Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for the King[a]
72 Teach the king to judge with your righteousness, O God;
share with him your own justice,
2 so that he will rule over your people with justice
and govern the oppressed with righteousness.
3 May the land enjoy prosperity;
may it experience righteousness.
4 May the king judge the poor fairly;
may he help the needy
and defeat their oppressors.
5 May your people worship you as long as the sun shines,
as long as the moon gives light, for ages to come.
6 May the king be like rain on the fields,
like showers falling on the land.
7 May righteousness flourish in his lifetime,
and may prosperity last as long as the moon gives light.
8 (A)His kingdom will reach from sea to sea,
from the Euphrates to the ends of the earth.
9 The peoples of the desert will bow down before him;
his enemies will throw themselves to the ground.
10 The kings of Spain and of the islands will offer him gifts;
the kings of Sheba and Seba[b] will bring him offerings.
11 All kings will bow down before him;
all nations will serve him.
12 He rescues the poor who call to him,
and those who are needy and neglected.
13 He has pity on the weak and poor;
he saves the lives of those in need.
14 He rescues them from oppression and violence;
their lives are precious to him.
15 Long live the king!
May he be given gold from Sheba;[c]
may prayers be said for him at all times;
may God's blessings be on him always!
16 May there be plenty of grain in the land;
may the hills be covered with crops,
as fruitful as those of Lebanon.
May the cities be filled with people,
like fields full of grass.
17 May the king's name never be forgotten;
may his fame last as long as the sun.
May all nations ask God to bless them
as he has blessed the king.[d]
18 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel!
He alone does these wonderful things.
19 Praise his glorious name forever!
May his glory fill the whole world.
Amen! Amen!
20 This is the end of the prayers of David son of Jesse.
The Justice of the Law of the Lord
73 You created me, and you keep me safe;
give me understanding, so that I may learn your laws.
74 Those who honor you will be glad when they see me,
because I trust in your promise.
75 I know that your judgments are righteous, Lord,
and that you punished me because you are faithful.
76 Let your constant love comfort me,
as you have promised me, your servant.
77 Have mercy on me, and I will live
because I take pleasure in your law.
78 May the proud be ashamed for falsely accusing me;
as for me, I will meditate on your instructions.
79 May those who honor you come to me—
all those who know your commands.
80 May I perfectly obey your commandments
and be spared the shame of defeat.
A Prayer for Deliverance
81 I am worn out, Lord, waiting for you to save me;
I place my trust in your word.
82 My eyes are tired from watching for what you promised,
while I ask, “When will you help me?”
83 I am as useless as a discarded wineskin;
yet I have not forgotten your commands.
84 How much longer must I wait?
When will you punish those who persecute me?
85 The proud, who do not obey your law,
have dug pits to trap me.
86 Your commandments are all trustworthy;
people persecute me with lies—help me!
87 They have almost succeeded in killing me,
but I have not neglected your commands.
88 Because of your constant love be good to me,
so that I may obey your laws.
Faith in the Law of the Lord
89 Your word, O Lord, will last forever;
it is eternal in heaven.
90 Your faithfulness endures through all the ages;
you have set the earth in place, and it remains.
91 All things remain to this day because of your command,
because they are all your servants.
92 If your law had not been the source of my joy,
I would have died from my sufferings.
93 I will never neglect your instructions,
because by them you have kept me alive.
94 I am yours—save me!
I have tried to obey your commands.
95 The wicked are waiting to kill me,
but I will meditate on your laws.
96 I have learned that everything has limits;
but your commandment is perfect.
The Song of Moses
30 Then Moses recited the entire song while all the people of Israel listened.
32 “Earth and sky, hear my words,
listen closely to what I say.
2 My teaching will fall like drops of rain
and form on the earth like dew.
My words will fall like showers on young plants,
like gentle rain on tender grass.
3 I will praise the name of the Lord,
and his people will tell of his greatness.
4 “The Lord is your mighty defender,
perfect and just in all his ways;
Your God is faithful and true;
he does what is right and fair.
5 But you are unfaithful, unworthy to be his people,[a]
a sinful and deceitful nation.
