Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 18
Praise for Deliverance
For the choir director. Of the servant of the Lord, David, who spoke the words of this song to the Lord on the day the Lord rescued him from the grasp of all his enemies and from the power of Saul.(A) He said:
1 I love you, Lord, my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock,
my fortress, and my deliverer,(B)
my God, my rock where I seek refuge,
my shield(C) and the horn of my salvation,(D)
my stronghold.
3 I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,(E)
and I was saved from my enemies.(F)
4 The ropes of death were wrapped around me;
the torrents of destruction terrified me.(G)
5 The ropes of Sheol entangled me;
the snares of death confronted me.(H)
6 I called to the Lord in my distress,
and I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,(I)
and my cry to him reached his ears.(J)
7 Then the earth shook and quaked;
the foundations of the mountains trembled;(K)
they shook because he burned with anger.
8 Smoke rose from his nostrils,
and consuming fire came from his mouth;
coals were set ablaze by it.[a](L)
9 He bent the heavens and came down,(M)
total darkness beneath his feet.
10 He rode on a cherub and flew,
soaring on the wings of the wind.(N)
11 He made darkness his hiding place,
dark storm clouds his canopy around him.(O)
12 From the radiance of his presence,(P)
his clouds swept onward with hail and blazing coals.
13 The Lord thundered from[b] heaven;
the Most High made his voice heard.[c](Q)
14 He shot his arrows and scattered them;
he hurled[d] lightning bolts and routed them.(R)
15 The depths of the sea became visible,
the foundations of the world were exposed,
at your rebuke, Lord,
at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.(S)
16 He reached down from on high
and took hold of me;
he pulled me out of deep water.(T)
17 He rescued me from my powerful enemy
and from those who hated me,
for they were too strong for me.(U)
18 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
but the Lord was my support.(V)
19 He brought me out to a spacious place;(W)
he rescued me because he delighted in me.(X)
20 The Lord rewarded me
according to my righteousness;(Y)
he repaid me
according to the cleanness of my hands.(Z)
21 For I have kept the ways of the Lord
and have not turned from my God to wickedness.(AA)
22 Indeed, I let all his ordinances guide me[e]
and have not disregarded his statutes.(AB)
23 I was blameless toward him(AC)
and kept myself from my iniquity.
24 So the Lord repaid me
according to my righteousness,(AD)
according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.(AE)
25 With the faithful
you prove yourself faithful,
with the blameless
you prove yourself blameless,
26 with the pure
you prove yourself pure,
but with the crooked
you prove yourself shrewd.(AF)
27 For you rescue an oppressed people,(AG)
but you humble those with haughty eyes.(AH)
28 Lord, you light my lamp;
my God illuminates my darkness.(AI)
29 With you I can attack a barricade,[f]
and with my God I can leap over a wall.(AJ)
30 God—his way is perfect;(AK)
the word of the Lord is pure.(AL)
He is a shield to all who take refuge in him.(AM)
31 For who is God besides the Lord?(AN)
And who is a rock? Only our God.(AO)
32 God—he clothes me with strength(AP)
and makes my way perfect.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer(AQ)
and sets me securely on the heights.[g](AR)
34 He trains my hands for war;(AS)
my arms can bend a bow of bronze.(AT)
35 You have given me the shield of your salvation;
your right hand upholds me,(AU)
and your humility exalts me.
36 You make a spacious place beneath me for my steps,(AV)
and my ankles do not give way.(AW)
37 I pursue my enemies and overtake them;
I do not turn back until they are wiped out.(AX)
38 I crush them, and they cannot get up;
they fall beneath my feet.(AY)
39 You have clothed me with strength for battle;(AZ)
you subdue my adversaries beneath me.(BA)
40 You have made my enemies retreat before me;[h](BB)
I annihilate those who hate me.(BC)
41 They cry for help, but there is no one to save them(BD)—
they cry to the Lord, but he does not answer them.(BE)
42 I pulverize them like dust before the wind;(BF)
I trample them[i] like mud in the streets.(BG)
43 You have freed me from the feuds among the people;
you have appointed me the head of nations;(BH)
a people I had not known serve me.(BI)
44 Foreigners submit to me cringing;
as soon as they hear they obey me.(BJ)
45 Foreigners lose heart
and come trembling from their fortifications.(BK)
46 The Lord lives—blessed be my rock!
The God of my salvation is exalted.(BL)
47 God—he grants me vengeance(BM)
and subdues peoples under me.(BN)
48 He frees me from my enemies.
You exalt me above my adversaries;
you rescue me from violent men.(BO)
49 Therefore I will give thanks to you among the nations, Lord;
I will sing praises about your name.(BP)
50 He gives great victories to his king;(BQ)
he shows loyalty to his anointed,
to David and his descendants forever.(BR)
17 The poor and the needy seek water, but there is none;
their tongues are parched with thirst.
