Book of Common Prayer
Remembering the Covenant with David, and Sorrow for Lost Blessings
A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.[a]
89 I will sing forever of Yahweh’s acts of loyal love.
From generation to generation[b]
I will make known your faithfulness with my mouth.
2 For I say, “Forever your loyal love is built up.
The heavens you have established with your faithfulness in them.”
3 “I made a covenant with my chosen one;
I swore an oath to David my servant:
4 ‘I will establish your descendants forever,
and I will build up your throne from generation to generation.’”[c] Selah
5 And so the heavens will praise your wonderful deed, O Yahweh,
even your faithfulness, in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the sky[d] is equal to Yahweh?
Who is like Yahweh among the sons of God,
7 a God feared greatly in the council of the holy ones,
and awesome above all surrounding him?
8 O Yahweh God of hosts,
who is mighty like you, O Yah,
with[e] your faithfulness surrounding you?
9 You are ruling the surging of the sea.
When its waves rise, you yourself still[f] them.
10 You yourself crushed[g] Rahab like one who is slain;
you scattered your enemies with your strong arm.
11 The heavens are yours, the earth yours as well,
the world with its fullness, because you founded them.
12 North and south, you created them;
Tabor and Hermon shout joyfully over your name.
13 You have a mighty arm;
Your hand is strong; your right hand reaches high.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.
Loyal love and faithfulness[h] come before your face.[i]
15 Blessed are the people who know the joyful shout;
O Yahweh, they walk about in the light of your countenance.
16 In your name they rejoice all the day,
and in your righteousness they rise up.
17 For you are the glory of their strength,
and by your favor our horn rises up,[j]
18 because our shield belongs to Yahweh,[k]
and our king to the Holy One of Israel.[l]
19 Formerly you spoke in a vision
to your faithful ones, and said,
“I have bestowed help on a mighty man;
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
20 I have found David, my servant.
With my holy oil I have anointed him,
21 with whom my hand will be steadfast.
Surely my arm will strengthen him.
22 The enemy will not deceive him,
and no evil man[m] will afflict him.
23 But I will crush his adversaries before him,
and I will strike those who hate him.
24 And so my faithfulness
and my loyal love will be with him,
and in my name his horn will rise up.
25 And I will set his hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
26 He will call out to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, and the rock of my salvation.’
27 I will also make him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
28 Forever I will keep my loyal love for him,
and my covenant will be reliable for him.
29 I will also establish his offspring forever,
and his throne as the days of the heavens.
30 If his sons forsake my law
and do not walk in my judgments,
31 if they defile[n] my statutes
and do not keep my commandments,
32 then I will punish their transgression with a rod,
and their guilt with wounds.
33 But I will not break off my loyal love from him,
and I will not be false against my faithfulness.
34 I will not defile[o] my covenant,
or alter what proceeded from my lips.
35 Once[p] I have sworn by my holiness,
‘I will surely not lie to David,
36 His offspring will endure[q] forever,
and his throne as the sun before me.
37 Like the moon it will be steadfast forever,
and like an enduring witness in the sky.’” Selah
38 But you have spurned and rejected;
you are very angry with your anointed one.
39 You have repudiated the covenant with your servant;
you have defiled[r] his crown in[s] the dirt.
40 You have broken down all his walls;
you have made his fortifications a ruin.
41 All passing along the road plunder him;
he has become a taunt to his neighbors.
42 You have raised the right hand[t] of his adversaries.
You have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 You have also turned back the edge of his sword
and have not helped him stand his ground in the battle.
44 You have made his splendor to cease,
and cast his throne to the ground.
45 You have cut short the days of his youth;
you have covered him with shame. Selah
46 How long, O Yahweh? Will you hide yourself forever?
Will your wrath burn like fire forever?
47 Remember what my lifespan is.
Remember for what vanity
you have created all the children of humankind.
48 What man can live on and not see death?
Can he deliver his life from the power[u] of Sheol? Selah
49 Where are your former acts of loyal love, O Lord,
that you swore to David by your faithfulness?
50 Remember, O Lord the taunting of your servants,
how I bear in my bosom the taunts of all the many peoples,
51 by which your enemies taunt, O Yahweh,
by which they taunt the steps of your anointed one.
52 Blessed be Yahweh forever.
Amen and Amen.
