Book of Common Prayer
The Reign of the Righteous King.
A Psalm of Solomon.
72 Give the king (A)Your judgments, God,
And (B)Your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 [a]May [b]he (C)judge Your people with righteousness
And [c](D)Your afflicted with justice.
3 [d]May the mountains bring [e](E)peace to the people,
And the hills, in righteousness.
4 [f]May he (F)vindicate the [g]afflicted of the people,
Save the children of the needy,
And crush the oppressor.
5 [h]May they fear You (G)while the sun shines,
And [i]as long as the moon shines, throughout all generations.
6 [j]May he come down (H)like rain upon the mown grass,
Like (I)showers that water the earth.
7 [k]May the (J)righteous flourish in his days,
As well as an (K)abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.
8 May he also rule (L)from sea to sea,
And from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
9 [l]May (M)the nomads of the desert (N)bow before him,
And his enemies (O)lick the dust.
10 [m]May the kings of (P)Tarshish and of the [n](Q)islands bring gifts;
May the kings of (R)Sheba and (S)Seba (T)offer tributes.
11 [o]And may all (U)kings bow down before him,
All (V)nations serve him.
12 For he will (W)save the needy when he cries for help,
The [p]afflicted also, and him who has no helper.
13 He will have (X)compassion on the poor and needy,
And he will save the [q]lives of the needy.
14 He will [r](Y)rescue their [s]life from oppression and violence,
And their blood will be (Z)precious in his sight;
15 So may he live, and may the (AA)gold of Sheba be given to him;
And [t]they are to pray for him continually;
[u]They are to bless him all day long.
16 May there be abundance of grain on the earth on top of the mountains;
Its fruit will wave like the cedars of (AB)Lebanon;
And may those from the city flourish like the (AC)vegetation of the earth.
17 May his (AD)name endure forever;
May his name produce descendants [v](AE)as long as the sun shines;
And may people (AF)wish blessings on themselves by him;
(AG)May all nations call him blessed.
18 (AH)Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel,
Who alone (AI)works wonders.
19 And blessed be His (AJ)glorious name forever;
And may the whole (AK)earth be filled with His glory.
(AL)Amen and Amen.
20 The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.
Yodh
73 (A)Your hands made me and [a]fashioned me;
(B)Give me understanding, so that I may learn Your commandments.
74 May those who [b]fear You (C)see me and be glad,
Because I [c](D)wait for Your word.
75 I know, Lord, that Your judgments are (E)righteous,
And that You have afflicted me (F)in faithfulness.
76 May Your favor [d]comfort me,
According to Your [e]word to Your servant.
77 May (G)Your compassion come to me so that I may live,
For Your Law is my (H)delight.
78 May (I)the arrogant be put to shame, because they lead me astray (J)with a lie;
But I shall (K)meditate on Your precepts.
79 May those who [f]fear You turn to me,
And those who know Your testimonies.
80 May my heart be [g](L)blameless in Your statutes,
So that I will not (M)be ashamed.
Kaph
81 My (N)soul languishes for Your salvation;
I [h](O)wait for Your word.
82 My (P)eyes fail with longing for Your [i]word,
[j]While I say, “When will You comfort me?”
83 Though I have (Q)become like a wineskin in the smoke,
I do (R)not forget Your statutes.
84 How many are the (S)days of Your servant?
When will You (T)execute judgment on those who persecute me?
85 The arrogant have (U)dug pits for me,
People who are not in accord with Your Law.
86 All Your commandments are (V)faithful;
They have (W)persecuted me with a lie; (X)help me!
87 They almost destroyed me on earth,
But as for me, I (Y)did not abandon Your precepts.
88 Revive me according to Your faithfulness,
So that I may keep the testimony of Your mouth.
Lamedh
89 (Z)Forever, Lord,
Your word stands in heaven.
90 Your (AA)faithfulness continues [k]throughout generations;
You (AB)established the earth, and it (AC)stands.
