Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 1
The Two Ways
1 How happy is the one who does not
walk in the advice of the wicked
or stand in the pathway with sinners
or sit in the company of mockers!(A)
2 Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction,
and he meditates on it day and night.(B)
3 He is like a tree planted beside flowing streams[a]
that bears its fruit in its season,(C)
and its leaf does not wither.(D)
Whatever he does prospers.(E)
4 The wicked are not like this;
instead, they are like chaff that the wind blows away.(F)
5 Therefore the wicked will not stand up in the judgment,(G)
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.
Psalm 2
Coronation of the Son
1 Why(J) do the nations rage(K)
and the peoples plot in vain?(L)
2 The kings of the earth take their stand,(M)
and the rulers conspire together
against the Lord and his Anointed One:[b](N)
3 “Let’s tear off their chains
and throw their ropes off of us.”(O)
4 The one enthroned[c] in heaven laughs;
the Lord ridicules them.(P)
5 Then he speaks to them in his anger
and terrifies them in his wrath:(Q)
6 “I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”(R)
7 I will declare the Lord’s decree.
He said to me, “You are my Son;[d]
today I have become your Father.(S)
8 Ask of me,
and I will make the nations your inheritance
and the ends of the earth your possession.(T)
9 You will break them with an iron scepter;
you will shatter them like pottery.”(U)
10 So now, kings, be wise;
receive instruction, you judges of the earth.
11 Serve the Lord with reverential awe
and rejoice with trembling.(V)
12 Pay homage to[e] the Son or he will be angry
and you will perish in your rebellion,[f](W)
for his anger may ignite at any moment.(X)
All who take refuge in him are happy.(Y)
Psalm 3
Confidence in Troubled Times
A psalm of David when he fled from his son Absalom.(Z)
1 Lord, how my foes increase!
There are many who attack me.(AA)
2 Many say about me,
“There is no help for him in God.”(AB)Selah
3 But you, Lord, are a shield around me,(AC)
my glory,(AD) and the one who lifts up my head.(AE)
4 I cry aloud to the Lord,
and he answers me from his holy mountain.(AF)Selah
5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again because the Lord sustains me.(AG)
6 I will not be afraid of thousands of people
who have taken their stand against me on every side.(AH)
7 Rise up, Lord!(AI)
Save me, my God!
You strike all my enemies on the cheek;(AJ)
you break the teeth of the wicked.(AK)
8 Salvation belongs to the Lord;(AL)
may your blessing be on your people.(AM)Selah
Psalm 4
A Night Prayer
For the choir director: with stringed instruments.(AN) A psalm of David.
1 Answer me when I call,
God, who vindicates me.[g](AO)
You freed me from affliction;(AP)
be gracious to me and hear my prayer.
2 How long, exalted ones,[h] will my honor be insulted?(AQ)
How long will you love what is worthless(AR)
and pursue a lie? Selah
3 Know that the Lord has set apart
the faithful for himself;
the Lord will hear when I call to him.
4 Be angry[i] and do not sin;(AS)
reflect in your heart while on your bed and be silent.(AT) Selah
5 Offer sacrifices in righteousness[j](AU)
and trust in the Lord.(AV)
6 Many are asking, “Who can show us anything good?”
Let the light of your face shine on us, Lord.(AW)
Psalm 7
Prayer for Justice
A Shiggaion of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.
1 Lord my God, I seek refuge in you;(A)
save me from all my pursuers and rescue me,(B)
2 or they[a] will tear me like a lion,
ripping me apart with no one to rescue me.(C)
3 Lord my God, if I have done this,
if there is injustice on my hands,(D)
4 if I have done harm to one at peace with me(E)
or have plundered[b] my adversary without cause,(F)
5 may an enemy pursue and overtake me;
may he trample me to the ground(G)
and leave my honor in the dust.(H)Selah
6 Rise up, Lord, in your anger;
lift yourself up against the fury of my adversaries;(I)
awake for me;[c](J)
you have ordained a judgment.(K)
7 Let the assembly of peoples gather around you;(L)
take your seat on high over it.(M)
8 The Lord judges the peoples;(N)
vindicate me, Lord,
according to my righteousness and my integrity.(O)
9 Let the evil of the wicked come to an end,(P)
but establish the righteous.(Q)
The one who examines the thoughts and emotions[d]
is a righteous God.(R)
10 My shield is with God,(S)
who saves the upright in heart.(T)
11 God is a righteous judge
and a God who shows his wrath every day.(U)
12 If anyone does not repent,
he will sharpen his sword;(V)
he has strung his bow and made it ready.(W)
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons;
he tips his arrows with fire.(X)
14 See, the wicked one is pregnant with evil,
conceives trouble, and gives birth to deceit.(Y)
15 He dug a pit and hollowed it out
but fell into the hole he had made.(Z)
16 His trouble comes back on his own head;
his own violence comes down on top of his head.(AA)
17 I will thank the Lord for his righteousness;
I will sing about the name of the Lord Most High.(AB)
