Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 20
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1 May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble! May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high [and defend you];
2 Send you help from the sanctuary and support, refresh, and strengthen you from Zion;
3 Remember all your offerings and accept your burnt sacrifice. Selah [pause, and think of that]!
4 May He grant you according to your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans.
5 We will [shout in] triumph at your salvation and victory, and in the name of our God we will set up our banners. May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.
6 Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer him from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand.
7 Some trust in and boast of chariots and some of horses, but we will trust in and boast of the name of the Lord our God.
8 They are bowed down and fallen, but we are risen and stand upright.
9 O Lord, give victory; let the King answer us when we call.
Psalm 21
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
1 The king [David] shall joy in Your strength, O Lord; and in Your salvation how greatly shall he rejoice!
2 You have given him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah [pause, and think of that]!
3 For You send blessings of good things to meet him; You set a crown of pure gold on his head.
4 He asked life of You, and You gave it to him—long life forever and evermore.
5 His glory is great because of Your aid; splendor and majesty You bestow upon him.
6 For You make him to be blessed and a blessing forever; You make him exceedingly glad with the joy of Your presence.(A)
7 For the king trusts, relies on, and is confident in the Lord, and through the mercy and steadfast love of the Most High he will never be moved.
8 Your hand shall find all Your enemies; Your right hand shall find all those who hate You.
9 You will make them as if in a blazing oven in the time of Your anger; the Lord will swallow them up in His wrath, and the fire will utterly consume them.
10 Their offspring You will destroy from the earth, and their sons from among the children of men.
11 For they planned evil against You; they conceived a mischievous plot which they are not able to perform.
12 For You will make them turn their backs; You will aim Your bow [of divine justice] at their faces.
13 Be exalted, Lord, in Your strength; we will sing and praise Your power.
Psalm 23
A Psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, guide, and shield me], I shall not lack.
2 He makes me lie down in [fresh, tender] green pastures; He leads me beside the still and restful waters.(A)
3 He refreshes and restores my life (my self); He leads me in the paths of righteousness [uprightness and right standing with Him—not for my earning it, but] for His name’s sake.
4 Yes, though I walk through the [deep, sunless] valley of the shadow of death, I will fear or dread no evil, for You are with me; Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with [a]oil; my [brimming] cup runs over.
6 Surely or only goodness, mercy, and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life, and through the length of my days the house of the Lord [and His presence] shall be my dwelling place.
Psalm 27
[A Psalm] of David.
1 The Lord is my Light and my Salvation—whom shall I fear or dread? The Lord is the Refuge and Stronghold of my life—of whom shall I be afraid?
2 When the wicked, even my enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell.
3 Though a host encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war arise against me, [even then] in this will I be confident.
4 One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek, inquire for, and [insistently] require: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life, to behold and gaze upon the beauty [the sweet attractiveness and the delightful loveliness] of the Lord and to meditate, consider, and inquire in His temple.(A)
5 For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; in the secret place of His tent will He hide me; He will set me high upon a rock.
6 And now shall my head be lifted up above my enemies round about me; in His tent I will offer sacrifices and shouting of joy; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; have mercy and be gracious to me and answer me!
8 You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek, inquire for, and require [of necessity and on the authority of Your Word].
9 Hide not Your face from me; turn not Your servant away in anger, You Who have been my help! Cast me not off, neither forsake me, O God of my salvation!
10 Although my father and my mother have forsaken me, yet the Lord will take me up [adopt me as His child].(B)
11 Teach me Your way, O Lord, and lead me in a plain and even path because of my enemies [those who lie in wait for me].
12 Give me not up to the will of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen up against me; they breathe out cruelty and violence.
13 [What, what would have become of me] had I not believed that I would see the Lord’s goodness in the land of the living!
14 Wait and hope for and expect the Lord; be brave and of good courage and let your heart be stout and enduring. Yes, wait for and hope for and expect the Lord.
17 After these things, the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him.
18 And she said to Elijah, What have you against me, O man of God? Have you come to me to call my sin to remembrance and to slay my son?
19 He said to her, Give me your son. And he took him from her bosom and carried him up into the chamber where he stayed and laid him upon his own bed.
20 And Elijah cried to the Lord and said, O Lord my God, have You brought further calamity upon the widow with whom I sojourn, by slaying her son?
21 And he stretched himself upon the child three times and cried to the Lord and said, O Lord my God, I pray You, let this child’s soul come back into him.
22 And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the soul of the child came into him again, and he revived.
23 And Elijah took the child, and brought him down out of the chamber into the [lower part of the] house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, See, your son is alive!
24 And the woman said to Elijah, By this I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.
1 The elderly elder [of the church addresses this letter] to the beloved (esteemed) Gaius, whom I truly love.
2 Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers.
3 In fact, I greatly rejoiced when [some of] the brethren from time to time arrived and spoke [so highly] of the sincerity and fidelity of your life, as indeed you do live in the Truth [the whole Gospel presents].
4 I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my [spiritual] children are living their lives in the Truth.
5 Beloved, it is a fine and faithful work that you are doing when you give any service to the [Christian] brethren, and [especially when they are] strangers.
6 They have testified before the church of your love and friendship. You will do well to forward them on their journey [and you will please do so] in a way worthy of God’s [service].
7 For these [traveling missionaries] have gone out for the Name’s sake (for His sake) and are accepting nothing from the Gentiles (the heathen, the non-Israelites).
8 So we ourselves ought to support such people [to welcome and provide for them], in order that we may be fellow workers in the Truth (the whole Gospel) and cooperate with its teachers.
9 I have written briefly to the church; but Diotrephes, who likes to take the lead among them and put himself first, does not acknowledge my authority and refuses to accept my suggestions or to listen to me.
10 So when I arrive, I will call attention to what he is doing, his boiling over and casting malicious reflections upon us with insinuating language. And not satisfied with that, he refuses to receive and welcome the [missionary] brethren himself, and also interferes with and forbids those who would welcome them, and tries to expel (excommunicate) them from the church.
11 Beloved, do not imitate evil, but imitate good. He who does good is of God; he who does evil has not seen (discerned or experienced) God [has enjoyed no vision of Him and does not know Him at all].
12 Demetrius has warm commendation from everyone—and from the Truth itself; we add our testimony also, and you know that our testimony is true.
13 I had much [to say to you when I began] to write, but I prefer not to put it down with pen (a reed) and ink;
14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk together face to face.
15 Peace be to you! (Good-bye!) The friends here send you greetings. Remember me to the friends there [to every one of them personally] by name.
46 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son was lying ill in Capernaum.
47 Having heard that Jesus had come back from Judea into Galilee, he went away to meet Him and began to beg Him to come down and cure his son, for he was lying at the point of death.
48 Then Jesus said to him, Unless you see signs and miracles happen, you [people] never will believe (trust, have faith) at all.
49 The king’s officer pleaded with Him, Sir, do come down at once before my little child is dead!
50 Jesus answered him, Go in peace; your son will live! And the man put his trust in what Jesus said and started home.
51 But even as he was on the road going down, his servants met him and reported, saying, Your son lives!
52 So he asked them at what time he had begun to get better. They said, Yesterday during the seventh hour (about one o’clock in the afternoon) the fever left him.
53 Then the father knew that it was at that very hour when Jesus had said to him, Your son will live. And he and his entire household believed (adhered to, trusted in, and relied on Jesus).
54 This is the second sign (wonderwork, miracle) that Jesus performed after He had come out of Judea into Galilee.
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