Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 41[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
41 How blessed[b] is the one who treats the poor properly.[c]
When trouble comes,[d] may[e] the Lord deliver him.[f]
2 May the Lord protect him and save his life.[g]
May he be blessed[h] in the land.
Do not turn him over[i] to his enemies.[j]
3 The Lord supports[k] him on his sickbed;
you have healed him from his illness.[l]
4 As for me, I said:[m]
“O Lord, have mercy on me!
Heal me, for I have sinned against you.
5 My enemies ask this cruel question about me,[n]
‘When will he finally die and be forgotten?’[o]
6 When someone comes to visit,[p] he pretends to be friendly;[q]
he thinks of ways to defame me,[r]
and when he leaves he slanders me.[s]
7 All who hate me whisper insults about me to one another;[t]
they plan ways to harm me.
8 They say,[u]
‘An awful disease[v] overwhelms him,[w]
and now that he is bedridden he will never recover.’[x]
9 Even my close friend[y] whom I trusted,
he who shared meals with me, has turned against me.[z]
10 As for you, O Lord, have mercy on me and raise me up,
so I can pay them back!”[aa]
11 By this[ab] I know that you are pleased with me,
for my enemy does[ac] not triumph[ad] over me.
12 As for me, you uphold[ae] me because of my integrity;[af]
you allow[ag] me permanent access to your presence.[ah]
13 The Lord God of Israel deserves praise[ai]
in the future and forevermore.[aj]
We agree! We agree![ak]
Psalm 52[a]
For the music director, a well-written song[b] by David. It was written when Doeg the Edomite went and informed Saul: “David has arrived at the home of Ahimelech.”[c]
52 Why do you boast about your evil plans,[d] O powerful man?
God’s loyal love protects me all day long.[e]
2 Your tongue carries out your destructive plans;[f]
it is as effective as a sharp razor, O deceiver.[g]
3 You love evil more than good,
lies more than speaking the truth.[h] (Selah)
4 You love to use all the words that destroy,[i]
and the tongue that deceives.
5 Yet[j] God will make you a permanent heap of ruins.[k]
He will scoop you up[l] and remove you from your home;[m]
he will uproot you from the land of the living. (Selah)
6 When the godly see this, they will be filled with awe,
and will mock the evildoer, saying:[n]
7 “Look, here is the man who would not make[o] God his protector.
He trusted in his great wealth
and was confident about his plans to destroy others.”[p]
8 But I[q] am like a flourishing[r] olive tree in the house of God;
I continually[s] trust in God’s loyal love.
9 I will continually[t] thank you when[u] you execute judgment;[v]
I will rely on[w] you,[x] for your loyal followers know you are good.[y]
Psalm 44[a]
For the music director, by the Korahites; a well-written song.[b]
44 O God, we have clearly heard;[c]
our ancestors[d] have told us
what you did[e] in their days,
in ancient times.[f]
2 You, by your power,[g] defeated nations and settled our fathers on their land;[h]
you crushed[i] the people living there[j] and enabled our ancestors to occupy it.[k]
3 For they did not conquer[l] the land by their swords,
and they did not prevail by their strength,[m]
but rather by your power,[n] strength,[o] and good favor,[p]
for you were partial to[q] them.
4 You are my[r] king, O God.
Decree[s] Jacob’s[t] deliverance.
5 By your power[u] we will drive back[v] our enemies;
by your strength[w] we will trample down[x] our foes.[y]
6 For I do not trust in my bow,
and I do not prevail by my sword.
7 For you deliver[z] us from our enemies;
you humiliate[aa] those who hate us.
8 In God we boast all day long,
and we will continually give thanks to your name. (Selah)
9 But[ab] you rejected and embarrassed us.
You did not go into battle with our armies.[ac]
10 You made us retreat[ad] from the enemy.
Those who hate us take whatever they want from us.[ae]
11 You handed us[af] over like sheep to be eaten;
you scattered us among the nations.
12 You sold[ag] your people for a pittance;[ah]
you did not ask a high price for them.[ai]
13 You made us[aj] an object of disdain to our neighbors;
those who live on our borders taunt and insult us.[ak]
14 You made us[al] an object of ridicule[am] among the nations;
foreigners treat us with contempt.[an]
15 All day long I feel humiliated[ao]
and am overwhelmed with shame,[ap]
16 before the vindictive enemy
who ridicules and insults me.[aq]
17 All this has happened to us, even though we have not rejected you[ar]
or violated your covenant with us.[as]
18 We have not been unfaithful,[at]
nor have we disobeyed your commands.[au]
19 Yet you have battered us, leaving us a heap of ruins overrun by wild dogs;[av]
you have covered us with darkness.[aw]
20 If we had rejected our God,[ax]
and spread out our hands in prayer to another god,[ay]
21 would not God discover it,
for he knows[az] a person’s secret thoughts?[ba]
22 Yet because of you[bb] we are killed all day long;
we are treated like[bc] sheep at the slaughtering block.[bd]
23 Rouse yourself! Why do you sleep, O Lord?
Wake up![be] Do not reject us forever.
