Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 83
Prayer against Enemies
A song. A psalm of Asaph.(A)
1 God, do not keep silent.
Do not be deaf, God; do not be idle.(B)
2 See how Your enemies make an uproar;
those who hate You have acted arrogantly.[a](C)
3 They devise clever schemes against Your people;
they conspire against Your treasured ones.(D)
4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation
so that Israel’s name will no longer be remembered.”(E)
5 For they have conspired with one mind;
they form an alliance[b] against You(F)—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,(G)
Moab and the Hagrites,(H)
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,(I)
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre.(J)
8 Even Assyria has joined them;
they lend support[c] to the sons of Lot.[d](K)
9 Deal with them as You did with Midian,(L)
as You did with Sisera
and Jabin at the Kishon River.(M)
10 They were destroyed at En-dor;
they became manure for the ground.(N)
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,(O)
and all their tribal leaders like Zebah and Zalmunna,(P)
12 who said, “Let us seize God’s pastures for ourselves.”(Q)
13 Make them like tumbleweed, my God,
like straw before the wind.(R)
14 As fire burns a forest,
as a flame blazes through mountains,(S)
15 so pursue them with Your tempest
and terrify them with Your storm.(T)
16 Cover their faces with shame
so that they will seek Your name Yahweh.(U)
17 Let them be put to shame and terrified forever;
let them perish in disgrace.(V)
18 May they know that You alone—
whose name is Yahweh—
are the Most High over all the earth.(W)
Psalm 145
Praising God’s Greatness
A Davidic hymn.
1 I[a] exalt You, my God the King,
and praise Your name forever and ever.(A)
2 I will praise You every day;
I will honor Your name forever and ever.(B)
3 Yahweh is great and is highly praised;(C)
His greatness is unsearchable.(D)
4 One generation will declare Your works to the next
and will proclaim Your mighty acts.(E)
5 I[b] will speak of Your splendor and glorious majesty
and[c] Your wonderful works.(F)
6 They will proclaim the power of Your awe-inspiring acts,
and I will declare Your greatness.[d](G)
7 They will give a testimony of Your great goodness
and will joyfully sing of Your righteousness.(H)
8 The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and great in faithful love.(I)
9 The Lord is good to everyone;(J)
His compassion rests on all He has made.(K)
10 All You have made will thank You, Lord;
the[e] godly will praise You.(L)
11 They will speak of the glory of Your kingdom
and will declare Your might,(M)
12 informing all people of Your mighty acts
and of the glorious splendor of Your[f] kingdom.(N)
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom;
Your rule is for all generations.(O)
The Lord is faithful in all His words
and gracious in all His actions.[g](P)
14 The Lord helps all who fall;
He raises up all who are oppressed.[h](Q)
15 All eyes look to You,
and You give them their food at the proper time.(R)
16 You open Your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.(S)
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways
and gracious in all His acts.(T)
18 The Lord is near all who call out to Him,
all who call out to Him with integrity.(U)
19 He fulfills the desires of those who fear Him;
He hears their cry for help and saves them.(V)
20 The Lord guards all those who love Him,
but He destroys all the wicked.(W)
21 My mouth will declare Yahweh’s praise;
let every living thing
praise His holy name forever and ever.(X)
Psalm 85
Restoration of Favor
For the choir director. A psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 Lord, You showed favor to Your land;(A)
You restored Jacob’s prosperity.[a](B)
2 You took away Your people’s guilt;
You covered all their sin.(C)
3 You withdrew all Your fury;
You turned from Your burning anger.(D)
4 Return to us, God of our salvation,
and abandon Your displeasure with us.(E)
5 Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger for all generations?(F)
6 Will You not revive us again
so that Your people may rejoice in You?(G)
7 Show us Your faithful love, Lord,
and give us Your salvation.(H)
8 I will listen to what God will say;
surely the Lord will declare peace
to His people, His godly ones,
and not let them go back to foolish ways.(I)
9 His salvation is very near those who fear Him,
so that glory may dwell in our land.(J)
10 Faithful love and truth will join together;
righteousness and peace will embrace.(K)
11 Truth will spring up from the earth,
and righteousness will look down from heaven.(L)
12 Also, the Lord will provide what is good,
and our land will yield its crops.(M)
13 Righteousness will go before Him
to prepare the way for His steps.(N)
Psalm 86
Lament and Petition
A Davidic prayer.
1 Listen, Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.(O)
2 Protect my life, for I am faithful.(P)
You are my God; save Your servant who trusts in You.(Q)
3 Be gracious to me, Lord,
for I call to You all day long.(R)
4 Bring joy to Your servant’s life,
because I turn to You, Lord.(S)
5 For You, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive,(T)
rich in faithful love to all who call on You.(U)
6 Lord, hear my prayer;
listen to my plea for mercy.(V)
7 I call on You in the day of my distress,
for You will answer me.(W)
8 Lord, there is no one like You among the gods,
and there are no works like Yours.(X)
9 All the nations You have made
will come and bow down before You, Lord,
and will honor Your name.(Y)
10 For You are great and perform wonders;
You alone are God.(Z)
11 Teach me Your way, Yahweh,
and I will live by Your truth.
