Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 140
For the music leader. A psalm of David.
140 Rescue me from evil people, Lord!
Guard me from violent people
2 who plot evil things in their hearts,
who pick fights every single day!
3 They sharpen their tongues like a snake’s;
spider poison[a] is on their lips. Selah
4 Protect me from the power of the wicked, Lord!
Guard me from violent people
who plot to trip me up!
5 Arrogant people have laid a trap for me with ropes.
They’ve spread out a net alongside the road.
They’ve set snares for me. Selah
6 I tell the Lord, “You are my God!
Listen to my request for mercy, Lord!”
7 My Lord God, my strong saving help—
you’ve protected my head on the day of battle.
8 Lord, don’t give the wicked what they want!
Don’t allow their plans to succeed,
or they’ll exalt themselves even more![b] Selah
9 Let the heads of the people surrounding me
be covered with the trouble their own lips caused![c]
10 Let burning coals fall on them!
Let them fall into deep pits and never get out again!
11 Let no slanderer be safe in the land.
Let calamity hunt down violent people—and quickly![d]
12 I know that the Lord will take up the case of the poor
and will do what is right for the needy.
13 Yes, the righteous will give thanks to your name,
and those who do right will live in your presence.
Psalm 142
A maskil[a] of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer.
142 I cry out loud for help from the Lord.
I beg out loud for mercy from the Lord.
2 I pour out my concerns before God;
I announce my distress to him.
3 When my spirit is weak inside me, you still know my way.
But they’ve hidden a trap for me in the path I’m taking.
4 Look right beside me: See?
No one pays attention to me.
There’s no escape for me.
No one cares about my life.
5 I cry to you, Lord, for help.
“You are my refuge,” I say.
“You are all I have in the land of the living.”
6 Pay close attention to my shouting,
because I’ve been brought down so low!
Deliver me from my oppressors
because they’re stronger than me.
7 Get me out of this prison
so I can give thanks to your name.
Then the righteous will gather all around me
because of your good deeds to me.
Psalm 141
A psalm of David.
141 I cry out to you, Lord: Come to me—quickly!
Listen to my voice when I cry out to you!
2 Let my prayer stand before you like incense;
let my uplifted hands be like the evening offering.
3 Set a guard over my mouth, Lord;
keep close watch over the door that is my lips.
4 Don’t let my heart turn aside to evil things
so that I don’t do wicked things with evildoers,
so I don’t taste their delicacies.
5 Instead, let the righteous discipline me;
let the faithful correct me!
Let my head never reject that kind of fine oil,
because my prayers are always against the deeds of the wicked.[a]
6 Their leaders will fall from jagged cliffs,
but my words will be heard because they are pleasing.[b]
7 Our bones[c] have been scattered at the mouth of the grave,[d]
just like when the ground is broken up and plowed.[e]
8 But my eyes are on you, my Lord God.
I take refuge in you; don’t let me die!
9 Protect me from the trap they’ve set for me;
protect me from the snares of the evildoers.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own nets—all together!—
but let me make it through safely.
Psalm 143
A psalm of David.
143 Listen to my prayer, Lord!
Because of your faithfulness, hear my requests for mercy!
Because of your righteousness, answer me!
2 Please don’t bring your servant to judgment,
because no living thing is righteous before you.
3 The enemy is chasing me,[a]
crushing my life in the dirt,
forcing me to live in the dark
like those who’ve been dead forever.
4 My spirit is weak inside me—
inside, my mind is numb.
5 I remember the days long past;
I meditate on all your deeds;
I contemplate your handiwork.
6 I stretch out my hands to you;
my whole being is like dry dirt, thirsting for you.[b] Selah
7 Answer me, Lord—and quickly! My breath is fading.
Don’t hide your face from me
or I’ll be like those going down to the pit!
8 Tell me all about your faithful love come morning time,
because I trust you.
Show me the way I should go,
because I offer my life up to you.
9 Deliver me from my enemies, Lord!
I seek protection from you.[c]
10 Teach me to do what pleases you,
because you are my God.
Guide me by your good spirit
into good land.
11 Make me live again, Lord, for your name’s sake.
Bring me out of distress because of your righteousness.
12 Wipe out my enemies because of your faithful love.
Destroy everyone who attacks me,
because I am your servant.
36 Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king, and he ruled for eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah; she was Pedaiah’s daughter and was from Rumah. 37 He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes, just as all his ancestors had done.
