Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 70[a](A)
For the director of music. Of David. A petition.
1 Hasten, O God, to save me;
come quickly, Lord, to help me.(B)
2 May those who want to take my life(C)
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
be turned back in disgrace.(D)
3 May those who say to me, “Aha! Aha!”(E)
turn back because of their shame.
4 But may all who seek you(F)
rejoice and be glad(G) in you;
may those who long for your saving help always say,
“The Lord is great!”(H)
5 But as for me, I am poor and needy;(I)
come quickly to me,(J) O God.
You are my help(K) and my deliverer;(L)
Lord, do not delay.(M)
Psalm 71(N)
1 In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;(O)
let me never be put to shame.(P)
2 In your righteousness, rescue me and deliver me;
turn your ear(Q) to me and save me.
3 Be my rock of refuge,
to which I can always go;
give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and my fortress.(R)
4 Deliver(S) me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,(T)
from the grasp of those who are evil and cruel.(U)
5 For you have been my hope,(V) Sovereign Lord,
my confidence(W) since my youth.
6 From birth(X) I have relied on you;
you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.(Y)
I will ever praise(Z) you.
7 I have become a sign(AA) to many;
you are my strong refuge.(AB)
8 My mouth(AC) is filled with your praise,
declaring your splendor(AD) all day long.
9 Do not cast(AE) me away when I am old;(AF)
do not forsake(AG) me when my strength is gone.
10 For my enemies(AH) speak against me;
those who wait to kill(AI) me conspire(AJ) together.
11 They say, “God has forsaken(AK) him;
pursue him and seize him,
for no one will rescue(AL) him.”
12 Do not be far(AM) from me, my God;
come quickly, God, to help(AN) me.
13 May my accusers(AO) perish in shame;(AP)
may those who want to harm me
be covered with scorn and disgrace.(AQ)
14 As for me, I will always have hope;(AR)
I will praise you more and more.
15 My mouth will tell(AS) of your righteous deeds,(AT)
of your saving acts all day long—
though I know not how to relate them all.
16 I will come and proclaim your mighty acts,(AU) Sovereign Lord;
I will proclaim your righteous deeds, yours alone.
17 Since my youth, God, you have taught(AV) me,
and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.(AW)
18 Even when I am old and gray,(AX)
do not forsake me, my God,
till I declare your power(AY) to the next generation,
your mighty acts to all who are to come.(AZ)
19 Your righteousness, God, reaches to the heavens,(BA)
you who have done great things.(BB)
Who is like you, God?(BC)
20 Though you have made me see troubles,(BD)
many and bitter,
you will restore(BE) my life again;
from the depths of the earth(BF)
you will again bring me up.
21 You will increase my honor(BG)
and comfort(BH) me once more.
22 I will praise you with the harp(BI)
for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing praise to you with the lyre,(BJ)
Holy One of Israel.(BK)
23 My lips will shout for joy(BL)
when I sing praise to you—
I whom you have delivered.(BM)
24 My tongue will tell of your righteous acts
all day long,(BN)
for those who wanted to harm me(BO)
have been put to shame and confusion.(BP)
Psalm 74
A maskil[a] of Asaph.
1 O God, why have you rejected(A) us forever?(B)
Why does your anger smolder against the sheep of your pasture?(C)
2 Remember the nation you purchased(D) long ago,(E)
the people of your inheritance,(F) whom you redeemed(G)—
Mount Zion,(H) where you dwelt.(I)
3 Turn your steps toward these everlasting ruins,(J)
all this destruction the enemy has brought on the sanctuary.
4 Your foes roared(K) in the place where you met with us;
they set up their standards(L) as signs.
5 They behaved like men wielding axes
to cut through a thicket of trees.(M)
6 They smashed all the carved(N) paneling
with their axes and hatchets.
7 They burned your sanctuary to the ground;
they defiled(O) the dwelling place(P) of your Name.(Q)
8 They said in their hearts, “We will crush(R) them completely!”
They burned(S) every place where God was worshiped in the land.
9 We are given no signs from God;(T)
no prophets(U) are left,
and none of us knows how long this will be.
10 How long(V) will the enemy mock(W) you, God?
Will the foe revile(X) your name forever?
11 Why do you hold back your hand, your right hand?(Y)
Take it from the folds of your garment(Z) and destroy them!
13 It was you who split open the sea(AC) by your power;
you broke the heads of the monster(AD) in the waters.
14 It was you who crushed the heads of Leviathan(AE)
and gave it as food to the creatures of the desert.(AF)
15 It was you who opened up springs(AG) and streams;
you dried up(AH) the ever-flowing rivers.