6 Is this the way you should treat the Lord,
you foolish, senseless people?
He is your father, your Creator,
he made you into a nation.
7 “Think of the past, of the time long ago;
ask your parents to tell you what happened,
ask the old people to tell of the past.
8 (A)The Most High assigned nations their lands;
he determined where peoples should live.
He assigned to each nation a heavenly being,
9 but Jacob's descendants he chose for himself.
10 “He found them wandering through the desert,
a desolate, wind-swept wilderness.
He protected them and cared for them,
as he would protect himself.
11 Like an eagle teaching its young to fly,[b]
catching them safely on its spreading wings,
the Lord kept Israel from falling.
12 The Lord alone led his people
without the help of a foreign god.
13 “He let them rule the highlands,
and they ate what grew in the fields.
They found wild honey among the rocks;
their olive trees flourished in stony ground.
14 Their cows and goats gave plenty of milk;
they had the best sheep, goats, and cattle,
the finest wheat, and the choicest wine.
21 I am ashamed to admit that we were too timid to do those things!
But if anyone dares to boast about something—I am talking like a fool—I will be just as daring. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they Abraham's descendants? So am I. 23 (A)Are they Christ's servants? I sound like a madman—but I am a better servant than they are! I have worked much harder, I have been in prison more times, I have been whipped much more, and I have been near death more often. 24 (B)Five times I was given the thirty-nine lashes by the Jews; 25 (C)three times I was whipped by the Romans; and once I was stoned. I have been in three shipwrecks, and once I spent twenty-four hours in the water. 26 (D)In my many travels I have been in danger from floods and from robbers, in danger from my own people and from Gentiles; there have been dangers in the cities, dangers in the wilds, dangers on the high seas, and dangers from false friends. 27 There has been work and toil; often I have gone without sleep; I have been hungry and thirsty; I have often been without enough food, shelter, or clothing. 28 And not to mention other things, every day I am under the pressure of my concern for all the churches. 29 When someone is weak, then I feel weak too; when someone is led into sin, I am filled with distress.
30 If I must boast, I will boast about things that show how weak I am. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus—blessed be his name forever!—knows that I am not lying. 32 (E)When I was in Damascus, the governor under King Aretas placed guards at the city gates to arrest me. 33 But I was let down in a basket through an opening in the wall and escaped from him.
The Parable of the Gold Coins(A)
11 While the people were listening to this, Jesus continued and told them a parable. He was now almost at Jerusalem, and they supposed that the Kingdom of God was just about to appear. 12 So he said, “There was once a man of high rank who was going to a country far away to be made king, after which he planned to come back home. 13 Before he left, he called his ten servants and gave them each a gold coin and told them, ‘See what you can earn with this while I am gone.’ 14 Now, his own people hated him, and so they sent messengers after him to say, ‘We don't want this man to be our king.’
15 “The man was made king and came back. At once he ordered his servants to appear before him, in order to find out how much they had earned. 16 The first one came and said, ‘Sir, I have earned ten gold coins with the one you gave me.’ 17 ‘Well done,’ he said; ‘you are a good servant! Since you were faithful in small matters, I will put you in charge of ten cities.’ 18 The second servant came and said, ‘Sir, I have earned five gold coins with the one you gave me.’ 19 To this one he said, ‘You will be in charge of five cities.’ 20 Another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it hidden in a handkerchief. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take what is not yours and reap what you did not plant.’ 22 He said to him, ‘You bad servant! I will use your own words to condemn you! You know that I am a hard man, taking what is not mine and reaping what I have not planted. 23 Well, then, why didn't you put my money in the bank? Then I would have received it back with interest when I returned.’ 24 Then he said to those who were standing there, ‘Take the gold coin away from him and give it to the servant who has ten coins.’ 25 But they said to him, ‘Sir, he already has ten coins!’ 26 (B)‘I tell you,’ he replied, ‘that to those who have something, even more will be given; but those who have nothing, even the little that they have will be taken away from them. 27 (C)Now, as for those enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and kill them in my presence!’”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.