Book of Common Prayer
Yahweh Is My Rock and My Fortress
For the choir director. Of the servant of Yahweh, of David, [a]who spoke to Yahweh the words of this song in the day that Yahweh delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.
18 He said, “I love You, O Yahweh, (A)my strength.”
2 Yahweh is (B)my [b]rock and (C)my fortress and my (D)deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My (E)shield and the (F)horn of my salvation, my (G)stronghold.
3 I call upon Yahweh, who is (H)worthy to be praised,
And I am (I)saved from my enemies.
4 The (J)cords of death encompassed me,
And the (K)torrents of vileness [c]terrified me.
5 The (L)cords of Sheol surrounded me;
The snares of death confronted me.
6 In my (M)distress I called upon Yahweh,
And cried to my God for help;
He heard my voice (N)out of His temple,
And my (O)cry for help before Him came into His ears.
7 Then the (P)earth shook and quaked;
And the (Q)foundations of the mountains were trembling
And were shaken, because He was angry.
8 Smoke went up [d]out of His nostrils,
And (R)fire from His mouth devoured;
Coals were kindled by it.
9 He (S)bowed the heavens and came down
With thick (T)darkness under His feet.
10 He rode upon a (U)cherub and flew;
And He sped upon the (V)wings of the wind.
11 He made (W)darkness His hiding place, (X)His [e]canopy around Him,
Darkness of waters, thick clouds of the skies.
12 From the (Y)brightness before Him passed His thick clouds,
Hailstones and (Z)coals of fire.
13 Yahweh also (AA)thundered in the heavens,
And the Most High gave forth His voice,
Hailstones and coals of fire.
14 He (AB)sent out His arrows, and scattered them,
And lightning flashes in abundance, and [f]threw them into confusion.
15 Then the (AC)channels of water appeared,
And the foundations of the world were [g]laid bare
At Your (AD)rebuke, O Yahweh,
At the blast of the (AE)breath of Your nostrils.
16 He (AF)sent from on high, He took me;
He drew me out of (AG)many waters.
17 He (AH)delivered me from my strong enemy,
And from those who hated me, for they were (AI)too mighty for me.
18 They confronted me in (AJ)the day of my disaster,
But (AK)Yahweh was my support.
19 He brought me forth also into a (AL)broad place;
He rescued me, because (AM)He delighted in me.
20 Yahweh has (AN)rewarded me according to my righteousness;
According to the (AO)cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
21 For I have (AP)kept the ways of Yahweh,
And have (AQ)not wickedly departed from my God.
22 For all (AR)His judgments were before me,
And I did not put away His (AS)statutes from me.
23 I was also [h](AT)blameless with Him,
And I (AU)kept myself from my iniquity.
24 Therefore Yahweh has (AV)recompensed me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands before His eyes.
25 With (AW)the [i]kind You show Yourself kind;
With the blameless (AX)You show Yourself blameless;
26 With the pure You show Yourself (AY)pure,
And with the crooked (AZ)You show Yourself [j]astute.
27 For You (BA)save an afflicted people,
But (BB)eyes which are lifted up, You bring down.
28 For You (BC)light my lamp;
Yahweh my God (BD)illumines my darkness.
29 For by You I can [k](BE)run upon a troop;
And by my God I can (BF)leap over a wall.
30 As for God, His way is [l](BG)blameless;
The (BH)word of Yahweh is [m]tried;
He is a (BI)shield to all who take refuge in Him.
31 For (BJ)who is God, but Yahweh?
And who is a (BK)rock, except our God,
32 The God who (BL)girds me with strength
And [n]makes my way [o](BM)blameless?
33 He (BN)makes my feet like hinds’ feet,
And (BO)sets me upon my high places.
34 He (BP)trains my hands for battle,
So that my arms can (BQ)bend a bow of bronze.
35 You have also given me (BR)the shield of Your salvation,
And Your (BS)right hand upholds me;
And (BT)Your [p]gentleness makes me great.
36 You (BU)enlarge my steps under me,
And my (BV)ankles have not given way.
37 I (BW)pursued my enemies and overtook them,
And I did not turn back (BX)until they were consumed.
38 I crushed them, so that they were (BY)not able to rise;
They fell (BZ)under my feet.
39 For You have (CA)girded me with strength for battle;
You have [q](CB)subdued under me those who rose up against me.
40 [r]You have also made my enemies (CC)turn their backs to me,
And I [s](CD)destroyed those who hated me.
41 They cried for help, but there was (CE)none to save,
Even to Yahweh, but (CF)He did not answer them.
42 Then I beat them fine as the (CG)dust before the wind;
I emptied them out as the mire of the streets.
43 You have delivered me from the (CH)contentions of the people;
You have placed me as (CI)head of the nations;
A (CJ)people whom I have not known serve me.
44 As soon as they hear, they obey me;
Foreigners [t](CK)cower before me.
45 Foreigners (CL)fade away,
And (CM)come trembling out of their [u]fortresses.
46 Yahweh (CN)lives, and blessed be (CO)my rock;
And let (CP)the God of my salvation be lifted high,
47 The God who (CQ)executes vengeance for me,
And (CR)subdues peoples under me.
48 Who (CS)delivers me from my enemies;
Surely You (CT)lift me above those who rise up against me;
You rescue me from the (CU)violent man.
49 Therefore I will (CV)give thanks to You among the nations, O Yahweh,
And I will (CW)sing praises to Your name.
50 He gives great [v](CX)salvation to His king,
And shows lovingkindness to (CY)His anointed,
To David and (CZ)his seed forever.
