Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Protection from the Wicked.
For the music director; for [a]flute accompaniment. A Psalm of David.
5 (A)Listen to my words, Lord,
Consider my (B)sighing.
2 Listen to (C)the sound of my cry for help, (D)my King and my God,
For to You I pray.
3 In the morning, Lord, [b]You will hear my voice;
In the (E)morning I will present my [c]prayer to You and be on the (F)watch.
4 For You are not a God (G)who takes pleasure in wickedness;
(H)No evil can dwell with You.
5 The (I)boastful will not (J)stand before Your eyes;
You (K)hate all who do injustice.
6 You (L)destroy those who speak lies;
The Lord loathes (M)the person of bloodshed and deceit.
7 But as for me, (N)by Your abundant graciousness I will enter Your house,
[d]At Your holy temple I will (O)bow in (P)reverence for You.
8 Lord, (Q)lead me (R)in Your righteousness (S)because of my enemies;
Make Your way [e]straight before me.
9 For there is (T)nothing [f]trustworthy in [g]their mouth;
Their (U)inward part is destruction itself.
Their (V)throat is an open grave;
They [h]flatter with their tongue.
10 Make them pay, God;
(W)Have them fall by their own schemes!
(X)Scatter them in the multitude of their wrongdoings,
For they are (Y)rebellious against You.
11 But (Z)rejoice, all who (AA)take refuge in You,
Sing for joy forever!
And [i]may You (AB)shelter them,
That those who (AC)love Your name may rejoice in You.
12 For You (AD)bless the righteous person, Lord,
You (AE)surround him with favor as with a shield.
Prayer for Mercy in Time of Trouble.
For the music director; with stringed instruments, [j]upon an eight-string lyre. A Psalm of David.
6 Lord, (AF)do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor discipline me in Your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, Lord, for I am (AG)frail;
(AH)Heal me, Lord, for (AI)my bones are horrified.
3 And my (AJ)soul is greatly horrified;
But You, Lord—(AK)how long?
4 Return, Lord, (AL)rescue my [k]soul;
Save me because of Your mercy.
5 For (AM)there is no [l]mention of You in death;
In [m]Sheol, who will praise You?
A Prayer for the Overthrow of the Wicked.
10 Why (A)do You stand far away, Lord?
Why (B)do You hide [a]Yourself in times of trouble?
2 In (C)arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the needy;
[b]Let them be (D)caught in the plots which they have devised.
3 For the wicked (E)boasts of his (F)soul’s desire,
And [c]the greedy person curses and (G)shows disrespect to the Lord.
4 The wicked, [d]in his haughtiness, (H)does not seek Him.
(I)There is no God in all his schemes.
5 His ways (J)succeed at all times;
Yet Your judgments are on high, (K)out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he snorts at them.
6 He says to himself, “(L)I will not be moved;
[e]Throughout the generations (M)I will not be in adversity.”
7 His (N)mouth is full of cursing, deceit, and (O)oppression;
(P)Under his tongue is harm and injustice.
8 He sits in the (Q)lurking places of the villages;
He (R)kills the innocent in the secret places;
His eyes [f]surreptitiously watch for the [g](S)unfortunate.
9 He lurks in secret like (T)a lion in his [h]lair;
He (U)lurks to catch (V)the needy;
He catches the needy when he pulls him into his (W)net.
10 Then he crushes the needy one, who cowers;
And [i]unfortunate people fall by his mighty power.
11 He (X)says to himself, “God has forgotten;
He has hidden His face; He will never see it.”
12 Arise, Lord; God, (Y)lift up Your hand.
(Z)Do not forget the humble.
13 Why has the wicked (AA)treated God disrespectfully?
He has said to himself, “[j]You will not require an account.”
14 You have seen it, for You have looked at (AB)harm and provocation to [k]take it into Your hand.
The [l](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,
[m](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 Lord, You have heard the (AI)desire of the humble;
You will (AJ)strengthen their heart, (AK)You will make Your ear attentive
18 To [n]vindicate the (AL)orphan and the (AM)oppressed,
So that mankind, which is of the earth, will no longer cause (AN)terror.
The Lord, a Refuge and Defense.
For the music 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 have [o](AR)set their arrow on 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 [p]Lord’s (AV)throne is in heaven;
His (AW)eyes see, His eyelids test the sons of mankind.
5 The Lord (AX)tests the righteous and (AY)the wicked,
And His soul hates one who loves violence.
6 He will (AZ)rain [q]coals of fire upon the wicked,
(BA)And brimstone and (BB)burning wind will be the portion of (BC)their cup.
7 For the Lord is (BD)righteous, (BE)He loves [r]righteousness;
The upright will (BF)see His face.
Solomon Anointed King
38 So (A)Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, (B)the Cherethites, and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David’s mule, and brought him to (C)Gihon. 39 And Zadok the priest then (D)took the horn of oil from the tent and (E)anointed Solomon. Then they (F)blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “(G)Long live King Solomon!” 40 And all the people went up after him, and the people were playing on flutes and rejoicing with great joy, so that the earth [a]shook at their noise.
