Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 41[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
41 How blessed[b] is the one who treats the poor properly.[c]
When trouble comes,[d] may[e] the Lord deliver him.[f]
2 May the Lord protect him and save his life.[g]
May he be blessed[h] in the land.
Do not turn him over[i] to his enemies.[j]
3 The Lord supports[k] him on his sickbed;
you have healed him from his illness.[l]
4 As for me, I said:[m]
“O Lord, have mercy on me!
Heal me, for I have sinned against you.
5 My enemies ask this cruel question about me,[n]
‘When will he finally die and be forgotten?’[o]
6 When someone comes to visit,[p] he pretends to be friendly;[q]
he thinks of ways to defame me,[r]
and when he leaves he slanders me.[s]
7 All who hate me whisper insults about me to one another;[t]
they plan ways to harm me.
8 They say,[u]
‘An awful disease[v] overwhelms him,[w]
and now that he is bedridden he will never recover.’[x]
9 Even my close friend[y] whom I trusted,
he who shared meals with me, has turned against me.[z]
10 As for you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up,
so I can pay them back!”[aa]
11 By this[ab] I know that you are pleased with me,
for my enemy does[ac] not triumph[ad] over me.
12 As for me, you uphold[ae] me because of my integrity;[af]
you allow[ag] me permanent access to your presence.[ah]
13 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise[ai]
in the future and forevermore.[aj]
We agree! We agree![ak]
Psalm 52[a]
For the music director, a well-written song[b] by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: “David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech.”[c]
52 Why do you boast about your evil plans,[d] O powerful man?
God’s loyal love protects me all day long.[e]
2 Your tongue carries out your destructive plans;[f]
it is as effective as a sharp razor, O deceiver.[g]
3 You love evil more than good,
lies more than speaking the truth.[h] (Selah)
4 You love to use all the words that destroy,[i]
and the tongue that deceives.
5 Yet[j] God will make you a permanent heap of ruins.[k]
He will scoop you up[l] and remove you from your home;[m]
he will uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)
6 When the godly see this, they will be filled with awe,
and will mock the evildoer, saying:[n]
7 “Look, here is the man who would not make[o] God his protector.
He trusted in his great wealth
and was confident about his plans to destroy others.”[p]
8 But I[q] am like a flourishing[r] olive tree in the house of God;
I continually[s] trust in God’s loyal love.
9 I will continually[t] thank you when[u] you execute judgment;[v]
I will rely on[w] you,[x] for your loyal followers know you are good.[y]
Psalm 44[a]
For the music director, by the Korahites; a well-written song.[b]
44 O God, we have clearly heard;[c]
our ancestors[d] have told us
what you did[e] in their days,
in ancient times.[f]
2 You, by your power,[g] defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land;[h]
you crushed[i] the people living there[j] and enabled our ancestors to occupy it.[k]
3 For they did not conquer[l] the land by their swords,
and they did not prevail by their strength,[m]
but rather by your power,[n] strength,[o] and good favor,[p]
for you were partial to[q] them.
4 You are my[r] king, O God.
Decree[s] Jacob’s[t] deliverance.
5 By your power[u] we will drive back[v] our enemies;
by your strength[w] we will trample down[x] our foes.[y]
6 For I do not trust in my bow,
and I do not prevail by my sword.
7 For you deliver[z] us from our enemies;
you humiliate[aa] those who hate us.
8 In God we boast all day long,
and we will continually give thanks to your name. (Selah)
9 But[ab] you rejected and embarrassed us.
You did not go into battle with our armies.[ac]
10 You made us retreat[ad] from the enemy.
Those who hate us take whatever they want from us.[ae]
11 You handed us[af] over like sheep to be eaten;
you scattered us among the nations.
12 You sold[ag] your people for a pittance;[ah]
you did not ask a high price for them.[ai]
13 You made us[aj] an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us.[ak]
14 You made us[al] an object of ridicule[am] among the nations;
foreigners treat us with contempt.[an]
15 All day long I feel humiliated[ao]
and am overwhelmed with shame,[ap]
16 before the vindictive enemy
who ridicules and insults me.[aq]
17 All this has happened to us, even though we have not rejected you[ar]
or violated your covenant with us.[as]
18 We have not been unfaithful,[at]
nor have we disobeyed your commands.[au]
19 Yet you have battered us, leaving us a heap of ruins overrun by wild dogs;[av]
you have covered us with darkness.[aw]
20 If we had rejected our God,[ax]
and spread out our hands in prayer to another god,[ay]
21 would not God discover it,
for he knows[az] a person’s secret thoughts?[ba]
22 Yet because of you[bb] we are killed all day long;
we are treated like[bc] sheep at the slaughtering block.[bd]
23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
Wake up![be] Do not reject us forever.
