Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for the King
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
20 May the Lord answer you in ·times [L the day] of ·trouble [distress].
May the name of the God of Jacob ·protect [defend; provide refuge for] you [Num. 6:24].
2 May he send you help from ·his Temple [L the sanctuary]
and support you from Mount Zion [C location of the Temple].
3 May he remember all your ·offerings [gifts; tributes; grain offerings; Lev. 2]
and ·accept [look with favor on] all your ·sacrifices [L whole burnt offerings; Lev. 1]. ·
4 May he give you ·what you want [L all your heart]
and ·make all your plans succeed [L fulfill all your plans],
5 and we will shout for joy when you ·succeed [are victorious; C as in battle],
and we will raise a ·flag [banner] in the name of our God.
May the Lord ·give you [fulfill] all that you ask for.
6 Now I know the Lord ·helps [saves; gives victory to] his ·appointed king [anointed].
He answers him from his holy heaven
and ·saves him [gives him victory] with his strong right hand.
7 Some ·trust in [boast in; rely on] chariots, others in horses,
but we ·trust [boast in; rely on] the name of the Lord our God [Is. 2:7].
8 They ·are overwhelmed and defeated [collapse and fall],
but we ·march forward and win [L rise and stand erect].
9 Lord, ·save [give victory to] the king!
Answer us when we call for help.
Thanksgiving for the King
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
21 Lord, the king rejoices because of your strength;
he is so happy when you ·save him [give him victory/help]!
2 You gave the king ·what he wanted [L the desire of his heart]
and did not ·refuse [withhold] ·what he asked for [L the request of his lips]. ·
3 You put ·good things [rich blessings] before him
and placed a gold crown on his head.
4 He asked you for life,
and you gave it to him,
·so his years go on and on [L length of days forever and ever].
5 He has great glory because you gave him ·victories [help];
you gave him ·honor [splendor] and ·praise [majesty].
6 You ·always [forever] gave him blessings;
you made him glad because ·you were with him [L of the joy of your presence].
7 The king truly ·trusts [has confidence in] the Lord.
Because God Most High always ·loves [is loyal toward] him,
he will not be ·overwhelmed [moved].
8 Your hand ·is against [L will find out] all your enemies;
·those who hate you will feel your power [L your right hand will find out those who hate you].
9 When ·you [L the Lord] appear,
you will burn them as in a furnace.
In your anger you will swallow them up,
and fire will burn them up.
10 You will destroy their ·families [offspring] from the earth;
their ·children [L seed] will not live.
11 They made evil plans against you,
but ·their traps [L the schemes they devise] won’t ·work [succeed].
12 You will make them turn their backs
when you aim your arrows at ·them [L their faces].
13 Be ·supreme [exalted], Lord, in your power.
We sing and praise your ·greatness [strength].
The Lord Appoints a King
A psalm of David.
110 ·The Lord said [L Utterance/Oracle of the Lord] to my Lord,
“Sit at my right ·side [L hand]
until I put your enemies under your ·control [L feet; Matt. 22:44; 26:64; Mark 12:36; 16:19; Luke 20:42–44; 22:59; Acts 2:34–35; Rom. 8:34; 1 Cor. 15:25; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12–13; 12:2].”
2 The Lord will ·enlarge [L send] ·your kingdom [L the scepter of your strength; C symbol of royal power] beyond ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C location of the Temple],
and ·you will rule over [L give you dominion in the midst of] your enemies.
3 Your people will ·join [freely offer themselves to] you on ·your day of battle [L the day of your power/army].
You have been dressed in ·holiness [splendor of holiness] from ·birth [L the womb of dawn];
you have the ·freshness of a child [L dew of your youth].
4 The Lord has made a promise
and will not ·change his mind [waver].
He said, “You are a priest forever,
a priest like Melchizedek [C in reference to an ancient priest-king in Jerusalem; ultimately fulfilled in Christ; Gen. 14:18; Heb. 5:6; 7:17, 21].”
5 The Lord is ·beside you to help you [L by your right hand].
·When he becomes angry [L In the day of his anger], he will ·crush [shatter] kings.
6 He will judge those nations, filling them with ·dead bodies [corpses];
he will ·defeat rulers [L crush/shatter heads] ·all over the [L throughout the wide] world.
7 ·The king [or The Lord; L He] will drink from the brook on the way.
Then he will ·be strengthened [L lift up his head].
Thanksgiving for Escaping Death
116 I love the Lord,
because he ·listens to my prayers for help [L hears/or heard my voice, my prayer of supplication].
2 He ·paid attention [L extends his ear] to me,
so I will ·call to him for help [call; pray] ·as long as I live [L in my days].
3 The ·ropes [cords] of death ·bound [encompass] me,
and the ·fear [hardship; distress] of ·the grave [L Sheol; C the grave or the underworld] ·took hold of [reached; found] me.
I ·was troubled and sad [L found distress and sadness].
4 Then I ·called out [prayed in] the name of the Lord.
I said, “Please, Lord, ·save [rescue] me!”
5 The Lord is ·kind [gracious] and ·does what is right [righteous];
our God is ·merciful [compassionate; Ex. 34:6–7].
6 The Lord ·watches over [keeps; guards] the ·foolish [immature; simpleminded];
when I was ·helpless [brought low], he ·saved me [gave me victory].
7 I said to myself, “·Relax [L Return, my soul/life to your rest],
because the Lord ·takes care of you [treats you well].”
