Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 20
Prayer for Victory
To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord answer you in the day of trouble!
The name of the God of Jacob protect you!(A)
2 May he send you help from the sanctuary
and give you support from Zion.(B)
3 May he remember all your offerings
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices. Selah(C)
4 May he grant you your heart’s desire
and fulfill all your plans.(D)
5 May we shout for joy over your victory
and in the name of our God set up our banners.
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.(E)
6 Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with mighty victories by his right hand.(F)
7 Some take pride in chariots and some in horses,
but our pride is in the name of the Lord our God.(G)
8 They will collapse and fall,
but we shall rise and stand upright.(H)
9 Give victory to the king, O Lord;
answer us when we call.[a]
Psalm 21
Thanksgiving for Victory
To the leader. A Psalm of David.
1 In your strength the king rejoices, O Lord,
and in your help how greatly he exults!(I)
2 You have given him his heart’s desire
and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah(J)
3 For you meet him with rich blessings;
you set a crown of fine gold on his head.(K)
4 He asked you for life; you gave it to him—
length of days forever and ever.(L)
5 His glory is great through your help;
splendor and majesty you bestow on him.(M)
6 You bestow on him blessings forever;
you make him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 For the king trusts in the Lord,
and through the steadfast love of the Most High he shall not be moved.(N)
8 Your hand will find out all your enemies;
your right hand will find out those who hate you.(O)
9 You will make them like a fiery furnace
when you appear.
The Lord will swallow them up in his wrath,
and fire will consume them.(P)
10 You will destroy their offspring from the earth
and their children from among humankind.(Q)
11 If they plan evil against you,
if they devise mischief, they will not succeed.(R)
12 For you will put them to flight;
you will aim at their faces with your bows.(S)
13 Be exalted, O Lord, in your strength!
We will sing and praise your power.(T)
Psalm 110
Assurance of Victory for God’s Priest-King
Of David. A Psalm.
1 The Lord says to my lord,
“Sit at my right hand
until I make your enemies your footstool.”(A)
2 The Lord sends out from Zion
your mighty scepter.
Rule in the midst of your foes.(B)
3 Your people will offer themselves willingly
on the day you lead your forces
on the holy mountains.[a]
From the womb of the morning,
like dew, your youth[b] will come to you.(C)
4 The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind,
“You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”[c](D)
Psalm 116
Thanksgiving for Recovery from Illness
1 I love the Lord because he has heard
my voice and my supplications.(A)
2 Because he inclined his ear to me,
therefore I will call on him as long as I live.(B)
3 The snares of death encompassed me;
the pangs of Sheol laid hold on me;
I suffered distress and anguish.(C)
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord,
“O Lord, I pray, save my life!”
5 Gracious is the Lord and righteous;
our God is merciful.(D)
6 The Lord protects the simple;
when I was brought low, he saved me.
7 Return, O my soul, to your rest,
for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.(E)
8 For you have delivered my soul from death,
my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling.(F)
9 I walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.
10 [a]I kept my faith, even when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted”;
11 I said in my consternation,
“Everyone is a liar.”(G)
12 What shall I return to the Lord
for all his bounty to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord;
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.(H)
15 Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful ones.(I)
16 O Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant, the child of your serving girl.
You have loosed my bonds.(J)
17 I will offer to you a thanksgiving sacrifice
and call on the name of the Lord.(K)
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people,
19 in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!(L)
Psalm 117
Universal Call to Worship
Wisdom’s Part in Creation
22 “The Lord created me at the beginning[a] of his work,[b]
the first of his acts of long ago.(A)
23 Ages ago I was set up,
at the first, before the beginning of the earth.(B)
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth,
when there were no springs abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains had been shaped,
before the hills, I was brought forth,(C)
26 when he had not yet made earth and fields[c]
or the world’s first bits of soil.
27 When he established the heavens, I was there;
when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,(D)
28 when he made firm the skies above,
when he established the fountains of the deep,
29 when he assigned to the sea its limit,
so that the waters might not transgress his command,
when he marked out the foundations of the earth,(E)
30 then I was beside him, like a master worker,[d]
and I was daily his[e] delight,
playing before him always,(F)
31 playing in his inhabited world
and delighting in the human race.(G)
32 “And now, my children, listen to me:
happy are those who keep my ways.(H)
33 Hear instruction and be wise,
and do not neglect it.
34 Happy is the one who listens to me,
watching daily at my gates,
waiting beside my doors.(I)
35 For whoever finds me finds life
and obtains favor from the Lord,(J)
36 but those who miss me injure themselves;
all who hate me love death.”(K)
Salutation
1 The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.
Gaius Commended for His Hospitality
2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul. 3 For I was overjoyed when some brothers and sisters arrived and testified to your faithfulness to the truth, how you walk in the truth.(A) 4 I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth.(B)
5 Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you;(C) 6 they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on in a manner worthy of God,(D) 7 for they began their journey for the sake of Christ,[a] accepting no support from nonbelievers.[b](E) 8 Therefore we ought to support such people, so that we may become coworkers with the truth.
Diotrephes and Demetrius
9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not welcome us. 10 So if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing in spreading false charges against us. And not content with those charges, he refuses to welcome the brothers and sisters and even prevents those who want to do so and expels them from the church.(F)
11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.(G) 12 Everyone has testified favorably about Demetrius, and so has the truth[c] itself. We also testify for him,[d] and you know that our testimony is true.(H)
Final Greetings
13 I have much to write to you, but I would rather not write to you with pen and ink;(I) 14 instead, I hope to see you soon, and we will talk together face to face.
15 Peace to you. The friends send you their greetings. Greet the friends there, each by name.(J)
God’s Chosen Servant
15 When Jesus became aware of this, he departed. Many[a] followed him, and he cured all of them,(A) 16 and he ordered them not to make him known.(B) 17 This was to fulfill what had been spoken through the prophet Isaiah:
18 “Here is my servant, whom I have chosen,
my beloved, with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
and he will proclaim justice to the gentiles.(C)
19 He will not wrangle or cry aloud,
nor will anyone hear his voice in the streets.
20 He will not break a bruised reed
or quench a smoldering wick
until he brings justice to victory.
21 And in his name the gentiles will hope.”
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.