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
Chapter 42
Job’s Final Response[a]
Now I Have Seen You with My Own Eyes. 1 Job then answered the Lord in these words:
2 “I know that you can do all things
and that no plan you conceive can be thwarted.
3 Because of my ignorance
I have spoken of things that I have not understood,
of things too wondrous for me to know.
4 “You had said, ‘Listen and let me speak.
I intend to put questions to you,
and you must give me your answers.’
5 I had heard of you only by hearsay,
but now that I have seen you with my own eyes,
6 I retract what I have said,
repenting in dust and ashes.”
Epilogue: Job’s Honor and Goods Are Restored[b]
You Have Not Spoken About Me As You Should Have Done.[c] 7 After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “My anger is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken about me as you should, as my servant Job has. 8 Therefore, now take seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering. Then my servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer not to punish you severely, for you have not spoken about me as you should, as my servant Job has.”
9 Therefore, Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went forth and did what the Lord had commanded them. And the Lord accepted the intercession of Job.
10 God Restores the Prosperity of Job.[d] Thereupon the Lord restored the prosperity of Job after he had prayed for his friends, and he enriched him with twice as much as he had possessed before. 11 Then all his brothers and sisters came to him, as well as all his friends from former days. As they feasted with him in his house, they sympathized with him about his previous troubles, and they comforted him for all the misfortunes that the Lord had permitted to be inflicted upon him. Moreover, each of them gave him some money and a gold ring.
12 The Lord blessed the end of Job’s life more than the beginning. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand donkeys. 13 He also fathered seven sons and three daughters. 14 He named the eldest daughter Jemimah,[e] the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch. 15 In the entire land there were no women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father gave them an inheritance along with their brothers.[f]
16 After this, Job lived for another one hundred and forty years, and he saw his children and his children’s children to the fourth generation. 17 Then Job died at a very great age.
16 Paul Imprisoned at Philippi.[a]On one occasion, as we were on our way to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who was possessed by a spirit of divination and brought large profits to her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She began to follow Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to proclaim to you a way of salvation.” 18 She kept doing this for many days, until Paul became very greatly troubled. He turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And the spirit came out of her instantly.
19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money from her was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are causing a disturbance in our city. They are Jews, 21 and they are advocating practices that it is illegal for us as Romans to adopt or follow.”
22 The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the magistrates had them stripped and ordered them to be beaten. 23 After they had inflicted a severe beating on them, they threw them into prison and instructed the jailer to guard them closely. 24 Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and locked their feet in the stocks.
20 The Glory of the Cross.[a] Among those who had come up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.[b] 21 They approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said to him, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus. 22 Philip went to tell Andrew of this, and Philip and Andrew informed Jesus. 23 Jesus answered them,
“The hour has come
for the Son of Man to be glorified.
24 Amen, amen, I say to you,
unless a grain of wheat
falls into the earth and dies,
it remains just a grain of wheat.
However, if it dies,
it bears much fruit.
25 “Anyone who loves his life loses it,
but the one who hates his life in this world
will preserve it for eternal life.
26 If anyone wishes to serve me,
he must follow me.
Where I am,
there also will my servant be.
If anyone serves me,
my Father will honor that person.
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