Book of Common Prayer
An Urgent Plea for Help in Trouble
To the Chief Musician. Set to [a]“The Lilies.” A Psalm of David.
69 Save me, O God!
For (A)the waters have come up to my [b]neck.
2 (B)I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.
3 (C)I am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
(D)My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 Those who (E)hate me without a cause
Are more than the hairs of my head;
They are mighty who would destroy me,
Being my enemies wrongfully;
Though I have stolen nothing,
I still must restore it.
5 O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.
6 Let not those who [c]wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me;
Let not those who seek You be [d]confounded because of me, O God of Israel.
7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Shame has covered my face.
8 (F)I have become a stranger to my brothers,
And an alien to my mother’s children;
9 (G)Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
(H)And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
11 I also [e]made sackcloth my garment;
I became a byword to them.
12 Those who [f]sit in the gate speak against me,
And I am the song of the (I)drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to You,
O Lord, in the acceptable time;
O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,
Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire,
And let me not sink;
Let me be delivered from those who hate me,
And out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the floodwater overflow me,
Nor let the deep swallow me up;
And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.
16 Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good;
Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.
17 And do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am in trouble;
Hear me speedily.
18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;
Deliver me because of my enemies.
19 You know (J)my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;
My adversaries are all before You.
20 Reproach has broken my heart,
And I am full of [g]heaviness;
(K)I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;
And for (L)comforters, but I found none.
21 They also gave me gall for my food,
(M)And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 (N)Let their table become a snare before them,
And their well-being a trap.
23 (O)Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see;
And make their loins shake continually.
24 (P)Pour out Your indignation upon them,
And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.
25 (Q)Let their dwelling place be desolate;
Let no one live in their tents.
26 For they persecute the ones (R)You have struck,
And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.
27 (S)Add iniquity to their iniquity,
(T)And let them not come into Your righteousness.
28 Let them (U)be blotted out of the book of the living,
(V)And not be written with the righteous.
29 But I am poor and sorrowful;
Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30 (W)I will praise the name of God with a song,
And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.
31 (X)This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull,
Which has horns and hooves.
32 (Y)The humble shall see this and be glad;
And you who seek God, (Z)your hearts shall live.
33 For the Lord hears the poor,
And does not despise (AA)His prisoners.
BOOK THREE
Psalms 73–89
The Tragedy of the Wicked, and the Blessedness of Trust in God
A Psalm of (A)Asaph.
73 Truly God is good to Israel,
To such as are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
My steps had nearly (B)slipped.
3 (C)For I was envious of the boastful,
When I saw the prosperity of the (D)wicked.
4 For there are no [a]pangs in their death,
But their strength is firm.
5 (E)They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride serves as their necklace;
Violence covers them (F)like a garment.
7 (G)Their [b]eyes bulge with abundance;
They have more than heart could wish.
8 (H)They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;
They (I)speak [c]loftily.
9 They set their mouth (J)against the heavens,
And their tongue walks through the earth.
10 Therefore his people return here,
(K)And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
11 And they say, (L)“How does God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the ungodly,
Who are always at ease;
They increase in riches.
13 Surely I have [d]cleansed my heart in (M)vain,
And washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued,
And chastened every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
16 When I thought how to understand this,
It was [e]too painful for me—
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their (N)end.
18 Surely (O)You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awakes,
So, Lord, when You awake,
You shall despise their image.
21 Thus my heart was grieved,
And I was [f]vexed in my mind.
22 (P)I was so foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24 (Q)You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.
Salvation for the Gentiles
56 Thus says the Lord:
“Keep justice, and do righteousness,
(A)For My salvation is about to come,
And My righteousness to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man who does this,
And the son of man who lays hold on it;
(B)Who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And keeps his hand from doing any evil.”
3 Do not let (C)the son of the foreigner
Who has joined himself to the Lord
Speak, saying,
“The Lord has utterly separated me from His people”;
Nor let the (D)eunuch say,
“Here I am, a dry tree.”
4 For thus says the Lord:
“To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths,
And choose what pleases Me,
And hold fast My covenant,
5 Even to them I will give in (E)My house
And within My walls a place (F)and a name
Better than that of sons and daughters;
I will give [a]them an everlasting name
That shall not be cut off.
6 “Also the sons of the foreigner
Who join themselves to the Lord, to serve Him,
And to love the name of the Lord, to be His servants—
Everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath,
And holds fast My covenant—
7 Even them I will (G)bring to My holy mountain,
And make them joyful in My (H)house of prayer.
(I)Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices
Will be (J)accepted on My altar;
For (K)My house shall be called a house of prayer (L)for all nations.”
8 The Lord God, (M)who gathers the outcasts of Israel, says,
(N)“Yet I will gather to him
Others besides those who are gathered to him.”
Walking in the Spirit
16 I say then: (A)Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 17 For (B)the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, (C)so that you do not do the things that you wish. 18 But (D)if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
19 Now (E)the works of the flesh are evident, which are: [a]adultery, [b]fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 20 idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, [c]murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that (F)those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
22 But (G)the fruit of the Spirit is (H)love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, (I)goodness, (J)faithfulness, 23 [d]gentleness, self-control. (K)Against such there is no law. 24 And those who are Christ’s (L)have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Jesus Transfigured on the Mount
2 (A)Now after six days Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up on a high mountain apart by themselves; and He was transfigured before them. 3 His clothes became shining, exceedingly (B)white, like snow, such as no launderer on earth can whiten them. 4 And Elijah appeared to them with Moses, and they were talking with Jesus. 5 Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here; and let us make three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”— 6 because he did not know what to say, for they were greatly afraid.
7 And a (C)cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is (D)My beloved Son. (E)Hear Him!” 8 Suddenly, when they had looked around, they saw no one anymore, but only Jesus with themselves.
9 (F)Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 So they kept this word to themselves, questioning (G)what the rising from the dead meant.
11 And they asked Him, saying, “Why do the scribes say (H)that Elijah must come first?”
12 Then He answered and told them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And (I)how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and (J)be treated with contempt? 13 But I say to you that (K)Elijah has also come, and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.