Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 41[a]
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
1 Blessed(A) are those who have regard for the weak;(B)
the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.(C)
2 The Lord protects(D) and preserves them—(E)
they are counted among the blessed in the land—(F)
he does not give them over to the desire of their foes.(G)
3 The Lord sustains them on their sickbed(H)
and restores them from their bed of illness.(I)
4 I said, “Have mercy(J) on me, Lord;
heal(K) me, for I have sinned(L) against you.”
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
“When will he die and his name perish?(M)”
6 When one of them comes to see me,
he speaks falsely,(N) while his heart gathers slander;(O)
then he goes out and spreads(P) it around.
7 All my enemies whisper together(Q) against me;
they imagine the worst for me, saying,
8 “A vile disease has afflicted him;
he will never get up(R) from the place where he lies.”
9 Even my close friend,(S)
someone I trusted,
one who shared my bread,
has turned[b] against me.(T)
Psalm 52[a]
For the director of music. A maskil[b] of David. When Doeg the Edomite(A) had gone to Saul and told him: “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.”
1 Why do you boast of evil, you mighty hero?
Why do you boast(B) all day long,(C)
you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
2 You who practice deceit,(D)
your tongue plots destruction;(E)
it is like a sharpened razor.(F)
3 You love evil(G) rather than good,
falsehood(H) rather than speaking the truth.[c]
4 You love every harmful word,
you deceitful tongue!(I)
5 Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin:
He will snatch you up and pluck(J) you from your tent;
he will uproot(K) you from the land of the living.(L)
6 The righteous will see and fear;
they will laugh(M) at you, saying,
7 “Here now is the man
who did not make God his stronghold(N)
but trusted in his great wealth(O)
and grew strong by destroying others!”
Psalm 44[a]
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. A maskil.[b]
1 We have heard it with our ears,(A) O God;
our ancestors have told us(B)
what you did in their days,
in days long ago.(C)
2 With your hand you drove out(D) the nations
and planted(E) our ancestors;
you crushed(F) the peoples
and made our ancestors flourish.(G)
3 It was not by their sword(H) that they won the land,
nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand,(I) your arm,(J)
and the light(K) of your face, for you loved(L) them.
4 You are my King(M) and my God,(N)
who decrees[c] victories(O) for Jacob.
5 Through you we push back(P) our enemies;
through your name we trample(Q) our foes.
6 I put no trust in my bow,(R)
my sword does not bring me victory;
7 but you give us victory(S) over our enemies,
you put our adversaries to shame.(T)
8 In God we make our boast(U) all day long,(V)
and we will praise your name forever.[d](W)
9 But now you have rejected(X) and humbled us;(Y)
you no longer go out with our armies.(Z)
10 You made us retreat(AA) before the enemy,
and our adversaries have plundered(AB) us.
11 You gave us up to be devoured like sheep(AC)
and have scattered us among the nations.(AD)
12 You sold your people for a pittance,(AE)
gaining nothing from their sale.
13 You have made us a reproach(AF) to our neighbors,(AG)
the scorn(AH) and derision(AI) of those around us.
14 You have made us a byword(AJ) among the nations;
the peoples shake their heads(AK) at us.
15 I live in disgrace(AL) all day long,
and my face is covered with shame(AM)
16 at the taunts(AN) of those who reproach and revile(AO) me,
because of the enemy, who is bent on revenge.(AP)
17 All this came upon us,
though we had not forgotten(AQ) you;
we had not been false to your covenant.
18 Our hearts had not turned(AR) back;
our feet had not strayed from your path.
19 But you crushed(AS) us and made us a haunt for jackals;(AT)
you covered us over with deep darkness.(AU)
20 If we had forgotten(AV) the name of our God
or spread out our hands to a foreign god,(AW)
21 would not God have discovered it,
since he knows the secrets of the heart?(AX)
22 Yet for your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep(AY) to be slaughtered.(AZ)
Stubborn Israel
48 “Listen to this, you descendants of Jacob,
you who are called by the name of Israel(A)
and come from the line of Judah,(B)
you who take oaths(C) in the name of the Lord(D)
and invoke(E) the God of Israel—
but not in truth(F) or righteousness—
2 you who call yourselves citizens of the holy city(G)
and claim to rely(H) on the God of Israel—
the Lord Almighty is his name:(I)
3 I foretold the former things(J) long ago,
my mouth announced(K) them and I made them known;
then suddenly(L) I acted, and they came to pass.
4 For I knew how stubborn(M) you were;
your neck muscles(N) were iron,
your forehead(O) was bronze.
5 Therefore I told you these things long ago;
before they happened I announced(P) them to you
so that you could not say,
‘My images brought them about;(Q)
my wooden image and metal god ordained them.’
6 You have heard these things; look at them all.
Will you not admit them?
“From now on I will tell you of new things,(R)
of hidden things unknown to you.
7 They are created(S) now, and not long ago;(T)
you have not heard of them before today.
So you cannot say,
‘Yes, I knew(U) of them.’
8 You have neither heard nor understood;(V)
from of old your ears(W) have not been open.
Well do I know how treacherous(X) you are;
you were called a rebel(Y) from birth.
9 For my own name’s sake(Z) I delay my wrath;(AA)
for the sake of my praise I hold it back from you,
so as not to destroy you completely.(AB)
10 See, I have refined(AC) you, though not as silver;
I have tested(AD) you in the furnace(AE) of affliction.
11 For my own sake,(AF) for my own sake, I do this.
How can I let myself be defamed?(AG)
I will not yield my glory to another.(AH)
1 Paul, an apostle(A)—sent not from men nor by a man,(B) but by Jesus Christ(C) and God the Father,(D) who raised him from the dead(E)— 2 and all the brothers and sisters[a] with me,(F)
To the churches in Galatia:(G)
3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ,(H) 4 who gave himself for our sins(I) to rescue us from the present evil age,(J) according to the will of our God and Father,(K) 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.(L)
No Other Gospel
6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called(M) you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel(N)— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion(O) and are trying to pervert(P) the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you,(Q) let them be under God’s curse!(R) 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted,(S) let them be under God’s curse!
10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people?(T) If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Paul Called by God
11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters,(U) that the gospel I preached(V) is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man,(W) nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation(X) from Jesus Christ.(Y)
13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism,(Z) how intensely I persecuted the church of God(AA) and tried to destroy it.(AB) 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous(AC) for the traditions of my fathers.(AD) 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb(AE) and called me(AF) by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles,(AG) my immediate response was not to consult any human being.(AH) 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.(AI)
Jesus Raises a Dead Girl and Heals a Sick Woman(A)
21 When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake,(B) a large crowd gathered around him while he was by the lake.(C) 22 Then one of the synagogue leaders,(D) named Jairus, came, and when he saw Jesus, he fell at his feet. 23 He pleaded earnestly with him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on(E) her so that she will be healed and live.” 24 So Jesus went with him.
A large crowd followed and pressed around him. 25 And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding(F) for twelve years. 26 She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. 27 When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, 28 because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes,(G) I will be healed.” 29 Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.(H)
30 At once Jesus realized that power(I) had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
31 “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, ‘Who touched me?’ ”
32 But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. 33 Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. 34 He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.(J) Go in peace(K) and be freed from your suffering.”
35 While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader.(L) “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”
36 Overhearing[a] what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”
37 He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James.(M) 38 When they came to the home of the synagogue leader,(N) Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.”(O) 40 But they laughed at him.
After he put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with him, and went in where the child was. 41 He took her by the hand(P) and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”).(Q) 42 Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. 43 He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this,(R) and told them to give her something to eat.
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