Book of Common Prayer
Prayer to Frustrate Conspiracy Against Israel
A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.
83 Do(A) not keep silent, O God!
Do not hold Your peace,
And do not be still, O God!
2 For behold, (B)Your enemies make a [a]tumult;
And those who hate You have [b]lifted up their head.
3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,
And consulted together (C)against Your sheltered ones.
4 They have said, “Come, and (D)let us cut them off from being a nation,
That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”
5 For they have consulted together with one [c]consent;
They [d]form a confederacy against You:
6 (E)The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;
Moab and the Hagrites;
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assyria also has joined with them;
They have helped the children of Lot. Selah
9 Deal with them as with (F)Midian,
As with (G)Sisera,
As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon,
10 Who perished at En Dor,
(H)Who became as refuse on the earth.
11 Make their nobles like (I)Oreb and like Zeeb,
Yes, all their princes like (J)Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 Who said, “Let us take for ourselves
The pastures of God for a possession.”
13 (K)O my God, make them like the whirling dust,
(L)Like the chaff before the wind!
14 As the fire burns the woods,
And as the flame (M)sets the mountains on fire,
15 So pursue them with Your tempest,
And frighten them with Your storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame,
That they may seek Your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be [e]confounded and dismayed forever;
Yes, let them be put to shame and perish,
18 (N)That they may know that You, whose (O)name alone is the Lord,
Are (P)the Most High over all the earth.
BOOK TWO
Psalms 42–72
Yearning for God in the Midst of Distresses
To the Chief Musician. A [a]Contemplation of the sons of Korah.
42 As the deer [b]pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
2 (A)My soul thirsts for God, for the (B)living God.
When shall I come and [c]appear before God?
3 (C)My tears have been my food day and night,
While they continually say to me,
(D)“Where is your God?”
4 When I remember these things,
(E)I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
(F)I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.
5 (G)Why are you [d]cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
(H)Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
[e]For the help of His countenance.
6 [f]O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From [g]the Hill Mizar.
7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
(I)All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
8 The Lord will (J)command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And (K)in the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God my Rock,
(L)“Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a [h]breaking of my bones,
My enemies [i]reproach me,
(M)While they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 (N)Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The [j]help of my countenance and my God.
Prayer to God in Time of Trouble
43 Vindicate (O)me, O God,
And (P)plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
2 For You are the God of my strength;
Why do You cast me off?
(Q)Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
Prayer that the Lord Will Restore Favor to the Land
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm (A)of the sons of Korah.
85 Lord, You have been favorable to Your land;
You have (B)brought back the captivity of Jacob.
2 You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people;
You have covered all their sin. Selah
3 You have taken away all Your wrath;
You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger.
4 (C)Restore us, O God of our salvation,
And cause Your anger toward us to cease.
5 (D)Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
6 Will You not (E)revive us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?
7 Show us Your mercy, Lord,
And grant us Your salvation.
8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak,
For He will speak peace
To His people and to His saints;
But let them not turn back to [a]folly.
9 Surely (F)His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
(G)That glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met together;
(H)Righteousness and peace have kissed.
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth,
And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 (I)Yes, the Lord will give what is good;
And our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before Him,
And shall make His footsteps our pathway.
Prayer for Mercy, with Meditation on the Excellencies of the Lord
A Prayer of David.
86 Bow down Your ear, O Lord, hear me;
For I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my [b]life, for I am holy;
You are my God;
Save Your servant who trusts in You!
3 Be merciful to me, O Lord,
For I cry to You all day long.
4 [c]Rejoice the soul of Your servant,
(J)For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
5 For (K)You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,
And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
And attend to the voice of my supplications.
7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon You,
For You will answer me.
8 (L)Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord;
Nor are there any works like Your works.
9 All nations whom You have made
Shall come and worship before You, O Lord,
And shall glorify Your name.
10 For You are great, and (M)do wondrous things;
(N)You alone are God.
