed many at Gibeon, chasing after them on the road leading up to Beth-horon, slaying them all the way up to Azekah and Makkedah. 11 As they were fleeing before the Israelites on the road from Beth-horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled down large hailstones upon them, so that more of them were killed by the hailstones than had been killed by the swords of the Israelites.
12 On the day that the Lord delivered the Amorites up to the Israelites, Joshua spoke to the Lord in front of the Israelites saying, “O Sun, stand still over Gibeon, O moon, over the valley of Aijalon.” 13 So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation had taken vengeance upon their enemies. Is this not written about in the Book of Jashar?[b] The sun stood still in the middle of the sky and delayed going down for a full day. 14 There had never before been a day like this, and never will be again, a day when the Lord listened to the voice of a man, for the Lord fought for Israel. 15 Joshua and all the Israelites with him then returned to the camp in Gilgal.
Epilogue[a]
14 Apostle to the Gentiles.[b] Brethren, I myself am convinced that you yourselves are immersed in goodness, filled with all knowledge, and able to instruct one another. 15 Nevertheless, I have written to you rather boldly to refresh your memory in some respects because of the grace given to me by God. 16 He has appointed me to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles in the priestly service of the gospel of God, in order that the Gentiles might become an acceptable offering consecrated by the Holy Spirit.
17 In Christ Jesus, then, I have reason to glory in my service of God. 18 I will not dare to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me to lead the Gentiles to obedience to God by word and deed, 19 by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God.
So from Jerusalem[c] and the surrounding area, even as far as Illyricum, I have completed the preaching of the gospel of Christ. 20 Moreover, I have always striven to preach the gospel of Christ where the name of Christ is not known, not wanting to build on someone else’s foundation. 21 Rather, as it is written:
“Those who have never been told of him shall see,
and those who have never heard of him shall understand.”
22 Paul’s Plans for Traveling—Even to Spain.[d] That is why I have so often been prevented from coming to you. 23 But now, since there is nothing more to keep me in these regions, and since for a good many years I have desired to visit you, 24 I hope to see you when I am on my way to Spain. Then, after I have enjoyed your company for a while, you can send me on my way there.
Chapter 27
Jesus Is Handed Over to Pilate.[a] 1 When morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people met together in council to decide how to put him to death. 2 They bound him and led him away, and handed him over to Pilate, the governor.
Judas Hangs Himself.[b] 3 When Judas discovered that Jesus, whom he betrayed, had been condemned he was seized with a sense of remorse, and he brought back the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders. 4 “I have sinned,” he said, “for I have betrayed innocent blood.” They replied, “Of what importance is that to us? That is your responsibility.” 5 Flinging the silver pieces into the temple, he departed. Then he went off and hanged himself.
6 The chief priests retrieved the silver coins and said, “It is not lawful for us to deposit this into the temple treasury, for it is blood money.” 7 They conferred together, and then used it to purchase the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners. 8 This is the reason why that field to this very day is called the Field of Blood.
9 Thus was fulfilled what had been spoken through the prophet Jeremiah:[c]
“And they took the thirty pieces of silver,
the price set on his head by the people of Israel,
10 and they used them to purchase the potter’s field
as the Lord had commanded me.”
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