24 Why do you look the other way,[bf]
and ignore[bg] the way we are oppressed and mistreated?[bh]
25 For we lie in the dirt,
with our bellies pressed to the ground.[bi]
26 Rise up and help us.
Rescue us[bj] because of your loyal love.
V. The Speeches of Elihu (32:1-37:24)
Elihu’s First Speech[a]
32 So these three men refused to answer[b] Job further, because he was righteous in his[c] own eyes. 2 Then Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry.[d] He was angry[e] with Job for justifying[f] himself rather than God.[g] 3 With Job’s[h] three friends he was also angry, because they could not find[i] an answer, and so declared Job guilty.[j] 4 Now Elihu had waited before speaking[k] to Job, because the others[l] were older than he was. 5 But when Elihu saw[m] that the three men had no further reply,[n] he became very angry.
Elihu Claims Wisdom
6 So Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite spoke up:[o]
“I am young,[p] but you are elderly;
that is why I was fearful,[q]
and afraid to explain[r] to you what I know.
7 I said to myself, ‘Age[s] should speak,[t]
and length of years[u] should make wisdom known.’
8 But it is a spirit in people,
the breath[v] of the Almighty,
that makes them understand.
9 It is not the aged[w] who are wise,
nor old men who understand what is right.
10 Therefore I say, ‘Listen[x] to me.
I, even I, will explain what I know.’
19 Inside I am like wine that has no outlet,[a]
like new wineskins[b] ready to burst!
20 I will speak,[c] so that I may find relief;
I will open my lips, so that I may answer.
21 I will not show partiality to any person,[d]
nor will I confer a title[e] on anyone.
22 For I do not know how to give honorary titles,[f]
if I did,[g] my Creator would quickly do away with me.[h]
Elihu Invites Job’s Attention
19 Or a person is chastened[a] by pain on his bed,
and with the continual strife of his bones,[b]
20 so that his life loathes food,
and his soul rejects appetizing fare.[c]
21 His flesh wastes away from sight,
and his bones, which were not seen,
are easily visible.[d]
22 He[e] draws near to the place of corruption,
and his life to the messengers of death.[f]
23 If there is an angel beside him,
one mediator[g] out of a thousand,
to tell a person what constitutes his uprightness;[h]
24 and if[i] God[j] is gracious to him and says,
‘Spare[k] him from going down
to the place of corruption,
I have found a ransom for him,’[l]
25 then his flesh is restored[m] like a youth’s;
he returns to the days of his youthful vigor.[n]
26 He entreats God, and God[o] delights in him,
he sees God’s face[p] with rejoicing,
and God[q] restores to him his righteousness.[r]
27 That person sings[s] to others,[t] saying:
‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,
but I was not punished according to what I deserved.[u]
28 He redeemed my life[v]
from going down to the place of corruption,
and my life sees the light!’
44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city assembled together to hear the word of the Lord.[a] 45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy,[b] and they began to contradict[c] what Paul was saying[d] by reviling him.[e] 46 Both Paul and Barnabas replied courageously,[f] “It was necessary to speak the word of God[g] to you first. Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy[h] of eternal life, we[i] are turning to the Gentiles.[j] 47 For this[k] is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have appointed[l] you to be a light[m] for the Gentiles, to bring salvation[n] to the ends of the earth.’”[o] 48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began to rejoice[p] and praise[q] the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed for eternal life[r] believed. 49 So the word of the Lord was spreading[s] through the entire region. 50 But the Jews incited[t] the God-fearing women of high social standing and the prominent men of the city, stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and threw them out[u] of their region. 51 So after they shook[v] the dust off their feet[w] in protest against them, they went to Iconium.[x] 52 And the disciples were filled with joy[y] and with the Holy Spirit.
19 Another sharp division took place among the Jewish people[a] because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He is possessed by a demon and has lost his mind![b] Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words[c] of someone possessed by a demon. A demon cannot cause the blind to see,[d] can it?”[e]
Jesus at the Feast of Dedication
22 Then came the feast of the Dedication[f] in Jerusalem. 23 It was winter,[g] and Jesus was walking in the temple area[h] in Solomon’s Portico.[i] 24 The Jewish leaders[j] surrounded him and asked,[k] “How long will you keep us in suspense?[l] If you are the Christ,[m] tell us plainly.”[n] 25 Jesus replied,[o] “I told you and you do not believe. The deeds[p] I do in my Father’s name testify about me. 26 But you refuse to believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give[q] them eternal life, and they will never perish;[r] no one will snatch[s] them from my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,[t] and no one can snatch[u] them from my Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I[v] are one.”[w]
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