Book of Common Prayer
The Lord’s Covenant with David, and Israel’s Afflictions.
A skillful song, or a didactic or reflective poem, of Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 I will sing of the goodness and lovingkindness of the Lord forever;
With my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness from generation to generation.
2
For I have said, “Goodness and lovingkindness will be built up forever;
In the heavens [unchangeable and majestic] You will establish Your faithfulness.”
3
[God has said] “I have made a covenant with My chosen one;
I have sworn to David My servant,
4
I will establish your seed forever
And I will build up your throne for all generations.”(A) Selah.
5
The heavens (angels) praise Your wonders, O Lord,
Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
6
For who in the heavens can be compared to the Lord?
Who among the divine beings is like the Lord,
7
A God greatly feared and reverently worshiped in the council of the holy [angelic] ones,
And awesome above all those who are around Him?
8
O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord?
Your faithfulness surrounds You [as an intrinsic, unchangeable part of Your very being].
9
You rule the swelling of the sea;
When its waves rise, You still them.(B)
10
You have crushed Rahab (Egypt) like one who is slain;
You have scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.
11
The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;
The world and all that is in it, You have founded and established them.(C)
12
The north and the south, You have created them;
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon shout for joy at Your name.
13
You have a strong arm;
Mighty is Your hand, Your right hand is exalted.
14
Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
Lovingkindness and truth go before You.
15
Blessed and happy are the people who know the joyful sound [of the trumpet’s blast]!
They walk, O Lord, in the light and favor of Your countenance!
16
In Your name they rejoice all the day,
And in Your righteousness they are exalted.
17
For You are the glory of their strength [their proud adornment],
And by Your favor our horn is exalted.
18
For our shield belongs to the Lord,
And our king to the Holy One of Israel.
19
Once You spoke in a vision to Your godly ones,
And said, “I have given help to one who is mighty [giving him the power to be a champion for Israel];
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
20
“I have found David My servant;
With My holy oil I have anointed him,(D)
21
With whom My hand shall be established and steadfast;
My arm also shall strengthen him.
22
“The enemy will not outwit him,
Nor will the wicked man afflict or humiliate him.
23
“I will crush his adversaries before him,
And strike those who hate him.
24
“My faithfulness and My steadfast lovingkindness shall be with him,
And in My name shall his horn be exalted [great power and prosperity shall be conferred upon him].
25
“I will also [a]set his hand on the [Mediterranean] sea,
And his right hand on the rivers [the tributaries of the Euphrates].
26
“He will cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,
My God, and the rock of my salvation.’
27
“I will also make him My firstborn (preeminent),
The highest of the kings of the earth.(E)
28
“My lovingkindness I will keep for him forevermore,
And My covenant will be confirmed to him.
29
“His descendants I will establish forever,
And his throne [will endure] as the days of heaven.(F)
30
“If his children [b]turn away from My law
And do not walk in My ordinances,
31
If they break My statutes
And do not keep My commandments,
32
Then I will punish their transgression with the rod [of discipline],
And [correct] their wickedness with stripes.(G)
33
“Nevertheless, I will not break off My lovingkindness from him,
Nor allow My faithfulness to fail.
34
“My covenant I will not violate,
Nor will I alter the utterance of My lips.
35
“Once [for all] I have sworn by My holiness, [My vow which cannot be violated];
I will not lie to David.
36
“His [c]descendants shall endure forever
And his throne [will continue] as the sun before Me.(H)
37
“It shall be established forever like the moon,
And the witness in the heavens is ever faithful.”(I) Selah.
38
But [in apparent contradiction of all this] You [the faithful Lord] have cast off and rejected;
You have been full of wrath against Your anointed.
39
You have spurned and repudiated the covenant with Your servant;
You have profaned his crown [by casting it] in the dust.
40
You have broken down all his [city] walls;
You have brought his strongholds to ruin.
41
All who pass along the road rob him;
He has become the scorn of his neighbors.
42
You have exalted the right hand of his foes;
You have made all his enemies rejoice.
43
Also, You have turned back the edge of his sword
And have not made him [strong enough] to stand in battle.
44
You have put an end to his splendor
And have hurled his throne to the ground.
45
You have shortened the days of his youth;
You have covered him with shame. Selah.
46
How long, O Lord?
Will You hide Yourself forever?
Will Your wrath burn like fire?
47
Remember how fleeting my lifetime is;
For what vanity, [for what emptiness, for what futility, for what wisp of smoke] You have created all the sons of men!
