Book of Common Prayer
The One Who Rescues Me
For the choir director. Of David. A Psalm.
40 I (A)hoped [a]earnestly for Yahweh;
And He inclined to me and (B)heard my cry for help.
2 He brought me up out of the (C)pit of destruction, out of the [b]miry clay,
And (D)He set my feet upon a high rock, (E)He established my steps.
3 He put a (F)new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will (G)see and fear
And will trust in Yahweh.
4 How (H)blessed is the man who has made Yahweh his trust,
And (I)has not [c]turned to the proud, nor to those who (J)stray into falsehood.
5 Many, O Yahweh my God, are (K)the wondrous deeds You have done,
And Your (L)thoughts toward us;
There is none to compare with You.
I would declare and speak of them,
But they (M)are too numerous to recount.
6 [d](N)Sacrifice and meal offering [e]You have not desired;
My ears You have [f]opened;
Burnt offering and sin offering You have not required.
7 Then I said, “Behold, I come;
In the scroll of the book it is [g]written of me.
8 (O)I desire to do Your will, O my God;
(P)Your law is within my inner being.”
9 I (Q)proclaim good news of righteousness in the great assembly;
Behold, I do (R)not restrain my lips,
O Yahweh, (S)You know.
10 I do (T)not conceal Your righteousness within my heart;
I (U)speak of Your faithfulness and Your salvation;
I do not hide Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great assembly.
11 You, O Yahweh, will not withhold Your compassion from me;
[h]Your (V)lovingkindness and Your truth will continually guard me.
12 For evils beyond number have (W)surrounded me;
My (X)iniquities have overtaken me, so that I am not able to see;
They are (Y)more numerous than the hairs of my head,
And my (Z)heart has [i]failed me.
13 (AA)Be pleased, O Yahweh, to deliver me;
Make (AB)haste, O Yahweh, to help me.
14 Let those be (AC)ashamed and humiliated together
Who (AD)seek my [j]life to sweep it away;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight in [k]evil against me.
15 Let those (AE)be [l]appalled because of their shame
Who (AF)say to me, “Aha, aha!”
16 (AG)Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
Let those who love Your salvation (AH)say continually,
“Yahweh be magnified!”
17 As for me, (AI)I am afflicted and needy,
[m](AJ)May the Lord think of me.
You are my help and the One who rescues me;
Do not delay, O my God.
God Is My Helper
For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David. [b]When the Ziphites came and said to Saul, “Is not David hiding himself among us?”
54 O God, save me by (A)Your name,
And render justice to me by (B)Your might.
2 (C)O God, hear my prayer;
(D)Give ear to the words of my mouth.
3 For strangers have (E)risen against me
And (F)ruthless men have (G)sought my [c]life;
They have (H)not set God before them. [d]Selah.
Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God
For the choir director. A Psalm of David. When [a]Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.
51 (A)Be gracious to me, O God, according to Your lovingkindness;
According to the abundance of (B)Your compassion (C)blot out my transgressions.
2 (D)Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity
And (E)cleanse me from my sin.
3 For [b]I (F)know my transgressions,
And my sin is ever before me.
4 (G)Against You, You only, I have sinned
And done what is (H)evil in Your sight,
So that (I)You [c]are justified [d]when You speak
And pure when You judge.
5 Behold, I was (J)brought forth in iniquity,
And in sin my mother conceived me.
6 Behold, You delight in (K)truth in the [e]innermost being,
And in the hidden part You will (L)make me know wisdom.
7 [f]Purify me (M)with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
[g]Wash me, and I shall be (N)whiter than snow.
8 [h]Make me to hear (O)joy and gladness,
Let the (P)bones which You have crushed rejoice.
9 (Q)Hide Your face from my sins
And blot out all my iniquities.
10 (R)Create [i]in me a (S)clean heart, O God,
And renew [j]a (T)steadfast spirit within me.
11 (U)Do not cast me away from Your presence
And do not take Your (V)Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the (W)joy of Your salvation
And sustain me with a (X)willing spirit.
13 Then I will (Y)teach transgressors Your ways,
And sinners will [k]be (Z)converted to You.
