Ephesians 3:14-21
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Prayer for the Readers
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,[a] 15 from whom every family[b] in heaven and on earth takes its name. 16 I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit(A) 17 and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. 18 I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth(B) 19 and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.(C)
20 Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine,(D) 21 to him be glory in the church and[c] in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
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Psalm 35:1-11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Psalm 35
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
Of David.
1 Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me;
fight against those who fight against me!(A)
2 Take hold of shield and buckler,
and rise up to help me!
3 Draw the spear and javelin
against my pursuers;
say to my soul,
“I am your salvation.”
4 Let them be put to shame and dishonor
who seek after my life.
Let them be turned back and confounded
who devise evil against me.(B)
5 Let them be like chaff before the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them on.(C)
6 Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.(D)
7 For without cause they hid their net[a] for me;
without cause they dug a pit[b] for my life.(E)
8 Let ruin come on them unawares,
and let the net that they hid ensnare them;
let them fall in it—to their ruin.(F)
9 Then my soul shall rejoice in the Lord,
exulting in his deliverance.(G)
10 All my bones shall say,
“O Lord, who is like you?
You deliver the weak
from those too strong for them,
the weak and needy from those who despoil them.”(H)
11 Malicious witnesses rise up;
they ask me about things I do not know.(I)
Luke 12:49-53
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Jesus the Cause of Division
49 “I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already ablaze! 50 I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and what constraint I am under until it is completed!(A) 51 Do you think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division!(B) 52 From now on five in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three; 53 they will be divided:
father against son
and son against father,
mother against daughter
and daughter against mother,
mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law
and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”(C)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.