48
What man can live and not see death?
Can he rescue his soul from the [powerful] hand of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead)? Selah.
49
O Lord, where are Your former lovingkindnesses [so abundant in the days of David and Solomon],
Which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?
50
Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants [scorned, insulted, and disgraced];
How I bear in [d]my heart the reproach of all the many peoples,
51
With which Your enemies have taunted, O Lord,
With which they have mocked the footsteps of Your anointed.
52
Blessed be the Lord forevermore!
Amen and Amen.
Israel’s Prophecy concerning His Sons
49 Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Assemble yourselves [around me] that I may tell you what will happen to you and your descendants [a]in the days to come.
2
“Gather together and hear, O sons of Jacob;
And listen to Israel (Jacob) your father.
3
“Reuben, you are my [b]firstborn;
My might, the beginning of my strength and vigor,
Preeminent in dignity and preeminent in power [that should have been your birthright].
4
“But unstable and reckless and boiling over like water [in sinful lust], you shall [c]not excel or have the preeminence [of the firstborn],
Because you went up to your father’s bed [with Bilhah];
You defiled it—he went up to my couch.(A)
5
“Simeon and Levi are brothers [equally headstrong, deceitful, vindictive, and cruel];
Their swords are weapons of violence and revenge.(B)
6
“O my soul, do not come into their secret council;
Let not my glory (honor) be united with their assembly [for I knew nothing of their plot];
Because in their anger they killed men [an honored man, Shechem, and the Shechemites],
And in their self-will they lamed oxen.
7
“Cursed be their anger, for it was fierce;
And their wrath, for it was cruel.
I will divide and disperse them in Jacob,
And [d]scatter them in [the midst of the land of] Israel.
8
“Judah, you are the one whom your brothers shall praise;
Your hand will be on the neck of your enemies;
Your father’s sons shall bow down to you.
9
“Judah, a lion’s cub;
With the prey, my son, you have gone high up [the mountain].
He stooped down, he crouched like a lion,
And like a lion—who dares rouse him?(C)
10
“The scepter [of royalty] shall not depart from Judah,
Nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
Until Shiloh [the Messiah, the Peaceful One] comes,
And to Him shall be the obedience of the peoples.(D)
11
“Tying [e]his foal to the [strong] vine
And his donkey’s colt to the choice vine,
He washes his clothing in wine [because the grapevine produces abundantly],
And his robes in the blood of grapes.(E)
12
“His eyes are darker and sparkle more than wine,
And his teeth whiter than milk.
13
“Zebulun shall dwell at the seashore;
And he shall be a haven (landing place) for ships,
And his flank shall be toward Sidon.
14
“Issachar is [like] a strong-boned donkey,
Crouching down between the sheepfolds.
15
“When he saw that the resting place was good
And that the land was pleasant,
He bowed his shoulder to bear [burdens],
And became a servant at forced labor.
16
“Dan shall judge his people,
As one of the tribes of Israel.
17
“Dan shall be a [venomous] serpent in the way,
A fanged snake in the path,
That bites the horse’s heels,
So that his rider falls backward.
18
“I wait for Your salvation, O Lord.
19
“As for [f]Gad—a raiding troop shall raid him,
But he shall raid at their heels and assault them [victoriously].
20
“Asher’s food [supply] shall be rich and bountiful,
And he shall yield and deliver royal delights.
21
“Naphtali is a doe let loose, [a swift warrior,]
Which yields branched antlers (eloquent words).
22
“Joseph is a fruitful bough (a main branch of the vine),
A fruitful bough by a spring (a well, a fountain);
Its branches run over the wall [influencing others].
23
“The [skilled] archers have bitterly attacked and provoked him;
They have shot [at him] and harassed him.
24
“But his bow remained firm and steady [in the Strength that does not fail],
For his arms were made strong and agile
By the hands of the Mighty One of Jacob,
(By the name of the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel),(F)
25
By the God of your father who will help you,
And by the [g]Almighty who blesses you
With blessings of the heavens above,
Blessings lying in the deep that couches beneath,
Blessings of the [nursing] breasts and of the [fertile] womb.
26
“The blessings of your father
Are greater than the blessings of my ancestors [Abraham and Isaac]
Up to the utmost bound of the everlasting hills;
They shall be on the head of Joseph,
Even on the crown of the head of him who was the distinguished one and the one who is prince among (separate from) his brothers.
