Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for the Prosperity of God’s Anointed King
Of Solomon.[a]
72 O God, give your judgments to the king,
and your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice.
3 Let the mountains yield prosperity[b] for the people,
and the hills in righteousness.
4 May he provide justice for the poor of the people,
save the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor.
5 May he live long[c] while the sun endures[d]
as long as the moon[e] for all generations.[f]
6 May he descend like rain on mown grass,
like showers watering the earth.
7 May what is right blossom in his days
and an abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.
8 And may he rule from sea up to sea,
and from the River[g] to the edges of the land.
9 Let the desert dwellers bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 Let the kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute.
Let the kings of Sheba and Seba present gifts,
11 and let all kings bow down to him.
Let all nations serve him.
12 Indeed he will deliver the needy who is crying for help,
and the afflicted who has no helper.
13 He will take pity on the helpless and needy,
and the lives of the needy he will save.
14 From oppression and from violence
he will redeem their lives,
and their blood will be precious in his eyes.
15 So may he live, and may gold from Sheba be given to him,
and may prayers be offered for him continually.
May blessings be invoked for him all day long.[h]
16 May there be an abundance of grain in the land
even on the top of the mountains.
May his crop[i] sway like the trees of Lebanon,
and may those from the city blossom like the grass of the earth.
17 May his name endure forever.
May his name increase as long as the sun shines,[j]
and let them be blessed in him.
Let all nations call him blessed.
18 Blessed be Yahweh God, the God of Israel,
who alone does wonderful things.
19 And blessed be his glorious name forever,
and may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.
20 The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are completed.
Yod
73 Your hands have made me and established me;
give me understanding that I may learn your commands.
74 Those who fear you will see me and be glad,
because I hope in your word.
75 I know, O Yahweh, that your judgments are right,
and that in faithfulness you afflicted me.
76 Please let your loyal love comfort me,
according to your word[a] to your servant.
77 Let your mercies come to me, that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
78 Let the arrogant be put to shame,
because they have wronged me with lies.[b]
As for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
79 Let those who fear you turn to me,
even those who know[c] your testimonies.
80 May my heart be blameless in your statutes,
so that I may not be ashamed.
Kaph
81 My soul languishes for your salvation;
I hope in your word.
82 My eyes long for[d] your word,[e]
saying, “When will you comfort me?”
83 For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,
yet I have not forgotten your statutes.
84 How many are the days of your servant?
When will you execute justice against those who persecute me?
85 The arrogant have dug pits[f] for me,
which is not according to[g] your law.
86 All your commands are faithful.
They persecute me deceitfully; help me!
87 They have almost destroyed me on the earth,
but I have not forsaken your precepts.
88 According to your loyal love preserve me alive,
so that I may heed the testimony from your mouth.
Lamed
89 Forever, O Yahweh,
your word is settled[h] in heaven.
90 Your faithfulness endures throughout all generations.[i]
You have established the earth and it stands.
91 By your ordinances they stand today,
for all are your servants.
92 Unless your law had been my delight,
then I would have perished in my misery.
93 I will not ever forget your precepts,
for by them you revive me.[j]
94 I am yours. Save me,
for I have sought your precepts.
95 For me the wicked lie in wait to destroy me.
I give attention to your testimonies.
96 I have seen a limit to every perfection;[k]
your command is very broad.
Jehoshaphat of Judah Allies with Ahab of Israel
22 They lived three years, and there was no war between Aram and Israel. 2 It happened in the third year, Jehoshaphat king of Judah went down to the king of Israel, 3 and the king of Israel said to his servants, “Do you know Ramoth-Gilead belongs to us, and we are doing nothing about taking it from the hand of the king of Aram?” 4 Then he said to Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to the battle for Ramoth-Gilead?” Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “I am like you;[a] my people are like your people;[b] my horses are like your horses.”[c]
5 Jehoshaphat also said to the king of Israel, “Please inquire for the word of Yahweh today.” 6 Then the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and he said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth-Gilead for the battle, or should I refrain?” Then they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” 7 So Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of Yahweh here that we might still inquire from him?” 8 Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is still one man to inquire from Yahweh, but I despise him, for he never prophesies anything good concerning me, but only bad: Micaiah the son of Imlah.” Then Jehoshaphat said, “The king should not say so.” 9 The king of Israel summoned a certain court official, and he said, “Quickly fetch Micaiah son of Imlah.” 10 The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were each sitting on his throne, dressed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. 11 Zedekiah son of Kenaanah made horns of iron for himself and said, “Thus says Yahweh: ‘With these you shall gore the Arameans until finishing them.’” 12 All of the prophets were likewise prophesying, saying, “Go up to Ramoth-Gilead and triumph, and Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king.”
