Book of Common Prayer
O Yahweh, Be Gracious to Me
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
41 How blessed is he who (A)considers the [a]poor;
Yahweh will provide him escape (B)in a day of [b]calamity.
2 Yahweh will (C)keep him and keep him alive,
And he shall be (D)blessed upon the earth;
And (E)do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
3 Yahweh will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You [c]restore him to health.
4 As for me, I said, “O Yahweh, be gracious to me;
(F)Heal my soul, for (G)I have sinned against You.”
5 My enemies (H)speak evil against me,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And [d]when he comes to see me, he (I)speaks [e]worthlessness;
His heart gathers wickedness to itself;
When he goes outside, he speaks it.
7 All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me, they (J)devise for me [f]calamity, saying,
8 “A vile thing is poured out [g]upon him,
That when he lies down, he will (K)not rise up again.”
9 Even my (L)close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.
10 But You, O Yahweh, be gracious to me and (M)raise me up,
That I may repay them.
11 By this I know that (N)You delight in me,
Because (O)my enemy makes no shout in triumph over me.
12 As for me, (P)You uphold me in my integrity,
And You make me (Q)stand firm in Your presence forever.
13 (R)Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
I Trust in the Lovingkindness of God
For the choir director. A [a]Maskil of David. [b]When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you (A)boast in evil, O mighty man?
The (B)lovingkindness of God endures all day long.
2 Your tongue devises (C)destruction,
Like a (D)sharp razor, (E)O worker of deceit.
3 You (F)love evil more than good,
(G)Falsehood more than speaking what is right. [c]Selah.
4 You love all words that devour,
O (H)deceitful tongue.
5 [d]But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and (I)tear you away from your tent,
And (J)uproot you from the (K)land of the living, Selah.
6 So that the righteous will (L)see and fear,
And will (M)laugh at him, saying,
7 “Behold, the man who would not set God as his strength,
But (N)trusted in the abundance of his riches
And (O)was strong in his destruction.”
Rise Up, Be Our Help
For the choir director. Of the sons of Korah. A [a]Maskil.
44 O God, we have heard with our ears,
Our (A)fathers have recounted to us
The (B)work that You did in their days,
In the (C)days of old.
2 You with Your own hand (D)dispossessed the nations;
Then You (E)planted them;
You (F)afflicted the peoples,
Then You (G)cast them out.
3 For by their own sword they (H)did not possess the land,
And their own arm did not save them,
But Your right hand and Your (I)arm and the (J)light of Your presence,
For You (K)favored them.
4 You are (L)my King, O God;
(M)Command [b]salvation for Jacob.
5 Through You we will (N)push back our adversaries;
Through Your name we will (O)tread down those who rise up against us.
6 For I will (P)not trust in my bow,
And my sword will not save me.
7 But You (Q)have saved us from our adversaries,
And You have (R)put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have (S)boasted all day long,
And we will (T)give thanks to Your name forever. [c]Selah.
9 Yet You (U)have rejected us and brought us to (V)dishonor,
And (W)do not go out with our armies.
10 You cause us to (X)turn back from the adversary;
And those who hate us (Y)have plundered us for themselves.
11 You give us as (Z)sheep [d]to be eaten
And have (AA)scattered us among the nations.
12 You (AB)sell Your people [e]for no amount,
And You have not [f]profited from their price.
13 You make us a (AC)reproach to our neighbors,
A mockery and a (AD)derision to those around us.
14 You make us (AE)a byword among the nations,
A [g](AF)laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my dishonor is before me
And [h]the (AG)shame of my face has covered me,
16 Because of the voice of him who (AH)reproaches and reviles,
Because of the presence of the (AI)enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us, but we have (AJ)not forgotten You,
And we have not (AK)dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18 Our heart has not (AL)turned back,
Nor have our steps (AM)deviated from Your path,
19 Yet You have (AN)crushed us in a place of (AO)jackals
And covered us with (AP)the shadow of death.
20 If we had (AQ)forgotten the name of our God
Or spread our [i]hands to (AR)a strange god,
21 Would not God (AS)find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 But (AT)for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are counted as (AU)sheep for the slaughter.
23 (AV)Arouse Yourself, why (AW)do You sleep, O Lord?
Awake, (AX)do not reject us forever.
24 Why do You (AY)hide Your face
And (AZ)forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our (BA)soul has sunk down into the dust;
Our [j]body cleaves to the earth.
26 (BB)Rise up, be our help,
And (BC)redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.
