Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer About a False Friend
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A ·maskil [skillful psalm; meditation] of David.
55 God, ·listen [L give ear] to my prayer
and do not ·ignore [hide from] my ·cry for help [supplication].
2 Pay attention to me and answer me.
·I am troubled and [My cares give me no peace and I am] upset
3 by ·what the enemy says [L the voice/sound of my enemy]
and ·how the wicked look at me [before the stares/or because of the afflictions of my enemy].
They bring troubles down on me,
and in anger they ·attack [persecute; or hate] me.
4 ·I am frightened inside [L My heart writhes inside me];
the terror of death has ·attacked [L fallen on] me.
5 ·I am scared and shaking [Fear and trembling come on me],
and ·terror [shuddering] ·grips [overwhelms] me.
6 I said, “·I wish [O that] I had wings like a dove.
Then I would fly away and rest.
7 I would ·wander [flee] far away
and stay in the ·desert [wilderness]. ·
8 I would hurry to my place of escape,
far away from the raging wind and ·storm [tempest].”
9 Lord, ·destroy [or frustrate; or check; or confuse; L swallow] and ·confuse [confound; L divide] their ·words [speech; or plans; L tongues; Gen. 11:1–9],
because I see violence and ·fighting [strife; contention; accusation] in the city.
10 Day and night they are all around its walls,
and evil and trouble are everywhere inside.
11 Destruction is ·everywhere in the city [L in its midst];
·trouble [oppression] and ·lying [deception] never leave its ·streets [public square].
12 It was not an enemy ·insulting [scorning; reproaching] me.
I could ·stand [bear] that.
It was not someone who hated me who insulted me.
I could hide from him.
13 But it is you, a person like me,
my companion and good friend.
14 We had ·a good friendship [sweet fellowship together]
and walked ·together [or noisily; or quietly; or with the crowd] to God’s ·Temple [L house].
15 Let death ·take away [L rise up on] ·my enemies [L them].
Let them ·die while they are still young [L go down to the grave/underworld/Sheol while they are living]
because evil ·lives with them [L is their home within them].
16 But I will call to God for help,
and the Lord will ·save me [give me victory].
17 Morning, noon, and ·night [L evening] I ·am troubled and upset [sigh and moan],
but he will listen to ·me [L my voice].
18 Many are against me,
but he ·keeps me safe [L redeems/ransoms me whole/in peace] in battle.
19 God who ·lives forever [or is enthroned from of old]
will hear me and ·punish [L humble] them. ·
But they will not change;
they do not fear God [Prov. 1:7].
20 ·The one who was my friend attacks his friends [L He sends his hand against his friend]
and ·breaks [violates; profanes] his ·promises [covenant; treaty].
21 His words are ·slippery like [L smoother than] butter,
but war is in his heart.
His words are ·smoother [softer] than oil,
but they cut like ·knives [unsheathed swords; Prov. 5:3–4].
22 ·Give [L Cast; Throw] your ·worries [burden; L that which he has given you] to the Lord,
and he will ·take care of [sustain] you.
He will never let ·good [righteous] people ·down [L be moved].
23 But, God, you will bring down
the wicked to the ·grave [deepest pit; L pit of corruption].
Murderers and ·liars [deceivers] will ·live
only half a lifetime [L not live half their days].
But I will ·trust [have confidence] in you.
A Hymn of Thanksgiving
A psalm of David.
138 Lord, I will ·thank [praise] you with all my heart;
I will ·sing [make a psalm] to you before the gods.
2 I will bow down facing your holy Temple,
and I will ·thank [praise] ·you [L your name] for your ·love [loyalty] and ·loyalty [faithfulness].
You have ·made your name and your word
greater than anything [L exalted your word above all your name].
3 On the day I ·called [prayed] to you, you answered me.
You ·made me strong and brave [L have emboldened/encouraged my soul with strength].
4 Lord, let all the kings of the earth ·praise [thank] you
when they hear the words ·you speak [L of your mouth].
5 They will sing about ·what the Lord has done [L the way of the Lord],
because the Lord’s glory [C his manifest presence] is great.
6 Though the Lord is ·supreme [exalted],
he ·takes care of [looks on] ·those who are humble [the lowly],
but he ·stays away from the proud [L perceives the proud from far away].
7 Lord, ·even when I have trouble all around me [L if I walk in the midst of distress],
you will keep me alive.
When my enemies are angry,
you will ·reach down [L send out your hand] and save me by your ·power [L right hand].
8 Lord, you ·do everything [fulfill/accomplish your plan] for me.
Lord, your ·love [loyalty] continues forever.
Do not ·leave [abandon; forsake] us, ·whom you made [L the work of your hands].
God Knows Everything
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
139 Lord, you have ·examined [investigated; searched] me
and know all about me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I ·get up [rise].
You ·know [understand] my thoughts ·before I think them [L from afar].
3 You ·know [L measure] ·where I go [L my path] and ·where I lie down [L my lying down].
You ·know [are familiar with] ·everything I do [L all my path].
