Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Protection from the Wicked.
For the choir director; for [a]flute accompaniment. A Psalm of David.
5 (A)Give ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my [b](B)groaning.
2 Heed (C)the sound of my cry for help, (D)my King and my God,
For to You I pray.
3 In the morning, O Lord, [c]You will hear my voice;
In the (E)morning I will order my [d]prayer to You and eagerly (F)watch.
4 For You are not a God (G)who takes pleasure in wickedness;
(H)No evil [e]dwells with You.
5 The (I)boastful shall not (J)stand before Your eyes;
You (K)hate all who do iniquity.
6 You (L)destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors (M)the man of bloodshed and deceit.
7 But as for me, (N)by Your abundant lovingkindness I will enter Your house,
[f]At Your holy temple I will (O)bow in (P)reverence for You.
8 O Lord, (Q)lead me (R)in Your righteousness (S)because of [g]my foes;
Make Your way [h]straight before me.
9 There is (T)nothing [i]reliable in [j]what they say;
Their (U)inward part is destruction itself.
Their (V)throat is an open grave;
They [k]flatter with their tongue.
10 Hold them guilty, O God;
(W)By their own devices let them fall!
In the multitude of their transgressions (X)thrust them out,
For they are (Y)rebellious against You.
11 But let all who (Z)take refuge in You (AA)be glad,
Let them ever sing for joy;
And [l]may You (AB)shelter them,
That those who (AC)love Your name may exult in You.
12 For it is You who (AD)blesses the righteous man, O Lord,
You (AE)surround him with favor as with a shield.
Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble.
For the choir director; with stringed instruments, [m]upon an eight-string lyre. A Psalm of David.
6 O Lord, (AF)do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor chasten me in Your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Lord, for I am (AG)pining away;
(AH)Heal me, O Lord, for (AI)my bones are dismayed.
3 And my (AJ)soul is greatly dismayed;
But You, O Lord—(AK)how long?
4 Return, O Lord, (AL)rescue my [n]soul;
Save me because of Your lovingkindness.
5 For (AM)there is no [o]mention of You in death;
In [p]Sheol who will give You thanks?
A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked.
10 Why (A)do You stand afar off, O Lord?
Why (B)do You hide [a]Yourself in times of trouble?
2 In (C)pride the wicked [b]hotly pursue the afflicted;
[c]Let them be (D)caught in the plots which they have devised.
3 For the wicked (E)boasts of his (F)heart’s desire,
And [d]the greedy man curses and (G)spurns the Lord.
4 The wicked, in the haughtiness of his countenance, (H)does not seek Him.
All his [e]thoughts are, “(I)There is no God.”
5 His ways [f](J)prosper at all times;
Your judgments are on high, (K)out of his sight;
As for all his adversaries, he snorts at them.
6 He says to himself, “(L)I will not be moved;
[g]Throughout all generations (M)I will not be in adversity.”
7 His (N)mouth is full of curses and deceit and (O)oppression;
(P)Under his tongue is mischief and wickedness.
8 He sits in the (Q)lurking places of the villages;
In the hiding places he (R)kills the innocent;
His eyes [h]stealthily watch for the [i](S)unfortunate.
9 He lurks in a hiding place as (T)a lion in his [j]lair;
He (U)lurks to catch (V)the afflicted;
He catches the afflicted when he draws him into his (W)net.
10 He [k]crouches, he [l]bows down,
And the [m]unfortunate fall [n]by his mighty ones.
11 He (X)says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
12 Arise, O Lord; O God, (Y)lift up Your hand.
(Z)Do not forget the afflicted.
13 Why has the wicked (AA)spurned God?
He has said to himself, “You will not require it.”
14 You have seen it, for You have beheld (AB)mischief and vexation to [o]take it into Your hand.
The [p](AC)unfortunate commits himself to You;
You have been the (AD)helper of the orphan.
15 (AE)Break the arm of the wicked and the evildoer,
[q](AF)Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
16 The Lord is (AG)King forever and ever;
(AH)Nations have perished from His land.