23 About two full years later,[a] Absalom’s shearers were in Baal Hazor, which is near Ephraim, and Absalom summoned all the sons of the king. 24 Then Absalom went to the king and said, “Look, here are your servant’s shearers; please let the king and his servants go with your servant. 25 The king said to Absalom, “No my son, not all of us shall go, so that we not be a burden to you.” And he urged him, but he was not willing to go, but he blessed him. 26 So Absalom said, “But will you not let Amnon my brother go with us?” And the king said to him, “Why should he go with you?” 27 But Absalom pressed him, so he sent Amnon with him and all of the sons of the king. 28 Absalom commanded his servants, saying, “Please watch. At the moment the heart of Amnon is tipsy[b] with wine, then I shall say to you, ‘Strike Amnon down,’ and you shall kill him! Don’t be afraid. Is it not I myself who has commanded you? Be courageous and be valiant![c] 29 So Absalom’s servants did to Amnon just as Absalom commanded, and all the sons of the king got up, and each mounted his mule and fled.
30 While they were on the way,[d] the message came to David, “Absalom has killed all the sons of the king, and not one of them was left.” 31 Then the king rose and tore his garments, and he lay on the ground, and all his servants standing by were tearing their garments. 32 Then Jonadab the son of Shimeah, the brother of David, responded and said, “My lord should not think that all the young men, the sons of the king, are dead, because only Amnon is dead. Absalom was talking about it,[e] as it was being determined from the day he[f] raped Tamar his sister. 33 So then, let not my lord the king set his heart on this matter, thinking, ‘All the sons of the king are dead,’ for only Amnon alone is dead.”
Absalom Flees
34 So Absalom fled, and the young man who was keeping watch lifted up his eyes and saw, and there were many people coming from the road behind him from the side of the mountain. 35 Jonadab said to the king, “Look, the sons of the king have come. According to the word of your servant, so it has come about.” 36 When he finished speaking, look, the sons of the king came and they lifted up their voice and wept. Also, the king and all his servants wept a very great weeping. 37 Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihur, the king of Geshur. David mourned over his son day after day.[g] 38 But Absalom had fled and went to Geshur, and he was there three years. 39 King David longed to go out to Absalom, for he was consoled that Amnon had died.
Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesian Elders
17 And from Miletus he sent word[a] to Ephesus and[b] summoned the elders of the church. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them, “You know from the first day on which I set foot in Asia[c] how I was the whole time with you— 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears, and with the trials that happened to me through the plots of the Jews— 20 how I did not shrink from proclaiming to you anything that would be profitable, and from teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks with respect to repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus.
22 “And now behold, bound by the Spirit I am traveling to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there,[d] 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in town after town, saying that bonds and persecutions await me. 24 But I consider my[e] life as worth nothing[f] to myself, in order to finish my mission and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
25 “And now behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about proclaiming the kingdom, will see my face no more. 26 Therefore I testify to you on this very day that I am guiltless of the blood of all of you,[g] 27 for I did not shrink from proclaiming to you the whole purpose of God. 28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as overseers, to shepherd the church of God which he obtained through the blood of his own Son.[h] 29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 And from among you yourselves men will arise, speaking perversions of the truth[i] in order to draw away the disciples after them. 31 Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you[j] with tears.
32 “And now I entrust you to God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you[k] up and to give you[l] the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have desired no one’s silver or gold or clothing! 34 You yourselves know that these hands served to meet[m] my needs and the needs of[n] those who were with me. 35 I have shown you with respect to all things that by[o] working hard in this way it is necessary to help those who are in need, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus that he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”[p]
36 And when he[q] had said these things, he fell to his knees and[r] prayed with them all. 37 And there was considerable weeping by all, and hugging[s] Paul, they kissed him, 38 especially distressed at the statement that he had said, that they were going to see his face no more. And they accompanied him to the ship.
Temptations to Sin
42 “And whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it is better for him if instead a large millstone[a] is placed around his neck and he is thrown into the sea. 43 And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than, having two hands, to go into hell—into the unquenchable fire![b] 45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life lame than, having two feet, to be thrown into hell![c] 47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out! It is better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than, having two eyes, to be thrown into hell, 48 ‘where their worm does not die and the fire is not extinguished.’[d] 49 For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good, but if the salt becomes deprived of its salt content, by what can you make it salty? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”
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