Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 40[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
40 I relied completely[b] on the Lord,
and he turned toward me
and heard my cry for help.
2 He lifted me out of the watery pit,[c]
out of the slimy mud.[d]
He placed my feet on a rock
and gave me secure footing.[e]
3 He gave me reason to sing a new song,[f]
praising our God.[g]
May many see what God has done,
so that they might swear allegiance to him and trust in the Lord.[h]
4 How blessed[i] is the one[j] who trusts in the Lord[k]
and does not seek help from[l] the proud or from liars.[m]
5 O Lord, my God, you have accomplished many things;
you have done amazing things and carried out your purposes for us.[n]
No one can thwart you.[o]
I want to declare your deeds and talk about them,
but they are too numerous to recount.[p]
6 Receiving sacrifices and offerings are not your primary concern.[q]
You make that quite clear to me.[r]
You do not ask for burnt sacrifices and sin offerings.
7 Then I say,
“Look, I come!
What is written in the scroll pertains to me.[s]
8 I want to do what pleases you,[t] my God.
Your law dominates my thoughts.”[u]
9 I have told the great assembly[v] about your justice.[w]
Look, I spare no words.[x]
O Lord, you know this is true.
10 I have not failed to tell about your justice;[y]
I spoke about your reliability and deliverance.
I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness.[z]
11 O Lord, you do not withhold[aa] your compassion from me.
May your loyal love and faithfulness continually protect me![ab]
12 For innumerable dangers[ac] surround me.
My sins overtake me
so I am unable to see;
they outnumber the hairs of my head
so my strength fails me.[ad]
13 Please be willing, O Lord, to rescue me!
O Lord, hurry and help me![ae]
14 May those who are trying to snatch away my life
be totally embarrassed and ashamed.[af]
May those who want to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.[ag]
15 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”
be humiliated[ah] and disgraced.[ai]
16 May all those who seek you be happy and rejoice in you.
May those who love to experience[aj] your deliverance say continually,[ak]
“May the Lord be praised!”[al]
17 I am oppressed and needy.[am]
May the Lord pay attention to me.[an]
You are my helper and my deliverer.
O my God, do not delay.
Psalm 54[a]
For the music director, to be accompanied by stringed instruments; a well-written song[b] by David. It was written when the Ziphites came and informed Saul: “David is hiding with us.”[c]
54 O God, deliver me by your name.[d]
Vindicate me[e] by your power.
2 O God, listen to my prayer.
Pay attention to what I say.[f]
3 For foreigners[g] attack me;[h]
ruthless men, who do not respect God, seek my life.[i] (Selah)
4 Look, God is my deliverer.[j]
The Lord is among those who support me.[k]
5 May those who wait to ambush me[l] be repaid for their evil.[m]
As a demonstration of your faithfulness,[n] destroy them.
6 With a freewill offering I will sacrifice[o] to you.
I will give thanks to your name, O Lord, for it is good.
7 Surely[p] he rescues me from all trouble,[q]
and I triumph over my enemies.[r]
Psalm 51[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David, written when Nathan the prophet confronted him after David’s affair with Bathsheba.[b]
51 Have mercy on me, O God, because of[c] your loyal love.
Because of[d] your great compassion, wipe away my rebellious acts.[e]
2 Wash away my wrongdoing.[f]
Cleanse me of my sin.[g]
3 For I am aware of[h] my rebellious acts;
I am forever conscious of my sin.[i]
4 Against you—you above all[j]—I have sinned;
I have done what is evil in your sight.
So[k] you are just when you confront me;[l]
you are right when you condemn me.[m]
5 Look, I was guilty of sin from birth,
a sinner the moment my mother conceived me.[n]
6 Look,[o] you desire[p] integrity in the inner man;[q]
you want me to possess wisdom.[r]
7 Cleanse me[s] with hyssop[t] and I will be pure;[u]
wash me[v] and I will be whiter than snow.[w]
8 Grant me the ultimate joy of being forgiven.[x]
May the bones[y] you crushed rejoice.[z]
9 Hide your face[aa] from my sins.
Wipe away[ab] all my guilt.
10 Create for me a pure heart, O God.[ac]
Renew a resolute spirit within me.[ad]
11 Do not reject me.[ae]
Do not take your holy Spirit[af] away from me.[ag]
12 Let me again experience the joy of your deliverance.
Sustain me by giving me the desire to obey.[ah]
13 Then I will teach[ai] rebels your merciful ways,[aj]
and sinners will turn[ak] to you.
