Book of Common Prayer
To Solomon.[a]
72 God, help the king be like you and make fair decisions.
Help the king’s son know what justice is.
2 Help the king judge your people fairly.
Help him make wise decisions for your poor people.
3 Let there be peace and justice throughout the land,
known on every mountain and hill.
4 May the king be fair to the poor.
May he help the helpless and punish those who hurt them.
5 May people always fear and respect you, God,
as long as the sun shines and the moon is in the sky.
6 Help the king be like rain falling on the fields,
like showers falling on the land.
7 Let goodness grow everywhere while he is king.
Let peace continue as long as there is a moon.
8 Let his kingdom grow from sea to sea,
from the Euphrates River to the faraway places on earth.[b]
9 May all the people living in the desert bow down to him.
May all his enemies bow before him with their faces in the dirt.
10 May the kings of Tarshish and all the faraway lands by the sea bring gifts to him.
May the kings of Sheba and Seba bring their tribute to him.
11 May all kings bow down to our king.
May all nations serve him.
12 Our king helps the poor who cry out to him—
those in need who have no one to help them.
13 He feels sorry for all who are weak and poor.
He protects their lives.
14 He saves them from the cruel people who try to hurt them.
Their lives are important to him.
15 Long live the king!
Let him receive gold from Sheba.
Always pray for the king.
Ask God to bless him every day.
16 May the fields grow plenty of grain
and the hills be covered with crops.
May the fields be as fertile as Lebanon,
and may people fill the cities as grass covers a field.
17 May the king be famous forever.
May people remember his name as long as the sun shines.
May all nations be blessed through him,
and may they all bless him.
18 Praise the Lord God, the God of Israel!
Only he can do such amazing things.
19 Praise his glorious name forever!
Let his glory fill the whole world.
Amen and Amen!
20 (This ends the prayers of David son of Jesse.)
Yod
73 With your hands you made me and helped me become what I am.
Now help me learn and understand your commands.
74 Your followers will see me and be happy,
because I trust in your word.
75 Lord, I know that your decisions are fair,
and you were right to punish me.
76 Now comfort me with your faithful love,
as you promised.
77 Comfort me and let me live.
I enjoy your teachings.
78 Bring shame on those proud people who lied about me.
All I want to do is study your instructions.
79 Let your followers come back to me
so that they may learn your rules.
80 Let me obey your laws perfectly
so that I will not be ashamed.
Kaph
81 I feel weaker and weaker as I wait for you to save me.
But I put my trust in your word.
82 I keep looking for what you promised, but my eyes are feeling tired.
When will you comfort me?
83 Even when I am like a dried wineskin on the trash pile,
I will not forget your laws.
84 How long must I wait for you
to punish those who persecute me?
85 Proud people have tried to trap me
and make me disobey your teachings.
86 All your commands can be trusted.
Those people are wrong to persecute me.
Help me!
87 They have almost destroyed me,
but I have not stopped obeying your instructions.
88 Show me your faithful love and let me live.
I will do whatever you say.
Lamedh
89 Lord, your word continues forever in heaven.
90 You are loyal forever and ever.
You made the earth, and it still stands.
91 All things continue today because of your laws.
Like slaves, they all obey you.
92 If I had not found joy in your teachings,
my suffering would have destroyed me.
93 I will never forget your commands,
because through them you gave me new life.
94 I am yours, so save me!
I have done my best to know your instructions.
95 The wicked tried to destroy me,
but your rules made me wise.
96 Everything has its limits,
except your commands.
Abraham, Kill Your Son
22 After these things God decided to test Abraham’s faith. God said to him, “Abraham!”
And he said, “Yes!”
2 Then God said, “Take your son to the land of Moriah and kill your son there as a sacrifice for me. This must be Isaac, your only son, the one you love. Use him as a burnt offering on one of the mountains there. I will tell you which mountain.”
3 In the morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took Isaac and two servants with him. He cut the wood for the sacrifice. Then they went to the place where God told them to go. 4 After they traveled three days, Abraham looked up, and in the distance he saw the place where they were going. 5 Then he said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go to that place and worship. Then we will come back to you later.”
6 Abraham took the wood for the sacrifice and put it on his son’s shoulder. Abraham took the special knife and fire. Then both he and his son went together to the place for worship.
7 Isaac said to his father Abraham, “Father!”
Abraham answered, “Yes, son?”
Isaac said, “I see the wood and the fire. But where is the lamb we will burn as a sacrifice?”
8 Abraham answered, “God himself is providing the lamb for the sacrifice, my son.”
So both Abraham and his son went together to that place. 9 When they came to the place where God told them to go, Abraham built an altar. He carefully laid the wood on the altar. Then he tied up his son Isaac and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached for his knife to kill his son.
11 But the angel of the Lord stopped him. The angel called from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!”
Abraham answered, “Yes?”
12 The angel said, “Don’t kill your son or hurt him in any way. Now I can see that you do respect and obey God. I see that you are ready to kill your son, your only son, for me.”
13 Then Abraham noticed a ram whose horns were caught in a bush. So Abraham went and took the ram. He offered it, instead of his son, as a sacrifice to God. 14 So Abraham gave that place a name, “The Lord Provides.”[a] Even today people say, “On the mountain of the Lord, he will give us what we need.”[b]
15 The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time. 16 The angel said, “You were ready to kill your only son for me. Since you did this for me, I make you this promise: I, the Lord, promise that 17 I will surely bless you and give you as many descendants as the stars in the sky. There will be as many people as sand on the seashore. And your people will live in cities that they will take from their enemies. 18 Every nation on the earth will be blessed through your descendants. I will do this because you obeyed me.”
23 And the mother and father of Moses hid him for three months after he was born. They did this because they had faith. They saw that Moses was a beautiful baby. And they were not afraid to disobey the king’s order.
24-25 Moses grew up and became a man. He refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose not to enjoy the pleasures of sin that last such a short time. Instead, he chose to suffer with God’s people. He did this because he had faith. 26 He thought it was better to suffer for the Messiah than to have all the treasures of Egypt. He was waiting for the reward that God would give him.
27 Moses left Egypt because he had faith. He was not afraid of the king’s anger. He continued strong as if he could see the God no one can see. 28 Moses prepared the Passover and spread the blood on the doorways of the people of Israel, so that the angel of death[a] would not kill their firstborn sons. Moses did this because he had faith.
29 And God’s people all walked through the Red Sea as if it were dry land. They were able to do this because they had faith. But when the Egyptians tried to follow them, they were drowned.
30 And the walls of Jericho fell because of the faith of God’s people. They marched around the walls for seven days, and then the walls fell.
31 And Rahab, the prostitute, welcomed the Israelite spies like friends. And because of her faith, she was not killed with the ones who refused to obey.
52 Then the Jews began to argue among themselves. They said, “How can this man give us his body to eat?”
53 Jesus said, “Believe me when I say that you must eat the body of the Son of Man, and you must drink his blood. If you don’t do this, you have no real life. 54 Those who eat my body and drink my blood have eternal life. I will raise them up on the last day. 55 My body is true food, and my blood is true drink. 56 Those who eat my body and drink my blood live in me, and I live in them.
57 “The Father sent me. He lives, and I live because of him. So everyone who eats me will live because of me. 58 I am not like the bread that your ancestors ate. They ate that bread, but they still died. I am the bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever.”
59 Jesus said all this while he was teaching in the synagogue in the city of Capernaum.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International