Book of Common Prayer
33 He [a](A)changes rivers into a [b]wilderness
And springs of water into a thirsty ground;
34 A (B)fruitful land into a (C)salt waste,
Because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.
35 He [c](D)changes a [d]wilderness into a pool of water
And a dry land into springs of water;
36 And there He makes the hungry to dwell,
So that they may establish [e](E)an inhabited city,
37 And sow fields and (F)plant vineyards,
And [f]gather a fruitful harvest.
38 Also He blesses them and they (G)multiply greatly,
And He (H)does not let their cattle decrease.
39 When they are (I)diminished and (J)bowed down
Through oppression, misery and sorrow,
40 He (K)pours contempt upon [g]princes
And (L)makes them wander (M)in a pathless waste.
41 But He (N)sets the needy [h]securely on high away from affliction,
And (O)makes his families like a flock.
42 The (P)upright see it and are glad;
But all (Q)unrighteousness shuts its mouth.
43 Who is (R)wise? Let him give heed to these things,
And consider the (S)lovingkindnesses of the Lord.
God Praised and Supplicated to Give Victory.
A Song, a Psalm of David.
108 (T)My heart is steadfast, O God;
I will sing, I will sing praises, even with my [i]soul.
2 Awake, harp and lyre;
I will awaken the dawn!
3 I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples,
And I will sing praises to You among the nations.
4 For Your (U)lovingkindness is great (V)above the heavens,
And Your truth reaches to the skies.
5 (W)Be exalted, O God, above the heavens,
And Your glory above all the earth.
6 (X)That Your beloved may be delivered,
Save with Your right hand, and answer me!
7 God has spoken in His [j]holiness:
“I will exult, I will portion out Shechem
And measure out the valley of Succoth.
8 “Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine;
Ephraim also is the [k]helmet of My head;
(Y)Judah is My [l]scepter.
9 “Moab is My washbowl;
Over Edom I shall throw My shoe;
Over Philistia I will shout aloud.”
10 (Z)Who will bring me into the besieged city?
Who [m]will lead me to Edom?
11 Have not You Yourself, O God, (AA)rejected us?
And will You not go forth with our armies, O God?
12 Oh give us help against the adversary,
For (AB)deliverance [n]by man is in vain.
13 [o]Through God we will do valiantly,
And (AC)it is He who shall tread down our adversaries.
Praise to the Creator and Preserver.
33 (A)Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones;
Praise is (B)becoming to the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the (C)lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a (D)harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a (E)new song;
Play skillfully with (F)a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord (G)is upright,
And all His work is done (H)in faithfulness.
5 He (I)loves righteousness and justice;
The (J)earth is full of the lovingkindness of the Lord.
6 By the (K)word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And (L)by the breath of His mouth (M)all their host.
7 He gathers the (N)waters of the sea together [a]as a heap;
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let (O)all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world (P)stand in awe of Him.
9 For (Q)He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it [b]stood fast.
10 The Lord (R)nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The (S)counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The (T)plans of His heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the (U)nation whose God is the Lord,
The people whom He has (V)chosen for His own inheritance.
13 The Lord (W)looks from heaven;
He (X)sees all the sons of men;
14 From (Y)His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who (Z)fashions [c]the hearts of them all,
He who (AA)understands all their works.
16 (AB)The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
17 A (AC)horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.
18 Behold, (AD)the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who [d](AE)hope for His lovingkindness,
19 To (AF)deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive (AG)in famine.
20 Our soul (AH)waits for the Lord;
He is our (AI)help and our shield.
21 For our (AJ)heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have [e]hoped in You.
Ziba, a False Servant
16 Now when David had passed (A)a little beyond the summit, behold, (B)Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him (C)with a couple of saddled donkeys, and on them were two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred clusters of raisins, a hundred summer fruits, and a jug of wine. 2 The king said to Ziba, “Why do you have these?” And Ziba said, “(D)The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride, and the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine, (E)for whoever is faint in the wilderness to drink.” 3 Then the king said, “And where is (F)your master’s son?” And (G)Ziba said to the king, “Behold, he is staying in Jerusalem, for he said, ‘Today the house of Israel will restore the kingdom of my father to me.’” 4 So the king said to Ziba, “Behold, all that belongs to Mephibosheth is yours.” And Ziba said, “I prostrate myself; let me find favor in your sight, O my lord, the king!”
David Is Cursed
5 When King David came to (H)Bahurim, behold, there came out from there a man of the family of the house of Saul (I)whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came out (J)cursing continually as he came. 6 He threw stones at David and at all the servants of King David; and all the people and all the mighty men were at his right hand and at his left. 7 Thus Shimei said when he cursed, “Get out, get out, (K)you man of bloodshed, and worthless fellow! 8 (L)The Lord has returned upon you all (M)the bloodshed of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned; and the Lord has given the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. And behold, you are taken in your own evil, for you are a man of bloodshed!”