91 They stand this day by Your (AD)ordinances,
For (AE)all things are Your servants.
92 If Your Law had not been my (AF)delight,
Then I would have perished (AG)in my misery.
93 I will (AH)never forget Your precepts,
For by them You have [l](AI)revived me.
94 I am Yours, (AJ)save me;
For I have (AK)sought Your precepts.
95 The wicked (AL)wait for me to destroy me;
I will diligently consider Your testimonies.
96 I have seen [m]a limit to all perfection;
Your commandment is exceedingly broad.
11 I again saw under the sun that the (A)race is not to the swift and the (B)battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor (C)wealth to the discerning, nor favor to the skillful; for time and (D)chance overtake them all. 12 For indeed, a person does not (E)know his time: like fish that are caught in a treacherous net and (F)birds caught in a snare, so the sons of mankind are (G)ensnared at an evil time when it (H)suddenly falls on them.
13 This too I saw as wisdom under the sun, and [a]it impressed me: 14 there (I)was a small city with few men in it, and a great king came to it, surrounded it, and constructed large siegeworks against it. 15 But there was found in it a (J)poor wise man, and he [b]saved the city (K)by his wisdom. Yet (L)no one remembered that poor man. 16 So I said, “(M)Wisdom is better than strength.” But the wisdom of the poor man is despised, and his words are [c]ignored. 17 The (N)words of the wise heard in calm are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools. 18 (O)Wisdom is better than weapons of war, but (P)one sinner destroys much good.
Follow the Spirit
5 (A)It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore (B)keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a (C)yoke of slavery.
2 Look! I, (D)Paul, tell you that if you have yourselves (E)circumcised, Christ will be of no benefit to you. 3 And I (F)testify again to every man who has himself (G)circumcised, that he is obligated to (H)keep the whole Law. 4 You have been severed from Christ, you who [a]are seeking to be justified by the [b]Law; you have (I)fallen from grace. 5 For we, [c]through the Spirit, [d]by faith, are (J)waiting for the hope of righteousness. 6 For in (K)Christ Jesus (L)neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but (M)faith working through love.
7 You were (N)running well; who hindered you from obeying the truth? 8 This persuasion did not come from (O)Him who calls you. 9 (P)A little [e]leaven leavens the whole lump of dough. 10 (Q)I have confidence [f]in you in the Lord, that you (R)will adopt no other view; but the one who is (S)disturbing you will bear the punishment, whoever he is. 11 But as for me, brothers and sisters, if I still preach circumcision, why am I still (T)persecuted? Then (U)the stumbling block of the cross has been eliminated. 12 I wish that (V)those who are troubling you would even [g](W)emasculate themselves.
13 For you were called to (X)freedom, brothers and sisters; (Y)only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but (Z)serve one another through love. 14 For (AA)the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “(AB)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 But if you (AC)bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
Pharisees and Sadducees Test Jesus
16 (A)The (B)Pharisees and Sadducees came up, and putting Jesus to the test, they (C)asked Him to show them a [a]sign from heaven. 2 But He replied to them, “[b](D)When it is evening, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ (E)You know how to discern the [c]appearance of the sky, but are you unable to discern the signs of the times? 4 (F)An evil and adulterous generation wants a [d]sign; and so a [e]sign will not be given to it, except the sign of Jonah.” And He left them and went away.
5 And the disciples came to the other side of the sea, but they had forgotten to bring any bread. 6 And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and (G)beware of the [f]leaven of the (H)Pharisees and Sadducees.” 7 They began to discuss this among themselves, saying, “He said that because we did not bring any bread.” 8 But Jesus, aware of this, said, “(I)You men of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread? 9 Do you not yet understand nor remember (J)the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many baskets you picked up? 10 Nor (K)the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many large baskets you picked up? 11 How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you about bread? But (L)beware of the [g]leaven of the (M)Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the [h]leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the (N)Pharisees and Sadducees.
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