Book of Common Prayer
The Lord a Fortress in Adversity
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
31 In (A)You, O Lord, I [a]put my trust;
Let me never be ashamed;
Deliver me in Your righteousness.
2 (B)Bow down Your ear to me,
Deliver me speedily;
Be my rock of [b]refuge,
A [c]fortress of defense to save me.
3 (C)For You are my rock and my fortress;
Therefore, (D)for Your name’s sake,
Lead me and guide me.
4 Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me,
For You are my strength.
5 (E)Into Your hand I commit my spirit;
You have redeemed me, O Lord God of (F)truth.
6 I have hated those (G)who regard useless idols;
But I trust in the Lord.
7 I will be glad and rejoice in Your mercy,
For You have considered my trouble;
You have (H)known my soul in [d]adversities,
8 And have not (I)shut[e] me up into the hand of the enemy;
(J)You have set my feet in a wide place.
9 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am in trouble;
(K)My eye wastes away with grief,
Yes, my soul and my [f]body!
10 For my life is spent with grief,
And my years with sighing;
My strength fails because of my iniquity,
And my bones waste away.
11 (L)I am a [g]reproach among all my enemies,
But (M)especially among my neighbors,
And am repulsive to my acquaintances;
(N)Those who see me outside flee from me.
12 (O)I am forgotten like a dead man, out of mind;
I am like a [h]broken vessel.
13 (P)For I hear the slander of many;
(Q)Fear is on every side;
While they (R)take counsel together against me,
They scheme to take away my life.
14 But as for me, I trust in You, O Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My times are in Your (S)hand;
Deliver me from the hand of my enemies,
And from those who persecute me.
16 (T)Make Your face shine upon Your servant;
Save me for Your mercies’ sake.
17 (U)Do not let me be ashamed, O Lord, for I have called upon You;
Let the wicked be ashamed;
(V)Let them be silent in the grave.
18 (W)Let the lying lips be put to silence,
Which (X)speak insolent things proudly and contemptuously against the righteous.
19 (Y)Oh, how great is Your goodness,
Which You have laid up for those who fear You,
Which You have prepared for those who trust in You
In the presence of the sons of men!
20 (Z)You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence
From the plots of man;
(AA)You shall keep them secretly in a [i]pavilion
From the strife of tongues.
21 Blessed be the Lord,
For (AB)He has shown me His marvelous kindness in a [j]strong city!
22 For I said in my haste,
“I am cut off from before Your eyes”;
Nevertheless You heard the voice of my supplications
When I cried out to You.
23 Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints!
For the Lord preserves the faithful,
And fully repays the proud person.
24 (AC)Be of good courage,
And He shall strengthen your heart,
All you who hope in the Lord.
The Lord the Avenger of His People
A Psalm of David.
35 Plead[a] my cause, O Lord, with those who strive with me;
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take hold of shield and [b]buckler,
And stand up for my help.
3 Also draw out the spear,
And stop those who pursue me.
Say to my soul,
“I am your salvation.”
4 (A)Let those be put to shame and brought to dishonor
Who seek after my life;
Let those be (B)turned back and brought to confusion
Who plot my hurt.
5 (C)Let them be like chaff before the wind,
And let the [c]angel of the Lord chase them.
6 Let their way be (D)dark and slippery,
And let the angel of the Lord pursue them.
7 For without cause they have (E)hidden their net for me in a pit,
Which they have dug without cause for my life.
8 [d]Let (F)destruction come upon him unexpectedly,
And let his net that he has hidden catch himself;
Into that very destruction let him fall.
9 And my soul shall be joyful in the Lord;
It shall rejoice in His salvation.
10 (G)All my bones shall say,
“Lord, (H)who is like You,
Delivering the poor from him who is too strong for him,
Yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him?”
11 Fierce witnesses rise up;
They ask me things that I do not know.
12 (I)They reward me evil for good,
To the sorrow of my soul.
13 But as for me, (J)when they were sick,
My clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting;
And my prayer would return to my own [e]heart.
14 I paced about as though he were my friend or brother;
I bowed down [f]heavily, as one who mourns for his mother.
15 But in my [g]adversity they rejoiced
And gathered together;
Attackers gathered against me,
And I did not know it;
They tore at me and did not cease;
16 With ungodly mockers at feasts
They gnashed at me with their teeth.
17 Lord, how long will You (K)look on?
Rescue me from their destructions,
My precious life from the lions.
18 I will give You thanks in the great assembly;
I will praise You among [h]many people.
