Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 72[a]
The Kingdom of the Messiah
1 Of Solomon.
O God, endow the king with your judgment,
the son of kings with your righteousness.
2 [b]He will govern your people fairly
and deal justly with your poor ones.
3 The mountains will yield peace for the people,
and the hills, righteousness.
4 He will defend the afflicted among the people,
save the children of the poor,
and overwhelm the oppressor.
5 He will reign as long as the sun,
as long as the moon, through all generations.
6 He will descend like rain on the meadow,
like showers that water the earth.
7 Justice will reign in his days,
and peace will abound
until the moon is no more.
8 His rule will extend from sea to sea,[c]
and from the river to the ends of the earth.
9 His foes[d] will bow down before him,
and his enemies will lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish[e] and the Islands
will offer him tribute;
the kings of Sheba and Seba
will present him with gifts.
11 All kings will pay him homage,
and all nations will serve him.
12 For he will save the poor who cry out
and the needy who have no one to help them.
13 He will have pity on the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the needy he will save.
14 He will free them from oppression and violence,
for their blood is precious in his sight.
15 [f]Long may he live!
May the gold of Sheba be given to him.
May people pray for him unceasingly
and invoke blessings[g] on him all day long.
16 May grain abound throughout the land,
even growing abundantly on the mountain tops.
May its crops[h] be as plenteous as those of Lebanon,
and may its people flourish like the grass of the field.
17 May his name[i] be blessed forever;
may it endure as long as the sun.
May all peoples be blessed in him;
may all the nations proclaim his greatness.
18 [j]Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone can perform such wondrous deeds.
19 May his glorious name be blessed forever,
and may the whole world be filled with his glory.
Amen. Amen.
20 The end of the psalms of David, son of Jesse.[k]
73 [a]Your hands have created and formed me;[b]
grant me understanding so that I may learn your precepts.
74 Those who fear you will rejoice when they see me
because I place my hope in your word.
75 I know, O Lord, that your judgments are righteous
and in your fidelity you have humbled me.
76 May your kindness[c] bring consolation to me
as you have promised your servant.
77 Grant me your compassion so that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
78 May the arrogant[d] who oppress me without cause be put to shame;
I will meditate on your commands.
79 May those turn to me who fear you,
those who understand your statutes.
80 May my heart[e] be without blame toward your decrees
so that I may not be put to shame.
Kaph
81 [f]My soul[g] pines for your salvation without ceasing;
I place my hope in your word.
82 My eyes fail,[h] looking for your word,
and I cry out, “When will you comfort me?”
83 I am shriveled like a smoke-filled wineskin,[i]
but I do not forget your decrees.
84 How long must your servant wait?[j]
When will you pass judgment on my persecutors?
85 The arrogant[k] dig pits to entrap me,
which is not in keeping with your law.
86 All of your precepts are true;
come to my aid, for I am persecuted unjustly.
87 My enemies almost took away my life,
but I have not forsaken your commands.
88 In your kindness[l] spare my life,
and I will obey the statutes of your mouth.
Lamedh
89 [m]Your word, O Lord, is everlasting;
it is firmly fixed in the heavens.[n]
90 Your faithfulness lasts through all generations;
you established the earth, and it endures.
91 By your judgments all creatures continue to exist,
for they are all your servants.
92 [o]If your law had not been my delight,
I would have already perished in my misery.
93 Never will I forget your commands,
for through them you have given me life.
94 I am yours; save me,
for I seek your commandments.
95 The wicked lie in wait to destroy me,
but I continue to ponder your decrees.
96 I have seen that every perfection is limited,
but your precept is unlimited.[p]
Mem
12 Ehud’s Victory. The Israelites once again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. Because of the evil they had done in the sight of the Lord, the Lord gave Eglon, the king of Moab, power over Israel. 13 He joined up with the Ammonites and the Amalekites, and they went and attacked Israel, conquering the City of Palms. 14 The Israelites were subjects of Eglon, the king of Moab, for eighteen years.
15 The Israelites cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up a liberator for them. He was Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, a left-handed man.[a] The Israelites sent him with tribute to Eglon, the king of Moab. 16 Ehud had made a double-edged sword that was one foot[b] long, and he strapped it on under his clothing on his right thigh. 17 He brought the tribute to Eglon. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 When he had received the tribute, he dismissed the people who were carrying the tribute. 19 At the idols of Gilgal, he turned back and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” He said, “Be quiet,” until all his attendants left him. 20 Ehud then approached him while he was sitting alone in the upper room. Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” As he got out of his seat, 21 Ehud reached in with his left hand, drew the sword out from his right thigh, and stuck it into his stomach. 22 It went in so far that even the handle of the sword was covered over by fat, and he could not draw the sword out from his stomach. In fact, excrement came out.
23 When Ehud went out onto the porch, he shut and locked the doors to the upper room behind himself. 24 When he left, the servants came back. They saw that the doors to the upper room were locked, and they said, “He must be relieving himself in the summer chamber.” 25 They waited so long that they became anxious, but he still did not open the doors of the upper room. They took a key and opened it, and they found their lord dead on the ground.
26 While they were waiting, Ehud was able to escape. Passing beyond the idols, he hurried to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, he blew a trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim. The Israelites went down with him from the hill country of Ephraim, and he stood in front of them. 28 He said, “Follow me, for the Lord has delivered your enemies, the Moabites, into your hands.” They followed him, and they captured the fords of the Jordan opposite Moab, and they did not let anyone cross over. 29 They slew around ten thousand of the Moabites that day, all of them robust and courageous warriors, and not one of them escaped. 30 Moab was vanquished that day under the hand of Israel, and there was peace in the land for eighty years.
At Jerusalem[a]
From Jesus to the Community of the Lord[b]
Chapter 1
Prologue.[c] 1 In my previous book, Theophilus,[d] I wrote of everything that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2 until the day he was taken up, after first giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
The Promise of the Spirit.[e] 3 After his passion Jesus had presented himself alive to them by many proofs. He appeared to them during forty days and spoke to them about the kingdom of God. 4 When they were gathered together, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, saying, “Wait there for the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak. 5 For John baptized with water, but within a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
6 As they were all gathered together, they asked him, “Lord, is this the time when you are going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He replied, “It is not for you to know the dates or the times that the Father has designated by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and then you will be my witnesses not only in Jerusalem, but throughout Judea and Samaria, and indeed to the farthest ends of the earth.”
The Ascension of Jesus.[f] 9 After he said this, he was lifted up as they looked on, and a cloud took him from their sight. 10 While he was departing as they gazed upward toward the sky, suddenly two men dressed in white robes stood beside them, 11 and they said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking up into the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will come back in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
12 The First Community Waiting for the Spirit. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, no farther distant than a Sabbath day’s journey.[g] 13 When they arrived, they went to the upper room where they were staying: Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 All of these were constantly engaged in prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.[h]
45 Jesus Dies on the Cross.[a] Beginning at midday, there was darkness over the whole land until three in the afternoon. 46 And about three o’clock[b] Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”—that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
47 On hearing this, some of the bystanders said, “This man is calling for Elijah.” 48 One of them immediately ran off to get a sponge, which he soaked in vinegar, put on a stick, and gave to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Wait! Let us see whether Elijah will come to save him.” 50 Then Jesus again cried out in a loud voice and gave up his spirit.
51 And behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked and rocks were split apart. 52 The tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. 53 And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many.[c] 54 Now when the centurion and those who were keeping watch over Jesus with him witnessed the earthquake and all that was happening, they were terrified, and they said, “Truly, this man was the Son of God.”
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