David Does Not Kill Saul
24 Now (A)when Saul returned from pursuing the Philistines, (B)he was told, saying, “Behold, David is in the wilderness of Engedi.” 2 Then (C)Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel and went to seek David and his men in front of the Rocks of the Wild Goats. 3 And he came to the sheepfolds on the way, where there was a cave; and Saul (D)went in to [a]relieve himself. Now (E)David and his men were sitting in the inner recesses of the cave. 4 Then the men of David said to him, “Behold, (F)this is the day of which Yahweh said to you, ‘Behold, (G)I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good in your eyes.’” Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly. 5 And it happened afterward that (H)David’s heart struck him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe. 6 So he said to his men, “(I)Far be it from me because of Yahweh that I should do this thing to my lord, the anointed of Yahweh, to send forth my hand against him, since he is the anointed of Yahweh.” 7 And David tore his men to pieces with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, [b]left the cave, and went on his way.
8 Now afterward David arose and went out of the cave and called after Saul, saying, “My lord the king!” And when Saul looked behind him, (J)David bowed with his [c]face to the ground and prostrated himself. 9 And David said to Saul, “Why do you listen to the words of men, saying, ‘Behold, David seeks [d]to do you evil’? 10 (K)Behold, this day your eyes have seen that Yahweh had given you today into my hand in the cave, and (L)some said to kill you, but my eye had pity on you; and I said, ‘I will not send forth my hand against my lord, for he is the anointed of Yahweh.’ 11 Now, (M)my father, see! Indeed, see the edge of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the edge of your robe and did not kill you, know and see that there is no evil or transgression in my hand, and I have not sinned against you, though you (N)are lying in wait for my life to take it. 12 (O)May Yahweh judge between [e]you and me, and may Yahweh avenge me on you; but my hand shall not be against you. 13 As the proverb of the ancients says, ‘(P)Out of the wicked comes forth wickedness’; but my hand shall not be against you. 14 After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom are you pursuing? (Q)After a dead dog, after (R)a single flea? 15 (S)Therefore Yahweh be judge and execute justice between [f]you and me; and may He see and (T)plead my cause and execute justice for me to escape from your hand.”
16 Now it happened that when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, Saul said, “(U)Is this your voice, my son David?” Then Saul lifted up his voice and wept. 17 (V)And he said to David, “You are more righteous than I; for (W)you have dealt well with me, while I have dealt evil with you. 18 And you have declared today that you have done good to me, that (X)Yahweh surrendered me into your hand, and yet you did not kill me. 19 For if a man (Y)finds his enemy, will he let him go away [g]safely? May Yahweh therefore reward you with good in return for what you have done to me this day. 20 So now, behold, (Z)I know that you will surely be king, and that (AA)the kingdom of Israel will be established in your hand. 21 So now (AB)swear to me by Yahweh that you will not cut off my seed after me and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s household.” 22 So David swore to Saul. And Saul went to his home, but David and his men went up to (AC)the fortress.
Many Gentiles Believe
44 And the next (A)Sabbath, nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of [a]the [b]Lord. 45 But when (B)the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting the things spoken by Paul, [c]blaspheming. 46 Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you (C)first. Since you reject it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, (D)we are turning to the Gentiles. 47 For so the [d]Lord has commanded us,
‘(E)I have placed You as a (F)light for the Gentiles,
That You may [e]bring salvation to the end of the earth.’”
48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying (G)the word of [f]the [g]Lord, and as many as (H)had been appointed to eternal life believed. 49 And (I)the word of the [h]Lord was being spread through the whole region. 50 But (J)the Jews incited the [i](K)God-fearing women (L)of prominence and the leading men of the city, and instigated a persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and drove them out of their [j]district. 51 But (M)having shaken off the dust of their feet against them, they went to (N)Iconium. 52 And the disciples were continually (O)filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.
The Parable of the Sower
4 (A)And He began to teach again (B)by the sea. And such a very large crowd gathered to Him that (C)He got into a boat in the sea and sat down; and the whole crowd was by the sea on the land. 2 And He was teaching them many things in (D)parables, and was saying to them in His teaching, 3 “Listen to this! Behold, the sower went out to sow; 4 and it happened that as he was sowing, some seed fell beside the road, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 And other seed fell on the rocky ground where it did not have much soil; and immediately it sprang up because it had no depth of soil. 6 And after the sun rose, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away. 7 And other seed fell among the thorns, and the thorns came up and choked it, and it yielded no [a]crop. 8 And other seeds fell into the good soil, and as they grew up and increased, they were yielding a [b]crop and produced thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” 9 And He was saying, “(E)He who has ears to hear, [c]let him hear.”
10 And when He was alone, [d]His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. 11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but to (F)those who are outside, everything comes (G)in parables, 12 so that (H)while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, lest they return and be forgiven.”
The Parable of the Sower Explained
13 (I)And He *said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables? 14 The sower sows the word. 15 And these are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown: when they hear, immediately (J)Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. 16 And in a similar way, these are the ones being sown on the rocky places: those who, when hearing the word, immediately receive it with joy; 17 and they have no root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they [e]fall away. 18 And others are those being sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, 19 but the worries of (K)the [f]world, and the (L)deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for anything else enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 20 And those are the ones which were sown on the good soil: they who hear the word and accept it and (M)are bearing fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.”
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.