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 146
The God of Compassion
1 Hallelujah!
My soul, praise the Lord.(A)
2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing to my God as long as I live.(B)
3 Do not trust in nobles,
in man, who cannot save.(C)
4 When his breath[a] leaves him,
he returns to the ground;
on that day his plans die.(D)
5 Happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,(E)
6 the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea and everything in them.(F)
He remains faithful forever,(G)
7 executing justice for the exploited
and giving food to the hungry.(H)
The Lord frees prisoners.(I)
8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.(J)
The Lord raises up those who are oppressed.[b](K)
The Lord loves the righteous.(L)
9 The Lord protects foreigners
and helps the fatherless and the widow,(M)
but He frustrates the ways of the wicked.(N)
10 The Lord reigns forever;
Zion, your God reigns for all generations.(O)
Hallelujah!
Psalm 147
God Restores Jerusalem
1 Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing to our God,
for praise is pleasant and lovely.(P)
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem;(Q)
He gathers Israel’s exiled people.(R)
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.(S)
4 He counts the number of the stars;
He gives names to all of them.(T)
5 Our Lord is great, vast in power;
His understanding is infinite.[c](U)
6 The Lord helps the afflicted
but brings the wicked to the ground.(V)
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
play the lyre to our God,(W)
8 who covers the sky with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
and causes grass to grow on the hills.(X)
9 He provides the animals with their food,
and the young ravens, what they cry for.(Y)
10 He is not impressed by the strength of a horse;
He does not value the power[d] of a man.(Z)
11 The Lord values those who fear Him,
those who put their hope in His faithful love.(AA)
12 Exalt the Lord, Jerusalem;
praise your God, Zion!(AB)
13 For He strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your children within you.(AC)
14 He endows your territory with prosperity;[e](AD)
He satisfies you with the finest wheat.(AE)
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)
Jehu Anointed as Israel’s King
9 The prophet Elisha called one of the sons of the prophets(A) and said, “Tuck your mantle(B) under your belt, take this flask of oil(C) with you, and go to Ramoth-gilead.(D) 2 When you get there, look for Jehu(E) son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi. Go in, get him away from his colleagues, and take him to an inner room. 3 Then, take the flask of oil, pour it on his head, and say, ‘This is what the Lord says: “I anoint you king over Israel.”’(F) Open the door and escape. Don’t wait.” 4 So the young prophet went to Ramoth-gilead.
5 When he arrived, the army commanders were sitting there, so he said, “I have a message for you, commander.”
Jehu asked, “For which one of us?”
He answered, “For you, commander.”
6 So Jehu got up and went into the house. The young prophet poured the oil on his head and said, “This is what the Lord God of Israel says: ‘I anoint you king over the Lord’s people, Israel. 7 You are to strike down the house of your master Ahab so that I may avenge the blood shed by the hand of Jezebel—the blood of My servants the prophets and of all the servants of the Lord.(G) 8 The whole house of Ahab will perish, and I will eliminate all of Ahab’s males,[a] both slave and free, in Israel.(H) 9 I will make the house of Ahab like the house of Jeroboam son of Nebat and like the house of Baasha son of Ahijah.(I) 10 The dogs will eat Jezebel in the plot of land at Jezreel—no one will bury her.’”(J) Then the young prophet opened the door and escaped.
11 When Jehu came out to his master’s servants, they asked, “Is everything all right? Why did this crazy person(K) come to you?”
Then he said to them, “You know the sort and their ranting.”
12 But they replied, “That’s a lie! Tell us!”
So Jehu said, “He talked to me about this and that and said, ‘This is what the Lord says: I anoint you king over Israel.’”
13 Each man quickly took his garment and put it under Jehu on the bare steps.[b](L) They blew the ram’s horn(M) and proclaimed, “Jehu is king!”(N)
14 Then Jehu son of Jehoshaphat, son of Nimshi, conspired against Joram.(O) Joram and all Israel had been at Ramoth-gilead on guard against Hazael king of Aram. 15 But King Joram had returned to Jezreel to recover from the wounds that the Arameans had inflicted on him when he fought against Aram’s King Hazael. Jehu said, “If you commanders wish to make me king, then don’t let anyone escape from the city to go tell about it in Jezreel.”
Jehu Kills Joram and Ahaziah
16 Jehu got into his chariot and went to Jezreel since Joram was laid up there and Ahaziah king of Judah had gone down to visit Joram.
Glorifying God in Body and Spirit
12 “Everything is permissible(A) for me,”[a] but not everything is helpful. “Everything is permissible for me,” but I will not be brought under the control of anything. 13 “Food(B) for the stomach and the stomach for food,” but God will do away with both of them.[b] The body is not for sexual immorality(C) but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. 14 God raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.(D) 15 Don’t you know that your bodies are a part of Christ’s body?(E) So should I take a part of Christ’s body and make it part of a prostitute? Absolutely not! 16 Don’t you know that anyone joined to a prostitute is one body with her? For Scripture says, The two will become one flesh.(F)[c] 17 But anyone joined(G) to the Lord is one spirit(H) with Him.
18 Run(I) from sexual immorality! “Every sin a person can commit is outside the body.”[d] On the contrary, the person who is sexually immoral(J) sins against his own body. 19 Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary(K) of the Holy Spirit(L) who is in you,(M) whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought(N) at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.[e]
How to Give
6 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness[a] in front of people, to be seen by them. Otherwise, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward!(A) 3 But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.[b](B)
How to Pray
5 “Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward!(C) 6 But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.[c](D)
How to Fast
16 “Whenever you fast, don’t be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive[a](A) so their fasting is obvious to people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward! 17 But when you fast, put oil on your head, and wash your face,(B) 18 so that you don’t show your fasting to people but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.[b]
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