Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 69
To the Chief Musician; [set to the tune of] “Lilies.” [A Psalm] of David.
1 Save me, O God, for the waters have come up to my neck [they threaten my life].
2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come into deep waters, where the floods overwhelm me.
3 I am weary with my crying; my throat is parched; my eyes fail with waiting [hopefully] for my God.
4 Those who hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head; those who would cut me off and destroy me, being my enemies wrongfully, are many and mighty. I am [forced] to restore what I did not steal.(A)
5 O God, You know my folly and blundering; my sins and my guilt are not hidden from You.
6 Let not those who wait and hope and look for You, O Lord of hosts, be put to shame through me; let not those who seek and inquire for and require You [as their vital necessity] be brought to confusion and dishonor through me, O God of Israel.
7 Because for Your sake I have borne taunt and reproach; confusion and shame have covered my face.
8 I have become a stranger to my brethren, and an alien to my mother’s children.(B)
9 For zeal for Your house has eaten me up, and the reproaches and insults of those who reproach and insult You have fallen upon me.(C)
10 When I wept and humbled myself with fasting, I was jeered at and humiliated;
11 When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword (an object of scorn) to them.
12 They who sit in [the city’s] gate talk about me, and I am the song of the drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Lord. At an acceptable and opportune time, O God, in the multitude of Your mercy and the abundance of Your loving-kindness hear me, and in the truth and faithfulness of Your salvation answer me.
14 Rescue me out of the mire, and let me not sink; let me be delivered from those who hate me and from out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the floodwaters overflow and overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up nor the [dug] pit [with water perhaps in the bottom] close its mouth over me.
16 Hear and answer me, O Lord, for Your loving-kindness is sweet and comforting; according to Your plenteous tender mercy and steadfast love turn to me.
17 Hide not Your face from Your servant, for I am in distress; O answer me speedily!
18 Draw close to me and redeem me; ransom and set me free because of my enemies [lest they glory in my prolonged distress]!
19 You know my reproach and my shame and my dishonor; my adversaries are all before You [fully known to You].
20 Insults and reproach have broken my heart; I am full of heaviness and I am distressingly sick. I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.
21 They gave me also gall [poisonous and bitter] for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar (a soured wine) to drink.(D)
22 Let their own table [with all its abundance and luxury] become a snare to them; and when they are secure in peace [or at their sacrificial feasts, let it become] a trap to them.
23 Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually [from terror, dismay, and feebleness].
24 Pour out Your indignation upon them, and let the fierceness of Your burning anger catch up with them.
25 Let their habitation and their encampment be a desolation; let no one dwell in their tents.(E)
26 For they pursue and persecute him whom You have smitten, and they gossip about those whom You have wounded, [adding] to their grief and pain.
27 Let one [unforgiven] perverseness and iniquity accumulate upon another for them [in Your book], and let them not come into Your righteousness or be justified and acquitted by You.
28 Let them be blotted out of the book of the living and the book of life and not be enrolled among the [uncompromisingly] righteous (those upright and in right standing with God).(F)
29 But I am poor, sorrowful, and in pain; let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30 I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify Him with thanksgiving,
31 And it will please the Lord better than an ox or a bullock that has horns and hoofs.
32 The humble shall see it and be glad; you who seek God, inquiring for and requiring Him [as your first need], let your hearts revive and live!(G)
33 For the Lord hears the poor and needy and despises not His prisoners (His miserable and wounded ones).
34 Let heaven and earth praise Him, the seas and everything that moves in them.
35 For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; and [His servants] shall remain and dwell there and have it in their possession;
36 The children of His servants shall inherit it, and those who love His name shall dwell in it.
Book Three
Psalm 73
A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Truly God is [only] good to Israel, even to those who are upright and pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well-nigh slipped.
3 For I was envious of the foolish and arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4 For they suffer no violent pangs in their death, but their strength is firm.
5 They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they smitten and plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride is about their necks like a chain; violence covers them like a garment [like a long, luxurious robe].
7 Their eyes stand out with fatness, they have more than heart could wish; and the imaginations of their minds overflow [with follies].
8 They scoff, and wickedly utter oppression; they speak loftily [from on high, maliciously and blasphemously].
9 They set their mouths against and speak down from heaven, and their tongues swagger through the earth [invading even heaven with blasphemy and smearing earth with slanders].(A)
10 Therefore His people return here, and waters of a full cup [offered by the wicked] are [blindly] drained by them.
11 And they say, How does God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?
12 Behold, these are the ungodly, who always prosper and are at ease in the world; they increase in riches.
13 Surely then in vain have I cleansed my heart and washed my hands in innocency.
14 For all the day long have I been smitten and plagued, and chastened every morning.
15 Had I spoken thus [and given expression to my feelings], I would have been untrue and have dealt treacherously against the generation of Your children.
16 But when I considered how to understand this, it was too great an effort for me and too painful
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood [for I considered] their end.
18 [After all] You do set the [wicked] in slippery places; You cast them down to ruin and destruction.
19 How they become a desolation in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors!
20 As a dream [which seems real] until one awakens, so, O Lord, when You arouse Yourself [to take note of the wicked], You will despise their outward show.
21 For my heart was grieved, embittered, and in a state of ferment, and I was pricked in my heart [as with the sharp fang of an adder].
