Book of Common Prayer
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
41 Blessed are those who care about weak people.
When they are in trouble, the Lord saves them.
2 The Lord guards them and keeps them alive.
They are counted among those who are blessed in the land.
The Lord won’t hand them over to the wishes of their enemies.
3 The Lord will take care of them when they are lying sick in bed.
He will make them well again.
4 I said, “Lord, have mercy on me.
Heal me, because I have sinned against you.”
5 My enemies are saying bad things about me.
They say, “When will he die and his name be forgotten?”
6 When one of them comes to see me,
he says things that aren’t true.
At the same time, he thinks up lies to tell against me.
Then he goes out and spreads those lies around.
7 All my enemies whisper to each other about me.
They want something terrible to happen to me.
8 They say, “He is sick and will die very soon.
He will never get up from his bed again.”
9 Even my close friend, someone I trusted, has failed me.
I even shared my bread with him.
10 But Lord, may you have mercy on me.
Make me well, so I can pay them back.
11 Then I will know that you are pleased with me,
because my enemies haven’t won the battle over me.
12 You will take good care of me because I’ve been honest.
You will let me be with you forever.
13 Give praise to the Lord, the God of Israel,
for ever and ever.
Amen and Amen.
For the director of music. A maskil of David when Doeg, who was from Edom, had gone to Saul. Doeg had told Saul, “David has gone to the house of Ahimelek.”
52 You think you are such a big, strong man!
Why do you brag about the evil things you’ve done?
You are a dishonor to God all the time.
2 You plan ways to destroy others.
Your tongue is like a blade that has a sharp edge.
You are always telling lies.
3 You love evil instead of good.
You would rather lie than tell the truth.
4 You love to harm others with your words, you liar!
5 So God will destroy you forever.
He will grab you and pluck you from your tent.
He will remove you from this life.
6 Those who do what is right will see it and learn a lesson from it.
They will laugh at you and say,
7 “Just look at this fellow!
He didn’t depend on God for his safety.
He put his trust in all his wealth.
He grew strong by destroying others!”
8 But I am like a healthy olive tree.
My roots are deep in the house of God.
I trust in your faithful love
for ever and ever.
9 I will praise you forever for what you have done.
I will praise you when I’m with your faithful people.
I will put my hope in you because you are good.
For the director of music. A maskil of the Sons of Korah.
44 God, we have heard what you did.
Those who came before us have told us
what you did in their days,
in days long ago.
2 By your power you drove out the nations.
You gave our people homes in the land.
You crushed the people who were there.
And you made our people do well.
3 They didn’t win the land with their swords.
They didn’t gain success by their own power.
Your powerful right hand and your mighty arm gave them victory.
You gave them success because you loved them.
4 You are my King and my God.
You give victories to the people of Jacob.
5 With your help we push back our enemies.
By your power we walk all over them.
6 I put no trust in my bow.
My sword doesn’t bring me victory.
7 But you give us victory over our enemies.
You put them to shame.
8 All day long we talk about how great God is.
We will praise your name forever.
9 But now you have turned your back on us and made us humble.
You don’t march out with our armies anymore.
10 You made us turn and run from our enemies.
They have taken what belongs to us.
11 You handed us over to be eaten up like sheep.
You have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sold your people for very little.
You didn’t gain anything when you sold them.
13 You have made us something that our neighbors laugh at.
Those who live around us make fun of us and tease us.
14 The nations make jokes about us.
They shake their heads at us.
15 All day long I have to live with my shame.
My face is covered with it.
16 That’s because they laugh at me and attack me with their words.
They want to get even with me.
17 All of this happened to us,
even though we had not forgotten you.
We had not broken the covenant you made with us.
18 Our hearts had not turned away from you.
Our feet had not wandered from your path.
19 But you crushed us and left us to the wild dogs.
You covered us over with deep darkness.
20 We didn’t forget our God.
We didn’t spread out our hands in prayer to a false god.
21 If we had, God would have discovered it.
He knows the secrets of our hearts.
22 But because of you, we face death all day long.
We are considered as sheep to be killed.
23 Lord, wake up! Why are you sleeping?
Get up! Don’t say no to us forever.
24 Why do you turn your face away from us?
Why do you forget our pain and troubles?
25 We are brought down to the dust.
Our bodies lie flat on the ground.
26 Rise up and help us.
Save us because of your faithful love.
Abram Saves Lot
14 Amraphel was the king of Babylon. Arioch was the king of Ellasar. Kedorlaomer was the king of Elam. And Tidal was the king of Goyim. 2 They went to war against five other kings. They were Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboyim, and the king of Bela. Bela was also called Zoar. 3 These five kings all gathered their armies together in the Valley of Siddim. It was also called the valley of the Dead Sea. 4 For 12 years Kedorlaomer had ruled over them. But in the 13th year they opposed him.