I will answer them.(A)
I am the Lord, the God of Israel. I will not abandon them.
18 I will open rivers on the barren heights,(B)
and springs in the middle of the plains.
I will turn the desert into a pool
and dry land into springs.(C)
19 I will plant cedar, acacia, myrtle, and olive trees
in the wilderness.(D)
I will put juniper, elm, and cypress trees together
in the desert,
20 so that all may see and know,
consider and understand,
that the hand of the Lord has done this,(E)
the Holy One of Israel has created(F) it.
21 “Submit your case,” says the Lord.
“Present your arguments,” says Jacob’s King.
22 “Let them come and tell us
what will happen.(G)
Tell us the past events,
so that we may reflect on them
and know the outcome,
or tell us the future.
23 Tell us the coming events,(H)
then we will know that you are gods.
Indeed, do something good or bad,
then we will be in awe[a] when we see it.
24 Look, you are nothing(I)
and your work is worthless.
Anyone who chooses you is detestable.
25 “I have stirred up one from the north,(J) and he has come,
one from the east(K) who invokes my[b] name.(L)
He will march over rulers as if they were mud,
like a potter who treads the clay.
26 Who told about this from the beginning,
so that we might know,
and from times past,
so that we might say, ‘He is right’?
No one announced it,
no one told it,
no one heard your words.
27 I was the first to say to Zion,[c]
‘Look! Here they are!’
And I gave Jerusalem a herald with good news.(M)
28 When I look, there is no one;
there is no counselor among them;
when I ask them, they have nothing to say.(N)
29 Look, all of them are a delusion;[d]
their works are nonexistent;
their images are wind and emptiness.
Unity in Christ
11 So, then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called “the uncircumcised” by those called “the circumcised,”(A) which is done in the flesh by human hands.(B) 12 At that time you were without Christ, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of promise,(C) without hope(D) and without God in the world. 13 But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood(E) of Christ. 14 For he is our peace, who made both groups one(F) and tore down the dividing wall of hostility. In his flesh, 15 he made of no effect the law consisting of commands and expressed in regulations, so that he might create(G) in himself one(H) new man from the two, resulting in peace. 16 He did this so that he might reconcile both to God in one body(I) through the cross by which he put the hostility to death.[a] 17 He came and proclaimed the good news(J) of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.(K) 18 For through him we both have access(L) in one Spirit to the Father.(M) 19 So, then, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with the saints, and members of God’s household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets,(N) with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building, being put together,(O) grows into a holy temple in the Lord.(P) 22 In him you are also being built together(Q) for God’s dwelling(R) in the Spirit.
The Son of Man Forgives and Heals
2 When(A) he entered Capernaum(B) again after some days, it was reported that he was at home. 2 So many people gathered together that there was no more room, not even in the doorway, and he was speaking the word(C) to them. 3 They came to him bringing a paralytic,(D) carried by four of them. 4 Since they were not able to bring him to[a] Jesus because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and after digging through it, they lowered the mat on which the paralytic was lying. 5 Seeing their faith,(E) Jesus told the paralytic, “Son, your sins(F) are forgiven.”(G)
6 But some of the scribes(H) were sitting there, questioning(I) in their hearts: 7 “Why does he speak like this? He’s blaspheming!(J) Who can forgive(K) sins(L) but God alone?” (M)
8 Right away(N) Jesus perceived in his spirit(O) that they were thinking like this within themselves and said to them, “Why are you thinking these things in your hearts? 9 Which is easier:(P) to say to the paralytic,(Q) ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Get up, take your mat, and walk’?(R) 10 But so that you may know that the Son of Man(S) has authority(T) on earth to forgive sins”(U)—he told the paralytic— 11 “I tell you: get up,(V) take your mat, and go home.”
12 Immediately he got up, took the mat, and went out in front of everyone. As a result, they were all astounded(W) and gave glory(X) to God,(Y) saying, “We have never seen anything like this!” (Z)
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