Book of Common Prayer
O Yahweh, Do Not Delay
For the choir director. Of David. To bring to remembrance.
70 (A)O God, hasten to deliver me;
O Yahweh, hasten to my help!
2 (B)Let those be ashamed and humiliated
Who seek my [a]life;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight in [b]evil against me.
3 (C)Let those [c]turn back because of their shame
Who say, “Aha, aha!”
4 Let those be joyful and glad in You
All who seek You
And let them say continually,
“Let God be magnified,”
Those who love Your salvation.
5 But (D)I am afflicted and needy;
(E)Hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my protector;
O Yahweh, do not delay.
O God, Do Not Forsake Me
71 (F)In You, O Yahweh, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be ashamed.
2 (G)In Your righteousness deliver me and protect me;
(H)Incline Your ear to me and save me.
3 (I)Be to me a rock of (J)habitation to which I may continually come;
You have given the (K)command to save me,
For You are (L)my [d]rock and my fortress.
4 (M)Protect me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
Out of the [e]grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man,
5 For You are my (N)hope;
O Lord Yahweh, You are my (O)trust from my youth.
6 [f]By You I have been (P)sustained from my birth;
You are He who (Q)took me from my mother’s womb;
My (R)praise is continually [g]of You.
7 I have become a (S)marvel to many,
For You are (T)my strong refuge.
8 My (U)mouth is filled with Your praise
And with (V)Your beauty all day long.
9 Do not cast me off in the (W)time of old age;
Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
10 For my enemies have spoken [h]against me;
And those who (X)watch my [i]life (Y)have counseled together,
11 Saying, “(Z)God has forsaken him;
Pursue and seize him, for there is (AA)no one to deliver.”
12 O God, (AB)do not be far from me;
O my God, (AC)hasten to my help!
13 Let those who accuse my soul be (AD)ashamed and consumed;
Let them be (AE)wrapped up with reproach and dishonor, who (AF)seek [j]to do me evil.
14 But as for me, I will (AG)wait continually,
And will [k](AH)praise You yet more and more.
15 My (AI)mouth shall recount Your righteousness
And (AJ)Your salvation all day long;
For I (AK)do not know the [l]sum of them.
16 I will come (AL)with the mighty deeds of Lord Yahweh;
I will (AM)bring to remembrance Your righteousness, Yours alone.
17 O God, You (AN)have taught me from my youth,
And I still (AO)declare Your wondrous deeds.
18 And even when I am (AP)old and gray, O God, do not forsake me,
Until I (AQ)declare Your [m]strength to this generation,
Your might to all who are to come.
19 [n]For Your (AR)righteousness, O God, reaches to the [o]heavens,
You who have (AS)done great things;
O God, (AT)who is like You?
20 You, who have (AU)shown [p]me many troubles and [q]evils,
Will (AV)revive [r]me again,
And will bring [s]me up again (AW)from the depths of the earth.
21 May You increase my (AX)greatness
And turn to (AY)comfort me.
22 I will also praise You with [t](AZ)a harp,
Even Your [u]truth, O my God;
To You I will sing praises with the (BA)lyre,
O (BB)Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will (BC)sing for joy when I sing praises to You;
And my (BD)soul, which You have redeemed.
24 My (BE)tongue also will utter Your righteousness all day long;
For they are (BF)ashamed, for they are humiliated who seek [v]to do me evil.
Yet God Is My King
A [a]Maskil of Asaph.
74 Why, O God? Have You (A)rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger (B)smoke against the (C)sheep of Your [b]pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You have (D)purchased of old,
Which You have (E)redeemed to be the (F)tribe of Your inheritance;
And this Mount (G)Zion, where You have dwelt.
3 Lift up Your steps toward the (H)perpetual ruins;
The enemy (I)has damaged everything within the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have (J)roared in the midst of Your meeting place;
They have set up their (K)own signs (L)for signs.
5 Each seems like one who lifts up
[c]An (M)axe against the undergrowth of trees.
6 And now its (N)carved work altogether
They smash with hatchet and [d]hammers.
7 They have (O)set Your sanctuary on fire;
By bringing it to the ground, they have (P)defiled the dwelling place of Your name.
8 They (Q)said in their heart, “Let us [e]completely [f]subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our (R)signs;
There is (S)no longer any prophet,
Nor is there any among us who knows (T)how long.
10 How long, O God, will the adversary (U)reproach?
Will the enemy (V)spurn Your name forever?
11 Why (W)do You turn back Your hand, even Your right hand?
From within Your bosom, (X)destroy them!
12 Yet God is (Y)my King from of old,
Who works deeds of [g]salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 You (Z)divided the sea by Your strength;
You (AA)broke the heads of the (AB)sea monsters [h]in the waters.
14 You crushed the heads of [i](AC)Leviathan;
You gave him as food for the [j]creatures (AD)of the desert.
15 [k]You (AE)split open spring and river;
[l]You (AF)dried up ever-flowing rivers.
16 Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;
[m]You have (AG)established the [n]light and the sun.
17 [o]You have (AH)caused all the boundaries of the earth to stand firm;
[p]You have formed (AI)summer and winter.
18 Remember this, O Yahweh, that the enemy has (AJ)reproached,
And a (AK)wickedly foolish people has spurned Your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of Your (AL)turtledove to the wild beast;
(AM)Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
20 Look to the (AN)covenant;
For the (AO)dark places of the land are full of the haunts of violence.
