Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Victory over Enemies.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
20 [a]May the Lord answer you (David) in the day of trouble!
May the name of the God of Jacob set you securely on high [and defend you in battle]!
2
May He send you help from the sanctuary (His dwelling place)
And support and strengthen you from Zion!
3
May He remember all your meal offerings
And accept your burnt offering. Selah.
4
May He grant you your heart’s desire
And fulfill all your plans.
5
We will sing joyously over your victory,
And in the name of our God we will set up our banners.
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.
6
Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will answer him from His holy heaven
With the saving strength of His right hand.
7
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
But we will remember and trust in the name of the Lord our God.
8
They have bowed down and fallen,
But we have risen and stood upright.
9
O Lord, save [the [b]king];
May the [c]King answer us in the day we call.
Praise for Help.
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
21 O Lord the king will delight in Your strength,
And in Your salvation how greatly will he rejoice!
2
You have given him his heart’s desire,
And You have not withheld the request of his lips. Selah.
3
For You meet him with blessings of good things;
You set a crown of pure gold on his head.
4
He asked life of You,
And You gave it to him,
Long life forever and evermore.
5
His glory is great because of Your victory;
Splendor and majesty You bestow upon him.
6
For You make him most blessed [and a blessing] forever;
You make him joyful with the joy of Your presence.(A)
7
For the king [confidently] trusts in the Lord,
And through the lovingkindness (faithfulness, goodness) of the Most High he will never be shaken.
8
Your hand will reach out and defeat all your enemies;
Your right hand will reach those who hate you.
9
You will make them as [if in] a blazing oven in the time of your anger;
The Lord will swallow them up in His wrath,
And the fire will devour them.
10
Their offspring You will destroy from the earth,
And their descendants from the sons of men.
11
For they planned evil against You;
They devised a [malevolent] plot
And they will not succeed.
12
For You will make them turn their backs [in defeat];
You will aim Your bowstring [of divine justice] at their faces.
13
Be exalted, Lord, in Your strength;
We will sing and praise Your power.
The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.
A Psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my Shepherd [to feed, to guide and to shield me],(A)
I shall not want.
2
He lets me lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still and quiet waters.(B)
3
He refreshes and restores my soul (life);
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
for His name’s sake.
4
Even though I walk through the [sunless] [a]valley of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil, for You are with me;
Your rod [to protect] and Your staff [to guide], they comfort and console me.
5
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.
You have anointed and refreshed my head with [b]oil;
My cup overflows.
6
Surely goodness and mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life,
And I shall dwell forever [throughout all my days] in the house and in the presence of the Lord.
A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.
A Psalm of David.
27 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the refuge and fortress of my life—
Whom shall I dread?
2
When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell.
3
Though an army encamp against me,
My heart will not fear;
Though war arise against me,
Even in this I am confident.
4
One thing I have asked of the Lord, and that I will seek:
That I may dwell in the house of the Lord [in His presence] all the days of my life,
To gaze upon the beauty [the delightful loveliness and majestic grandeur] of the Lord
And to meditate in His temple.(A)
5
For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter;
In the secret place of His tent He will hide me;
He will lift me up on a rock.
6
And now my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
In His tent I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
7
Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
Be gracious and compassionate to me and answer me.
8
When You said, “Seek My face [in prayer, require My presence as your greatest need],” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, I will seek [on the authority of Your word].”
9
Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in anger;
You have been my help;
Do not abandon me nor [a]leave me,
O God of my salvation!
10
Although my father and my mother have abandoned me,
Yet the Lord will take me up [adopt me as His child].(B)
11
Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me on a level path
Because of my enemies [who lie in wait].
12
Do not give me up to the will of my adversaries,
For false witnesses have come against me;
They breathe out violence.
13
I would have despaired had I not believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord
In the land of the living.
14
Wait for and confidently expect the Lord;
Be strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for and confidently expect the Lord.
Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son
17 It happened after these things, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his illness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 So she said to Elijah, “What [problem] is there between you and me, O man of God? Have you come to me to bring my sin to mind and to put my son to death?” 19 He said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her arms and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed. 20 He called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You brought further tragedy to the widow with whom I am staying, by causing her son to die?” 21 Then he stretched himself out upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, please let this child’s life return to him.” 22 The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. 23 Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the [lower part of the] house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
You Walk in the Truth
1 The elder [of the church addresses this letter] to the beloved and esteemed Gaius, whom I love in truth.
2 Beloved, I pray that in every way you may succeed and prosper and be in good health [physically], just as [I know] your soul prospers [spiritually]. 3 For I was greatly pleased when [some of the] brothers came [from time to time] and testified to your [faithfulness to the] truth [of the gospel message], that is, how you are walking in truth. 4 I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my [spiritual] children are living [their lives] in the truth.
5 Beloved, you are acting faithfully in what you are providing for the brothers, and especially when they are strangers; 6 and they have testified before the church of your love and friendship. You will do well to [assist them and] send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7 For these [traveling missionaries] went out for the sake of the Name [of Christ], accepting nothing [in the way of assistance] from the Gentiles. 8 So we ought to support such people [welcoming them as guests and providing for them], so that we may be fellow workers for the truth [that is, for the gospel message of salvation].
9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to put himself first, does not accept what we say and refuses to recognize my authority. 10 For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, unjustly accusing us with wicked words and unjustified charges. And not satisfied with this, he refuses to receive the [missionary] brothers himself, and also forbids those who want to [welcome them] and puts them out of the church.
11 Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but [imitate] what is good. The one who practices good [exhibiting godly character, moral courage and personal integrity] is of God; the one who practices [or permits or tolerates] evil has not seen God [he has no personal experience with Him and does not know Him at all].(A) 12 Demetrius has received a good testimony and commendation from everyone—and from the truth [the standard of God’s word] itself; and we add our testimony and speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true.
13 I had many things [to say when I began] to write to you, but I prefer not to put it down with pen (reed) and [a]black (ink); 14 but I hope to see you soon, and we will speak [b]face to face.(B)
15 Peace be to you. The friends [here] greet you. Greet the friends [personally] by name.
Healing a Nobleman’s Son
46 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. And there was a [a]certain royal official whose son was sick in Capernaum. 47 Having heard that Jesus had come back from Judea to Galilee, he [b]went to meet Him and began asking Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. 48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you [people] see [miraculous] signs and wonders, you [simply] will not believe.” 49 The royal official pleaded with Him, “Sir, do come down [at once] before my child dies!” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son lives!” The man believed what Jesus said to him and started home. 51 As he was already going down [the road], his servants met him and reported that his son was living [and was healthy]. 52 So he asked them at what time he began to get better. They said, “Yesterday during the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 Then the father realized that it was at that very hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son lives”; and he and his entire household believed and confidently trusted [in Him as Savior]. 54 This is the second sign (attesting miracle) that Jesus performed [in Cana] after He had come from Judea to Galilee [revealing that He is the Messiah].
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