Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Relief from Tormentors
To the Chief Musician. Set to [a]“The Silent Dove in Distant Lands.” A Michtam of David when the (A)Philistines captured him in Gath.
56 Be (B)merciful to me, O God, for man would swallow me up;
Fighting all day he oppresses me.
2 My enemies would (C)hound me all day,
For there are many who fight against me, O Most High.
3 Whenever I am afraid,
I will trust in You.
4 In God (I will praise His word),
In God I have put my trust;
(D)I will not fear.
What can flesh do to me?
5 All day they twist my words;
All their thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They gather together,
They hide, they mark my steps,
When they lie in wait for my life.
7 Shall they escape by iniquity?
In anger cast down the peoples, O God!
8 You number my wanderings;
Put my tears into Your bottle;
(E)Are they not in Your book?
9 When I cry out to You,
Then my enemies will turn back;
This I know, because (F)God is for me.
10 In God (I will praise His word),
In the Lord (I will praise His word),
11 In God I have put my trust;
I will not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God;
I will render praises to You,
13 (G)For You have delivered my soul from death.
Have You not kept my feet from falling,
That I may walk before God
In the (H)light of the living?
Prayer for Safety from Enemies(I)
To the Chief Musician. Set to [b]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David (J)when he fled from Saul into the cave.
57 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me!
For my soul trusts in You;
(K)And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge,
(L)Until these calamities have passed by.
2 I will cry out to God Most High,
To God (M)who performs all things for me.
3 (N)He shall send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches the one who [c]would swallow me up. Selah
God (O)shall send forth His mercy and His truth.
4 My soul is among lions;
I lie among the sons of men
Who are set on fire,
(P)Whose teeth are spears and arrows,
And their tongue a sharp sword.
5 (Q)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
6 (R)They have prepared a net for my steps;
My soul is bowed down;
They have dug a pit before me;
Into the midst of it they themselves have fallen. Selah
7 (S)My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast;
I will sing and give praise.
8 Awake, (T)my glory!
Awake, lute and harp!
I will awaken the dawn.
9 (U)I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing to You among the [d]nations.
10 (V)For Your mercy reaches unto the heavens,
And Your truth unto the clouds.
11 (W)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
The Just Judgment of the Wicked
To the Chief Musician. Set to [e]“Do Not Destroy.” A Michtam of David.
58 Do you indeed speak righteousness, you silent ones?
Do you judge uprightly, you sons of men?
2 No, in heart you work wickedness;
You weigh out the violence of your hands in the earth.
3 (X)The wicked are estranged from the womb;
They go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies.
4 (Y)Their poison is like the poison of a serpent;
They are like the deaf cobra that stops its ear,
5 Which will not (Z)heed the voice of charmers,
Charming ever so skillfully.
6 (AA)Break[f] their teeth in their mouth, O God!
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Lord!
7 (AB)Let them flow away as waters which run continually;
When he bends his bow,
Let his arrows be as if cut in pieces.
8 Let them be like a snail which melts away as it goes,
(AC)Like a stillborn child of a woman, that they may not see the sun.
9 Before your (AD)pots can feel the burning thorns,
He shall take them away (AE)as with a whirlwind,
As in His living and burning wrath.
10 The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the (AF)vengeance;
(AG)He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked,
11 (AH)So that men will say,
“Surely there is a reward for the righteous;
Surely He is God who (AI)judges in the earth.”
Oppressed by the Wicked but Rejoicing in the Lord
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
64 Hear my voice, O God, in my [a]meditation;
Preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked,
From the rebellion of the workers of iniquity,
3 Who sharpen their tongue like a sword,
(A)And bend their bows to shoot their arrows—bitter words,
4 That they may shoot in secret at the blameless;
Suddenly they shoot at him and do not fear.
5 They encourage themselves in an evil matter;
They talk of laying snares secretly;
(B)They say, “Who will see them?”
6 They devise iniquities:
“We have perfected a shrewd scheme.”
Both the inward thought and the heart of man are deep.
7 But God shall shoot at them with an arrow;
Suddenly they shall be wounded.
8 So He will make them stumble over their own tongue;
(C)All who see them shall flee away.
9 All men shall fear,
And shall (D)declare the work of God;
For they shall wisely consider His doing.
10 (E)The righteous shall be glad in the Lord, and trust in Him.
And all the upright in heart shall glory.
Praise to God for His Salvation and Providence
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. A Song.
65 Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion;
And to You the [b]vow shall be performed.
2 O You who hear prayer,
(F)To You all flesh will come.
3 Iniquities prevail against me;
As for our transgressions,
You will (G)provide atonement for them.
4 (H)Blessed is the man You (I)choose,
And cause to approach You,
That he may dwell in Your courts.
(J)We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Of Your holy temple.
