Book of Common Prayer
The Blessedness of Answered Prayer
A Psalm. A Song (A)at the dedication of the house of David.
30 I will extol You, O Lord, for You have (B)lifted me up,
And have not let my foes (C)rejoice over me.
2 O Lord my God, I cried out to You,
And You (D)healed me.
3 O Lord, (E)You brought my soul up from the grave;
You have kept me alive, [a]that I should not go down to the pit.
4 (F)Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His,
And give thanks at the remembrance of [b]His holy name.
5 For (G)His anger is but for a moment,
(H)His favor is for life;
Weeping may endure for a night,
But [c]joy comes in the morning.
6 Now in my prosperity I said,
“I shall never be [d]moved.”
7 Lord, by Your favor You have made my mountain stand strong;
(I)You hid Your face, and I was troubled.
8 I cried out to You, O Lord;
And to the Lord I made supplication:
9 “What profit is there in my blood,
When I go down to the pit?
(J)Will the dust praise You?
Will it declare Your truth?
10 Hear, O Lord, and have mercy on me;
Lord, be my helper!”
The Joy of Forgiveness
A Psalm of David. A [a]Contemplation.
32 Blessed is he whose (A)transgression is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered.
2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord (B)does not [b]impute iniquity,
And (C)in whose spirit there is no deceit.
3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old
Through my groaning all the day long.
4 For day and night Your (D)hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And my iniquity I have not hidden.
(E)I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,”
And You forgave the iniquity of my sin. Selah
6 (F)For this cause everyone who is godly shall (G)pray to You
In a time when You may be found;
Surely in a flood of great waters
They shall not come near him.
7 (H)You are my hiding place;
You shall preserve me from trouble;
You shall surround me with (I)songs of deliverance. Selah
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;
I will guide you with My eye.
9 Do not be like the (J)horse or like the mule,
Which have no understanding,
Which must be harnessed with bit and bridle,
Else they will not come near you.
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?
16 So the king gave the command, and they brought Daniel and cast him into the den of lions. But the king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” 17 (A)Then a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, (B)and the king sealed it with his own signet ring and with the signets of his lords, that the purpose concerning Daniel might not be changed.
Daniel Saved from the Lions
18 Now the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; and no [a]musicians were brought before him. (C)Also his sleep [b]went from him. 19 Then the (D)king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions. 20 And when he came to the den, he cried out with a [c]lamenting voice to Daniel. The king spoke, saying to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, (E)has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?”
21 Then Daniel said to the king, (F)“O king, live forever! 22 (G)My God sent His angel and (H)shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.”
23 Now the king was exceedingly glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no injury whatever was found on him, (I)because he believed in his God.
Darius Honors God
24 And the king gave the command, (J)and they brought those men who had accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions—them, (K)their children, and their wives; and the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones in pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den.
25 (L)Then King Darius wrote:
To all peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth:
Peace be multiplied to you.
26 (M)I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men must (N)tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.
(O)For He is the living God,
And steadfast forever;
His kingdom is the one which shall not be (P)destroyed,
And His dominion shall endure to the end.
27 He delivers and rescues,
(Q)And He works signs and wonders
In heaven and on earth,
Who has delivered Daniel from the [d]power of the lions.
28 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius (R)and in the reign of (S)Cyrus the Persian.
Greeting to Gaius
1 The Elder,
To the beloved Gaius, (A)whom I love in truth:
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I (B)rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. 4 I have no greater (C)joy than to hear that (D)my children walk in [a]truth.
Gaius Commended for Generosity
5 Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren [b]and for strangers, 6 who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well, 7 because they went forth for His name’s sake, (E)taking nothing from the Gentiles. 8 We therefore ought to (F)receive[c] such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth.
Diotrephes and Demetrius
9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. 10 Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, (G)prating[d] against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church.
11 Beloved, (H)do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. (I)He who does good is of God, [e]but he who does evil has not seen (J)God.
12 Demetrius (K)has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself. And we also [f]bear witness, (L)and you know that our testimony is true.
Farewell Greeting
13 (M)I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink; 14 but I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face.
Peace to you. Our friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.
Matthew the Tax Collector(A)
27 (B)After these things He went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, (C)“Follow Me.” 28 So he left all, rose up, and (D)followed Him.
29 (E)Then Levi gave Him a great feast in his own house. And (F)there were a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them. 30 [a]And their scribes and the Pharisees [b]complained against His disciples, saying, (G)“Why do You eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners?”
31 Jesus answered and said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. 32 (H)I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
Jesus Is Questioned About Fasting(I)
33 Then they said to Him, (J)“Why[c] do the disciples of John fast often and make prayers, and likewise those of the Pharisees, but Yours eat and drink?”
34 And He said to them, “Can you make the friends of the bridegroom fast while the (K)bridegroom is with them? 35 But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them; then they will fast in those days.”
36 (L)Then He spoke a parable to them: “No one [d]puts a piece from a new garment on an old one; otherwise the new makes a tear, and also the piece that was taken out of the new does not match the old. 37 And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine will burst the wineskins and be spilled, and the wineskins will be ruined. 38 But new wine must be put into new wineskins, [e]and both are preserved. 39 And no one, having drunk old wine, [f]immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is [g]better.’ ”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.