Ninevites Turn from Their Evil Ways
3 Now the word of Yahweh came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2 “Arise, go to (A)Nineveh, the great city, and (B)call out to it this very call which I am going to speak to you.” 3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according to the word of Yahweh. Now Nineveh was [a]an (C)exceedingly great city, a three days’ walk. 4 Then Jonah began to go into the city, one day’s walk; and he (D)called out and said, “Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown.”
5 And the [b]people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a (E)fast and put on sackcloth, from the greatest to the least of them. 6 Then the word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, laid aside his mantle from him, (F)covered himself with sackcloth, and sat on the [c]ashes. 7 And he (G)cried out and said,
“In Nineveh by the [d]decree of the king and his nobles[e]: Do not let man, [f]animal, herd, or flock taste a thing. Do not let them eat, and do not let them drink water.
8 But both man and [g]animal must be covered with sackcloth; and let [h]men (H)call on God with their strength that each may (I)turn from his evil way and from the violence which is in [i]his hands.
9 (J)Who knows, God may turn and relent and turn away from His burning anger so that we will not perish.”
10 Then God saw their works, that they (K)turned from their evil way, so (L)God [j]relented concerning the evil which He had spoken He would [k]bring upon them. And He did not [l]bring it upon them.
Jonah’s Anger
4 But this was a great evil to Jonah, and he became (M)angry. 2 And he (N)prayed to Yahweh and said, “Ah! O Yahweh, was not this my word to myself while I was still in my own land? Therefore I went ahead to (O)flee to Tarshish, for I knew that You are a (P)gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, and one who relents concerning evil. 3 So now, O Yahweh, please (Q)take my [m]life from me, for death is (R)better to me than life.” 4 And Yahweh said, “Do you have good reason to be angry?”
5 Then Jonah went out from the city and sat east of the city. And there he made a booth for himself and (S)sat under it in the shade until he could see what would happen in the city. 6 So Yahweh God appointed a [n]plant, and it came up over Jonah to be a shade over his head to deliver him from his miserable evil. And Jonah was [o]extremely glad about the plant. 7 But God appointed a worm at the [p]breaking of dawn the next day, and it struck the plant, and [q]it (T)dried up. 8 Then it happened that as the sun rose up, God appointed a scorching (U)east wind, and the (V)sun struck down on Jonah’s head so that he became faint and asked with all his soul to die and said, “(W)Death is better to me than life.”
9 Then God said to Jonah, “Do you have good reason to be angry about the plant?” And he said, “I have good reason to be angry, even to death.” 10 Then Yahweh said, “You had pity on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which [r]came to be overnight and perished [s]overnight. 11 So should I not (X)have pity on Nineveh, the great city, in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not (Y)know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many [t](Z)animals?”
27 But when the fourteenth night came, as we were being carried about in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors began to suspect that some land was approaching them. 28 And when they took soundings, they found it to be [a]twenty fathoms; and a little farther on they took another sounding and found it to be [b]fifteen fathoms. 29 And fearing that we might (A)run aground somewhere on the [c]rocks, they cast four anchors from the stern and were praying for daybreak. 30 But as the sailors were trying to escape from the ship and had let down (B)the ship’s boat into the sea, on the pretense of intending to lay out anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you yourselves cannot [d]be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the (C)ropes of the ship’s boat and let it fall away.
33 Until the day was about to dawn, Paul was encouraging them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been constantly watching and going without eating, having taken nothing. 34 Therefore I encourage you to take some food, for this is for your [e]salvation, for (D)not a hair from the head of any of you will perish.” 35 And having said these things, he took bread and (E)gave thanks to God in the presence of all. And he broke it and began to eat. 36 And all (F)of them became cheerful and they themselves also took food. 37 And all of us in the ship were 276 [f](G)persons. 38 And when they had eaten enough, they began to lighten the ship by (H)throwing out the wheat into the sea.
The Shipwreck
39 Now when day came, (I)they [g]could not recognize the land; but they were noticing a bay with a beach, and they were resolving to drive the ship onto it if they could. 40 And casting off (J)the anchors, they left them in the sea while at the same time they were loosening the ropes of the rudders. And hoisting the foresail to the wind, they were heading for the beach. 41 But striking a [h]reef where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground; and the bow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern began to be broken up by the force of the waves. 42 Now the soldiers’ plan was to (K)kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim away and escape; 43 but the centurion, (L)wanting to bring Paul safely through, kept them from their intention, and ordered that those who could swim should [i]jump overboard first and get to land, 44 and the rest should follow, some on planks, and others on various things from the ship. And so it happened that (M)they all were brought safely to land.
Peter Confesses Jesus Is the Christ
18 (A)And it happened that while He was (B)praying alone, the disciples were with Him, and He questioned them, saying, “Who do the crowds say that I am?” 19 And they answered and said, “John the Baptist, and others say Elijah, but others, that one of the prophets of old has risen again.” 20 And He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered and said, “(C)The [a]Christ of God.” 21 But He [b](D)warned them and directed them not to tell this to anyone, 22 (E)saying, “(F)The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed and be raised up on the third day.”
Take Up Your Cross
23 And He was saying to them all, “(G)If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. 24 For (H)whoever wishes to save his [c]life will lose it, but whoever loses his [d]life for My sake, he is the one who will save it. 25 For what is a man profited if he gains the whole world, and (I)loses or forfeits himself? 26 (J)For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. 27 But I say to you truthfully, (K)there are some of those standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
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