Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Guidance and Support for the King
A Psalm of Solomon.
72 Give the king thy justice, O God,
and thy righteousness to the royal son!
2 May he judge thy people with righteousness,
and thy poor with justice!
3 Let the mountains bear prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness!
4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the needy,
and crush the oppressor!
5 May he live[a] while the sun endures,
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations!
6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth!
7 In his days may righteousness flourish,
and peace abound, till the moon be no more!
8 May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth!
9 May his foes[b] bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust!
10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles
render him tribute,
may the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts!
11 May all kings fall down before him,
all nations serve him!
12 For he delivers the needy when he calls,
the poor and him who has no helper.
13 He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life;
and precious is their blood in his sight.
15 Long may he live,
may gold of Sheba be given to him!
May prayer be made for him continually,
and blessings invoked for him all the day!
16 May there be abundance of grain in the land;
on the tops of the mountains may it wave;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may men blossom forth from the cities
like the grass of the field!
17 May his name endure for ever,
his fame continue as long as the sun!
May men bless themselves by him,
all nations call him blessed!
18 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.
19 Blessed be his glorious name for ever;
may his glory fill the whole earth!
Amen and Amen!
20 The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.
73 Thy hands have made and fashioned me;
give me understanding that I may learn thy commandments.
74 Those who fear thee shall see me and rejoice,
because I have hoped in thy word.
75 I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are right,
and that in faithfulness thou hast afflicted me.
76 Let thy steadfast love be ready to comfort me
according to thy promise to thy servant.
77 Let thy mercy come to me, that I may live;
for thy law is my delight.
78 Let the godless be put to shame,
because they have subverted me with guile;
as for me, I will meditate on thy precepts.
79 Let those who fear thee turn to me,
that they may know thy testimonies.
80 May my heart be blameless in thy statutes,
that I may not be put to shame!
81 My soul languishes for thy salvation;
I hope in thy word.
82 My eyes fail with watching for thy promise;
I ask, “When wilt thou comfort me?”
83 For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,
yet I have not forgotten thy statutes.
84 How long must thy servant endure?
When wilt thou judge those who persecute me?
85 Godless men have dug pitfalls for me,
men who do not conform to thy law.
86 All thy commandments are sure;
they persecute me with falsehood; help me!
87 They have almost made an end of me on earth;
but I have not forsaken thy precepts.
88 In thy steadfast love spare my life,
that I may keep the testimonies of thy mouth.
89 For ever, O Lord, thy word
is firmly fixed in the heavens.
90 Thy faithfulness endures to all generations;
thou hast established the earth, and it stands fast.
91 By thy appointment they stand this day;
for all things are thy servants.
92 If thy law had not been my delight,
I should have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget thy precepts;
for by them thou hast given me life.
94 I am thine, save me;
for I have sought thy precepts.
95 The wicked lie in wait to destroy me;
but I consider thy testimonies.
96 I have seen a limit to all perfection,
but thy commandment is exceedingly broad.
The Song of Moses
30 Then Moses spoke the words of this song until they were finished, in the ears of all the assembly of Israel:
32 “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
and let the earth hear the words of my mouth.
2 May my teaching drop as the rain,
my speech distil as the dew,
as the gentle rain upon the tender grass,
and as the showers upon the herb.
3 For I will proclaim the name of the Lord.
Ascribe greatness to our God!
4 “The Rock, his work is perfect;
for all his ways are justice.
A God of faithfulness and without iniquity,
just and right is he.
5 They have dealt corruptly with him,
they are no longer his children because of their blemish;
they are a perverse and crooked generation.
6 Do you thus requite the Lord,
you foolish and senseless people?
Is not he your father, who created you,
who made you and established you?
7 Remember the days of old,
consider the years of many generations;
ask your father, and he will show you;
your elders, and they will tell you.
8 When the Most High gave to the nations their inheritance,
when he separated the sons of men,
he fixed the bounds of the peoples
according to the number of the sons of God.[a]
9 For the Lord’s portion is his people,
Jacob his allotted heritage.
10 “He found him in a desert land,
and in the howling waste of the wilderness;
he encircled him, he cared for him,
he kept him as the apple of his eye.
11 Like an eagle that stirs up its nest,
that flutters over its young,
spreading out its wings, catching them,
bearing them on its pinions,
12 the Lord alone did lead him,
and there was no foreign god with him.
13 He made him ride on the high places of the earth,
and he ate the produce of the field;
and he made him suck honey out of the rock,
and oil out of the flinty rock.
14 Curds from the herd, and milk from the flock,
with fat of lambs and rams,
herds of Bashan and goats,
with the finest of the wheat—
and of the blood of the grape you drank wine.
21 To my shame, I must say, we were too weak for that!
But whatever any one dares to boast of—I am speaking as a fool—I also dare to boast of that. 22 Are they Hebrews? So am I. Are they Israelites? So am I. Are they descendants of Abraham? So am I. 23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one—I am talking like a madman—with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death. 24 Five times I have received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25 Three times I have been beaten with rods; once I was stoned. Three times I have been shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been adrift at sea; 26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brethren; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the churches. 29 Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed for ever, knows that I do not lie. 32 At Damascus, the governor under King Ar′etas guarded the city of Damascus in order to seize me, 33 but I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and escaped his hands.
The Parable of the Ten Pounds
11 As they heard these things, he proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they supposed that the kingdom of God was to appear immediately. 12 He said therefore, “A nobleman went into a far country to receive kingly power[a] and then return. 13 Calling ten of his servants, he gave them ten pounds,[b] and said to them, ‘Trade with these till I come.’ 14 But his citizens hated him and sent an embassy after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 When he returned, having received the kingly power,[c] he commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know what they had gained by trading. 16 The first came before him, saying, ‘Lord, your pound has made ten pounds more.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good servant! Because you have been faithful in a very little, you shall have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Lord, your pound has made five pounds.’ 19 And he said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Then another came, saying, ‘Lord, here is your pound, which I kept laid away in a napkin; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a severe man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 He said to him, ‘I will condemn you out of your own mouth, you wicked servant! You knew that I was a severe man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Why then did you not put my money into the bank, and at my coming I should have collected it with interest?’ 24 And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the pound from him, and give it to him who has the ten pounds.’ 25 (And they said to him, ‘Lord, he has ten pounds!’) 26 ‘I tell you, that to every one who has will more be given; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 27 But as for these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and slay them before me.’”
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.