24 Why do you look the other way,[bf]
and ignore[bg] the way we are oppressed and mistreated?[bh]
25 For we lie in the dirt,
with our bellies pressed to the ground.[bi]
26 Rise up and help us.
Rescue us[bj] because of your loyal love.
16 Tie up the scroll as legal evidence,[a]
seal the official record of God’s instructions and give it to my followers.[b]
17 I will wait patiently for the Lord,
who has rejected the family of Jacob;[c]
I will wait for him.
18 Look, I and the sons whom the Lord has given me[d] are reminders and object lessons[e] in Israel, sent from the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, who lives on Mount Zion.
Darkness Turns to Light as an Ideal King Arrives
19 [f] They will say to you, “Seek oracles at the pits used to conjure up underworld spirits, from the magicians who chirp and mutter incantations.[g] Should people not seek oracles from their gods, by asking the dead about the destiny of the living?”[h] 20 Then you must recall the Lord’s instructions and the prophetic testimony of what would happen.[i] Certainly they say such things because their minds are spiritually darkened.[j] 21 They will pass through the land[k] destitute and starving. Their hunger will make them angry,[l] and they will curse their king and their God[m] as they look upward. 22 When one looks out over the land, he sees[n] distress and darkness, gloom[o] and anxiety, darkness and people forced from the land.[p] 9 1 (8:23)[q] The gloom will be dispelled for those who were anxious.[r]
Salutation
1 From Simeon[a] Peter,[b] a slave[c] and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God[d] and Savior,[e] Jesus Christ, have been granted[f] a faith just as precious[g] as ours. 2 May grace and peace be lavished on you[h] as you grow[i] in the rich knowledge[j] of God and of Jesus our Lord![k]
Believers’ Salvation and the Work of God
3 I can pray this because his divine power[l] has bestowed on us everything necessary[m] for life and godliness through the rich knowledge[n] of the one who called[o] us by[p] his own glory and excellence. 4 Through these things[q] he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised[r] you may become partakers of the divine nature,[s] after escaping[t] the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.[u] 5 For this very reason,[v] make every effort[w] to add to your faith excellence,[x] to excellence, knowledge; 6 to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance;[y] to perseverance, godliness; 7 to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish[z] love.[aa] 8 For if[ab] these things are really yours[ac] and are continually increasing,[ad] they will keep you from becoming[ae] ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of[af] knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately.[ag] 9 But[ah] concerning the one who lacks such things[ai]—he is blind. That is to say, he is[aj] nearsighted, since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins. 10 Therefore, brothers and sisters,[ak] make every effort to be sure of your calling and election.[al] For by doing this[am] you will never[an] stumble into sin.[ao] 11 For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you.
On the Mount of Olives
39 Then[a] Jesus[b] went out and made his way,[c] as he customarily did, to the Mount of Olives,[d] and the disciples followed him. 40 When he came to the place,[e] he said to them, “Pray that you will not fall into temptation.”[f] 41 He went away from them about a stone’s throw, knelt down, and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take[g] this cup[h] away from me. Yet not my will but yours[i] be done.” 43 [Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him. 44 And in his anguish[j] he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.][k] 45 When[l] he got up from prayer, he came to the disciples and found them sleeping, exhausted[m] from grief. 46 So[n] he said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you will not fall into temptation!”[o]
Betrayal and Arrest
47 While he was still speaking, suddenly a crowd appeared,[p] and the man named Judas, one of the twelve, was leading them. He walked up[q] to Jesus to kiss him.[r] 48 But Jesus said to him, “Judas, would you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?”[s] 49 When[t] those who were around him saw what was about to happen, they said, “Lord, should[u] we use our swords?”[v] 50 Then[w] one of them[x] struck the high priest’s slave,[y] cutting off his right ear. 51 But Jesus said,[z] “Enough of this!” And he touched the man’s[aa] ear and healed[ab] him. 52 Then[ac] Jesus said to the chief priests, the officers of the temple guard,[ad] and the elders who had come out to get him, “Have you come out with swords and clubs like you would against an outlaw?[ae] 53 Day after day when I was with you in the temple courts,[af] you did not arrest me.[ag] But this is your hour,[ah] and that of the power[ai] of darkness!”
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