11 (O)Teach me Your way, O Lord;
I will walk in Your truth;
[d]Unite my heart to fear Your name.
12 I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
And I will glorify Your name forevermore.
13 For great is Your mercy toward me,
And You have delivered my soul from the depths of [e]Sheol.
14 O God, the proud have risen against me,
And a mob of violent men have sought my life,
And have not set You before them.
15 But (P)You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious,
Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
16 Oh, turn to me, and have mercy on me!
Give Your strength to Your servant,
And save the son of Your maidservant.
17 Show me a sign for good,
That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,
Because You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
11 Thus you shall say to them: (A)“The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth (B)shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.”
12 He (C)has made the earth by His power,
He has (D)established the world by His wisdom,
And (E)has stretched out the heavens at His discretion.
13 (F)When He utters His voice,
There is a [a]multitude of waters in the heavens:
(G)“And He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain,
He brings the wind out of His treasuries.”
14 (H)Everyone is (I)dull-hearted, without knowledge;
(J)Every metalsmith is put to shame by an image;
(K)For his molded image is falsehood,
And there is no breath in them.
15 They are futile, a work of errors;
In the time of their punishment they shall perish.
16 (L)The Portion of Jacob is not like them,
For He is the Maker of all things,
And (M)Israel is the tribe of His inheritance;
(N)The Lord of hosts is His name.
The Coming Captivity of Judah
18 For thus says the Lord:
“Behold, I will (P)throw out at this time
The inhabitants of the land,
And will distress them,
(Q)That they may find it so.”
19 (R)Woe is me for my hurt!
My wound is severe.
But I say, (S)“Truly this is an infirmity,
And (T)I must bear it.”
20 (U)My tent is plundered,
And all my cords are broken;
My children have gone from me,
And they are (V)no more.
There is no one to pitch my tent anymore,
Or set up my curtains.
21 For the shepherds have become dull-hearted,
And have not sought the Lord;
Therefore they shall not prosper,
And all their flocks shall be (W)scattered.
22 Behold, the noise of the report has come,
And a great commotion out of the (X)north country,
To make the cities of Judah desolate, a (Y)den of jackals.
Death in Adam, Life in Christ(A)
12 Therefore, just as (B)through one man sin entered the world, and (C)death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned— 13 (For until the law sin was in the world, but (D)sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, (E)who is a type of Him who was to come. 15 But the free gift is not like the [a]offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded (F)to many. 16 And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many [b]offenses resulted in justification. 17 For if by the one man’s [c]offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.)
18 Therefore, as through [d]one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through (G)one[e] Man’s righteous act the free gift came (H)to all men, resulting in justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by (I)one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous.
20 Moreover (J)the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace (K)abounded much more, 21 so that as sin reigned in death, even so grace might reign through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Jesus Predicts His Departure
21 Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and (A)you will seek Me, and (B)will die in your sin. Where I go you cannot come.”
22 So the Jews said, “Will He kill Himself, because He says, ‘Where I go you cannot come’?”
23 And He said to them, (C)“You are from beneath; I am from above. (D)You are of this world; I am not of this world. 24 (E)Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; (F)for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”
25 Then they said to Him, “Who are You?”
And Jesus said to them, “Just what I (G)have been saying to you from the beginning. 26 I have many things to say and to judge concerning you, but (H)He who sent Me is true; and (I)I speak to the world those things which I heard from Him.”
27 They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father.
28 Then Jesus said to them, “When you (J)lift[a] up the Son of Man, (K)then you will know that I am He, and (L)that I do nothing of Myself; but (M)as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. 29 And (N)He who sent Me is with Me. (O)The Father has not left Me alone, (P)for I always do those things that please Him.” 30 As He spoke these words, (Q)many believed in Him.
The Truth Shall Make You Free
31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you (R)abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. 32 And you shall know the (S)truth, and (T)the truth shall make you free.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.