13 Then the messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, “Please now, the words of the prophet are unanimously[d] favorable to the king. Please let your words be as one word with them, and speak favorably.” 14 Then Micaiah said, “As Yahweh lives,[e] surely only as Yahweh speaks to me, that will I speak.” 15 When he came to the king, the king asked him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-Gilead to the battle, or shall we refrain?” He said to him, “Go up and triumph, and Yahweh will give it into the hand of the king.” 16 Then the king said to him, “How many times must I make you swear that you shall not tell me anything but truth in the name of Yahweh?” 17 So he said, “I saw all of Israel scattering to the mountains, like the sheep without a shepherd. Yahweh also said, ‘There are no masters for these, let them return in peace, each to his house.’” 18 Then the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not say to you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but disaster?”
19 And he[f] said, “Therefore, hear the word of Yahweh. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne with all the hosts of heaven standing beside him from his right hand and from his left hand. 20 And Yahweh said, ‘Who will entice Ahab so that he will go up and fall at Ramoth-Gilead?’ Then this one was saying one thing and the other one was saying another.[g] 21 Then a spirit came out and stood before Yahweh and said, ‘I will entice him,’ and Yahweh said to him, ‘How?’ 22 He said, ‘I will go out and I will be a false spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he[h] said, ‘You shall entice and succeed, go out and do so.’ 23 So then, see that Yahweh has placed a false spirit in the mouth of all of these your prophets, and Yahweh has spoken disaster concerning you.”
24 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah came near and slapped Micaiah on the cheek and said, “When did the Spirit of Yahweh pass from me to speak with you?” 25 Then Micaiah said, “Behold, you are about to see on that day when you go from room to room[i] to hide.” 26 The king of Israel said, “Take Micaiah and return him to Amon the commander of the city and to Jehoash the son of the king; 27 and say, ‘Thus says the king: “Put this fellow in the house of imprisonment and feed him reduced rations of food and water until I come in peace.”’” 28 Then Micaiah said, “If you indeed return in peace, then Yahweh has not spoken with me.” Then he said, “Let all the peoples hear!”
Paul’s Approach to Ministry in Corinth
2 And I, when I[a] came to you, brothers, did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony[b] of God. 2 For I decided not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 And I came to you in weakness and in fear and with much trembling, 4 and my speech and my preaching were not with the persuasiveness[c] of wisdom, but with a demonstration of the Spirit and power, 5 in order that your faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
The Wisdom Revealed by the Spirit
6 Now we do speak wisdom among the mature, but wisdom not of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are perishing, 7 but we speak the hidden wisdom of God in a mystery, which God predestined before the ages for our glory, 8 which none of the rulers of this age knew. For if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9 But just as it is written,
“Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard,
and have not entered into the heart of man,
all that[d] God has prepared for those who love him.”[e]
10 For[f] to us God has revealed them through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. 11 For who among men knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man that is in him? Thus also no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, in order that we may know the things freely given to us by God, 13 things which we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual things to spiritual people.[g]
Jesus Calls His First Disciples
18 Now as he[a] was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew, throwing a casting net into the sea (for they were fishermen). 19 And he said to them, “Follow me[b] and I will make you fishers of people.” 20 And immediately they left their nets and[c] followed him. 21 And going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John, in the boat with their father Zebedee, mending their nets, and he called them. 22 And immediately they left the boat and their father and[d] followed him.
Teaching, Preaching, and Healing throughout Galilee
23 And he went around through all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and every sickness among the people. 24 And a report about him went out throughout[e] Syria, and they brought to him all those who were sick[f] with various diseases and afflicted by torments, demon-possessed[g] and epileptics and paralytics, and he healed them. 25 And large crowds followed him from Galilee, Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea, and from the other side of the Jordan.
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