41 Now Adonijah and all the guests who were with him heard this as they finished eating. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, “Why is the [b]city making such an uproar?” 42 While he was still speaking, behold, (H)Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. Then Adonijah said, “Come in, for (I)you are a valiant man and you bring good news.” 43 But Jonathan replied to Adonijah, “On the contrary! Our lord King David has made Solomon king! 44 The king has also sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites, and the Pelethites; and they have mounted him on the king’s mule. 45 Furthermore, Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon, and they have come up from there rejoicing, (J)so that the city is going wild. This is the noise which you have heard. 46 Besides, (K)Solomon has even taken his seat on the throne of the kingdom. 47 Moreover, the king’s servants came to bless our lord King David, saying, ‘May (L)your God make the name of Solomon better than your name, and his throne greater than your throne!’ And (M)the king bowed himself on the bed. 48 The king has also said this: ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who (N)has granted one to sit on my throne today while my own eyes see it.’”
49 Then all the guests of Adonijah trembled and got up, and each went on his way. 50 Adonijah also was afraid of Solomon, and he got up, and went, and (O)took hold of the horns of the altar. 51 Now it was reported to Solomon, saying, “Behold, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, for behold, he has taken hold of the horns of the altar, saying, ‘May King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword.’” 52 And Solomon said, “If he is a worthy man, (P)not one of his hairs will fall to the ground; but if wickedness is found in him, he will die.” 53 So King Solomon sent men, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and prostrated himself before King Solomon, and Solomon said to him, “Go to your house.”
David’s Command to Solomon
2 As David’s [c](Q)time to die drew near, he commanded his son Solomon, saying, 2 “(R)I am going the way of all the earth. So (S)be strong, and [d]prove yourself a man. 3 Do your duty to the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, to [e]keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances, and His testimonies, (T)according to what is written in the Law of Moses, so that (U)you may succeed in all that you do and wherever you turn, 4 so that (V)the Lord may fulfill His [f]promise which He spoke regarding me, saying, ‘(W)If your sons are careful about their way, (X)to walk before Me in [g]truth with all their heart and all their soul, [h](Y)you shall not be deprived of a man to occupy the throne of Israel.’
24 While [a]Paul was stating these things in his defense, Festus *said in a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind! [b]Your great (A)learning is [c]driving you insane.” 25 But Paul *said, “I am not insane, (B)most excellent Festus; on the contrary, I am speaking out with [d]truthful and rational words. 26 For the king [e](C)knows about these matters, and I also speak to him with confidence, since I am persuaded that none of these things escape his notice; for this has not been done in a [f]corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you believe.” 28 Agrippa replied to Paul, “[g]In a short time you are going to persuade me to [h]make a (D)Christian of myself.” 29 And Paul said, “I would [i]wish to God that even [j]in a short or long time not only you, but also all who hear me this day would become such as I myself am, except for these (E)chains.”
30 (F)The king stood up and the governor and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them, 31 and when they had gone out, they began talking to one another, saying, “(G)This man is not doing anything deserving death or [k]imprisonment.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been (H)set free if he had not (I)appealed to Caesar.”
Paul Is Sent to Rome
27 Now when it was decided that (J)we (K)would sail for (L)Italy, they proceeded to turn Paul and some other prisoners over to a centurion of the Augustan [l](M)cohort, named Julius. 2 And we boarded an Adramyttian ship that was about to sail to the regions along the coast of [m](N)Asia, and put out to sea accompanied by (O)Aristarchus, a (P)Macedonian of (Q)Thessalonica. 3 The next day we put in at (R)Sidon; and Julius (S)treated Paul with consideration and (T)allowed him to go to his friends and receive care. 4 From there we put out to sea and sailed under the shelter of (U)Cyprus, because (V)the winds were contrary. 5 When we had sailed through the sea along the coast of (W)Cilicia and (X)Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an (Y)Alexandrian ship sailing for (Z)Italy, and he put us aboard it. 7 When we had sailed slowly for a good many days, and with difficulty had arrived off Cnidus, (AA)since the wind did not permit us to go farther, we sailed under the shelter of (AB)Crete, off Salmone; 8 and with difficulty (AC)sailing past it, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.
28 “Now learn the parable from the fig tree: as soon as its branch has become tender and sprouts its leaves, you know that summer is near. 29 So you too, when you see these things happening, [a]recognize that [b]He is near, right at the [c]door. 30 Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. 31 Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away. 32 (A)But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.
33 “Watch out, (B)stay alert; for you do not know when the appointed time is. 34 (C)It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and [d]putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay alert. 35 Therefore, (D)stay alert—for you do not know when the [e]master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or (E)when the rooster crows, or (F)in the morning— 36 so that he does not come suddenly and find you (G)asleep. 37 What I say to you I say to all: ‘(H)Stay alert!’”
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