4 Lord, even ·before I say a word [L when no word is on my tongue],
you already know ·it [L all of it].
5 You ·are all around me [L hem me in]—in front and in back—
and have put your hand on me.
6 Your knowledge is ·amazing [wonderful; or overwhelming] to me;
it is ·more than I can understand [too high/unattainable. I am not able to grasp it; Rom. 11:33].
7 Where can I go to get away from your Spirit?
Where can I ·run [flee] from you?
8 If I ·go [climb] up to the heavens, you are there.
If I ·lie down [spread out; make my bed] in ·the grave [L Sheol; C the grave or the underworld], you are there.
9 If I rise with the ·sun in the east [L wings of the dawn]
and settle in the ·west beyond [L back of] the sea,
10 even there ·you [L your hand] would guide me.
With your right hand you would ·hold [grab; seize] me.
11 I could say, “The darkness will ·hide [cover] me.
Let the light around me turn into night.”
12 But even the darkness is not dark to you.
The night ·is as light as [shines like] the day;
darkness and light are the same to you.
13 You ·made [created] my ·whole being [inward parts];
you ·formed [knitted] me in my mother’s ·body [belly; womb].
14 I ·praise [thank] you because you made me in an ·amazing [awesome] and wonderful way.
What you have done is wonderful.
I know this very well.
15 ·You saw my bones being formed [L My bones were not hidden from you]
as I ·took shape [was made] in ·my mother’s body [L secret].
When I was ·put together [L woven] ·there [L in the depths of the earth],
16 ·you [L your eyes] saw my ·body as it was formed [L embyro].
All the days ·planned [L formed] for me
were written in your book
·before I was one day old [not one of them existed].
17 God, your thoughts are precious to me.
·They are so many [L How vast are their sum; Job 42:3]!
18 If I could count them,
they would be more than all the grains of sand.
When I ·wake up [or come to the end],
I am still with you.
19 God, I wish you would kill the wicked!
Get away from me, you ·murderers [L people of blood]!
20 They ·say evil things about [make evil plans against] you.
Your enemies ·use your name thoughtlessly [L lift in vain; Ex. 20:7].
21 Lord, ·I hate [L Do I not hate…?] those who hate you;
·I hate [L Do I not abhor…?] those who rise up against you.
22 I ·feel only hate for them [L hate them with a perfect/complete hatred];
they are my enemies.
23 God, ·examine [investigate; search; v. 1] me and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
18 ·Remember my words with your whole being [L Put these words of mine on your hearts/minds and on your soul]. ·Write them down and tie [L Bind] them to your hands as a sign; tie them ·on your foreheads [L between your eyes] ·to remind you [as an emblem/headband/frontlet; 6:8]. 19 Teach them well to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20 Write them on ·your doors [L the lintels/doorposts of your house] and gates 21 so that both you and your children will live a long time in the land the Lord promised your ·ancestors [fathers], as long as the ·skies [heavens] are above the earth.
22 If you are careful to obey every command I am ·giving you to follow [L commanding you to do], and love the Lord your God, and ·do what he has told you to do [L walk on all his ways/paths], and ·are loyal [cling] to him, 23 then the Lord will ·force [dispossess] all those nations out of the land ahead of you, and you will ·take [possess] the land from nations that are bigger and stronger than you. 24 Everywhere ·you step [L the heel of your foot treads] will be yours. Your land will go from the ·desert [wilderness] to Lebanon and from the Euphrates River to the ·Mediterranean [L Great] Sea. 25 No one will be able to ·stop [stand against] you. The Lord your God will ·do what he promised and will make the people afraid everywhere you go [L put the dread and fear of you on all the land on which you tread as he promised].
26 See, today I am ·letting you choose [setting before you] a blessing or a curse. 27 You will be blessed if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am ·giving [commanding] you today. 28 But you will be cursed if you ·disobey [L do not listen to] the commands of the Lord your God. So do not ·disobey the commands [L turn aside from the way] I am ·giving [commanding] you today, and do not ·worship [go after] other gods you do not know.
5 [L For] Every high priest is chosen from among ·the people [human beings; C to represent humans, the priest must himself be human] and is ·given the work of going before God for them [L appointed to represent people in things related to God] to offer gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 Since he himself is weak [C subject to human frailty, both physical and moral], he is able to be gentle with those who ·do not understand [are ignorant] and who are ·doing wrong things [easily deceived; wayward; going astray]. 3 Because he is weak, the high priest must offer sacrifices for his own sins and also for the sins of the people [Lev. 16].
4 To be a high priest is an honor, but no one ·chooses himself for this work [takes this office by his own authority; L takes this honor for himself]. He must be ·called [chosen] by God as Aaron was [C Moses’ brother and Israel’s first high priest; Ex. 28:1]. 5 So also ·Christ [or the Messiah; C either a proper name or a title] did not ·choose himself to have the honor of being [L glorify/exalt himself by becoming] a high priest, but God ·chose [glorified; exalted] him. God said to him,
“You are my Son.
