Book of Common Prayer
An instruction[a]. By Ethan, the Ezrahite
God’s Covenant with David
89 I will sing forever about the gracious love of the Lord;
from generation to generation
I will declare your faithfulness with my mouth.
2 I will declare that your gracious love was established forever;
in the heavens itself, you have established your faithfulness.
3 I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have made a promise to David, my servant.
4 “I will establish your dynasty forever,
and I will lift up one who will build[b] your throne
from generation to generation.”
5 Even the heavens praise your awesome deeds, Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies compares to the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the divine beings?
7 God is feared in the council of the holy ones,
revered by all those around him.
8 Lord God of the Heavenly Armies,
who is as mighty as you, Lord?
Your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule over the majestic[c] sea;
when its waves surge,
you calm them.
10 You crushed the proud one[d] to death;
with your powerful arm
you scattered your enemies.
11 Heaven and the earth belong to you,
the world and everything it contains—
you established them.
12 The north and south—you created them;
Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
13 Your arm is strong;
your hand is mighty;
indeed, your right hand is victorious.[e]
14 Righteousness and justice make up
the foundation of your throne;
gracious love and truth meet before you.
15 How happy are the people who can worship joyfully![f]
Lord, they walk in the light of your presence.
16 In your name they rejoice all day long;
they exult in your justice.[g]
17 For you are their strength’s grandeur;
by your favor you exalted our power.[h]
18 Indeed, our shield belongs to the Lord,
and our king to the Holy One of Israel.
God’s Describes His Anointed
19 You spoke to your faithful[i] ones through a vision:[j]
“I will set a helper over[k] a warrior.
I will raise up a chosen one from the people.
20 I have found my servant David;
I have anointed him with my sacred oil,
21 with whom my power[l] will be firmly established;
for my arm will strengthen him.
22 No enemy will deceive him;
no wicked person[m] will afflict him.
23 I will crush his enemies before him
and strike those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and gracious love will be with him,
and in my name his power[n] will be exalted.
25 I will place his hand[o] over the sea,
and his right hand[p] over the rivers.
26 He will announce to me
‘You are my father,
my God, and the rock of my salvation.’
27 “Indeed, I myself made him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
28 I will show[q] my gracious love toward him forever,
since my covenant is securely established with him.
29 I will establish his dynasty[r] forever,
and his throne as long as heaven endures.[s]
30 “But if his sons abandon my laws and
do not follow my ordinances,
31 if they profane my statutes;
and do not keep my commands,
32 then I will punish their disobedience with a rod
and their iniquity with lashes.
33 But I will not cut off[t] my gracious love from him,
and I will not stop being faithful.
34 I will not dishonor my covenant,
because I will not change what I have spoken.[u]
35 I have sworn by my holiness once for all:
I will not lie to David.
36 His dynasty[v] will last forever
and his throne will be like the sun before me.
37 It will be established forever like the moon,
a faithful witness in the sky.”
A Commitment to Persevere
38 But you have spurned, rejected,
and became angry with your anointed one.
39 You have dishonored the covenant with your servant;
you have defiled his crown on the ground.
40 You have broken through all his[w] walls;
you have laid his fortresses in ruin.
41 All who pass by on their way plunder him;
he has become a reproach to his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries;
you have caused all of his enemies to rejoice.
43 Moreover, you have turned back the edge of his sword
and did not support him in battle.
44 You have caused his splendor[x] to cease
and cast down his throne to the ground.
45 You have caused the days of his youth to be cut short;
you have covered him with shame.
46 How long, Lord, will you hide yourself? Forever?
Will your anger continuously burn like fire?
47 Remember how short my lifetime is!
How powerless have you created all human beings![y]
48 What valiant man can live and not see death?
Who can deliver himself[z] from the power[aa] of Sheol.[ab]
49 Where is your gracious love of old, Lord,
that in your faithfulness you promised to David?
50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of your servant!
I carry inside me all the insults of many people,
51 when your enemies reproached you, Lord,
when they reproached the footsteps[ac] of your anointed.
52 Blessed is the Lord forever!
Amen and amen!
Jacob’s Final Blessings
49 After this, Jacob called his sons together and told them, “Assemble yourselves around me[a] so I can tell you all what is going to happen to you in the last days.[b]
2 “Gather together and listen,
you children of Jacob.
Listen to your father Israel.”
On the Future of Reuben
3 “Reuben, you’re my firstborn,
my strength,
and the first fruit of my vitality.
You excel in rank
and excel in power.
4 But you’re as undisciplined as a roaring river,
so eventually you won’t succeed,
because you got in your father’s bed,[c]
defiled it, and then approached my couch.”
On the Future of Simeon and Levi
5 “Simeon and Levi are brothers;
their swords are violent weapons.
6 I’ll[d] never join their council;
I’ll never enter their assembly.
In their anger they committed murder
and lamed cattle just for fun.
7 Their anger is cursed,
because it is so fierce,
as is their vehemence,
because it is so cruel.
I will separate them throughout Jacob’s territory[e]
and disperse them throughout Israel.”
On the Future of Judah
8 “Your brothers will praise you, Judah.[f]
Your hand will be at the throat of your enemies,
and your father’s children will bow down to you.
9 Judah is a lion cub.
My son, you have gone up from the prey.
Crouching like a lion,
he lies down,
Like a lioness,
who would dare rouse him?
10 The scepter will not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,
until the one[g] comes, who owns them both,[h]
and to him will belong the allegiance[i] of nations.
11 Binding his donkey to the vine
and his mare’s foal to its thick tendrils,
he will wash his garments in wine
and his robe in the juice of grapes.
