Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 20[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
20 May the Lord answer[b] you[c] when you are in trouble;[d]
may the God of Jacob[e] make you secure.
2 May he send you help from his temple;[f]
from Zion may he give you support.
3 May he take notice of[g] all your offerings;
may he accept[h] your burnt sacrifice. (Selah)
4 May he grant your heart’s desire;[i]
may he bring all your plans to pass.[j]
5 Then we will shout for joy over your[k] victory;
we will rejoice[l] in the name of our God.
May the Lord grant all your requests.
6 Now I am sure[m] that the Lord will deliver[n] his chosen king;[o]
he will intervene for him[p] from his holy, heavenly temple,[q]
and display his mighty ability to deliver.[r]
7 Some trust in chariots and others in horses,[s]
but we[t] depend on[u] the Lord our God.
8 They will fall down,[v]
but we[w] will stand firm.[x]
9 The Lord will deliver the king;[y]
he will answer us[z] when we call to him for help![aa]
Psalm 21[ab]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
21 O Lord, the king rejoices in the strength you give;[ac]
he takes great delight in the deliverance you provide.[ad]
2 You grant[ae] him his heart’s desire;
you do not refuse his request.[af] (Selah)
3 For you bring him[ag] rich[ah] blessings;[ai]
you place a golden crown on his head.
4 He asked you to sustain his life,[aj]
and you have granted him long life and an enduring dynasty.[ak]
5 Your deliverance brings him great honor;[al]
you give him majestic splendor.[am]
6 For you grant him lasting blessings;
you give him great joy by allowing him into your presence.[an]
7 For the king trusts[ao] in the Lord,
and because of the Most High’s[ap] faithfulness he is not shaken.[aq]
8 You[ar] prevail over[as] all your enemies;
your power is too great for those who hate you.[at]
9 You burn them up like a fiery furnace[au] when you appear.[av]
The Lord angrily devours them;[aw]
the fire consumes them.
10 You destroy their offspring[ax] from the earth,
their descendants[ay] from among the human race.[az]
11 Yes,[ba] they intend to do you harm;[bb]
they dream up a scheme,[bc] but they do not succeed.[bd]
12 For you make them retreat[be]
when you aim your arrows at them.[bf]
13 Rise up, O Lord, in strength![bg]
We will sing and praise[bh] your power.
Psalm 23[a]
A psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd,[b]
I lack nothing.[c]
2 He takes me to lush pastures,[d]
he leads me to refreshing water.[e]
3 He restores my strength.[f]
He leads me down[g] the right paths[h]
for the sake of his reputation.[i]
4 Even when I must walk through the darkest valley,[j]
I fear[k] no danger,[l]
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff reassure me.[m]
5 You prepare a feast before me[n]
in plain sight of my enemies.
You refresh[o] my head with oil;
my cup is completely full.[p]
6 Surely your goodness and faithfulness[q] will pursue[r] me all my days,[s]
and I will live in[t] the Lord’s house[u] for the rest of my life.[v]
Psalm 27[a]
By David.
27 The Lord is my light[b] and my salvation.
I fear no one.[c]
The Lord protects my life.
I am afraid of no one.[d]
2 When evil men attack me[e]
to devour my flesh,[f]
when my adversaries and enemies attack me,[g]
they stumble and fall.[h]
3 Even when an army is deployed against me,
I do not fear.[i]
Even when war is imminent,[j]
I remain confident.[k]
4 I have asked the Lord for one thing—
this is what I desire!
I want to live[l] in the Lord’s house[m] all the days of my life,
so I can gaze at the splendor[n] of the Lord
and contemplate in his temple.
5 He will surely[o] give me shelter[p] in the day of danger;[q]
he will hide me in his home.[r]
He will place me[s] on an inaccessible rocky summit.[t]
6 Now I will triumph
over my enemies who surround me.[u]
I will offer sacrifices in his dwelling place and shout for joy.[v]
I will sing praises to the Lord.
7 Hear me,[w] O Lord, when I cry out.
Have mercy on me and answer me.
