Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 72
A Psalm of Solomon.
1 Give the king Your judgments, O God,
and Your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 May he judge Your people with righteousness,
and Your poor with justice.
3 May the mountains bring well-being to the people,
and the hills, in righteousness.
4 May he judge the poor of the people,
may he save the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor.
5 May they fear You as long as the sun endures,
and the moon, throughout all generations.
6 May he descend like rain on the mown grass,
as showers dripping on the earth.
7 In his days may the righteous flourish,
and abundance of peace until the moon is no more.
8 May he have dominion from sea to sea,
and from the River to the ends of the earth.
9 May those who dwell in the wilderness bow before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles
bring presents;
the kings of Sheba and Seba offer a gift.
11 May all kings bow down before him;
may all nations serve him.
12 Indeed, may he deliver the needy when he cries;
the poor also, and him who has no helper.
13 May he have compassion on the poor and needy,
and save the lives of the needy.
14 May he redeem their life from deceit and violence;
and may their blood be precious in his sight.
15 May he live long,
and may one give him the gold of Sheba;
and pray for him continually;
and all day long may he be blessed.
16 May there be abundance of grain in the earth
on the top of the mountains;
may its fruit shake like Lebanon;
and may those from the city flourish like grass of the earth.
17 May his name endure forever;
may his name increase as long as the sun.
May men be blessed in him;
may all nations call him blessed!
18 Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous deeds.
19 Blessed be His glorious name forever;
and may the whole earth be filled with His glory.
Amen, and Amen.
20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
י Yodh
73 Your hands have made me and fashioned me;
give me understanding, that I may learn Your commandments.
74 Those who fear You will be glad when they see me,
because I have hoped in Your word.
75 I know, O Lord, that Your judgments are right,
and that You in faithfulness have afflicted me.
76 Let Your merciful kindness comfort me,
according to Your word to Your servant.
77 Let Your compassion come to me, that I may live,
for Your law is my delight.
78 Let the proud be ashamed, for they have been wicked to me in falsehood,
but I will meditate on Your precepts.
79 Let those who fear You turn to me,
that they might know Your testimonies.
80 Let my heart be blameless in Your statutes,
that I may not be ashamed.
כ Kaph
81 My soul longs for Your deliverance,
but I hope in Your word.
82 My eyes are weary for Your word,
saying, “When will You comfort me?”
83 For I have become like a wineskin dried in the smoke,
yet I have not forgotten Your statutes.
84 How many days are given to Your servant?
When will You provide judgment on those who persecute me?
85 The proud have dug pits for me,
and they do not live in accordance to Your law.
86 All Your commandments are faithful;
I am persecuted without cause; help me!
87 They have almost consumed me on the earth,
but I have not abandoned Your precepts.
88 Revive me according to Your lovingkindness,
that I may keep the testimony from Your mouth.
ל Lamedh
89 Forever, O Lord, Your word
is established in heaven.
90 Your faithfulness is for all generations;
You have established the earth, and it is firm.
91 They continue this day according to Your ordinance,
for all are Your servants.
92 Unless Your law had been my delight,
I would have perished in my affliction.
93 I will never forget Your precepts,
for with them You have revived me.
94 I am Yours; deliver me,
for I have sought Your precepts.
95 The wicked have waited to destroy me,
but I will consider Your testimonies.
96 I have seen that all perfection has an end,
but Your commandment is quite broad.
A Call to Repentance
6 The Lord said also to me in the days of Josiah the king: Have you seen that which backsliding Israel has done? She has gone up on every high mountain and under every green tree, and there has played the harlot. 7 I said after she had done all these things, “Turn to Me.” But she did not return. And her treacherous sister Judah saw it. 8 I saw that for all the adulteries of backsliding Israel, I had put her away and given her a bill of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear, but went and played the harlot also. 9 Through the lightness of her harlotry she defiled the land and committed adultery with stones and with trees. 10 Yet for all this, her treacherous sister Judah has not turned to Me with her whole heart, but feignedly, says the Lord.
God Invites Repentance
11 The Lord said to me: Backsliding Israel has proved herself more righteous than treacherous Judah. 12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say:
Return, backsliding Israel, says the Lord,
and I will not cause My anger to fall on you.
For I am merciful, says the Lord,
and I will not keep anger forever.
13 Only acknowledge your iniquity,
that you have transgressed against the Lord your God
and have scattered your ways to the strangers
under every green tree,
and you have not obeyed My voice,
says the Lord.
14 Return, O backsliding sons, says the Lord. For I am married to you. And I will take you, one from a city and two from a family, and I will bring you to Zion. 15 And I will give you shepherds according to My heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. 16 It shall come to pass when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days, says the Lord, they will say no more, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” And it will not come to mind, nor will they remember it, nor will they call for it, nor will it be made any more. 17 At that time they will call Jerusalem, the Throne of the Lord, and all the nations will be gathered to it, to Jerusalem, for the name of the Lord; nor will they walk any more after the stubbornness of their evil hearts. 18 In those days the house of Judah will walk with the house of Israel, and they will come together out of the land of the north to the land that I have given to your fathers for an inheritance.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not proper. 29 They were filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, proud, boastful, inventors of evil things, and disobedient toward parents, 31 without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, calloused, and unmerciful, 32 who know the righteous requirement of God, that those who commit such things are worthy of death. They not only do them, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.
The Righteous Judgment of God
2 Therefore you are without excuse, O man, whoever you are who judges, for when you judge another, you condemn yourself, for you who judge do the same things. 2 But we know that the judgment of God is according to truth against those who commit such things. 3 Do you think, O man, who judges those who do such things, and who does the same thing, that you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Do you despise the riches of His goodness, tolerance, and patience, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance?
5 But because of your hardness and impenitent heart, you are storing up treasures of wrath against yourself on the day of wrath when the righteous judgment of God will be revealed, 6 and He “will render to every man according to his deeds.”[a] 7 To those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality will be eternal life. 8 But to those who are contentious and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation, and wrath, 9 will be tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man who does evil, to the Jew first, and then to the Gentile. 10 But glory, honor, and peace will be to every man who does good work—to the Jew first, and then to the Gentile, 11 for there is no partiality with God.
The Healing at the Pool
5 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great crowd of invalids, blind, lame, and paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water. After the stirring of the water, whoever stepped in first was healed of whatever disease he had. 5 A certain man was there who had an illness for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been in that condition now a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”
7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred. But while I am coming, another steps down before me.”
8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 Immediately the man was healed, took up his bed, and walked.
That day was the Sabbath. 10 The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath day. It is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”
11 He answered them, “He who healed me said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”
12 So they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”
13 Now the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in that place.
14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have become whole. Sin no more lest something worse happens to you.” 15 The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.
16 So the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath day. 17 Jesus answered them, “My Father is working still, and I am working.” 18 So the Jews sought even more to kill Him, because He not only had broken the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.