24 In Jehoiakim’s days, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon attacked. Jehoiakim had submitted to him for three years, but then Jehoiakim changed his mind and rebelled against him. 2 The Lord sent Chaldean, Aramean, Moabite, and Ammonite raiding parties against Jehoiakim, sending them against Judah in order to destroy it. This was in agreement with the word that the Lord had spoken through his servants the prophets. 3 Indeed, this happened to Judah because the Lord commanded them to be removed from his presence on account of all the sins that Manasseh had committed 4 and because of the innocent blood that he had spilled. Manasseh had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord didn’t want to forgive that.
5 The rest of Jehoiakim’s deeds and all that he accomplished, aren’t they written in the official records of Judah’s kings? 6 Jehoiakim lay down with his ancestors. His son Jehoiachin succeeded him as king.
7 The Egyptian king never left his country again because the Babylonian king had taken over all the territory that had previously belonged to him—from the border of Egypt to the Euphrates River.
Jehoiachin rules Judah
8 Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he became king, and he ruled for three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta; she was Elnathan’s daughter and was from Jerusalem. 9 He did what was evil in the Lord’s eyes, just as all his ancestors had done. 10 At that time, the officers of Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar attacked Jerusalem and laid siege to the city. 11 Babylon’s King Nebuchadnezzar himself arrived at the city while his officers were blockading it. 12 Judah’s King Jehoiachin, along with his mother, his servants, his officers, and his officials, came out to surrender to the Babylonian king. The Babylonian king took Jehoiachin prisoner in the eighth year of Jehoiachin’s rule.
13 Nebuchadnezzar also took away all the treasures of the Lord’s temple and of the royal palace. He cut into pieces all the gold objects that Israel’s King Solomon had made for the Lord’s temple, which is exactly what the Lord said would happen. 14 Then Nebuchadnezzar exiled all of Jerusalem: all the officials, all the military leaders—ten thousand exiles—as well as all the skilled workers and metalworkers. No one was left behind except the poorest of the land’s people. 15 Nebuchadnezzar exiled Jehoiachin to Babylon; he also exiled the queen mother, the king’s wives, the officials, and the land’s elite leaders from Jerusalem to Babylon. 16 The Babylonian king also exiled seven thousand warriors—each one a hero trained for battle—as well as a thousand skilled workers and metalworkers to Babylon. 17 Then the Babylonian king made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, succeed Jehoiachin as king. Nebuchadnezzar changed Mattaniah’s name to Zedekiah.
12 Christ is just like the human body—a body is a unit and has many parts; and all the parts of the body are one body, even though there are many. 13 We were all baptized by one Spirit into one body, whether Jew or Greek, or slave or free, and we all were given one Spirit to drink. 14 Certainly the body isn’t one part but many. 15 If the foot says, “I’m not part of the body because I’m not a hand,” does that mean it’s not part of the body? 16 If the ear says, “I’m not part of the body because I’m not an eye,” does that mean it’s not part of the body? 17 If the whole body were an eye, what would happen to the hearing? And if the whole body were an ear, what would happen to the sense of smell? 18 But as it is, God has placed each one of the parts in the body just like he wanted. 19 If all were one and the same body part, what would happen to the body? 20 But as it is, there are many parts but one body. 21 So the eye can’t say to the hand, “I don’t need you,” or in turn, the head can’t say to the feet, “I don’t need you.” 22 Instead, the parts of the body that people think are the weakest are the most necessary. 23 The parts of the body that we think are less honorable are the ones we honor the most. The private parts of our body that aren’t presentable are the ones that are given the most dignity. 24 The parts of our body that are presentable don’t need this. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the part with less honor 25 so that there won’t be division in the body and so the parts might have mutual concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part gets the glory, all the parts celebrate with it.
Healing of two blind men
27 As Jesus departed, two blind men followed him, crying out, “Show us mercy, Son of David.”
28 When he came into the house, the blind men approached him. Jesus said to them, “Do you believe I can do this?”
“Yes, Lord,” they replied.
29 Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “It will happen for you just as you have believed.” 30 Their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly warned them, “Make sure nobody knows about this.” 31 But they went out and spread the word about him throughout that whole region.
Healing of a man unable to speak
32 As they were leaving, people brought to him a man who was demon-possessed and unable to speak. 33 When Jesus had thrown out the demon, the man who couldn’t speak began to talk. The crowds were amazed and said, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”
34 But the Pharisees said, “He throws out demons with the authority of the ruler of demons.”
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