Give me an undivided mind to fear Your name.(AA)
12 I will praise You with all my heart, Lord my God,
and will honor Your name forever.(AB)
13 For Your faithful love for me is great,
and You deliver my life from the depths of Sheol.(AC)
14 God, arrogant people have attacked me;
a gang of ruthless men seeks my life.
They have no regard for You.(AD)
15 But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth.(AE)
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me.
Give Your strength to Your servant;
save the son of Your female servant.(AF)
17 Show me a sign of Your goodness;
my enemies will see and be put to shame
because You, Lord, have helped and comforted me.(AG)
David’s Adultery with Bathsheba
11 In the spring when kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.(A)
2 One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing—a very beautiful woman. 3 So David sent someone to inquire about her, and he reported, “This is Bathsheba,(B) daughter of Eliam and wife of Uriah(C) the Hittite.”[a]
4 David sent messengers to get her, and when she came to him, he slept with her. Now she had just been purifying herself from her uncleanness.(D) Afterward, she returned home. 5 The woman conceived and sent word to inform David: “I am pregnant.”
6 David sent orders to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing and how the war was going. 8 Then he said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king followed him. 9 But Uriah slept at the door of the palace with all his master’s servants; he did not go down to his house.
10 When it was reported to David, “Uriah didn’t go home,” David questioned Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a journey? Why didn’t you go home?”
11 Uriah answered David, “The ark, Israel, and Judah are dwelling in tents, and my master Joab and his soldiers[b] are camping in the open field. How can I enter my house to eat and drink and sleep with my wife? As surely as you live and by your life, I will not do this!”(E)
12 “Stay here today also,” David said to Uriah, “and tomorrow I will send you back.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and the next. 13 Then David invited Uriah to eat and drink with him, and David got him drunk. He went out in the evening to lie down on his cot with his master’s servants, but he did not go home.
Uriah’s Death Arranged
14 The next morning David wrote a letter to Joab and sent it with Uriah. 15 In the letter he wrote:
Put Uriah(F) at the front of the fiercest fighting, then withdraw from him so that he is struck down and dies.
16 When Joab was besieging the city, he put Uriah in the place where he knew the best enemy soldiers were. 17 Then the men of the city came out and attacked Joab, and some of the men from David’s soldiers fell in battle; Uriah the Hittite also died.
18 Joab sent someone to report to David all the details of the battle. 19 He commanded the messenger, “When you’ve finished telling the king all the details of the battle— 20 if the king’s anger gets stirred up and he asks you, ‘Why did you get so close to the city to fight? Didn’t you realize they would shoot from the top of the wall? 21 At Thebez, who struck Abimelech son of Jerubbesheth?[c][d] Didn’t a woman drop an upper millstone on him from the top of the wall so that he died?(G) Why did you get so close to the wall?’—then say, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead also.’” 22 Then the messenger left.
When he arrived, he reported to David all that Joab had sent him to tell. 23 The messenger reported to David, “The men gained the advantage over us and came out against us in the field, but we counterattacked right up to the entrance of the gate. 24 However, the archers shot down on your soldiers from the top of the wall, and some of the king’s soldiers died. Your servant Uriah the Hittite is also dead.”
25 David told the messenger, “Say this to Joab: ‘Don’t let this matter upset you because the sword devours all alike. Intensify your fight against the city and demolish it.’ Encourage him.”
26 When Uriah’s(H) wife heard that her husband Uriah had died, she mourned for him.[e] 27 When the time of mourning ended, David had her brought to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. However, the Lord considered what David had done to be evil.(I)
Demonism Defeated at Ephesus
11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands, 12 so that even facecloths or work aprons[a] that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.(A)
13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!”(B) 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul—but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. Then fear fell on all of them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.(C) 18 And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices, 19 while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver. 20 In this way the Lord’s message flourished and prevailed.(D)
The Transfiguration
2 After(A) six days(B) Jesus took Peter, James, and John(C) and led them up on a high mountain(D) by themselves to be alone. He was transformed[a](E) in front of them, 3 and His clothes(F) became dazzling—extremely white(G) as no launderer on earth could whiten(H) them. 4 Elijah(I) appeared to them with Moses,(J) and they were talking with Jesus.
5 Then Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi,(K) it’s good(L) for us to be here! Let us make three tabernacles:(M) one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”— 6 because he did not know what he should say,(N) since they were terrified.(O)
7 A cloud(P) appeared, overshadowing(Q) them, and a voice(R) came from the cloud:(S)
8 Then suddenly, looking around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus alone.
9 As(W) they were coming down from the mountain,(X) He ordered them to tell no one what they had seen(Y) until the Son of Man(Z) had risen(AA) from the dead.(AB) 10 They kept this word(AC) to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant.
11 Then they began to question Him, “Why do the scribes(AD) say that Elijah must come first?”(AE)
12 “Elijah does come first and restores(AF) everything,”(AG) He replied. “How then is it written(AH) about the Son of Man that He must suffer(AI) many things and be treated with contempt?(AJ) 13 But I tell you that Elijah really has come, and they did whatever they pleased to him, just as it is written(AK) about him.”
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