9 Then (N)Abishai the son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should (O)this dead dog (P)curse my lord the king? Let me go over now and [a]cut off his head.” 10 But the king said, “(Q)What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah? (R)If he curses, and if the Lord has told him, ‘Curse David,’ (S)then who shall say, ‘Why have you done so?’” 11 Then David said to Abishai and to all his servants, “Behold, (T)my son who came out from [b]me seeks my life; how much more now this Benjamite? Let him alone and let him curse, (U)for the Lord has told him. 12 Perhaps the Lord will look on my affliction and [c](V)return good to me instead of his cursing this day.” 13 So David and his men went on the way; and Shimei went along on the hillside parallel with him and as he went he cursed and cast stones and threw dust at him. 14 The king and all the people who were with him arrived weary and he refreshed himself there.
Absalom Enters Jerusalem
15 (W)Then Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, entered Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him. 16 Now it came about when (X)Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, came to Absalom, that (Y)Hushai said to Absalom, “(Z)Long live the king! Long live the king!” 17 Absalom said to Hushai, “Is this your [d]loyalty to your friend? (AA)Why did you not go with your friend?” 18 Then Hushai said to Absalom, “No! For whom the Lord, this people, and all the men of Israel have chosen, his I will be, and with him I will remain. 19 Besides, (AB)whom should I serve? Should I not serve in the presence of his son? As I have served in your father’s presence, so I will be in your presence.”
20 Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give your advice. What shall we do?” 21 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “(AC)Go in to your father’s concubines, whom he has left to keep the house; then all Israel will hear that you have made yourself odious to your father. The hands of all who are with you will also be strengthened.” 22 So they pitched a tent for Absalom on the roof, (AD)and Absalom went in to his father’s concubines (AE)in the sight of all Israel. 23 (AF)The advice of Ahithophel, which he [e]gave in those days, was as if one inquired of the word of God; (AG)so was all the advice of Ahithophel regarded by both David and Absalom.
17 “It happened when I (A)returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I (B)fell into a trance, 18 and I saw Him saying to me, ‘(C)Make haste, and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.’ 19 And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another (D)I used to imprison and (E)beat those who believed in You. 20 And (F)when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.’ 21 And He said to me, ‘Go! For I will send you far away (G)to the Gentiles.’”
22 They listened to him up to this statement, and then they raised their voices and said, “(H)Away with such a fellow from the earth, for (I)he should not be allowed to live!” 23 And as they were crying out and (J)throwing off their cloaks and (K)tossing dust into the air, 24 the [a]commander ordered him to be brought into (L)the barracks, stating that he should be (M)examined by scourging so that he might find out the reason why they were shouting against him that way. 25 But when they stretched him out [b]with thongs, Paul said to the centurion who was standing by, “Is it [c]lawful for you to scourge (N)a man who is a Roman and uncondemned?” 26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the [d]commander and told him, saying, “What are you about to do? For this man is a Roman.” 27 The [e]commander came and said to him, “Tell me, are you a Roman?” And he said, “Yes.” 28 The [f]commander answered, “I acquired this citizenship with a large sum of money.” And Paul said, “But I was actually born a citizen.” 29 Therefore those who were about to (O)examine him immediately [g]let go of him; and the [h]commander also (P)was afraid when he found out that he was a Roman, and because he had [i](Q)put him in chains.
The Triumphal Entry
11 (A)As they *approached Jerusalem, at Bethphage and (B)Bethany, near (C)the Mount of Olives, He *sent two of His disciples, 2 and *said to them, “Go into the village opposite you, and immediately as you enter it, you will find a colt tied there, on which no one yet has ever sat; untie it and bring it here. 3 If anyone says to you, ‘Why are you doing this?’ you say, ‘The Lord has need of it’; and immediately he [a]will send it back here.” 4 They went away and found a colt tied at the door, outside in the street; and they *untied it. 5 Some of the bystanders were saying to them, “What are you doing, untying the colt?” 6 They spoke to them just as Jesus had told them, and they gave them permission. 7 (D)They *brought the colt to Jesus and put their coats on it; and He sat on it. 8 And many spread their coats in the road, and others spread leafy branches which they had cut from the fields. 9 Those who went in front and those who followed were shouting:
“Hosanna!
(E)Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord;
10 Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David;
Hosanna (F)in the highest!”
11 (G)Jesus entered Jerusalem and came into the temple; and after looking around at everything, (H)He left for Bethany with the twelve, since it was already late.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.