Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 70
A Call for Deliverance
For the choir director. Of David. To bring remembrance.(A)
1 God, hurry to rescue me.
Lord, hurry to help me!(B)
2 Let those who seek to kill me
be disgraced and confounded;
let those who wish me harm
be turned back and humiliated.
3 Let those who say, “Aha, aha!”
retreat because of their shame.(C)
4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;
let those who love your salvation
continually say, “God is great!” (D)
5 I am oppressed and needy;
hurry to me, God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Lord, do not delay.(E)
Psalm 71
God’s Help in Old Age
1 Lord, I seek refuge in you;
let me never be disgraced.(F)
2 In your justice, rescue and deliver me;
listen closely to me and save me.(G)
3 Be a rock of refuge for me,
where I can always go.
Give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and fortress.(H)
4 Deliver me, my God, from the power of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and oppressive.(I)
5 For you are my hope, Lord God,
my confidence from my youth.(J)
6 I have leaned on you from birth;
you took me from my mother’s womb.(K)
My praise is always about you.(L)
7 I am like a miraculous sign to many,
and you are my strong refuge.(M)
8 My mouth is full of praise
and honor to you all day long.(N)
9 Don’t discard me in my old age.
As my strength fails, do not abandon me.(O)
10 For my enemies talk about me,
and those who spy on me plot together,(P)
11 saying, “God has abandoned him;
chase him and catch him,
for there is no one to rescue him.”(Q)
12 God, do not be far from me;
my God, hurry to help me.(R)
13 May my adversaries be disgraced and destroyed;
may those who intend to harm me
be covered with disgrace and humiliation.(S)
14 But I will hope continually
and will praise you more and more.(T)
15 My mouth will tell about your righteousness
and your salvation all day long,
though I cannot sum them up.(U)
16 I come because of the mighty acts of the Lord God;
I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.(V)
17 God, you have taught me from my youth,
and I still proclaim your wondrous works.(W)
18 Even while I am old and gray,
God, do not abandon me,(X)
while I proclaim your power
to another generation,
your strength to all who are to come.(Y)
19 Your righteousness reaches the heights, God,
you who have done great things;
God, who is like you?(Z)
20 You caused me to experience
many troubles and misfortunes,(AA)
but you will revive me again.(AB)
You will bring me up again,
even from the depths of the earth.(AC)
21 You will increase my honor
and comfort me once again.(AD)
22 Therefore, I will praise you with a harp
for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing to you with a lyre,
Holy One of Israel.(AE)
23 My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praise to you
because you have redeemed me.(AF)
24 Therefore, my tongue will proclaim
your righteousness all day long,
for those who intend to harm me
will be disgraced and confounded.(AG)
Psalm 74
Prayer for Israel
A Maskil of Asaph.(A)
1 Why have you rejected us forever, God?
Why does your anger burn
against the sheep of your pasture?(B)
2 Remember your congregation,
which you purchased long ago
and redeemed as the tribe for your own possession.(C)
Remember Mount Zion where you dwell.(D)
3 Make your way[a] to the perpetual ruins,
to all that the enemy has destroyed in the sanctuary.(E)
4 Your adversaries roared in the meeting place
where you met with us.[b]
They set up their emblems as signs.(F)
5 It was like men in a thicket of trees,
wielding axes,(G)
6 then smashing all the carvings
with hatchets and picks.(H)
7 They set your sanctuary on fire;
they utterly[c] desecrated
the dwelling place of your name.(I)
8 They said in their hearts,
“Let’s oppress them relentlessly.”
They burned every place throughout the land
where God met with us.[d](J)
9 There are no signs for us to see.
There is no longer a prophet.
And none of us knows how long this will last.(K)
10 God, how long will the enemy mock?
Will the foe insult your name forever?(L)
