Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 20
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
1 Yahweh will answer you in times of trouble.
The name of the Elohim of Jacob will protect you.
2 He will send you help from his holy place
and support you from Zion.
3 He will remember all your grain offerings
and look with favor on your burnt offerings. Selah
4 He will give you your heart’s desire
and carry out all your plans.
5 We will joyfully sing about your victory.
We will wave our flags in the name of our Elohim.
Yahweh will fulfill all your requests.
6 Now I know that Yahweh will give victory to his anointed king.
He will answer him from his holy heaven
with mighty deeds of his powerful hand.
7 Some rely on chariots and others on horses,
but we will boast in the name of Yahweh our Elohim.
8 They will sink to their knees and fall,
but we will rise and stand firm.
9 Give victory to the king, O Yahweh.
Answer us when we call.
Psalm 21
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
1 The king finds joy in your strength, O Yahweh.
What great joy he has in your victory!
2 You gave him his heart’s desire.
You did not refuse the prayer from his lips. Selah
3 You welcomed him with the blessings of good things
and set a crown of fine gold on his head.
4 He asked you for life.
You gave him a long life, forever and ever.
5 Because of your victory his glory is great.
You place splendor and majesty on him.
6 Yes, you made him a blessing forever.
You made him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 Indeed, the king trusts Yahweh,
and through the mercy of Elyon, he will not be moved.
8 Your hand will discover all your enemies.
Your powerful hand will find all who hate you.
9 When you appear, you will make them burn like a blazing furnace.
Yahweh will swallow them up in his anger.
Fire will devour them.
10 You will destroy their children from the earth
and their offspring from among Adam’s descendants.
11 Although they scheme and plan evil against you,
they will not succeed.
12 They turn their backs and flee
because you aim your bow at their faces.[a]
13 Arise, O Yahweh, in your strength.
We will sing and make music to praise your power.
Psalm 110
A psalm by David.
1 Yahweh said to my Lord,
“Sit in the highest position in heaven
until I make your enemies your footstool.”
2 Yahweh will extend your powerful scepter from Zion.
Rule your enemies who surround you.
3 Your people will volunteer when you call up your army.
Your young people will come to you in holy splendor
like dew in the early morning.[a]
4 Yahweh has taken an oath and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever, in the way Melchizedek was a priest.”
5 Adonay is at your right side.
He will crush kings on the day of his anger.
6 He will pass judgment on the nations
and fill them with dead bodies.
Throughout the earth he will crush their heads.
7 He will drink from the brook along the road.
He will hold his head high.
Psalm 116
1 I love Yahweh because he hears my voice, my pleas for mercy.
2 I will call on him as long as I live
because he turns his ear toward me.
3 The ropes of death became tangled around me.
The horrors of the grave took hold of me.
I experienced pain and agony.
4 But I kept calling on the name of Yahweh:
“Please, Yahweh, rescue me!”
5 Yahweh is merciful and righteous.
Our Elohim is compassionate.
6 Yahweh protects defenseless people.
When I was weak, he saved me.
7 Be at peace again, my soul,
because Yahweh has been good to you.
8 You saved me from death.
You saved my eyes from tears and my feet from stumbling.
9 I will walk in Yahweh’s presence in this world of the living.
10 I kept my faith even when I said,
“I am suffering terribly.”
11 I also said when I was panic-stricken,
“Everyone is undependable.”
12 How can I repay Yahweh
for all the good that he has done for me?
13 I will take the cup of salvation
and call on the name of Yahweh.
14 I will keep my vows to Yahweh
in the presence of all his people.
15 Precious in the sight of Yahweh
is the death of his faithful ones.
16 O Yahweh, I am indeed your servant.
I am your servant,
the son of your female servant.
You have freed me from my chains.
17 I will bring a song of thanksgiving to you as a sacrifice.
I will call on the name of Yahweh.
18 I will keep my vows to Yahweh
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courtyards of Yahweh’s house,
in the middle of Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 117
1 Praise Yahweh, all you nations!
Praise him, all you people of the world!
2 His mercy toward us is powerful.
Yahweh’s faithfulness endures forever.
Hallelujah!
Wisdom as Creator
22 “Yahweh already possessed me long ago,
when his way began,
before any of his works.
23 I was appointed from everlasting
from the first,
before the earth began.
24 I was born
before there were oceans,
before there were springs filled with water.
25 I was born
before the mountains were settled in their places
and before the hills,
26 when he had not yet made land or fields
or the first dust of the world.
27 “When he set up the heavens, I was there.
When he traced the horizon on the surface of the ocean,
28 when he established the skies above,
when he determined the currents in the ocean,
29 when he set a limit for the sea
so the waters would not overstep his command,
when he traced the foundations of the earth,
30 I was beside him as a master craftsman.[a]
I made him happy day after day,
I rejoiced in front of him all the time,
31 found joy in his inhabited world,
and delighted in the human race.
Wisdom as Lifegiver
32 “Now, sons, listen to me.
Blessed are those who follow my ways.
33 Listen to discipline, and become wise.
Do not leave my ways.
34 Blessed is the person who listens to me,
watches at my door day after day,
and waits by my doorposts.
35 Whoever finds me finds life
and obtains favor from Yahweh.
36 Whoever sins against me harms himself.
All those who hate me love death.”
Greeting
1 From the church leader.[a]
To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love because we share the truth.
Encouragement for Gaius
2 Dear friend, I know that you are spiritually well. I pray that you’re doing well in every other way and that you’re healthy. 3 I was very happy when some believers came and told us that you are living according to the truth. 4 Nothing makes me happier than to hear that my children are living according to the truth.
5 Dear friend, you are showing your faith in whatever you do for other believers, especially when they’re your guests. 6 These believers have told the congregation about your love. You will do well to support them on their trip in a way that proves you belong to God. 7 After all, they went on their trip to serve the one named Christ, and they didn’t accept any help from the people to whom they went. 8 We must support believers who go on trips like this so that we can work together with them in spreading the truth.
Criticism of Diotrephes
9 I wrote a letter to the congregation. But Diotrephes, who loves to be in charge, won’t accept us. 10 For this reason, when I come I will bring up what he’s doing. He’s not satisfied with saying malicious things about us. He also refuses to accept the believers we send as guests. He even tries to stop others who want to accept them and attempts to throw those people out of the congregation.
Praise for Demetrius
11 Dear friend, never imitate evil, but imitate good. The person who does good is from God. The person who does evil has never seen God.
12 Everyone, including the truth itself, says good things about Demetrius. We also say good things about him, and you know that what we say is true.
Farewell
13 I have a lot to write to you. However, I would rather not write. 14 I hope to visit you very soon. Then we can talk things over personally.
15 Peace be with you! Your friends here send you their greetings. Greet each of our friends by name.
15 He knew about this, so he left that place.
Jesus Is God’s Servant
Many people followed him, and he cured all of them. 16 He also ordered them not to tell people who he was. 17 So what the prophet Isaiah had said came true:
18 “Here is my servant
whom I have chosen,
whom I love,
and in whom I delight.
I will put my Spirit on him,
and he will announce justice to the nations.
19 He will not quarrel or shout,
and no one will hear his voice in the streets.
20 He will not break off a damaged cattail.
He will not even put out a smoking wick
until he has made justice victorious.
21 The nations will have hope because of him.”
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.