17 O Lord, You have heard the (AI)desire of the [r]humble;
You will (AJ)strengthen their heart, (AK)You will incline Your ear
18 To [s]vindicate the (AL)orphan and the (AM)oppressed,
So that man who is of the earth will no longer cause (AN)terror.
The Lord a Refuge and Defense.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
11 In the Lord I (AO)take refuge;
How can you say to my soul, “Flee as a bird to your (AP)mountain;
2 For, behold, the wicked (AQ)bend the bow,
They [t](AR)make ready their arrow upon the string
To (AS)shoot in darkness at the upright in heart.
3 If the (AT)foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?”
4 The Lord is in His (AU)holy temple; the [u]Lord’s (AV)throne is in heaven;
His (AW)eyes behold, His eyelids test the sons of men.
5 The Lord (AX)tests the righteous and (AY)the wicked,
And the one who loves violence His soul hates.
6 Upon the wicked He will (AZ)rain [v]snares;
(BA)Fire and brimstone and (BB)burning wind will be the portion of (BC)their cup.
7 For the Lord is (BD)righteous, (BE)He loves [w]righteousness;
The upright will (BF)behold His face.
The King’s Forgotten Dream
2 Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar [a](A)had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his (B)sleep [b]left him. 2 Then the king [c]gave orders to call in the [d](C)magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the [e]Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king. 3 The king said to them, “I [f](D)had a dream and my spirit [g]is anxious to [h]understand the dream.”
4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in [i](E)Aramaic: “(F)O king, live forever! (G)Tell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 5 The king replied to the Chaldeans, “[j]The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be [k](H)torn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap. 6 But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me (I)gifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.” 7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king (J)tell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.” 8 The king replied, “I know for certain that you are [l]bargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that [m]the command from me is firm, 9 that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only (K)one [n]decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt [o]words before me until the [p]situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may (L)know that you can declare to me its interpretation.” 10 The Chaldeans answered [q]the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter [r]for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any [s](M)magician, conjurer or Chaldean. 11 Moreover, the thing which the king demands is [t]difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it [u]to the king except (N)gods, whose (O)dwelling place is not with mortal flesh.”
12 Because of this the king became (P)indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon. 13 So the [v]decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for (Q)Daniel and his friends to [w]kill them.
14 Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to (R)Arioch, the captain of the king’s [x]bodyguard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon; 15 he said to Arioch, the king’s commander, “For what reason is the [y]decree from the king so [z]urgent?” Then Arioch informed Daniel about the matter. 16 So Daniel went in and requested of the king that he would [aa]give him time, in order that he might declare the interpretation to the king.
Christ Is Our Advocate
2 (A)My little children, I am (B)writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, (C)we have an [a](D)Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and He Himself is (E)the [b]propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also (F)for those of the whole world.
3 (G)By this we know that we have come to (H)know Him, if we (I)keep His commandments. 4 The one who says, “(J)I have come to (K)know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a (L)liar, and (M)the truth is not in him; 5 but whoever (N)keeps His word, in him the (O)love of God has truly been perfected. (P)By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one who says he (Q)abides in Him (R)ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
7 (S)Beloved, I am (T)not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had (U)from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8 [c]On the other hand, I am writing (V)a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because (W)the darkness is passing away and (X)the true Light is already shining. 9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet (Y)hates his (Z)brother is in the darkness until now. 10 (AA)The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who (AB)hates his brother is in the darkness and (AC)walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has (AD)blinded his eyes.
12 While I was with them, I was keeping them in Your name (A)which You have given Me; and I guarded them and (B)not one of them perished but (C)the [a]son of perdition, so that the (D)Scripture would be fulfilled.
The Disciples in the World
13 But now (E)I come to You; and (F)these things I speak in the world so that they may have My (G)joy made full in themselves. 14 I have given them Your word; and (H)the world has hated them, because (I)they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them [b]from [c](J)the evil one. 16 (K)They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 (L)Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18 As (M)You sent Me into the world, (N)I also have sent them into the world. 19 For their sakes I (O)sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be (P)sanctified (Q)in truth.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.