22 So foolish, stupid, and brutish was I, and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You; You do hold my right hand.
24 You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to honor and glory.
25 Whom have I in heaven but You? And I have no delight or desire on earth besides You.
26 My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the Rock and firm Strength of my heart and my Portion forever.
27 For behold, those who are far from You shall perish; You will destroy all who are false to You and like [spiritual] harlots depart from You.
28 But it is good for me to draw near to God; I have put my trust in the Lord God and made Him my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works.
1 It was in the days of Ahasuerus [Xerxes], the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces.
2 In those days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne which was in Shushan or Susa [the capital of the Persian Empire] in the palace or castle,
3 In the third year of his reign he made a feast for all his princes and his courtiers. The chief officers of the Persian and Median army and the nobles and governors of the provinces were there before him
4 While he showed the riches of his glorious kingdom and the splendor and excellence of his majesty for many days, even 180 days.
10 On the seventh day, when the king’s heart was merry with wine, he commanded Mehuman, Biztha, Harbona, Bigtha, Abagtha, Zethar, and Carkas, the seven eunuchs who ministered to King Ahasuerus as attendants,
11 To bring Queen Vashti before the king, with her royal crown, to show the peoples and the princes her beauty, for she was fair to behold.
12 But Queen Vashti refused to come at the king’s command conveyed by the eunuchs. Therefore the king was enraged, and his anger burned within him.
13 Then the king spoke to the wise men who knew the times—for this was the king’s procedure toward all who were familiar with law and judgment—
14 Those next to him being Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven princes of Persia and Media who were in the king’s presence and held first place in the kingdom.
15 [He said] According to the law, what is to be done to Queen Vashti because she has not done the bidding of King Ahasuerus conveyed by the eunuchs?
16 And Memucan answered before the king and the princes, Vashti the queen has not only done wrong to the king but also to all the princes and to all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.
17 For this deed of the queen will become known to all women, making their husbands contemptible in their eyes, since they will say, King Ahasuerus commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she did not come.
18 This very day the ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s behavior will be telling it to all the king’s princes. So contempt and wrath in plenty will arise.
19 If it pleases the king, let a royal command go forth from him and let it be written among the laws of the Persians and Medes, so that it may not be changed, that Vashti is to [be divorced and] come no more before King Ahasuerus; and let the king give her royal position to another who is better than she.
17 Now after [Paul and Silas] had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.
2 And Paul entered, as he usually did, and for three Sabbaths he reasoned and argued with them from the Scriptures,
3 Explaining [them] and [quoting passages] setting forth and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, This Jesus, Whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ (the Messiah).
4 And some of them [accordingly] were induced to believe and associated themselves with Paul and Silas, as did a great number of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.
5 But the unbelieving Jews were aroused to jealousy, and, getting hold of some wicked men (ruffians and rascals) and loungers in the marketplace, they gathered together a mob, set the town in an uproar, and attacked the house of Jason, seeking to bring [Paul and Silas] out to the people.
6 But when they failed to find them, they dragged Jason and some of the brethren before the city authorities, crying, These men who have turned the world upside down have come here also,
7 And Jason has received them to his house and privately protected them! And they are all ignoring and acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, [actually] asserting that there is another king, one Jesus!
8 And both the crowd and the city authorities, on hearing this, were irritated (stirred up and troubled).
9 And when they had taken security [bail] from Jason and the others, they let them go.
10 Now the brethren at once sent Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea; and when they arrived, they entered the synagogue of the Jews.
11 Now these [Jews] were better disposed and more noble than those in Thessalonica, for they were entirely ready and accepted and welcomed the message [[a]concerning the attainment through Christ of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God] with inclination of mind and eagerness, searching and examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so.
12 Many of them therefore became believers, together with not a few prominent Greeks, women as well as men.
13 But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the Word of God [[b]concerning the attainment through Christ of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God] was also preached by Paul at Beroea, they came there too, disturbing and inciting the masses.
14 At once the brethren sent Paul off on his way to the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained behind.
15 Those who escorted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy that they should come to him as soon as possible, they departed.
36 While you have the Light, believe in the Light [have faith in it, hold to it, rely on it], that you may become sons of the Light and be filled with Light. Jesus said these things, and then He went away and hid Himself from them [was lost to their view].
37 Even though He had done so many miracles before them (right before their eyes), yet they still did not trust in Him and failed to believe in Him—
38 So that what Isaiah the prophet said was fulfilled: Lord, who has believed our report and our message? And to whom has the arm (the power) of the Lord been shown (unveiled and revealed)?(A)
39 Therefore they could not believe [they were unable to believe]. For Isaiah has also said,
40 He has blinded their eyes and hardened and benumbed their [callous, degenerated] hearts [He has made their minds dull], to keep them from seeing with their eyes and understanding with their hearts and minds and repenting and turning to Me to heal them.
41 Isaiah said this because he saw His glory and spoke of Him.(B)
42 And yet [in spite of all this] many even of the leading men (the authorities and the nobles) believed and trusted in Him. But because of the Pharisees they did not confess it, for fear that [if they should acknowledge Him] they would be expelled from the synagogue;
43 For they loved the approval and the praise and the glory that come from men [instead of and] more than the glory that comes from God. [They valued their credit with men more than their credit with God.]
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