Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 20
Deliverance in Battle
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 May Yahweh answer you in a day of trouble;(A)
may the name of Jacob’s God protect you.(B)
2 May He send you help from the sanctuary
and sustain you from Zion.(C)
3 May He remember all your offerings
and accept your burnt offering.(D)
4 May He give you what your heart desires(E)
and fulfill your whole purpose.(F)
5 Let us shout for joy at your victory(G)
and lift the banner in the name of our God.(H)
May Yahweh fulfill all your requests.(I)
6 Now I know that the Lord gives victory to His anointed;(J)
He will answer him from His holy heaven
with mighty victories from[a] His right hand.(K)
7 Some take pride in chariots, and others in horses,
but we take pride in the name of Yahweh our God.(L)
8 They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand firm.(M)
9 Lord, give victory to the king!(N)
May He[b] answer us on the day that we call.
Psalm 21
The King’s Victory
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 Lord, the king finds joy in Your strength.
How greatly he rejoices in Your victory!(O)
2 You have given him his heart’s desire(P)
and have not denied the request of his lips.(Q)
3 For You meet him with rich blessings;
You place a crown of pure gold on his head.(R)
4 He asked You for life, and You gave it to him—
length of days forever and ever.(S)
5 His glory is great through Your victory;
You confer majesty and splendor on him.(T)
6 You give him blessings forever;(U)
You cheer him with joy in Your presence.(V)
7 For the king relies on the Lord;
through the faithful love of the Most High
he is not shaken.(W)
8 Your hand will capture all your enemies;
your right hand will seize those who hate you.(X)
9 You will make them burn
like a fiery furnace when you appear;
the Lord will engulf them in His wrath,
and fire will devour them.(Y)
10 You will wipe their descendants from the earth
and their offspring from the human race.(Z)
11 Though they intend to harm[c] you
and devise a wicked plan, they will not prevail.(AA)
12 Instead, you will put them to flight
when you aim your bow[d] at their faces.(AB)
13 Be exalted, Lord, in Your strength;
we will sing and praise Your might.(AC)
Psalm 23
The Good Shepherd
A Davidic psalm.
1 The Lord is my shepherd;(A)
there is nothing I lack.(B)
2 He lets me lie down in green pastures;(C)
He leads me beside quiet waters.(D)
3 He renews my life;
He leads me along the right paths[a]
for His name’s sake.(E)
4 Even when I go through the darkest valley,[b]
I fear no danger,
for You are with me;(F)
Your rod and Your staff[c]—they comfort me.(G)
Psalm 27
My Stronghold
Davidic.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom should I fear?(A)
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom should I be afraid?(B)
2 When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh,(C)
my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.(D)
3 Though an army deploys against me,
my heart is not afraid;
though a war breaks out against me,
still I am confident.(E)
4 I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,(F)
gazing on the beauty of the Lord(G)
and seeking Him in His temple.(H)
5 For He will conceal me in His shelter
in the day of adversity;
He will hide me under the cover of His tent;
He will set me high on a rock.(I)
6 Then my head will be high
above my enemies around me;(J)
I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy.(K)
I will sing and make music to the Lord.(L)
7 Lord, hear my voice when I call;
be gracious to me and answer me.(M)
8 My heart says this about You,
“You[a] are to seek My face.”
Lord, I will seek Your face.(N)
9 Do not hide Your face from me;(O)
do not turn Your servant away in anger.(P)
You have been my helper;(Q)
do not leave me or abandon me,
God of my salvation.
10 Even if my father and mother abandon me,
the Lord cares for me.(R)
The Widow’s Son Raised
17 After this, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. His illness became very severe until no breath remained in him.(A) 18 She said to Elijah, “Man of God,(B) what do we have in common?(C) Have you come to remind me of my guilt(D) and to kill my son?”
19 But Elijah said to her, “Give me your son.” So he took him from her arms, brought him up to the upper room(E) where he was staying, and laid him on his own bed. 20 Then he cried out to the Lord(F) and said, “My Lord God, have You also brought tragedy on the widow I am staying with by killing her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself out over the boy three times.(G) He cried out to the Lord and said, “My Lord God, please let this boy’s life return to him!”
22 So the Lord listened to Elijah’s voice, and the boy’s life returned to him, and he lived.(H) 23 Then Elijah took the boy, brought him down from the upper room into the house, and gave him to his mother.(I) Elijah said, “Look, your son is alive.”
24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know you are a man of God(J) and the Lord’s word from your mouth is true.”(K)
Greeting
The Elder:(A)
To my dear friend[a] Gaius: I love you in the truth.(B)
2 Dear friend,[b] I pray that you may prosper in every way and be in good health physically(C) just as you are spiritually.[c] 3 For I was very glad when some brothers came and testified(D) to your faithfulness to the truth—how you are walking in the truth.(E) 4 I have no greater joy(F) than this: to hear that my children(G) are walking in the truth.
Gaius Commended
5 Dear friend,[d] you are showing faithfulness[e] by whatever you do for the brothers, especially when they are strangers. 6 They have testified to your love in front of the church.(H) You will do well to send them on their journey(I) in a manner worthy of God,(J) 7 since they set out for the sake of the Name,(K) accepting nothing from pagans.(L) 8 Therefore, we ought to support such men so that we can be coworkers with[f] the truth.
Diotrephes and Demetrius
9 I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have first place among them,(M) does not receive us.(N) 10 This is why, if I come, I will remind him of the works he is doing, slandering(O) us with malicious words. And he is not satisfied with that! He not only refuses to welcome the brothers himself, but he even stops those who want to do so and expels them from the church.
11 Dear friend,[g] do not imitate what is evil,(P) but what is good. The one who does good is of God;(Q) the one who does evil has not seen God.(R) 12 Demetrius has a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. And we also testify for him, and you know(S) that our testimony is true.(T)
Farewell
13 I have many things to write you, but I don’t want to write to you with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.[h]
Peace be with you. The friends send you greetings. Greet the friends by name.
The Second Sign: Healing an Official’s Son
46 Then He went again to Cana(A) of Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum.(B) 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea(C) into Galilee, he went to Him and pleaded with Him to come down and heal his son, for he was about to die.
48 Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders,(D) you will not believe.”(E)
49 “Sir,”(F) the official said to Him, “come down before my boy dies!”
50 “Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.” The man believed what[a] Jesus said to him and departed.
51 While he was still going down, his slaves met him saying that his boy was alive. 52 He asked them at what time he got better. “Yesterday at seven in the morning[b] the fever left him,” they answered. 53 The father(G) realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” Then he himself believed, along with his whole household.
54 This, therefore, was the second sign(H) Jesus performed after He came from Judea to Galilee.(I)
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