16 The day is yours, and yours also the night;
you established the sun and moon.(AI)
17 It was you who set all the boundaries(AJ) of the earth;
you made both summer and winter.(AK)
18 Remember how the enemy has mocked you, Lord,
how foolish people(AL) have reviled your name.
19 Do not hand over the life of your dove(AM) to wild beasts;
do not forget the lives of your afflicted(AN) people forever.
20 Have regard for your covenant,(AO)
because haunts of violence fill the dark places(AP) of the land.
21 Do not let the oppressed(AQ) retreat in disgrace;
may the poor and needy(AR) praise your name.
22 Rise up,(AS) O God, and defend your cause;
remember how fools(AT) mock you all day long.
23 Do not ignore the clamor(AU) of your adversaries,(AV)
the uproar(AW) of your enemies,(AX) which rises continually.
Invitation to the Thirsty
55 “Come, all you who are thirsty,(A)
come to the waters;(B)
and you who have no money,
come, buy(C) and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk(D)
without money and without cost.(E)
2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?(F)
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,(G)
and you will delight in the richest(H) of fare.
3 Give ear and come to me;
listen,(I) that you may live.(J)
I will make an everlasting covenant(K) with you,
my faithful love(L) promised to David.(M)
4 See, I have made him a witness(N) to the peoples,
a ruler and commander(O) of the peoples.
5 Surely you will summon nations(P) you know not,
and nations you do not know will come running to you,(Q)
because of the Lord your God,
the Holy One(R) of Israel,
for he has endowed you with splendor.”(S)
6 Seek(T) the Lord while he may be found;(U)
call(V) on him while he is near.
7 Let the wicked forsake(W) their ways
and the unrighteous their thoughts.(X)
Let them turn(Y) to the Lord, and he will have mercy(Z) on them,
and to our God, for he will freely pardon.(AA)
8 “For my thoughts(AB) are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”(AC)
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,(AD)
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts.(AE)
10 As the rain(AF) and the snow
come down from heaven,
and do not return to it
without watering the earth
and making it bud and flourish,(AG)
so that it yields seed(AH) for the sower and bread for the eater,(AI)
11 so is my word(AJ) that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty,(AK)
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose(AL) for which I sent it.
12 You will go out in joy(AM)
and be led forth in peace;(AN)
the mountains and hills
will burst into song(AO) before you,
and all the trees(AP) of the field
will clap their hands.(AQ)
13 Instead of the thornbush will grow the juniper,
and instead of briers(AR) the myrtle(AS) will grow.
This will be for the Lord’s renown,(AT)
for an everlasting sign,
that will endure forever.”
Freedom in Christ
5 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.(A) Stand firm,(B) then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.(C)
2 Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised,(D) Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3 Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.(E) 4 You who are trying to be justified by the law(F) have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace.(G) 5 For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope.(H) 6 For in Christ Jesus(I) neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value.(J) The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.(K)
7 You were running a good race.(L) Who cut in on you(M) to keep you from obeying the truth? 8 That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you.(N) 9 “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.”(O) 10 I am confident(P) in the Lord that you will take no other view.(Q) The one who is throwing you into confusion,(R) whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. 11 Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted?(S) In that case the offense(T) of the cross has been abolished. 12 As for those agitators,(U) I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!
Life by the Spirit
13 You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free.(V) But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh[a];(W) rather, serve one another(X) humbly in love. 14 For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b](Y) 15 If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other.
Peter Declares That Jesus Is the Messiah(A)
27 Jesus and his disciples went on to the villages around Caesarea Philippi. On the way he asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist;(B) others say Elijah;(C) and still others, one of the prophets.”
29 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Messiah.”(D)
30 Jesus warned them not to tell anyone about him.(E)
Jesus Predicts His Death(F)
31 He then began to teach them that the Son of Man(G) must suffer many things(H) and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law,(I) and that he must be killed(J) and after three days(K) rise again.(L) 32 He spoke plainly(M) about this, and Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.
33 But when Jesus turned and looked at his disciples, he rebuked Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!”(N) he said. “You do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”
The Way of the Cross
34 Then he called the crowd to him along with his disciples and said: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.(O) 35 For whoever wants to save their life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it.(P) 36 What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? 37 Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul? 38 If anyone is ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man(Q) will be ashamed of them(R) when he comes(S) in his Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
9 And he said to them, “Truly I tell you, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see that the kingdom of God has come(T) with power.”(U)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.