Israel’s Moral Decline
7 How sad for me!
For I am like one who—
when the summer fruit has been gathered
after the gleaning of the grape harvest(A)—
finds no grape cluster to eat,
no early fig, which I crave.(B)
2 Faithful people have vanished from the land;(C)
there is no one upright among the people.(D)
All of them wait in ambush to shed blood;(E)
they hunt each other with a net.(F)
3 Both hands are good(G) at accomplishing evil:
the official and the judge demand a bribe;(H)
when the powerful man communicates his evil desire,
they plot it together.
4 The best of them is like a brier;(I)
the most upright is worse than a hedge of thorns.(J)
The day of your watchmen,
the day of your punishment, is coming;(K)
at this time their panic is here.(L)
5 Do not rely on a friend;(M)
don’t trust in a close companion.
Seal your mouth
from the woman who lies in your arms.
6 Surely a son considers his father a fool,(N)
a daughter opposes her mother,
and a daughter-in-law is against her mother-in-law;
a man’s enemies are the men of his own household.
7 But I will look to the Lord;(O)
I will wait for the God of my salvation.(P)
My God will hear me.(Q)
Paul’s Defense before Agrippa
26 Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.”
Then Paul stretched out his hand and began his defense: 2 “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, 3 especially since you are very knowledgeable about all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.
4 “All the Jews know my way of life from my youth, which was spent from the beginning among my own people and in Jerusalem.(A) 5 They have known me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest sect of our religion I lived as a Pharisee.(B) 6 And now I stand on trial because of the hope(C) in what God promised(D) to our ancestors, 7 the promise our twelve tribes hope to reach as they earnestly serve him night and day. King Agrippa, I am being accused by the Jews because of this hope.(E) 8 Why do any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead? 9 In fact, I myself was convinced that it was necessary to do many things in opposition to the name of Jesus of Nazareth.(F) 10 I actually did this in Jerusalem, and I locked up many of the saints in prison, since I had received authority for that from the chief priests. When they were put to death, I was in agreement against them.(G) 11 In all the synagogues I often punished them and tried to make them blaspheme.(H) Since I was terribly enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.
Paul’s Account of His Conversion and Commission
12 “I was traveling to Damascus under(I) these circumstances with authority and a commission from the chief priests. 13 King Agrippa, while on the road at midday, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun, shining around me and those traveling with me. 14 We all fell to the ground, and I heard a voice speaking to me in Aramaic,[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’(J)
15 “I asked, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“And the Lord replied, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. 16 But get up and stand on your feet. For I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and a witness of what you have seen and will see of me.(K) 17 I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them(L) 18 to open their eyes(M) so that they may turn[b] from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’(N)
19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. 20 Instead, I preached to those in Damascus first, and to those in Jerusalem and in all the region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, and do works worthy of repentance.(O) 21 For this reason the Jews seized me in the temple and were trying to kill me. 22 To this very day, I have had help from God, and I stand and testify to both small and great, saying nothing other than what the prophets and Moses said would take place(P)— 23 that the Messiah would suffer, and that, as the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light to our people and to the Gentiles.”(Q)
Demons Driven Out by Jesus
26 Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes,[a](A) which is opposite Galilee. 27 When he got out on land, a demon-possessed man from the town met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes and did not stay in a house but in the tombs. 28 When he saw Jesus, he cried out,(B) fell down before him, and said in a loud voice, “What do you have to do with me,(C) Jesus, Son of the Most High God?(D) I beg you, don’t torment me!” 29 For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. Many times it had seized him, and though he was guarded, bound by chains and shackles, he would snap the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted places.
30 “What is your name?” Jesus asked him.
“Legion,”(E) he said, because many demons had entered him. 31 And they begged him not to banish them to the abyss.(F)
32 A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged him to permit them to enter the pigs, and he gave them permission. 33 The demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.
34 When the men who tended them saw what had happened, they ran off and reported it in the town and in the countryside. 35 Then people went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man the demons had departed from, sitting at Jesus’s feet,(G) dressed and in his right mind. And they were afraid. 36 Meanwhile, the eyewitnesses reported to them how the demon-possessed man was delivered.(H) 37 Then all the people of the Gerasene region[b] asked him to leave them,(I) because they were gripped by great fear. So getting into the boat, he returned.
38 The man from whom the demons had departed begged him earnestly to be with him. But he sent him away and said, 39 “Go back to your home, and tell all that God has done for you.” And off he went, proclaiming throughout the town how much Jesus had done for him.
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