14 Deliver me from (AA)bloodguiltiness, O God, (AB)the God of my salvation;
Then my (AC)tongue will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.
15 O Lord, [l](AD)open my lips,
That my mouth may (AE)declare Your praise.
16 For You (AF)do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it;
You are not pleased with burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a (AG)broken spirit;
A broken and a [m]contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
Yahweh’s Anger with Assyria’s Arrogance
5 Woe to (A)Assyria, the (B)rod of My anger
And the staff in whose hands is (C)My indignation,
6 I send it against a (D)godless nation
And command it against the (E)people of My fury
To capture spoil and (F)to seize plunder,
And to [a]trample them down like (G)mud in the streets.
7 But it (H)does not intend to act in this way,
And it does not think in its heart in this way,
Rather, what is in its heart is to destroy
And to cut off [b]many nations.
8 For it says, “Are not my princes [c]all kings?
9 Is not (I)Calno like (J)Carchemish,
Or (K)Hamath like Arpad,
Or (L)Samaria like (M)Damascus?
10 As my hand has reached to the (N)kingdoms of the idols,
Whose graven images were greater than those of Jerusalem and Samaria,
11 Shall I not [d]do to Jerusalem and her images
Just as I have done to Samaria and (O)her idols?”
12 So it will be that when the Lord has completed all His (P)work on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will [e]punish the fruit of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and (Q)the pomp of his eyes which are raised high.” 13 For (R)he has said,
“By the power of my hand and by my wisdom I did this,
For I have understanding;
And I (S)removed the boundaries of the peoples
And plundered their treasures,
And like a mighty man I brought down [f]their inhabitants,
14 And my hand reached for the wealth of the peoples like a (T)nest,
And as one gathers abandoned eggs, I gathered all the earth;
And there was not one that flapped its wing or opened its beak or chirped.”
15 Is the (U)axe to (V)boast itself over the one who chops with it?
Is the saw to magnify itself over the one who wields it?
That would be like (W)a rod wielding those who lift it,
Or like (X)a staff lifting him who is not wood.
16 Therefore the Lord, Yahweh of hosts, will send a (Y)wasting disease among his (Z)stout warriors;
And under his (AA)glory a fire will be kindled like a burning flame.
17 And the (AB)light of Israel will become a fire and his (AC)Holy One a flame,
And it will (AD)burn and devour his thorns and his briars in a single day.
18 And He will (AE)bring to an end the glory of his forest and of his fruitful orchard, both soul and body,
And it will be as when a sick man wastes away.
19 And the (AF)rest of the trees of his forest will be so small in number
That a child could write them down.
17 These are (A)springs without water and mists driven by a storm, (B)for whom the [a]black darkness has been kept. 18 For speaking out (C)arrogant words of (D)vanity, they (E)entice by (F)sensual lusts of the flesh, those who barely (G)escape from the ones who conducted themselves in error, 19 promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for (H)by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. 20 For if they are overcome, having both (I)escaped the defilements of the world by (J)the knowledge of the (K)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and having again been (L)entangled in them, then (M)the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 (N)For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from (O)the holy commandment (P)handed on to them. 22 The [b]message of the true proverb has happened to them, “(Q)A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”
2 (A)Now when (B)John in prison heard of the works of Christ, he sent word by his disciples 3 and said to Him, “Are You (C)the One who is to come, or shall we look for someone else?” 4 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Go and report to John what you hear and see: 5 (D)the blind receive sight and the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the (E)poor have the [a]gospel preached to them. 6 And blessed is he [b]who (F)does not [c]take offense at Me.”
Jesus’ Tribute to John the Baptist
7 Now as these men were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John, “What did you go out into (G)the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 8 [d]But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ [e]palaces! 9 [f]But what did you go out to see? (H)A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and one who is more than a prophet. 10 This is the one about whom it [g]is written,
11 Truly I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist! Yet the one who is [i]least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12 (J)And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven [j]suffers violence, and violent men [k]take it by force. 13 For all the prophets and the Law prophesied until John. 14 And if you are willing to accept it, John himself is (K)Elijah who [l]was to come. 15 (L)He who has ears to hear, [m]let him hear.
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