21 Let not the (AP)oppressed return dishonored;
Let the (AQ)afflicted and needy praise Your name.
Ish-bosheth Put to Death
4 Then [a]Ish-bosheth, Saul’s son heard that (A)Abner had died in Hebron. And [b](B)he lost courage, and all Israel was dismayed. 2 Now Saul’s son had two men who were commanders of bands: the name of the one was Baanah and the name of the other Rechab, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, of the sons of Benjamin (for (C)Beeroth is also considered (D)part of Benjamin, 3 and the Beerothites fled to (E)Gittaim and have been sojourners there until this day).
4 Now (F)Jonathan, Saul’s son, had a son crippled in his feet. He was five years old when the (G)report of Saul and Jonathan came from Jezreel, and his nurse took him up and fled. And it happened that in her hurry to flee, he fell and became lame. And his name was [c](H)Mephibosheth.
5 So the sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, Rechab and Baanah, went forth and came to the house of (I)Ish-bosheth in the heat of the day while he was taking his midday rest. 6 [d]They came to the middle of the house as [e]if to get wheat, and (J)they struck him in the belly; and Rechab and Baanah his brother escaped. 7 Thus they came into the house, as he was lying on his bed in his bedroom, and they struck him and put him to death and beheaded him. And they took his head and (K)went on the way leading to the Arabah all night. 8 Then they brought the head of Ish-bosheth to David at Hebron and said to the king, “Behold, the head of Ish-bosheth (L)the son of Saul, your enemy, who sought your life; thus Yahweh has given my lord the king vengeance this day on Saul and his seed.”
9 And David answered Rechab and Baanah his brother, sons of Rimmon the Beerothite, and said to them, “As Yahweh lives, (M)who has redeemed my life from all distress, 10 (N)when one told me, saying, ‘Behold, Saul is dead,’ and [f]thought he was bringing good news, I seized him and killed him in Ziklag, which was the reward I gave him for his news. 11 How much more, when wicked men have killed a righteous man in his own house on his bed, shall I not now (O)require his blood from your hand and purge you from the earth?” 12 Then (P)David commanded the young men, and they killed them and cut off their hands and feet and hung them up beside the pool in Hebron. But they took the head of Ish-bosheth (Q)and buried it in the grave of Abner in Hebron.
The Philippian Jailer Converted
25 But about midnight (A)Paul and Silas were praying and (B)singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. 26 And suddenly (C)there came a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the jailhouse were shaken; and immediately (D)all the doors were opened and everyone’s (E)chains were unfastened. 27 And when (F)the jailer awoke and saw the prison doors opened, he drew his sword and was about (G)to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” 29 And he called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before (H)Paul and Silas, 30 and after he brought them out, he said, “Sirs, (I)what must I do to be saved?” 31 And they said, “(J)Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and (K)your house.” 32 And they spoke the word of [a]the Lord to him together with all who were in his household. 33 And he took them (L)that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set [b]food before them, and rejoiced [c]greatly with (M)his whole household, because he had believed in God.
35 Now when day came, the chief magistrates sent their policemen, saying, “Release those men.” 36 And (N)the jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, “The chief magistrates have sent to release you. Therefore come out now and go (O)in peace.” 37 But Paul said to them, “Having beaten us in public without trial, (P)men who are Romans, they have thrown us into prison. And now are they sending us away secretly? No indeed! But let them come themselves and bring us out.” 38 And the policemen reported these words to the chief magistrates. (Q)They were afraid when they heard that they were Romans, 39 and they came and appealed to them, and when they had brought them out, they kept requesting them (R)to leave the city. 40 And they went out of the prison and entered the house of (S)Lydia, and when they saw (T)the brothers, they [d]encouraged them and left.
God’s Commandments, Man’s Traditions
7 (A)And the Pharisees and some of the scribes *gathered around Him when they had come (B)from Jerusalem, 2 and had seen that some of His disciples were eating their bread with (C)defiled hands, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they [a]carefully wash their hands, thus observing the (D)tradition of the elders; 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they [b]wash themselves; and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of (E)cups and pitchers and copper pots.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the (F)tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with (G)defiled hands?” 6 And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘(H)This people honors Me with their lips,
But their heart is far away from Me.
7 (I)But in vain do they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commands of men.’
8 Leaving the commandment of God, you hold to the (J)tradition of men.”
9 And He was also saying to them, “You are good at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your (K)tradition. 10 For Moses said, ‘(L)Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘(M)He who speaks evil of father or mother, is to [c]be put to death’; 11 but you say, ‘If a man says to his father or his mother, whatever you might benefit from me is (N)Corban (that is to say, [d]given to God),’ 12 you no longer leave him to do anything for his father or his mother; 13 thus invalidating the word of God by your (O)tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”
The Heart of Man
14 And after He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: 15 there is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man. 16 [e][And if anyone has ears to hear, let him hear.”]
17 And when He had left the crowd and entered (P)the house, (Q)His disciples were asking Him about the parable. 18 And He *said to them, “Are you lacking understanding in this way as well? Do you not [f]perceive that whatever goes into the man from outside cannot defile him, 19 because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and goes to the sewer?” (Thus He declared (R)all foods (S)clean.) 20 And He was saying, “(T)That which proceeds out of the man, that is what defiles the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, adulteries, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, [g](U)envy, slander, [h]pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”
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