12 His eyes are darker than wine
and his teeth whiter than milk.”
On the Future of Zebulun
13 “Zebulun will settle down near the sea shore
and become a safe haven for shipping,
bordering Sidon.”
On the Future of Issachar
14 “Issachar is a strong donkey,
resting between sheepfolds.
15 He observed that his resting place was excellent,
and that the land was pleasant;
he bent down,
picked up his burdens,
and became a slave at forced labor.”
On the Future of Dan
16 “Dan will judge[j] his people
as one of Israel’s tribes.
17 Dan will be a snake on the path,
a viper on the road
that snaps at the heels of horses,
causing their riders to fall off.
18 “Lord, I’m waiting for your salvation.”
On the Future of Gad
19 “Bandits will raid Gad,
but Gad will raid them back.”[k]
On the Future of Asher
20 “Asher’s food will be delicious;
he will be a provider of delicacies fit for royalty.”
On the Future of Naphtali
21 “Naphtali is a free running deer
who produces eloquent literature.”
On the Future of Joseph
22 “Joseph is descended from a fruitful vine,
a fruitful vine planted near springs of water.
His branches climb over walls.
23 Even though enemies[l] attacked him,
shooting at him
and pursuing him viciously,
24 nevertheless his bow remained steady
and his arms kept in shape
by the strength of Jacob’s Mighty One,
in the name of the Shepherd,
Israel’s Rock,
25 by your father’s God
who helps you,
by the Almighty
who will keep on blessing you
with blessings from heaven above,
with blessings from the deepest ocean,
with blessing from the breasts and the womb.
26 Your father’s blessings will prove to be stronger
than blessings from the eternal mountains
or bounties from the everlasting hills.
May they come to rest on Joseph’s head,
May they be set upon the brow of the one
who was separated from his own brothers.”
On the Future of Benjamin
27 “Benjamin is vicious like a wolf;
what he kills in the morning
he devours in the evening.”
Jacob Dies and is Buried
28 That’s how Israel blessed these[m] twelve tribes of Israel, and this is what their father told them when he pronounced his blessing for them, blessing each one with a blessing suitable for them.
14 And so, my dear friends, keep on running away from idolatry. 15 I am talking to sensible people. Apply what I am saying to yourselves. 16 The cup of blessing that we bless is our fellowship in the blood of the Messiah,[a] isn’t it? The bread that we break is our fellowship in the body of the Messiah,[b] isn’t it? 17 Because there is one loaf, we who are many are one body, because all of us eat from the same loaf.
18 Look at the Israelis from a human point of view.[c] Those who eat the sacrifices share in what is on the altar, don’t they? 19 Am I suggesting that an offering made to idols means anything, or that an idol itself means anything? 20 Hardly! What they offer, they offer to demons and not to God, and I do not want you to become partners with demons. 21 You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot dine with the Lord and dine with demons, 22 or you’ll provoke the Lord to jealousy, won’t you? Are we stronger than he is?
All to the Glory of God
23 Everything is permissible, but not everything is helpful. Everything is permissible, but not everything builds up. 24 No one should seek his own welfare, but rather his neighbor’s.
25 Eat anything that is sold in the meat market without raising any question about it on the grounds of conscience, 26 for “the earth and everything in it belong to the Lord.”[d] 27 If an unbeliever invites you to his house and you wish to go, eat whatever is set before you, raising no question on the grounds of conscience. 28 However, if someone says to you, “This was offered as a sacrifice,” don’t eat it, both out of consideration for the one who told you and also for the sake of conscience. 29 I mean, of course, his conscience, not yours. For why should my freedom be determined by someone else’s conscience? 30 If I eat with thankfulness, why should I be denounced because of what I am thankful for?
31 Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do everything for the glory of God. 32 Don’t become a stumbling block to Jews or Greeks or to the church of God, 33 just as I myself try to please everybody in every way. I don’t look out for my own benefit, but rather for the benefit of many people, so that they might be saved.
Be Imitators of Me
11 Imitate me, as I do the Messiah.[e]
A Canaanite Woman’s Faith(A)
24 Jesus[a] left that place and went to the territory of Tyre and Sidon.[b] He went into a house, not wanting anyone to know he was there. However, it couldn’t be kept a secret. 25 In fact, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him and came and fell down at his feet. 26 Now the woman happened to be a Greek, born in Phoenicia in Syria. She kept asking him to drive the demon out of her daughter. 27 But he kept telling her, “First let the children be filled. It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the puppies.”
28 But she answered him, “Yes,[c] Lord. Yet even the puppies under the table eat some of the children’s crumbs.”
29 Then he told her, “Because you have said this, go! The demon has left your daughter.” 30 So she went home and found her child lying in bed, and the demon was gone.
Jesus Heals a Deaf Man with a Speech Impediment
31 Then Jesus[d] left the territory of Tyre and passed through Sidon towards the Sea of Galilee, in the territory of the Decapolis.[e] 32 Some people[f] brought him a deaf man who also had a speech impediment. They begged him to lay his hand on him. 33 Jesus[g] took him away from the crowd to be alone with him. Putting his fingers into the man’s[h] ears, he touched the man’s[i] tongue with saliva.
34 Then he looked up to heaven, sighed, and told him, “Ephphatha,”[j] that is, “Be opened!” 35 The man’s[k] hearing and speech were restored at once, and he began to talk normally. 36 Jesus[l] ordered the people[m] not to tell anyone, but the more he kept ordering them, the more they kept spreading the news.
37 Amazed beyond measure, they kept on saying, “He does everything well! He even makes deaf people hear and mute people talk!”
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