27
“Benjamin is a [h]ravenous wolf;
In the morning he devours the prey,
And at night he divides the spoil.”
28 All these are the [beginnings of the] twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father said to them as he blessed them, blessing each one according to the blessing appropriate to him.
14 Therefore, my beloved, run [keep far, far away] from [any sort of] idolatry [and that includes loving anything more than God, or participating in anything that leads to sin and enslaves the soul]. 15 I am speaking as to wise and sensible people; judge [carefully and thoughtfully consider] for yourselves what I say. 16 Is the cup of blessing which we bless [at the Lord’s Supper] not a sharing in the blood of Christ? [Indeed it is.] Is the bread which we break not a sharing in the body of Christ? [Indeed it is.] 17 Since there is one bread, we [believers] who are many are [united into] one body; for we all partake of the one bread [which represents the body of Christ]. 18 Consider the people of Israel; are those who eat the sacrifices not partners of the altar [united in their worship of the same God]? [Indeed they are.](A) 19 What do I mean then? That a thing offered to idols is anything [special or changed simply because it is offered], or that an idol is anything? 20 On the contrary, the things which the Gentiles (pagans) sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons [in effect], and not to God; and I do not want you to become partners with demons [by eating at feasts in pagan temples].(B) 21 You cannot drink [both] the Lord’s cup and the cup of demons. You cannot share in both the Lord’s table and the table of demons [thereby becoming partners with them]. 22 Do we [really] provoke the Lord to jealousy [when we eat food sacrificed to handmade “gods” at pagan feasts]? Are we [spiritually] stronger than He? [Certainly not! He knows that the idols are nothing. But we deeply [a]offend Him.](C)
23 All things are lawful [that is, morally legitimate, permissible], but not all things are beneficial or advantageous. All things are lawful, but not all things are constructive [to character] and edifying [to spiritual life]. 24 Let no one seek [only] his own good, but [also] that of the other person. 25 [Regarding meat offered to idols:] Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without asking any questions for the sake of your conscience, 26 For the [whole] earth is the Lord’s, and everything that is in it.(D) 27 If one of the unbelievers invites you [to a meal at his home] and you want to go, eat whatever is served to you without asking questions [about its source] for the sake of your conscience. 28 But if anyone says to you, “This meat has been offered in sacrifice to an idol,” do not eat it, out of consideration for the one who told you, and for conscience’s sake— 29 and by conscience I mean for the sake of the other man’s, not yours. For [b]why is my freedom [of choice] judged by another’s conscience [another’s ethics—another’s sense of right and wrong]? 30 If I take my share [of food] with thankfulness, why am I accused because of something for which I give thanks?
31 So then, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of [our great] God. 32 Do not offend Jews or Greeks or even the church of God [but live to honor Him]; 33 just as I please everyone in all things [as much as possible adapting myself to the interests of others], not seeking my own benefit but that of the many, so that they [will be open to the message of salvation and] may be saved.
Christian Order
11 Imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.
The Syrophoenician Woman
24 Jesus got up and left there and went to the region of Tyre [and Sidon, the coastal area of Phoenicia]. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know about it; but it was impossible for Him to be hidden [from the public].(A) 25 Instead, after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. 26 Now the woman was a Gentile (Greek), a [a]Syrophoenician by nationality. And she kept pleading with Him to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 He was saying to her, “First let the children [of Israel] be fed, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the [b]pet dogs (non-Jews).” 28 But she replied, “Yes, Lord, but even the pet dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” 29 And He said to her, “Because of this answer [reflecting your humility and faith], go [knowing that your request is granted]; the demon has left your daughter [permanently].” 30 And returning to her home, she found the child lying on the couch [relaxed and resting], the demon having gone.
31 Soon after this Jesus left the region of Tyre, and passed through Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the region of Decapolis [the ten Hellenistic cities]. 32 They brought to Him a man who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they begged Jesus to place His hand on him. 33 Jesus, taking him aside by himself, away from the crowd, put His fingers into the man’s ears, and after spitting, He touched the man’s tongue [with the saliva]; 34 and looking up to heaven, He sighed deeply and said to the man, “Ephphatha,” which [in Aramaic] means, “[c]Be opened and released!” 35 And his ears were opened, his tongue was released, and he began speaking plainly. 36 Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they continued to proclaim it. 37 They were thoroughly astounded and completely overwhelmed, saying, “He has done everything well! He even makes the deaf hear and the mute speak!”
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