19 (L)Let them not rejoice over me who are wrongfully my enemies;
Nor let them wink with the eye who hate me without a cause.
20 For they do not speak peace,
But they devise deceitful matters
Against the quiet ones in the land.
21 They also opened their mouth wide against me,
And said, “Aha, aha!
Our eyes have seen it.”
22 This You have seen, O Lord;
Do not keep silence.
O Lord, do not be far from me.
23 Stir up Yourself, and awake to my vindication,
To my cause, my God and my Lord.
24 Vindicate me, O Lord my God, according to Your righteousness;
And let them not rejoice over me.
25 Let them not say in their hearts, “Ah, so we would have it!”
Let them not say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let them be ashamed and brought to mutual confusion
Who rejoice at my hurt;
Let them be (M)clothed with shame and dishonor
Who exalt themselves against me.
27 (N)Let them shout for joy and be glad,
Who favor my righteous cause;
And let them say continually,
“Let the Lord be magnified,
Who has pleasure in the prosperity of His servant.”
28 And my tongue shall speak of Your righteousness
And of Your praise all the day long.
The Immanuel Prophecy
10 Moreover the Lord spoke again to Ahaz, saying, 11 (A)“Ask a sign for yourself from the Lord your God; [a]ask it either in the depth or in the height above.”
12 But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, nor will I test the Lord!”
13 Then he said, “Hear now, O house of David! Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will you weary my God also? 14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: (B)Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear (C)a Son, and shall call His name (D)Immanuel.[b] 15 Curds and honey He shall eat, that He may know to refuse the evil and choose the good. 16 (E)For before the Child shall know to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land that you dread will be forsaken by (F)both her kings. 17 (G)The Lord will bring the king of Assyria upon you and your people and your father’s house—days that have not come since the day that (H)Ephraim departed from Judah.”
18 And it shall come to pass in that day
That the Lord (I)will whistle for the fly
That is in the farthest part of the rivers of Egypt,
And for the bee that is in the land of Assyria.
19 They will come, and all of them will rest
In the desolate valleys and in (J)the clefts of the rocks,
And on all thorns and in all pastures.
20 In the same day the Lord will shave with a (K)hired (L)razor,
With those from beyond [c]the River, with the king of Assyria,
The head and the hair of the legs,
And will also remove the beard.
21 It shall be in that day
That a man will keep alive a young cow and two sheep;
22 So it shall be, from the abundance of milk they give,
That he will eat curds;
For curds and honey everyone will eat who is left in the land.
23 It shall happen in that day,
That wherever there could be a thousand vines
Worth a thousand shekels of silver,
(M)It will be for briers and thorns.
24 With arrows and bows men will come there,
Because all the land will become briers and thorns.
25 And to any hill which could be dug with the hoe,
You will not go there for fear of briers and thorns;
But it will become a range for oxen
And a place for sheep to roam.
Stand Fast
13 But we are [a]bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God (A)from the beginning (B)chose you for salvation (C)through [b]sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for (D)the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, (E)stand fast and hold (F)the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our [c]epistle.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, (G)who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and (H)good hope by grace, 17 comfort your hearts (I)and [d]establish you in every good word and work.
Pray for Us
3 Finally, brethren, (J)pray for us, that the word of the Lord may run swiftly and be glorified, just as it is with you, 2 and (K)that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; (L)for not all have faith.
3 But (M)the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and (N)guard you from the evil one. 4 And (O)we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, both that you do and will do the things we command you.
5 Now may (P)the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ.
Jesus Institutes the Lord’s Supper
14 (A)When the hour had come, He sat down, and the [a]twelve apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it (B)until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.”
17 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, “Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18 for (C)I say to you, [b]I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”
19 (D)And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My (E)body which is given for you; (F)do this in remembrance of Me.”
20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, (G)“This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. 21 (H)But behold, the hand of My betrayer is with Me on the table. 22 (I)And truly the Son of Man goes (J)as it has been determined, but woe to that man by whom He is betrayed!”
23 (K)Then they began to question among themselves, which of them it was who would do this thing.
The Disciples Argue About Greatness
24 (L)Now there was also a dispute among them, as to which of them should be considered the greatest. 25 (M)And He said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them, and those who exercise authority over them are called ‘benefactors.’ 26 (N)But not so among you; on the contrary, (O)he who is greatest among you, let him be as the younger, and he who governs as he who serves. 27 (P)For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet (Q)I am among you as the One who serves.
28 “But you are those who have continued with Me in (R)My trials. 29 And (S)I bestow upon you a kingdom, just as My Father bestowed one upon Me, 30 that (T)you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, (U)and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.