Book of Common Prayer
A song. A Psalm of Asaph
A Plea for Judgment
83 God, do not rest!
Don’t be silent!
Don’t stay inactive, God!
2 See! Your enemies rage;
those who hate you issue threats.[a]
3 They plot against[b] your people
and conspire against your cherished ones.
4 They say, “Let us go and erase them as a nation
so the name of Israel will not be remembered anymore.”
5 Indeed, they shrewdly planned together,
forming an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom, the Ishmaelites,
Moab, the Hagrites,
7 Gebal, Ammon, Amalek, Philistia,
and the inhabitants of Tyre.
8 Even Assyria joined them
to strengthen the descendants of Lot.
9 Deal with them as you did to Midian,[c]
Sisera, and Jabin at the Kishon Brook.[d]
10 They were destroyed at En-dor
and became as dung on the ground.
11 Punish their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,[e]
and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,[f]
12 who said, “Let us possess the pastures of God.”
13 God, set them up like dried thistles,
like straw before the wind.
14 Like a fire burning a forest,
and a flame setting mountains ablaze.
15 Pursue them with your storm and
terrify them with your whirlwind.
16 Fill their faces with shame
until they seek your name, God.
17 Let them be humiliated and terrified permanently
until they die in shame.[g]
18 Then they will know that you alone—
whose name is Lord—
are the Most High over all the earth.
A Davidic Psalm[a]
Praising God for His Works
145 I will speak highly of you, my God and King,
and I will bless your name forever and ever.
2 I will bless you every day
and I will praise your name forever and ever.
3 The Lord is great,
and to be praised highly,
though his greatness is indescribable.
4 One generation will acclaim your works to another
and will describe your mighty actions.
5 I[b] will speak about the glorious splendor of your majesty
as well as[c] your awesome actions.
6 People[d] will speak about the might of your great deeds,
and I will announce your greatness.
7 They will extol the fame of your abundant goodness,
and will sing out loud about your righteousness.
8 Gracious and merciful is the Lord,
slow to become angry,
and overflowing with gracious love.
9 The Lord is good to everyone
and his mercies extend to everything he does.
10 Lord, everything you have done will praise you,
and your holy ones will bless you.
11 They will speak about the glory of your kingdom,
and they will talk about your might,
12 in order to make known your mighty acts to mankind[e]
as well as the majestic splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your authority endures from one generation to another.
13b God[f] is faithful about everything he says
and merciful in everything he does.
14 The Lord supports everyone who falls
and raises up those who are bowed down.
15 Everyone’s eyes are on you,
as you give them their food in due time.
16 You[g] open your hand
and keep on satisfying the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all of his ways
and graciously loving in all of his activities.
18 The Lord remains near to all who call out to him,
to everyone who calls out to him sincerely.[h]
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him,
hearing their cry and saving them.
20 The Lord preserves everyone who loves him,
but he will destroy all of the wicked.
21 My mouth will praise the Lord,
and all creatures will bless his holy name forever and ever.
To the Director: A Psalm by the descendants of Korah.
Restore Us, God
85 Lord you have favored your land
and restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You took away the iniquity of your people,
forgiving all their sins.
3 You withdrew all your wrath
and turned away from your burning anger.
4 Restore us, God of our salvation,
and stop being angry with us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger from generation to generation?
6 Will you restore our lives again
so that your people may rejoice in you?
7 Lord, show your gracious love
and deliver us.
8 Let me listen to what God, the Lord, says;
for the Lord will promise peace
to his people, to his holy ones;
may they not return to foolishness.
9 Surely, he will soon deliver those who fear him,
for his glory will live in our land.
10 Gracious love and truth meet;
righteousness and peace kiss.
11 Truth sprouts up from the ground,
while righteousness looks down from the sky.
12 The Lord will also provide what is good,
and our land will yield its produce.
13 Righteousness will go before him
to prepare a path for his steps.
A Davidic prayer
Help Us, God
86 Lord, listen and answer me,
for I am afflicted and needy.
2 Protect me, for I am faithful;[a]
My God, deliver your servant who trusts in you.
3 Have mercy on me Lord,
for I call on you all day long.
4 Your servant rejoices,
because, Lord, I set my hope on[b] you.
5 Indeed you, Lord, are kind and forgiving,
overflowing with gracious love to everyone who calls on you.
6 Hear my prayer, Lord;
attend to my prayer of supplication.
7 In my troubled times I will call on you,
for you will answer me.
8 No one can compare with you among the gods, Lord;
No one can accomplish[c] your work.
9 All the nations that you have established will come
and worship you, my Lord.
They will honor your name.
10 For you are great,
and you are doing awesome things;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your ways, Lord,
that I may walk in your truth;
let me wholeheartedly[d] revere your name.
12 I will praise you, Lord my God, with my whole being;
and I will honor your name continuously.
13 For great is your gracious love to me;
you’ve delivered me from the depths of Sheol.[e]
14 God, arrogant men rise up against me,
while a company of ruthless individuals want to kill me.
They do not have regard for you.[f]
15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate God,
merciful and patient,[g]
with unending gracious love and faithfulness.
16 Return to me and have mercy on me;
clothe your servant with your strength
and deliver the son of your maid servant.
17 Show me a sign of your goodness,
so that those who hate me will see it and be ashamed.
For you, Lord, will help and comfort me.
David’s Adultery
11 One spring day, during the time of year when kings go off to war, David sent out Joab, along with his personal staff[a] and all of Israel’s army. They utterly destroyed the Ammonites and then attacked Rabbah while David remained in Jerusalem. 2 Late one afternoon about dusk,[b] David got up from his couch and was walking around on the roof of the royal palace. From there[c] he watched a woman taking a bath, and she[d] was very beautiful to look at.
