Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 95
Worship and Warning
1 Come, let’s shout joyfully to the Lord,
shout triumphantly to the rock of our salvation!(A)
2 Let’s enter his presence with thanksgiving;
let’s shout triumphantly to him in song.(B)
3 For the Lord is a great God,
a great King above all gods.(C)
4 The depths of the earth are in his hand,
and the mountain peaks are his.(D)
5 The sea is his; he made it.
His hands formed the dry land.(E)
6 Come, let’s worship and bow down;
let’s kneel before the Lord our Maker.(F)
7 For he is our God,
and we are the people of his pasture,
the sheep under his care.[a](G)
Today, if you hear his voice:(H)
8 Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as on that day at Massah in the wilderness(I)
9 where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.(J)
10 For forty years I was disgusted with that generation;
I said, “They are a people whose hearts go astray;
they do not know my ways.”(K)
11 So I swore in my anger,
“They will not enter my rest.”(L)
Psalm 69
A Plea for Rescue
For the choir director: according to “The Lilies.”(A) Of David.
1 Save me, God,
for the water has risen to my neck.(B)
2 I have sunk in deep mud, and there is no footing;
I have come into deep water,
and a flood sweeps over me.(C)
3 I am weary from my crying;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail, looking for my God.(D)
4 Those who hate me without cause
are more numerous than the hairs of my head;
my deceitful enemies, who would destroy me,
are powerful.(E)
Though I did not steal, I must repay.(F)
5 God, you know my foolishness,
and my guilty acts are not hidden from you.(G)
6 Do not let those who put their hope in you
be disgraced because of me,
Lord God of Armies;
do not let those who seek you
be humiliated because of me,
God of Israel.(H)
7 For I have endured insults because of you,
and shame has covered my face.(I)
8 I have become a stranger to my brothers
and a foreigner to my mother’s sons(J)
9 because zeal for your house has consumed me,(K)
and the insults of those who insult you
have fallen on me.(L)
10 I mourned and fasted,
but it brought me insults.(M)
11 I wore sackcloth as my clothing,
and I was a joke to them.
12 Those who sit at the city gate talk about me,
and drunkards make up songs about me.(N)
13 But as for me, Lord,
my prayer to you is for a time of favor.
In your abundant, faithful love, God,
answer me with your sure salvation.(O)
14 Rescue me from the miry mud; don’t let me sink.
Let me be rescued from those who hate me
and from the deep water.(P)
15 Don’t let the floodwaters sweep over me
or the deep swallow me up;
don’t let the Pit close its mouth over me.(Q)
16 Answer me, Lord,
for your faithful love is good.
In keeping with your abundant compassion,
turn to me.(R)
17 Don’t hide your face from your servant,
for I am in distress.
Answer me quickly!(S)
18 Come near to me and redeem me;
ransom me because of my enemies.(T)
19 You know the insults I endure—
my shame and disgrace.
You are aware of all my adversaries.(U)
20 Insults have broken my heart,
and I am in despair.
I waited for sympathy,
but there was none;
for comforters, but found no one.(V)
21 Instead, they gave me gall for my food,
and for my thirst
they gave me vinegar to drink.(W)
22 Let their table set before them be a snare,
and let it be a trap for their allies.(X)
23 Let their eyes grow too dim to see,
and let their hips continually quake.(Y)
24 Pour out your rage on them,
and let your burning anger overtake them.(Z)
25 Make their fortification desolate;
may no one live in their tents.(AA)
26 For they persecute the one you struck
and talk about the pain of those you wounded.(AB)
27 Charge them with crime on top of crime;
do not let them share in your righteousness.(AC)
28 Let them be erased from the book of life
and not be recorded with the righteous.(AD)
29 But as for me—poor and in pain—
let your salvation protect me, God.(AE)
30 I will praise God’s name with song
and exalt him with thanksgiving.(AF)
31 That will please the Lord more than an ox,
more than a bull with horns and hooves.(AG)
32 The humble will see it and rejoice.
You who seek God, take heart!(AH)
33 For the Lord listens to the needy
and does not despise
his own who are prisoners.(AI)
BOOK III
(Psalms 73–89)
Psalm 73
God’s Ways Vindicated
A psalm of Asaph.(A)
1 God is indeed good to Israel,
to the pure in heart.(B)
2 But as for me, my feet almost slipped;
my steps nearly went astray.(C)
3 For I envied the arrogant;
I saw the prosperity of the wicked.(D)
4 They have an easy time until they die,[a]
and their bodies are well fed.[b](E)
5 They are not in trouble like others;
they are not afflicted like most people.(F)
6 Therefore, pride is their necklace,
and violence covers them like a garment.(G)
7 Their eyes bulge out from fatness;
the imaginations of their hearts run wild.(H)
8 They mock, and they speak maliciously;
they arrogantly threaten oppression.(I)
9 They set their mouths against heaven,
and their tongues strut across the earth.(J)
10 Therefore his people turn to them[c]
and drink in their overflowing words.[d](K)
11 The wicked say, “How can God know?
Does the Most High know everything?” (L)
12 Look at them—the wicked!
They are always at ease,
and they increase their wealth.(M)
13 Did I purify my heart
and wash my hands in innocence for nothing?(N)
14 For I am afflicted all day long
and punished every morning.(O)
15 If I had decided to say these things aloud,
I would have betrayed your people.[e](P)
16 When I tried to understand all this,
it seemed hopeless[f](Q)
17 until I entered God’s sanctuary.