5 By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us,
O God of our salvation,
You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth,
And of the far-off seas;
6 Who established the mountains by His strength,
(K)Being clothed with power;
7 (L)You who still the noise of the seas,
The noise of their waves,
(M)And the tumult of the peoples.
8 They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs;
You make the outgoings of the morning and evening [c]rejoice.
9 You [d]visit the earth and (N)water it,
You greatly enrich it;
(O)The river of God is full of water;
You provide their grain,
For so You have prepared it.
10 You water its ridges abundantly,
You settle its furrows;
You make it soft with showers,
You bless its growth.
11 You crown the year with Your goodness,
And Your paths drip with abundance.
12 They drop on the pastures of the wilderness,
And the little hills rejoice on every side.
13 The pastures are clothed with flocks;
(P)The valleys also are covered with grain;
They shout for joy, they also sing.
Naboth Is Murdered for His Vineyard
21 And it came to pass after these things that Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard which was in (A)Jezreel, next to the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. 2 So Ahab spoke to Naboth, saying, “Give me your (B)vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near, next to my house; and for it I will give you a vineyard better than it. Or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its worth in money.”
3 But Naboth said to Ahab, “The Lord forbid (C)that I should give the inheritance of my fathers to you!”
4 So Ahab went into his house sullen and displeased because of the word which Naboth the Jezreelite had spoken to him; for he had said, “I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.” And he lay down on his bed, and turned away his face, and would eat no food. 5 But (D)Jezebel his wife came to him, and said to him, “Why is your spirit so sullen that you eat no food?”
6 He said to her, “Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite, and said to him, ‘Give me your vineyard for money; or else, if it pleases you, I will give you another vineyard for it.’ And he answered, ‘I will not give you my vineyard.’ ”
7 Then Jezebel his wife said to him, “You now exercise authority over Israel! Arise, eat food, and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
8 And she wrote letters in Ahab’s name, sealed them with his seal, and sent the letters to the elders and the nobles who were dwelling in the city with Naboth. 9 She wrote in the letters, saying,
Proclaim a fast, and seat Naboth [a]with high honor among the people; 10 and seat two men, scoundrels, before him to bear witness against him, saying, “You have (E)blasphemed God and the king.” Then take him out, and (F)stone him, that he may die.
11 So the men of his city, the elders and nobles who were inhabitants of his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. 12 (G)They proclaimed a fast, and seated Naboth with high honor among the people. 13 And two men, scoundrels, came in and sat before him; and the scoundrels (H)witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, “Naboth has blasphemed God and the king!” (I)Then they took him outside the city and stoned him with stones, so that he died. 14 Then they sent to Jezebel, saying, “Naboth has been stoned and is dead.”
15 And it came to pass, when Jezebel heard that Naboth had been stoned and was dead, that Jezebel said to Ahab, “Arise, take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, which he refused to give you for money; for Naboth is not alive, but dead.” 16 So it was, when Ahab heard that Naboth was dead, that Ahab got up and went down to take possession of the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.
Greeting
1 Paul, (A)called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ (B)through the will of God, and (C)Sosthenes our brother,
2 To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who (D)are [a]sanctified in Christ Jesus, (E)called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ (F)our Lord, (G)both theirs and ours:
3 (H)Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Spiritual Gifts at Corinth
4 (I)I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given to you by Christ Jesus, 5 that you were enriched in everything by Him (J)in all [b]utterance and all knowledge, 6 even as (K)the testimony of Christ was confirmed [c]in you, 7 so that you come short in no gift, eagerly (L)waiting for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 (M)who will also confirm you to the end, (N)that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 (O)God is faithful, by whom you were called into (P)the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Sectarianism Is Sin
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, (Q)that you all [d]speak the same thing, and that there be no [e]divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. 11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are [f]contentions among you. 12 Now I say this, that (R)each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of (S)Apollos,” or “I am of (T)Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.” 13 (U)Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?
14 I thank God that I baptized (V)none of you except (W)Crispus and (X)Gaius, 15 lest anyone should say that I had baptized in my own name. 16 Yes, I also baptized the household of (Y)Stephanas. Besides, I do not know whether I baptized any other. 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, (Z)not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect.
Christ the Power and Wisdom of God(AA)
18 For the [g]message of the cross is (AB)foolishness to (AC)those who are perishing, but to us (AD)who are being saved it is the (AE)power of God. 19 For it is written:
(AF)“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”
Satan Tempts Jesus(A)
4 Then (B)Jesus was led up by (C)the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”
4 But He answered and said, “It is written, (D)‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”
5 Then the devil took Him up (E)into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple, 6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written:
(F)‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’
and,
(G)‘In their hands they shall bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”
7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, (H)‘You shall not [a]tempt the Lord your God.’ ”
8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and (I)showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”
10 Then Jesus said to him, [b]“Away with you, Satan! For it is written, (J)‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ”
11 Then the devil (K)left Him, and behold, (L)angels came and ministered to Him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.