Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 83[a]
Against a Hostile Alliance
1 A song. A psalm of Asaph.[b]
2 O God, do not remain silent;[c]
do not be quiet and inactive, O God.
3 [d]Note how your enemies rage about,
how your foes increase in arrogance.[e]
4 They formulate shrewd plans against your people,
conspiring against those you love.
5 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation;
let the name of Israel be totally forgotten.”
6 They conspire with a single mind,
forming an alliance[f] against you:
7 [g]the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,
8 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,
Philistia, and the inhabitants of Tyre;
9 Assyria has also joined them as an ally,
offering aid to the descendants of Lot. Selah
10 [h]Deal with them as you did with Midian,[i]
and with Sisera and Jabin at the brook of Kishon,[j]
11 who were destroyed at Endor
and became manure for the ground.
12 [k]Make their chieftains like Oreb and Zeeb,
and all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
13 who boasted, “Let us seize for ourselves
the pastures of God.”
14 [l]O my God, treat them like tumbleweed,
like chaff blown before the wind.
15 As a fire rages through a forest,
as a flame sets mountains ablaze,
16 so hound them with your tempests
and terrify them with your stormwinds.[m]
17 Fill their faces with shame
so that they will seek your name,[n] O Lord.
18 [o]Let them be humiliated and terrified forever;
let them be disgraced and perish.
19 Let them know that you alone,
whose name is the Lord,
are the Most High over all the earth.
Psalm 145[a]
Praise of the Divine Majesty
1 [b]Praise. Of David.
I will extol you, my God and King;
I will bless your name[c] forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.[d]
3 [e]Great is the Lord and worthy of the highest praise;
no one can even begin to comprehend his greatness.[f]
4 Each generation will praise your works[g] to the next
and proclaim your mighty deeds.
5 People will proclaim the glorious splendor of your majesty,
and I will meditate on your wonderful works.
6 They will speak of the power of your awesome deeds,
and I will relate your greatness.
7 They will celebrate your abundant goodness
and sing joyfully of your saving justice.
8 [h]The Lord is gracious and merciful,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.[i]
9 The Lord is good to all,
showing compassion to every creature.
10 All your creatures praise you,[j] O Lord,
and all your saints bless you.
11 They relate the glory of your kingdom
and tell of all your power.[k]
12 They make known to all people your mighty deeds
and the glorious majesty of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom will last forever,
and your dominion will endure throughout all generations.[l]
[m]The Lord is faithful in all his promises
and kind[n] in all his deeds.
14 The Lord supports all those who are falling
and raises up all who are bowed down.[o]
15 The eyes of all look hopefully to you,
and you give them their food at the right time.
16 You open your hand
and satisfy the needs of every living creature.[p]
17 [q]The Lord is righteous in all his ways
and merciful in everything he does.[r]
18 The Lord is near to all who call out to him,
to all who call out to him sincerely.[s]
19 He satisfies the desires of all who fear him;
he hears their cry and saves them.[t]
20 The Lord watches over all who love him,
but he will completely destroy all the wicked.[u]
21 May my mouth declare the praise of the Lord,
and may every creature[v] bless his holy name
forever and ever.
Psalm 85[a]
Prayer for the People’s Salvation
1 For the director.[b] A psalm of the sons of Korah.
2 O Lord, you showed favor to your land;
you restored the good fortune of Jacob.[c]
3 You forgave the iniquity of your people;
you canceled all their sins. Selah
4 You cast aside all your wrath;
you put an end to your great anger.
5 [d]Restore us once again, O God, our Savior,
and cease your displeasure toward us.
6 Will you remain angry with us forever?
Will you hold onto your wrath for all generations?
7 Will you not once again give us life
so that your people may exult in you?
8 Show us, O Lord, your kindness[e]
and grant us your salvation.
9 [f]I will listen for God’s response;
surely the Lord will proclaim peace to his people, his saints,[g]
to those who turn to him with their whole heart.
10 His salvation is indeed near for those who fear him;
his glory[h] will dwell in our land.
11 [i]Kindness and faithfulness[j] will meet;
righteousness and peace will embrace.
12 Faithfulness will spring forth from the earth,
and righteousness[k] will look down from heaven.
13 [l]The Lord will grant us prosperity,[m]
and our land will yield its harvest.
14 Righteousness will go forth in front of him,
and he will set us on the way he treads.
Psalm 86[n]
Prayer in Suffering and Distress
1 A prayer of David.
Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.[o]
2 Preserve my life, for I am faithful to you;
save your servant who puts his trust in you.