8 My heart tells me to pray to you,[x]
and I do pray to you, O Lord.[y]
9 Do not reject me.[z]
Do not push your servant away in anger.
You are my deliverer.[aa]
Do not forsake or abandon me,
O God who vindicates me.
10 Even if my father and mother abandoned me,[ab]
the Lord would take me in.[ac]
11 Teach me how you want me to live,[ad] Lord;
lead me along a level path[ae] because of those who wait to ambush me.[af]
12 Do not turn me over to my enemies,[ag]
for false witnesses who want to destroy me testify against me.[ah]
13 Where would I be if I did not believe I would experience
the Lord’s favor in the land of the living?[ai]
14 Rely[aj] on the Lord!
Be strong and confident![ak]
Rely on the Lord!
25 O Lord, you are my God![a]
I will exalt you in praise, I will extol your fame.[b]
For you have done extraordinary things,
and executed plans made long ago exactly as you decreed.[c]
2 Indeed,[d] you have made the city[e] into a heap of rubble,
the fortified town into a heap of ruins;
the fortress of foreigners[f] is no longer a city,
it will never be rebuilt.
3 So a strong nation will extol you;
the towns of[g] powerful nations will fear you.
4 For you are a protector for the poor,
a protector for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the rainstorm,
a shade from the heat.
Though the breath of tyrants[h] is like a winter rainstorm,[i]
5 like heat[j] in a dry land,
you humble the boasting foreigners.[k]
Just as the shadow of a cloud causes the heat to subside,[l]
so he causes the song of tyrants to cease.[m]
6 The Lord of Heaven’s Armies will hold a banquet for all the nations on this mountain.[n]
At this banquet there will be plenty of meat and aged wine—
tender meat and choicest wine.[o]
7 On this mountain he will swallow up
the shroud that is over all the peoples,[p]
the woven covering that is over all the nations;[q]
8 he will swallow up death permanently.[r]
The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from every face,
and remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.
Indeed, the Lord has announced it![s]
9 At that time they will say,[t]
“Look, here[u] is our God!
We waited for him, and he delivered us.
Here[v] is the Lord! We waited for him.
Let’s rejoice and celebrate his deliverance!”
9 I, John, your brother and the one who shares[a] with you in the persecution, kingdom, and endurance that[b] are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus.[c] 10 I was in the Spirit[d] on the Lord’s Day[e] when[f] I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 saying: “Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches—to Ephesus, Smyrna,[g] Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12 I[h] turned to see whose voice was speaking to me,[i] and when I did so,[j] I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man.[k] He was dressed in a robe extending down to his feet and he wore a wide golden belt[l] around his chest. 14 His[m] head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow,[n] and his eyes were like a fiery[o] flame. 15 His feet were like polished bronze[p] refined[q] in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar[r] of many waters. 16 He held[s] seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His[t] face shone like the sun shining at full strength. 17 When[u] I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but[v] he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, 18 and the one who lives! I[w] was dead, but look, now I am alive—forever and ever—and I hold the keys of death and of Hades![x] 19 Therefore write what you saw, what is, and what will be after these things.[y] 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands is this:[z] The seven stars are the angels[aa] of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
A Woman Caught in Adultery[a]
53 [[ And each one departed to his own house. 8 1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.[b] 2 Early in the morning he came to the temple courts again. All the people came to him, and he sat down and began to teach[c] them. 3 The experts in the law[d] and the Pharisees[e] brought a woman who had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of them 4 and said to Jesus,[f] “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of adultery. 5 In the law Moses commanded us to stone to death[g] such women.[h] What then do you say?” 6 (Now they were asking this in an attempt to trap him, so that they could bring charges against[i] him.)[j] Jesus bent down and wrote on the ground with his finger.[k] 7 When they persisted in asking him, he stood up straight[l] and replied,[m] “Whoever among you is guiltless[n] may be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 Then[o] he bent over again and wrote on the ground.
9 Now when they heard this, they began to drift away one at a time, starting with the older ones,[p] until Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him. 10 Jesus stood up straight[q] and said to her, “Woman,[r] where are they? Did no one condemn you?” 11 She replied, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go, and from now on do not sin any more.”]][s]
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