Today I have ·become your Father [T begotten you; Ps. 2:7].”
6 And in another Scripture God says,
“You are a priest forever,
·a priest like [L in the priestly order/line of] Melchizedek [Ps. 110:4].” [C See 7:1–10; Melchizedek was a priest and king in the time of Abraham; Gen. 14:17–24.]
7 ·While Jesus lived on earth [L In the days of his flesh/earthly life], he ·prayed to God and asked God for help [L offered prayers and petitions]. He prayed with loud cries and tears to the One who could save him from death, and his prayer was heard because ·he trusted God [L of his reverence/devotion; C referring especially to Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane; Matt. 26:39; Mark 14:36; Luke 22:41, 44]. 8 Even though Jesus was ·the Son of God [or a son; C with all the rights and privileges of an heir], he learned obedience by what he suffered [C through total obedience to God, Jesus achieved the glorified or perfected state God originally intended for human beings; 2:3–9]. 9 And ·because his obedience was perfect [or having achieved perfection], he ·was able to give [L became the source/means of] eternal salvation to all who obey him. 10 In this way God ·made [designated; appointed] Jesus a high priest, ·a priest like [L in the priestly order/line of] Melchizedek [v. 6; Ps. 110:4].
Jesus and a Samaritan Woman
4 The Pharisees [C a religious party which strictly observed OT laws and later customs] heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more ·followers [disciples] than John, 2 although Jesus himself did not baptize people, but his ·followers [disciples] did. 3 Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard about him, so he left Judea [C the southern region of Israel] and went back to Galilee [C the northern region of Israel; Mark 1:14]. 4 But on the way he had to go through the country of Samaria [C the central region occupied by a people disliked because they were only partly Jewish].
5 In Samaria Jesus came to the town called Sychar [C perhaps Shechem or a village near it; compare Gen. 33:18–19; 48:22], which is near the ·field [plot of ground] Jacob gave to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus was tired from ·his long trip [L the journey], so he sat down beside the well. It was about ·twelve o’clock noon [L the sixth hour; C hours were counted from dawn, about 6 AM]. 7 When a Samaritan woman came to the well to ·get some [draw] water, Jesus said to her, “·Please give [L Give] me a drink.” 8 (This happened while Jesus’ ·followers [disciples] were in town buying some food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said, “·I am surprised [L How is it…?] that you ask me for a drink, since you are a ·Jewish man [L a Jew] and I am a Samaritan woman.” (Jewish people ·are not friends [do not share things; have no dealings] with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus ·said [answered; replied], “If you only knew the ·free gift [L gift] of God and who it is that is asking you ·for water [L “Give me a drink”], you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” [C “Living water” in Greek can mean fresh running water, but Jesus means “water which gives eternal life”; the woman misunderstands this play on words.]
11 The woman said, “Sir, where will you get this living water? The well is very deep, and you have ·nothing to get water with [L no bucket]. 12 Are you greater than Jacob, our father [C a patriarch recognized by both Jews and Samaritans], who gave us this well and drank from it himself along with his sons and ·flocks [or livestock]?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again [C because physical water only temporarily satisfies thirst], 14 but whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty [C because spiritual renewal/eternal life is forever]. [L But; Indeed] The water I give will become a spring of water gushing up inside that person, giving eternal life [Is. 12:3; 49:10; 55:1–3; Rev. 7:16].”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so I will never be thirsty again and will not have to come back here to ·get [draw] more water.” [C Her response indicates she does not understand.]
16 Jesus told her, “Go ·get [call] your husband and come back here.”
17 The woman answered, “I have no husband.”
Jesus said to her, “You are right to say you have no husband. 18 ·Really [For] you have had five husbands, and the man you ·live with [L have] now is not your husband. You told the truth.”
19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ·ancestors [forefathers; L fathers] worshiped on this mountain [C the Samaritans worshiped on Mount Gerizim near Shechem], but you [C plural, referring to the Jews] say that Jerusalem [C Mount Zion, the location of the temple] is the place where people must worship.”
21 Jesus said to her, “Believe me, woman [C a respectful form of address in that culture; 2:4]. The ·time [L hour; C the time of salvation established by the death and resurrection of Christ; see 2:4] is coming when neither in Jerusalem nor on this mountain will you ·actually worship [L worship] the Father. 22 You Samaritans worship something you don’t understand. We [C Jews] understand what we worship, because salvation comes from the Jews [C because the Messiah who brings salvation comes through the Jews]. 23 [L But] The ·time [L hour; see 4:21] is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in ·spirit [or the Spirit] and truth, and that time ·is here already [has now come; is now here]. You see, the Father too is actively seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is ·spirit [Spirit], and those who worship him must worship in ·spirit [Spirit] and truth.”
25 The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming.” (Messiah is the One called Christ [C both Hebrew Mashiach and Greek Christos mean “Anointed One”; see 1:41].) “When ·the Messiah [L that one] comes, he will ·explain [report; announce] everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus said to her, “I am he—I, the one talking to you.”
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.