14 Rescue me from the guilt of murder,[al] O God, the God who delivers me.
Then my tongue will shout for joy because of your righteousness.[am]
15 O Lord, give me the words.[an]
Then my mouth will praise you.[ao]
16 Certainly[ap] you do not want a sacrifice, or else I would offer it;[aq]
you do not desire a burnt sacrifice.[ar]
17 The sacrifice God desires is a humble spirit[as]—
O God, a humble and repentant heart[at] you will not reject.[au]
18 Because you favor Zion, do what is good for her.[av]
Fortify[aw] the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will accept[ax] the proper sacrifices, burnt sacrifices and whole offerings;
then bulls will be sacrificed[ay] on your altar.[az]
The Lord Turns on Arrogant Assyria
5 “Beware, Assyria, the club I use to vent my anger,[a]
a cudgel with which I angrily punish.[b]
6 I sent him[c] against a godless[d] nation,
I ordered him to attack the people with whom I was angry,[e]
to take plunder and to carry away loot,
to trample them down[f] like dirt in the streets.
7 But he does not agree with this;
his mind does not reason this way,[g]
for his goal is to destroy,
and to eliminate many nations.[h]
8 Indeed,[i] he says:
‘Are not my officials all kings?
9 Is not Calneh like Carchemish?
Hamath like Arpad?
Samaria like Damascus?[j]
10 I overpowered kingdoms ruled by idols,[k]
whose carved images were more impressive than Jerusalem’s or Samaria’s.
11 As I have done to Samaria and its idols,
so I will do to Jerusalem and its idols.”[l]
12 But when[m] the Lord[n] finishes judging[o] Mount Zion and Jerusalem, then he[p] will punish the king of Assyria for what he has proudly planned and for the arrogant attitude he displays.[q] 13 For he says:
“By my strong hand I have accomplished this,
by my strategy that I devised.
I invaded the territory of nations,[r]
and looted their storehouses.
Like a mighty conqueror,[s] I brought down rulers.[t]
14 My hand discovered the wealth of the nations, as if it were in a nest,
as one gathers up abandoned eggs,
I gathered up the whole earth.
There was no wing flapping,
or open mouth chirping.”[u]
15 Does an ax exalt itself over the one who wields it,
or a saw magnify itself over the one who cuts with it?[v]
As if a scepter should brandish the one who raises it,
or a staff should lift up what is not made of wood!
16 For this reason[w] the Sovereign Lord of Heaven’s Armies
will make his healthy ones emaciated.[x]
His majestic glory will go up in smoke.[y]
17 The Light of Israel[z] will become a fire,
their Holy One[aa] will become a flame;
it will burn and consume the Assyrian king’s[ab] briers
and his thorns in one day.
18 The splendor of his forest and his orchard
will be completely destroyed,[ac]
as when a sick man’s life ebbs away.[ad]
19 There will be so few trees left in his forest,
a child will be able to count them.[ae]
17 These men[a] are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm, for whom the utter depths of darkness[b] have been reserved. 18 For by speaking high-sounding but empty words[c] they are able to entice,[d] with fleshly desires and with debauchery,[e] people[f] who have just escaped[g] from those who reside in error.[h] 19 Although these false teachers promise[i] such people[j] freedom, they themselves are enslaved to[k] immorality.[l] For whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved.[m] 20 For if after they have escaped the filthy things[n] of the world through the rich knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,[o] they[p] again get entangled in them and succumb to them,[q] their last state has become worse for them than their first. 21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them. 22 They are illustrations of this true proverb:[r] “A dog returns to its own vomit,”[s] and “A sow, after washing herself,[t] wallows in the mire.”[u]
Jesus and John the Baptist
2 Now when John[a] heard in prison about the deeds Christ[b] had done, he sent his disciples to ask a question:[c] 3 “Are you the one who is to come,[d] or should we look for another?” 4 Jesus answered them,[e] “Go tell John what you hear and see:[f] 5 The blind see, the[g] lame walk, lepers[h] are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them[i] 6 —and blessed is anyone[j] who takes no offense at me!”
7 While they were going away, Jesus began to speak to the crowd about John: “What did you go out into the wilderness[k] to see? A reed shaken by the wind?[l] 8 What[m] did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing?[n] Look, those who wear soft clothing are in the palaces of kings![o] 9 What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more[p] than a prophet! 10 This is the one about whom it is written:
11 “I tell you the truth,[s] among those born of women, no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist. Yet the one who is least[t] in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he is! 12 From[u] the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven has suffered violence,[v] and forceful people[w] lay hold of it. 13 For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John appeared.[x] 14 And if you are willing to accept it,[y] he is Elijah, who is to come. 15 The one who has ears had better listen![z]
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