Book of Common Prayer
An Urgent Plea for Help in Trouble
To the Chief Musician. Set to [a]“The Lilies.” A Psalm of David.
69 Save me, O God!
For (A)the waters have come up to my [b]neck.
2 (B)I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.
3 (C)I am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
(D)My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 Those who (E)hate me without a cause
Are more than the hairs of my head;
They are mighty who would destroy me,
Being my enemies wrongfully;
Though I have stolen nothing,
I still must restore it.
5 O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.
6 Let not those who [c]wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me;
Let not those who seek You be [d]confounded because of me, O God of Israel.
7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Shame has covered my face.
8 (F)I have become a stranger to my brothers,
And an alien to my mother’s children;
9 (G)Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
(H)And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
11 I also [e]made sackcloth my garment;
I became a byword to them.
12 Those who [f]sit in the gate speak against me,
And I am the song of the (I)drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to You,
O Lord, in the acceptable time;
O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,
Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire,
And let me not sink;
Let me be delivered from those who hate me,
And out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the floodwater overflow me,
Nor let the deep swallow me up;
And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.
16 Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good;
Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.
17 And do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am in trouble;
Hear me speedily.
18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;
Deliver me because of my enemies.
19 You know (J)my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;
My adversaries are all before You.
20 Reproach has broken my heart,
And I am full of [g]heaviness;
(K)I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;
And for (L)comforters, but I found none.
21 They also gave me gall for my food,
(M)And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 (N)Let their table become a snare before them,
And their well-being a trap.
23 (O)Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see;
And make their loins shake continually.
24 (P)Pour out Your indignation upon them,
And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.
25 (Q)Let their dwelling place be desolate;
Let no one live in their tents.
26 For they persecute the ones (R)You have struck,
And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.
27 (S)Add iniquity to their iniquity,
(T)And let them not come into Your righteousness.
28 Let them (U)be blotted out of the book of the living,
(V)And not be written with the righteous.
29 But I am poor and sorrowful;
Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30 (W)I will praise the name of God with a song,
And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.
31 (X)This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull,
Which has horns and hooves.
32 (Y)The humble shall see this and be glad;
And you who seek God, (Z)your hearts shall live.
33 For the Lord hears the poor,
And does not despise (AA)His prisoners.
BOOK THREE
Psalms 73–89
The Tragedy of the Wicked, and the Blessedness of Trust in God
A Psalm of (A)Asaph.
73 Truly God is good to Israel,
To such as are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
My steps had nearly (B)slipped.
3 (C)For I was envious of the boastful,
When I saw the prosperity of the (D)wicked.
4 For there are no [a]pangs in their death,
But their strength is firm.
5 (E)They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride serves as their necklace;
Violence covers them (F)like a garment.
7 (G)Their [b]eyes bulge with abundance;
They have more than heart could wish.
8 (H)They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;
They (I)speak [c]loftily.
9 They set their mouth (J)against the heavens,
And their tongue walks through the earth.
10 Therefore his people return here,
(K)And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
11 And they say, (L)“How does God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the ungodly,
Who are always at ease;
They increase in riches.
13 Surely I have [d]cleansed my heart in (M)vain,
And washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued,
And chastened every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
16 When I thought how to understand this,
It was [e]too painful for me—
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their (N)end.
18 Surely (O)You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awakes,
So, Lord, when You awake,
You shall despise their image.
21 Thus my heart was grieved,
And I was [f]vexed in my mind.
22 (P)I was so foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24 (Q)You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.
Signs of an Apostle
11 I have become (A)a fool [a]in boasting; you have compelled me. For I ought to have been commended by you; for (B)in nothing was I behind the most eminent apostles, though (C)I am nothing. 12 (D)Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs and (E)wonders and mighty (F)deeds. 13 For what is it in which you were inferior to other churches, except that I myself was not burdensome to you? Forgive me this wrong!
Love for the Church
14 (G)Now for the third time I am ready to come to you. And I will not be burdensome to you; for (H)I do not seek yours, but you. (I)For the children ought not to lay up for the parents, but the parents for the children. 15 And I will very gladly spend and be spent (J)for your souls; though (K)the more abundantly I love you, the less I am loved.
16 But be that as it may, (L)I did not burden you. Nevertheless, being crafty, I caught you by cunning! 17 Did I take advantage of you by any of those whom I sent to you? 18 I urged Titus, and sent our (M)brother with him. Did Titus take advantage of you? Did we not walk in the same spirit? Did we not walk in the same steps?
19 (N)Again, [b]do you think that we excuse ourselves to you? (O)We speak before God in Christ. (P)But we do all things, beloved, for your edification. 20 For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that (Q)I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits, tumults; 21 lest, when I come again, my God (R)will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many (S)who have sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, (T)fornication, and lewdness which they have practiced.
Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem
41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and (A)wept over it, 42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this (B)your day, the things that (C)make for your (D)peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will (E)build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side, 44 (F)and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and (G)they will not leave in you one stone upon another, (H)because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Jesus Cleanses the Temple(I)
45 (J)Then He went into the temple and began to drive out those who [a]bought and sold in it, 46 saying to them, “It is written, (K)‘My house [b]is a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a (L)‘den of thieves.’ ”
47 And He (M)was teaching daily in the temple. But (N)the chief priests, the scribes, and the leaders of the people sought to destroy Him, 48 and were unable to do anything; for all the people were very attentive to (O)hear Him.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.