3 You are my God;[p] have pity on me, O Lord,
for to you I cry out all day long.
4 Give joy to the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord,
I lift up my soul.[q]
5 O Lord, you are kind and forgiving,
filled with kindness[r] for all who cry to you.
6 Hear my prayer, O Lord,
and listen to my voice in supplication.
7 In the time of trouble I call to you,
for you will answer me.
8 There is no one among the gods like you, O Lord,
nor can any deeds compare with yours.
9 All the nations[s] you have made
will come and bow down before you, O Lord,
and glorify your name.
10 For you are great and you do marvelous deeds;[t]
you alone are God.
11 Teach me your ways, O Lord,
so that I may walk in your truth;
let me worship your name
with an undivided heart.[u]
12 I will praise you with all my heart,[v]
O Lord, my God,
and I will glorify your name forever.
13 Your kindness[w] toward me is great;
you have rescued me from the depths of the netherworld.
14 Arrogant men are rising up against me, O God;
a violent mob seeks my life;
they do not keep you before their eyes.[x]
15 But you, O Lord, are a merciful and compassionate God,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness and faithfulness.[y]
16 Turn to me and grant me your gracious favor;
endow your servant with strength
and rescue the child of your handmaid.[z]
17 Grant me a sign of your favor,[aa]
so that those who hate me
may see it and be put to shame,
because you, O Lord,
have helped and comforted me.
22 The Israelites said to Gideon, “Rule over us, you, and your son, and your grandson, for you have delivered us out of the hands of Midian.” 23 But Gideon said to them, “Neither I nor my son will rule over you. The Lord will rule over you!”
24 Gideon continued, “I do have one request to make of you. Let each man give me an earring from his share of the plunder.” (They had gold earrings, for they were Ishmaelites.)[a] 25 They answered, “We would be glad to give them to you.” They spread out a garment, and each man threw his earrings from the plunder onto it. 26 The weight of the golden earnings he had asked for was one thousand, seven hundred golden shekels, not counting the ornaments, the necklaces, the purple garments that had been worn by the kings of Midian, and the chains that had been on the necks of their camels.
27 Gideon had the gold made into an ephod[b] which he placed in Ophrah, his hometown. All of Israel prostituted itself by worshiping it there, and it became a snare to Gideon and his household. 28 This is how Midian was subjected to the Israelites, so that they did not lift up their heads again. During Gideon’s lifetime there was peace in the land, for forty years.
29 Abimelech, Son of Gideon. Jerubbaal went to his home and lived there. 30 Gideon had seventy sons of his own, for he had many wives. 31 His concubine[c] who lived in Shechem also had a son who was called Abimelech. 32 Gideon, the son of Joash, lived to a good old age, and he was buried in the tomb of his father Joash in Ophrah of the Abiezrites.
33 As soon as Gideon died, the Israelites turned again and prostituted themselves after the Baals. They set up Baal-berith[d] as their god 34 and the Israelites forgot that the Lord, their God, had delivered them out of the hands of their enemies who surrounded them. 35 They also failed to respect the family of Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) for all of the good things that he had done for Israel.
Chapter 4
First Phase of the Trial: A Warning.[a] 1 While they were still speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple guard,[b] and the Sadducees came over to them, 2 greatly annoyed that they were teaching and proclaiming to the people the resurrection of the dead through Jesus. 3 Therefore, they arrested them and placed them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 However, many of those who had listened to their message became believers, their total approaching five thousand.
5 On the next day, their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John,[c] Alexander, and all who belonged to the high priestly family. 7 They then brought the apostles before them and asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if you are interrogating us today in regard to a good deed done to someone who was crippled and how he was healed, 10 let it be known to you and to all the people of Israel that it was in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth whom you crucified, and whom God raised from the dead, that this man standing before you was cured. 11 This is
‘the stone rejected by you, the builders,
that has become the cornerstone.’
12 There is no salvation in anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to men by which we can be saved.”
43 The next day Jesus[a] decided to go to Galilee. Encountering Philip, he said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip came from the same town, Bethsaida,[b] as Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael[c] and said to him, “We have found the one about whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” 46 Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” Philip replied, “Come and see.”
47 When Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said of him, “Behold, a true Israelite, in whom there is no deception.”[d] 48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus answered him, “Before Philip summoned you, when you were under the fig tree,[e] I saw you.” 49 Nathanael said to him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.” 50 Jesus responded, “Do you believe because I told you that I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that.” 51 Then he added, “Amen, amen, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”[f]
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.