Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Guidance
To the Chief Musician. With [a]flutes. A Psalm of David.
5 Give (A)ear to my words, O Lord,
Consider my [b]meditation.
2 Give heed to the voice of my cry,
My King and my God,
For to You I will pray.
3 My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord;
(B)In the morning I will direct it to You,
And I will look up.
4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness,
Nor shall evil [c]dwell with You.
5 The (C)boastful shall not (D)stand in Your sight;
You hate all workers of iniquity.
6 You shall destroy those who speak falsehood;
The Lord abhors the (E)bloodthirsty and deceitful man.
7 But as for me, I will come into Your house in the multitude of Your mercy;
In fear of You I will worship toward [d]Your holy temple.
8 (F)Lead me, O Lord, in Your righteousness because of my enemies;
Make Your way straight before my face.
9 For there is no [e]faithfulness in their mouth;
Their inward part is destruction;
(G)Their throat is an open tomb;
They flatter with their tongue.
10 Pronounce them guilty, O God!
Let them fall by their own counsels;
Cast them out in the multitude of their transgressions,
For they have rebelled against You.
11 But let all those rejoice who put their trust in You;
Let them ever shout for joy, because You [f]defend them;
Let those also who love Your name
Be joyful in You.
12 For You, O Lord, will bless the righteous;
With favor You will surround him as with a shield.
A Prayer of Faith in Time of Distress
To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. (H)On [g]an eight-stringed harp. A Psalm of David.
6 O Lord, (I)do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.
2 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak;
O Lord, (J)heal me, for my bones are troubled.
3 My soul also is greatly (K)troubled;
But You, O Lord—how long?
4 Return, O Lord, deliver me!
Oh, save me for Your mercies’ sake!
5 (L)For in death there is no remembrance of You;
In the grave who will give You thanks?
A Song of Confidence in God’s Triumph over Evil
10 Why do You stand afar off, O Lord?
Why do You hide in times of trouble?
2 The wicked in his pride [a]persecutes the poor;
(A)Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised.
3 For the wicked (B)boasts of his heart’s desire;
[b]He (C)blesses the greedy and renounces the Lord.
4 The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God;
[c]God is in none of his (D)thoughts.
5 His ways [d]are always prospering;
Your judgments are far above, out of his sight;
As for all his enemies, he sneers at them.
6 (E)He has said in his heart, “I shall not be moved;
(F)I shall never be in adversity.”
7 (G)His mouth is full of cursing and (H)deceit and oppression;
Under his tongue is trouble and iniquity.
8 He sits in the lurking places of the villages;
In the secret places he murders the innocent;
His eyes are secretly fixed on the helpless.
9 He lies in wait secretly, as a lion in his den;
He lies in wait to catch the poor;
He catches the poor when he draws him into his net.
10 So [e]he crouches, he lies low,
That the helpless may fall by his [f]strength.
11 He has said in his heart,
“God has forgotten;
He hides His face;
He will never see.”
12 Arise, O Lord!
O God, (I)lift up Your hand!
Do not forget the (J)humble.
13 Why do the wicked renounce God?
He has said in his heart,
“You will not require an account.”
14 But You have (K)seen, for You observe trouble and grief,
To repay it by Your hand.
The helpless (L)commits[g] himself to You;
(M)You are the helper of the fatherless.
15 Break the arm of the wicked and the evil man;
Seek out his wickedness until You find none.
16 (N)The Lord is King forever and ever;
The nations have perished out of His land.
17 Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble;
You will prepare their heart;
You will cause Your ear to hear,
18 To [h]do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed,
That the man of the earth may [i]oppress no more.
Faith in the Lord’s Righteousness
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
11 In (O)the Lord I put my trust;
How can you say to my soul,
“Flee as a bird to your mountain”?
2 For look! (P)The wicked bend their bow,
They make ready their arrow on the string,
That they may shoot [j]secretly at the upright in heart.
3 (Q)If the foundations are destroyed,
What can the righteous do?
4 The Lord is in His holy temple,
The Lord’s (R)throne is in heaven;
(S)His eyes behold,
His eyelids test the sons of men.
5 The Lord (T)tests the righteous,
But the wicked and the one who loves violence His soul hates.
6 Upon the wicked He will rain coals;
Fire and brimstone and a burning wind
(U)Shall be [k]the portion of their cup.
25 “To(A) whom then will you liken Me,
Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.
26 Lift up your eyes on high,
And see who has created these things,
Who brings out their host by number;
(B)He calls them all by name,
By the greatness of His might
And the strength of His power;
Not one is missing.
27 (C)Why do you say, O Jacob,
And speak, O Israel:
“My way is hidden from the Lord,
And my just claim is passed over by my God”?
28 Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
(D)His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who (E)wait on the Lord
(F)Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.
Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom
15 Therefore I also, (A)after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 (B)do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that (C)the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, (D)may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 (E)the eyes of your [a]understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is (F)the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, (G)according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when (H)He raised Him from the dead and (I)seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 (J)far above all (K)principality[b] and [c]power and [d]might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And (L)He put all things under His feet, and gave Him (M)to be head over all things to the church, 23 (N)which is His body, (O)the fullness of Him (P)who fills all in all.
Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry(A)
14 (B)Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, (C)preaching the gospel [a]of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, (D)“The time is fulfilled, and (E)the kingdom of God [b]is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
Four Fishermen Called as Disciples(F)
16 (G)And as He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew his brother casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. 17 Then Jesus said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you become (H)fishers of men.” 18 (I)They immediately left their nets and followed Him.
19 When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. 20 And immediately He called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants, and went after Him.
Jesus Casts Out an Unclean Spirit(J)
21 (K)Then they went into Capernaum, and immediately on the Sabbath He entered the (L)synagogue and taught. 22 (M)And they were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
23 Now there was a man in their synagogue with an (N)unclean spirit. And he cried out, 24 saying, “Let us alone! (O)What have we to do with You, Jesus of Nazareth? Did You come to destroy us? I (P)know who You are—the (Q)Holy One of God!”
25 But Jesus (R)rebuked him, saying, [c]“Be quiet, and come out of him!” 26 And when the unclean spirit (S)had convulsed him and cried out with a loud voice, he came out of him. 27 Then they were all amazed, so that they questioned among themselves, saying, [d]“What is this? What new [e]doctrine is this? For with authority He commands even the unclean spirits, and they obey Him.” 28 And immediately His (T)fame spread throughout all the region around Galilee.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.