3 David sent word[e] to inquire about her,[f] and someone told him, “This is Eliam’s daughter Bathsheba,[g] the wife of Uriah the Hittite, isn’t it?” 4 So David sent some messengers, took her from her home,[h] and she went to him, and he had sex with her. (She had been consecrating herself following her menstrual separation.)[i] Then she returned to her home.
5 The woman conceived, and she sent this message[j] to David: “I’m pregnant.”
6 So David summoned Joab, and told him,[k] “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” So Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah arrived, David inquired about how Joab was doing, how the army was[l] doing, and how the war was progressing.
8 Then David told Uriah, “Go on down to your house and relax a while.”[m] So Uriah left the king’s palace, and the king sent a gift along after him. 9 But Uriah spent the night sleeping in the alcove of the king’s palace in the company of all his master’s staff members. He refused to go down to his own home.
10 When David was told that Uriah hadn’t gone home the previous night,[n] he quizzed him,[o] “You just arrived from a long journey, so why didn’t you go down to your own house?”
11 Uriah replied, “The ark, along with Israel and Judah, are encamped in tents, while my commanding officer Joab and my master’s staff members are camping out in the open fields. Should I go home, eat, drink, and have sex with my wife? Not on your life![p] I won’t do something like this, will I?”
12 Then David invited Uriah, “Stay here today, and tomorrow I’ll send you back.” So Uriah remained in Jerusalem all that day and the next. 13 Then at David’s invitation, he and Uriah dined and drank wine together, and David got him drunk. Later that evening, Uriah went out to lie on a couch in the company of his lord’s servants, and he did not go down to his house.
David Orders Uriah Killed
14 The next morning, David sent a message to Joab that Uriah took with him in his hand. 15 In the message, he wrote: “Assign Uriah to the most difficult fighting at the battle front, and then withdraw from him so that he will be struck down and killed.” 16 So as Joab began to attack the city, he assigned Uriah to a place where he knew valiant men would be stationed.[q] 17 When the men of the city came out to fight Joab, some of David’s army staff members fell, and Uriah the Hittite died, too.
18 Then Joab sent word to David about everything that had happened at the battle. 19 He instructed the courier, “When you have finished conveying all the news about the battle to the king, 20 if the king starts to get angry and asks you, ‘Why did you get so near the city to fight? Didn’t you know they would shoot from the wall? 21 Who killed Jerubbesheth’s[r] son Abimelech? Didn’t a woman kill him by throwing an upper millstone on him from the wall at Thebez? Why did you go so close to the wall?’ then tell him, ‘Your servant Uriah the Hittite also died.’”
22 So the messenger left Joab, set out for Jerusalem,[s] and disclosed to David everything that Joab had sent him to say. 23 The messenger told David, “The men surprised us and attacked us in the field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the city gate. 24 Then the archers shot at your servants from the wall. Some of the king’s staff members are dead, and your servant Uriah the Hittite has died as well.”
25 David responded to the messenger, “Here’s what you’re to tell Joab: ‘Don’t be troubled by this incident, because the battle sword consumes one or another from time to time. Consolidate your attack against the city and conquer it.’ Be sure to encourage him.”
26 When Uriah’s wife heard about the death of her husband[t] Uriah, she went into mourning for the head of her household.[u] 27 When her mourning period was completed, David sent for her, brought her to his palace, and she became his wife. Later on, she bore him a son.
Meanwhile, what David had done grieved the Lord,[v]
11 God continued to do extraordinary miracles through Paul.[a] 12 When handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched his skin were taken to the sick, their diseases left them and evil spirits went out of them.
13 Then some Jews who went around trying to drive out demons attempted to use the name of the Lord Jesus on those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by that Jesus whom Paul preaches!” 14 Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this.
15 But the evil spirit told them, “Jesus I know, and I am getting acquainted with Paul, but who are you?”
16 Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them, got the better of them, and so violently overpowered all of them that they fled out of the house naked and bruised. 17 When this became known to everyone living in Ephesus, Jews and Greeks alike, they all became terrified, and the name of the Lord Jesus began to be held in high honor. 18 Many who became believers kept coming to confess and talk about what they had been doing. 19 Moreover, many people who had practiced occult arts gathered their books and burned them in front of everybody. They estimated their value and found them to have been worth 50,000 silver coins.[b] 20 In that way the word of the Lord kept spreading and triumphing.
Jesus’ Appearance is Changed(A)
2 Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John and led them up a high mountain to be alone with him. His appearance was changed in front of them, 3 and his clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone[a] on earth could bleach them. 4 Then Elijah appeared to them, accompanied by Moses, and they were talking with Jesus.
5 Then Peter told Jesus, “Rabbi,[b] it’s good that we’re here! Let’s set up three shelters[c]—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 (Peter[d] didn’t know how to respond, because they were terrified.)
7 Then a cloud appeared and overshadowed them. A voice came out of the cloud and said,[e] “This is my Son, whom I love. Keep on listening to him!” 8 Suddenly, as they looked around, they saw no one with them but Jesus alone.
9 On their way down the mountain, Jesus[f] ordered them not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept the matter to themselves but argued about what “rising from the dead” meant. 11 So they asked him, “Don’t the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
12 He told them, “Elijah is indeed coming first and will restore all things. Why, then, is it written that the Son of Man must suffer a great deal and be treated shamefully? 13 But I tell you that Elijah has come, yet people[g] treated him just as they pleased, as it is written about him.”
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