11 Why do you hold back your hand?
Stretch out[e] your right hand and destroy them!(M)
12 God my King is from ancient times,
performing saving acts on the earth.(N)
13 You divided the sea with your strength;
you smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the water;(O)
14 you crushed the heads of Leviathan;
you fed him to the creatures of the desert. (P)
15 You opened up springs and streams;(Q)
you dried up ever-flowing rivers.(R)
16 The day is yours, also the night;
you established the moon and the sun.(S)
17 You set all the boundaries of the earth;
you made summer and winter.(T)
18 Remember this: the enemy has mocked the Lord,
and a foolish people has insulted your name.(U)
19 Do not give to beasts the life of your dove;[f]
do not forget the lives of your poor people forever.(V)
20 Consider the covenant,(W)
for the dark places of the land are full of violence.(X)
21 Do not let the oppressed turn away in shame;
let the poor and needy praise your name.(Y)
22 Rise up, God, champion your cause!(Z)
Remember the insults
that fools bring against you all day long.(AA)
23 Do not forget the clamor of your adversaries,
the tumult of your opponents that goes up constantly.(AB)
Ahab’s Death
29 Then(A) the king of Israel and Judah’s King Jehoshaphat went up to Ramoth-gilead.(B) 30 But the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise(C) myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal attire.” So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle.(D)
31 Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders,(E) “Do not fight with anyone at all[a] except the king of Israel.”(F)
32 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they shouted, “He must be the king of Israel!” So they turned to fight against him, but Jehoshaphat cried out. 33 When the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.
34 But a man drew his bow(G) without taking special aim and struck the king of Israel through the joints of his armor. So he said to his charioteer, “Turn around and take me out of the battle,[b] for I am badly wounded!” (H) 35 The battle raged throughout that day, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. He died that evening,(I) and blood from his wound flowed into the bottom of the chariot. 36 Then the cry rang out in the army as the sun set, declaring:
Each man to his own city,
and each man to his own land!(J)
37 So the king died and was brought to Samaria. They buried the king in Samaria.(K) 38 Then someone washed the chariot at the pool of Samaria. The dogs licked up his blood, and the prostitutes bathed in it, according to the word of the Lord that he had spoken.(L)
39 The rest of the events of Ahab’s reign, along with all his accomplishments, including the ivory palace(M) he built, and all the cities he built, are written in the Historical Record of Israel’s Kings.(N) 40 Ahab rested with his ancestors,(O) and his son Ahaziah(P) became king in his place.
Judah’s King Jehoshaphat
41 Jehoshaphat(Q) son of Asa became king over Judah in the fourth year of Israel’s King Ahab. 42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king; he reigned twenty-five years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. 43 He walked in all the ways of his father Asa;(R) he did not turn away from them but did what was right in the Lord’s sight. However, the high places were not taken away;[c] the people still sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.(S) 44 Jehoshaphat also made peace with the king of Israel.(T)
45 The rest of the events of Jehoshaphat’s reign, along with the might he exercised and how he waged war, are written in the Historical Record of Judah’s Kings.(U)
14 But the person without the Spirit[a] does not receive what comes from God’s Spirit, because it is foolishness to him; he is not able to understand it since it is evaluated[b] spiritually. 15 The spiritual person, however, can evaluate[c] everything, and yet he himself cannot be evaluated by anyone. 16 For
But we have the mind of Christ.(B)
The Problem of Immaturity
3 For my part, brothers and sisters, I was not able to speak to you as spiritual people but as people of the flesh, as babies in Christ.(C) 2 I gave you milk to drink, not solid food, since you were not yet ready for it. In fact, you are still not ready, 3 because you are still worldly. For since there is envy(D) and strife[e](E) among you, are you not worldly and behaving like mere humans? 4 For whenever someone says, “I belong to Paul,” and another, “I belong to Apollos,”(F) are you not acting like mere humans?
The Role of God’s Servants
5 What then is Apollos? What is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, and each has the role the Lord has given. 6 I planted,(G) Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. 7 So, then, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one,[f] and each will receive his own reward according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s coworkers.[g] You are God’s field, God’s building.(H)
10 According to God’s grace that was given to me, I have laid a foundation as a skilled master builder,[h] and another builds on it. But each one is to be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay any foundation(I) other than what has been laid down. That foundation is Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver,(J) costly stones,(K) wood, hay, or straw, 13 each one’s work will become obvious. For the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire;(L) the fire will test the quality of each one’s work.(M) 14 If anyone’s work that he has built survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will experience[i] loss, but he himself will be saved(N)—but only as through fire.(O)
The Sermon on the Mount
5 When he saw the crowds, he went up on the mountain,(A) and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 Then[a] he began to teach them, saying:(B)
The Beatitudes
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,(C)
for the kingdom of heaven(D) is theirs.
4 Blessed are those who mourn,(E)
for they will be comforted.
5 Blessed are the humble,(F)
for they will inherit the earth.
6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,(G)
for they will be filled.
7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.(H)
8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.(I)
9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called sons of God.(J)
10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for the kingdom of heaven(K) is theirs.
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