5 So in the 14th year, Kedorlaomer and the kings who helped him went to war. They won the battle against the Rephaites in Ashteroth Karnaim. They also won the battle against the Zuzites in Ham and the Emites in Shaveh Kiriathaim. 6 They did the same thing to the Horites in the hill country of Seir. They marched all the way to El Paran near the desert. 7 Then they turned back and went to En Mishpat. En Mishpat was also called Kadesh. They took over the whole territory of the Amalekites. They also won the battle against the Amorites who were living in Hazezon Tamar.
8 Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboyim and Bela marched out. Bela was also called Zoar. They lined up their armies for battle in the Valley of Siddim. 9 They got ready to fight against Kedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of Goyim, Amraphel king of Babylonia, and Arioch king of Ellasar. There were four kings against five. 10 The Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah ran away from the battle. Some of their men fell into the pits, but the rest escaped to the hills. 11 The four kings took all the things that belonged to Sodom and Gomorrah. They also took all their food and then left. 12 They carried away Abram’s nephew Lot and the things he owned. Lot was living in Sodom at that time.
13 A man escaped and came to report everything to Abram. Abram was a Hebrew. He was living near the large trees of Mamre the Amorite. Mamre was a brother of Eshkol and Aner. All of them helped Abram. 14 Abram heard that Lot had been captured. So he called out his 318 trained men. All of them were sons of his servants. Abram and his men chased their enemies as far as Dan. 15 During the night Abram separated his men into groups. They attacked their enemies and drove them away. They chased them north of Damascus as far as Hobah. 16 Abram took back everything the kings had taken. He brought back his nephew Lot and the things Lot owned. He also brought back the women and the other people.
17 After Abram won the battle over Kedorlaomer and the kings who helped him, he returned home. The king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh. It was also called the King’s Valley.
18 Melchizedek was the king of Jerusalem. He brought out bread and wine. He was the priest of the Most High God. 19 He gave a blessing to Abram. He said,
“May the Most High God bless Abram.
May the Creator of heaven and earth bless him.
20 Give praise to the Most High God.
He gave your enemies into your hand.”
Then Abram gave Melchizedek a tenth of everything.
21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people. Keep everything else for yourself.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to make a promise to the Lord. He is the Most High God. He is the Creator of heaven and earth. 23 I’ve said I will not accept anything that belongs to you. I will not take even a thread or the strap of a sandal. You will never be able to say, ‘I made Abram rich.’ 24 I’ll accept only what my men have eaten and what belongs to Aner, Eshkol and Mamre. These three men went with me. Let them have their share.”
The High Priest of a New Covenant
8 Here is the main point of what we are saying. We have a high priest like that. He sat down at the right hand of the throne of the King, the Majesty in heaven. 2 He serves in the sacred tent. The Lord set up the true holy tent. A mere human being did not set it up.
3 Every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices. So this priest also had to have something to offer. 4 What if he were on earth? Then he would not be a priest. There are already priests who offer the gifts required by the law. 5 They serve at a sacred tent. But it is only a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. That’s why God warned Moses when he was about to build the holy tent. God said, “Be sure to make everything just like the pattern I showed you on the mountain.” (Exodus 25:40) 6 But Jesus has been given a greater work to do for God. He is the go-between for the new covenant. This covenant is better than the old one. The new covenant is based on better promises.
7 Suppose nothing had been wrong with that first covenant. Then no one would have looked for another covenant. 8 But God found fault with the people. He said,
“The days are coming, announces the Lord.
I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel.
I will also make it with the people of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their people of long ago.
That was when I took them by the hand.
I led them out of Egypt.
My new covenant will be different because they didn’t remain faithful to my old covenant.
So I turned away from them,
announces the Lord.
10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds.
I will write them on their hearts.
I will be their God.
And they will be my people.
11 People will not teach their neighbor anymore.
They will not say to one another, ‘Know the Lord.’
That’s because everyone will know me.
From the least important to the most important,
all of them will know me.
12 I will forgive their evil ways.
I will not remember their sins anymore.” (Jeremiah 31:31–34)
13 God called this covenant “new.” So he has done away with the first one. And what is out of date and has been done away with will soon disappear.
Jesus Heals an Official’s Son
43 After the two days, Jesus left for Galilee. 44 He himself had pointed out that a prophet is not respected in his own country. 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the people living there welcomed him. They had seen everything he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast. That was because they had also been there.
46 Once more, Jesus visited Cana in Galilee. Cana is where he had turned the water into wine. A royal official was there. His son was sick in bed at Capernaum. 47 The official heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea. So he went to Jesus and begged him to come and heal his son. The boy was close to death.
48 Jesus told him, “You people will never believe unless you see signs and wonders.”
49 The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
50 “Go,” Jesus replied. “Your son will live.”
The man believed what Jesus said, and so he left. 51 While he was still on his way home, his slaves met him. They gave him the news that his boy was living. 52 He asked what time his son got better. They said to him, “Yesterday, at one o’clock in the afternoon, the fever left him.”
53 Then the father realized what had happened. That was the exact time Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole family became believers.
54 This was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
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