Then I understood their destiny.(R)
18 Indeed, you put them in slippery places;
you make them fall into ruin.(S)
19 How suddenly they become a desolation!
They come to an end, swept away by terrors.(T)
20 Like one waking from a dream,
Lord, when arising, you will despise their image.(U)
21 When I became embittered
and my innermost being[g] was wounded,(V)
22 I was stupid and didn’t understand;
I was an unthinking animal toward you.(W)
23 Yet I am always with you;
you hold my right hand.(X)
24 You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me up in glory.[h](Y)
25 Who do I have in heaven but you?
And I desire nothing on earth but you.(Z)
26 My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength[i] of my heart,
my portion forever.(AA)
27 Those far from you will certainly perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.(AB)
28 But as for me, God’s presence is my good.
I have made the Lord God my refuge,
so I can tell about all you do.(AC)
The Depravity of Jerusalem
5 Roam(A) through the streets of Jerusalem.
Investigate;[a]
search in her squares.
If you find one person,(B)
any who acts justly,
who pursues faithfulness,
then I will forgive her.(C)
2 When they say, “As the Lord lives,”(D)
they are swearing falsely.(E)
3 Lord, don’t your eyes look for faithfulness?(F)
You have struck them, but they felt no pain.(G)
You finished them off,
but they refused to accept discipline.(H)
They made their faces harder than rock,(I)
and they refused to return.(J)
4 Then I thought:
They are just the poor;
they have been foolish.
For they don’t understand the way of the Lord,(K)
the justice of their God.(L)
5 I will go to the powerful
and speak to them.
Surely they know the way of the Lord,
the justice of their God.(M)
However, these also had broken the yoke
and torn off the chains.(N)
6 Therefore, a lion from the forest will strike them down.(O)
A wolf from arid plains will ravage them.
A leopard(P) stalks their cities.
Anyone who leaves them will be torn to pieces
because their rebellious acts are many,(Q)
their unfaithful deeds numerous.(R)
7 Why should I forgive you?
Your children have abandoned me
and sworn by those who are not gods.(S)
I satisfied their needs, yet they committed adultery;(T)
they gashed themselves(U) at the[b] prostitute’s house.
8 They are well-fed,[c] eager[d] stallions,(V)
each neighing(W) after someone else’s wife.(X)
9 Should I not punish them for these things?(Y)
This is the Lord’s declaration.
Should I not avenge myself(Z)
on such a nation as this?
Circumcision of the Heart
25 Circumcision benefits you if you observe the law, but if you are a lawbreaker, your circumcision has become uncircumcision.(A) 26 So if an uncircumcised(B) man keeps the law’s requirements,(C) will not his uncircumcision be counted as circumcision? 27 A man who is physically uncircumcised, but who keeps the law, will judge you(D) who are a lawbreaker in spite of having the letter of the law and circumcision. 28 For a person is not a Jew who is one outwardly,(E) and true circumcision is not something visible in the flesh. 29 On the contrary, a person is a Jew who is one inwardly,(F) and circumcision is of the heart—by the Spirit, not the letter.[a](G) That person’s praise is not from people but from God.(H)
Paul Answers an Objection
3 So what advantage does the Jew have? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2 Considerable in every way. First, they were entrusted(I) with the very words of God.(J) 3 What then? If some were unfaithful,(K) will their unfaithfulness nullify God’s faithfulness? 4 Absolutely not!(L) Let God be true, even though everyone is a liar,(M) as it is written:
5 But if our unrighteousness highlights[c] God’s righteousness,(O) what are we to say?(P) I am using a human argument:[d](Q) Is God unrighteous to inflict wrath? 6 Absolutely not! Otherwise, how will God judge the world?(R) 7 But if by my lie God’s truth abounds to his glory, why am I also still being judged as a sinner?(S) 8 And why not say, just as some people slanderously claim we say, “Let us do what is evil so that good may come”?(T) Their condemnation is deserved!
The Whole World Guilty before God
9 What then? Are we any better off?[e] Not at all! For we have already charged that both Jews(U) and Greeks(V) are all under sin,[f](W) 10 as it is written:
There is no one righteous, not even one.
11 There is no one who understands;
there is no one who seeks God.
12 All have turned away;
all alike have become worthless.
There is no one who does what is good,
not even one.[g](X)
13 Their throat is an open grave;
they deceive with their tongues.[h](Y)
Vipers’ venom is under their lips.[i](Z)
14 Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.[j](AA)
15 Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 ruin and wretchedness are in their paths,
17 and the path of peace they have not known.[k](AB)
18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.[l](AC)
30 “I can do nothing on my own. I judge only as I hear, and my judgment(A) is just,(B) because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me.(C)
Witnesses to Jesus
31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony he gives about me is true.(D) 33 You sent messengers to John, and he testified to the truth.(E) 34 I don’t receive human testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 John[a](F) was a burning and shining lamp,(G) and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.(H)
36 “But I have a greater testimony than John’s because of the works that the Father has given me to accomplish.(I) These very works I am doing testify about me that the Father has sent(J) me. 37 The Father who sent me has himself testified(K) about me. You have not heard his voice at any time, and you haven’t seen his form.(L) 38 You don’t have his word residing in you, because you don’t believe the one he sent. 39 You pore over the Scriptures(M) because you think you have eternal life in them, and yet they testify about me.(N) 40 But you are not willing(O) to come to me(P) so that you may have life.
41 “I do not accept glory(Q) from people, 42 but I know you—that you have no love for God(R) within you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name,(S) and yet you don’t accept me.(T) If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. 44 How can you believe, since you accept glory from one another but don’t seek the glory that comes from the only(U) God?(V) 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. Your accuser is Moses,(W) on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47 But if you don’t believe what he wrote,(X) how will you believe my words?”(Y)
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