Book of Common Prayer
72 O God, help the king to judge as you would, and help his son to walk in godliness. 2 Help him to give justice to your people, even to the poor. 3 May the mountains and hills flourish in prosperity because of his good reign. 4 Help him to defend the poor and needy and to crush their oppressors. 5 May the poor and needy revere you constantly, as long as sun and moon continue in the skies! Yes, forever!
6 May the reign of this son of mine[a] be as gentle and fruitful as the springtime rains upon the grass—like showers that water the earth! 7 May all good men flourish in his reign with abundance of peace to the end of time.
8 Let him reign from sea to sea and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth. 9 The desert nomads shall bow before him; his enemies shall fall face downward in the dust. 10 Kings along the Mediterranean coast—the kings of Tarshish and the islands—and those from Sheba and from Seba—all will bring their gifts. 11 Yes, kings from everywhere! All will bow before him! All will serve him!
12 He will take care of the helpless and poor when they cry to him; for they have no one else to defend them. 13 He feels pity for the weak and needy and will rescue them. 14 He will save them from oppression and from violence, for their lives are precious to him.
15 And he shall live; and to him will be given the gold of Sheba, and there will be constant praise for him.[b] His people will bless him all day long. 16 Bless us with abundant crops throughout the land, even on the highland plains; may there be fruit like that of Lebanon; may the cities be as full of people as the fields are of grass. 17 His name will be honored forever; it will continue as the sun; and all will be blessed in him; all nations will praise him.
18 Blessed be Jehovah God, the God of Israel, who only does wonderful things! 19 Blessed be his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen!
20 (This ends the psalms of David, son of Jesse.)
73 You made my body, Lord; now give me sense to heed your laws. 74 All those who fear and trust in you will welcome me because I too am trusting in your Word.
75-77 I know, O Lord, that your decisions are right and that your punishment was right and did me good. Now let your loving-kindness comfort me, just as you promised. Surround me with your tender mercies that I may live. For your law is my delight.
78 Let the proud be disgraced, for they have cut me down with all their lies. But I will concentrate my thoughts upon your laws.
79 Let all others join me who trust and fear you, and we will discuss your laws. 80 Help me to love your every wish; then I will never have to be ashamed of myself.
81 I faint for your salvation; but I expect your help, for you have promised it. 82 My eyes are straining to see your promises come true. When will you comfort me with your help? 83 I am shriveled like a wineskin in the smoke, exhausted with waiting. But still I cling to your laws and obey them. 84 How long must I wait before you punish those who persecute me? 85-86 These proud men who hate your truth and laws have dug deep pits for me to fall in. Their lies have brought me into deep trouble. Help me, for you love only truth. 87 They had almost finished me off, yet I refused to yield and disobey your laws. 88 In your kindness, spare my life; then I can continue to obey you.
89 Forever, O Lord, your Word stands firm in heaven. 90-91 Your faithfulness extends to every generation, like the earth you created; it endures by your decree, for everything serves your plans.
92 I would have despaired and perished unless your laws had been my deepest delight. 93 I will never lay aside your laws, for you have used them to restore my joy and health. 94 I am yours! Save me! For I have tried to live according to your desires. 95 Though the wicked hide along the way to kill me, I will quietly keep my mind upon your promises.
96 Nothing is perfect except your words.
22 Later on, God tested Abraham’s faith and obedience.[a]
“Abraham!” God called.
“Yes, Lord?” he replied.
2 “Take with you your only son—yes, Isaac whom you love so much—and go to the land of Moriah and sacrifice him there as a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I’ll point out to you!”
3 The next morning Abraham got up early, chopped wood for a fire upon the altar, saddled his donkey, and took with him his son Isaac and two young men who were his servants, and started off to the place where God had told him to go. 4 On the third day of the journey Abraham saw the place in the distance.
5 “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the young men, “and the lad and I will travel yonder and worship, and then come right back.”
6 Abraham placed the wood for the burnt offering upon Isaac’s shoulders, while he himself carried the knife and the flint for striking a fire. So the two of them went on together.
7 “Father,” Isaac asked, “we have the wood and the flint to make the fire, but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?”
8 “God will see to it, my son,” Abraham replied. And they went on.
9 When they arrived at the place where God had told Abraham to go, he built an altar and placed the wood in order, ready for the fire, and then tied Isaac and laid him on the altar over the wood. 10 And Abraham took the knife and lifted it up to plunge it into his son, to slay him.
11 At that moment the Angel of God shouted to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!”
“Yes, Lord!” he answered.
12 “Lay down the knife; don’t hurt the lad in any way,” the Angel said, “for I know that God is first in your life—you have not withheld even your beloved son from me.”
13 Then Abraham noticed a ram caught by its horns in a bush. So he took the ram and sacrificed it, instead of his son, as a burnt offering on the altar. 14 Abraham named the place “Jehovah provides”—and it still goes by that name to this day.
15 Then the Angel of God called again to Abraham from heaven. 16 “I, the Lord, have sworn by myself that because you have obeyed me and have not withheld even your beloved son from me, 17 I will bless you with incredible blessings and multiply your descendants into countless thousands and millions, like the stars above you in the sky, and like the sands along the seashore. They will conquer their enemies, 18 and your offspring[b] will be a blessing to all the nations of the earth—all because you have obeyed me.”
23 Moses’ parents had faith too. When they saw that God had given them an unusual child, they trusted that God would save him from the death the king commanded, and they hid him for three months and were not afraid.
24-25 It was by faith that Moses, when he grew up, refused to be treated as the grandson of the king, but chose to share ill-treatment with God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He thought that it was better to suffer for the promised Christ than to own all the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking forward to the great reward that God would give him. 27 And it was because he trusted God that he left the land of Egypt and wasn’t afraid of the king’s anger. Moses kept right on going; it seemed as though he could see God right there with him. 28 And it was because he believed God would save his people that he commanded them to kill a lamb as God had told them to and sprinkle the blood on the doorposts of their homes so that God’s terrible Angel of Death could not touch the oldest child in those homes as he did among the Egyptians.
29 The people of Israel trusted God and went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. But when the Egyptians chasing them tried it, they all were drowned.
30 It was faith that brought the walls of Jericho tumbling down after the people of Israel had walked around them seven days as God had commanded them. 31 By faith—because she believed in God and his power—Rahab the harlot did not die with all the others in her city when they refused to obey God, for she gave a friendly welcome to the spies.
52 Then the Jews began arguing with each other about what he meant. “How can this man give us his flesh to eat?” they asked.
53 So Jesus said it again, “With all the earnestness I possess I tell you this: Unless you eat the flesh of the Messiah[a] and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. 54 But anyone who does eat my flesh and drink my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him at the Last Day. 55 For my flesh is the true food, and my blood is the true drink. 56 Everyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood is in me, and I in him. 57 I live by the power of the living Father who sent me, and in the same way those who partake of me shall live because of me! 58 I am the true Bread from heaven; and anyone who eats this Bread shall live forever, and not die as your fathers did—though they ate bread from heaven.” 59 (He preached this sermon in the synagogue in Capernaum.)
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.