8 Lord, you ·saved [rescued] me from death.
·You stopped my eyes from crying [L …and my eyes from tears];
·you kept me from being defeated [L …my feet from stumbling].
9 So I will walk ·with [before; in the presence of] the Lord
in the land of the living [C as opposed to the grave].
10 I ·believed [trusted], so I said,
“I am ·completely ruined [afflicted greatly; 2 Cor. 4:13].”
11 In my ·distress [worry] I said,
“All people are liars [Rom. 3:4].”
12 What can I ·give [L return to] the Lord
for all the ·good things [benefits] he has given to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation,
and I will pray ·to [L in the name of] the Lord.
14 I will ·give the Lord what I promised [pay my vow to the Lord]
in front of all his people.
15 The death of ·one that belongs to the Lord [his loyal ones/saints]
is precious in his ·sight [L eyes].
16 Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant and the son of your female servant.
You have ·freed me from [loosened] my chains.
17 I will give you ·an offering to show thanks to you [a thanksgiving offering],
and I will pray ·to [L in the name of] the Lord.
18 I will ·give the Lord what I promised [pay my vow to the Lord]
in front of all his people,
19 in the ·Temple courtyards [L courtyards of the house of the Lord]
in your midst, Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
A Hymn of Praise
117 All you nations, praise the Lord.
All you people, ·praise [extol] him
2 because ·the Lord loves us very much [L great is his loyalty/love toward us],
and his ·truth [faithfulness] is everlasting.
Praise the Lord!
Moses Dies
34 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Mount Pisgah, across from Jericho. From there the Lord showed him all the land from Gilead to Dan, 2 all of Naphtali and the lands of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the ·Mediterranean [L Western] Sea, 3 as well as the ·southern desert [L the Negev] and the whole Valley of Jericho up to Zoar. (Jericho is called the city of palm trees.) 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “This is the land I ·promised [swore] to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said to them, ‘I will give this land to your ·descendants [L seed; Gen. 12:1–13; 15:17–20].’ ·I have let you look at [L Your eyes have seen] it, Moses, but you will not cross over there.”
5 Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in Moab, as the Lord had said [Num. 20:12]. 6 He buried Moses in Moab in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but even today no one knows where his grave is. 7 Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not weak, and ·he was still strong [L his vigor had not left him]. 8 The ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] cried for Moses for thirty days, staying in the plains of Moab until the time of ·sadness [mourning] was over.
9 Joshua son of Nun was then filled with the spirit of wisdom, because Moses had ·put [laid] his hands on him. So the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] listened to Joshua, and they did what the Lord had commanded Moses.
10 There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses [Acts 3:22–23; Heb. 3:1–19]. The Lord knew Moses face to face [Num. 12:6–8] 11 and sent him to do signs and ·miracles [wonders] in Egypt—to ·the king [L Pharaoh], to all his ·officers [L servants], and to the whole land of Egypt. 12 Moses had ·great power [L a strong hand], and he did great and wonderful things for all the Israelites to see.
14 ·But before people can ask the Lord for help, they must believe in him [L How, then, can they call on one in whom they have not believed?]; and ·before they can believe in him, they must hear about him [L how can they believe in one of whom they have not heard?]; and ·for them to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them [L how can they hear without someone preaching to them?]; 15 and ·before someone can go and tell them, that person must be sent [L how can they preach unless they are sent?]. [L As] It is written, “How ·beautiful [or welcome; or timely] ·is the person [L are the feet of those] who comes ·to bring [proclaiming; preaching] good news [Is. 52:7].” 16 But not ·all the Jews [L everyone] ·accepted [heeded; obeyed] the good news. [L For] Isaiah said, “Lord, who believed ·what we told them [our message/report; Is. 53:1]?” 17 ·So [Thus; Consequently] faith comes from ·hearing the Good News [L hearing], and ·people hear the Good News [hearing comes; or the message/report arrives] ·when someone tells them [through the word/message] ·about [or proclaimed by; L of] Christ.
18 But I ask: Didn’t ·people [L they; C Israel] ·hear the Good News [L hear]? Yes, they heard—as the Scripture says:
“Their ·message [voice] went out to all the earth;
their words ·go everywhere on [L to the ends of] the world [Ps. 19:4].”
19 Again I ask: Didn’t ·the people of Israel [L Israel] understand? Yes, they did understand [C this sentence is implied, but not stated, in the Greek]. First, Moses says:
“I will use those who are not a nation [C the Gentiles] to make you jealous.
I will use a nation that ·does not understand [is foolish/senseless] to make you angry [Deut. 32:21].”
20 Then Isaiah is bold enough to say:
“I was found by those who were not ·asking me for help [seeking/looking for me].
I ·made myself known [revealed myself] to people who were not ·looking for [asking about/for] me [Is. 65:1].”
21 But about Israel ·God [or Isaiah; L he] says,
“All day long I ·stood ready to accept [L held out my hands to]
people who ·disobey [disbelieve] and are ·stubborn [defiant; rebellious; Is. 65:2].”
32 “Learn a ·lesson [parable; analogy] from the fig tree: When its branches ·become green and soft [become tender; sprout] and new leaves appear, you know summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things happening, you will know that ·the time [or he] is near, ·ready to come [right at the door]. 34 I tell you the truth, all these things will happen ·while the people of this time are still living [before this generation passes away; C either the generation that sees the destruction of Jerusalem (ad 70), or a future generation of the end times]. 35 ·Earth and sky will be destroyed [T Heaven and earth will pass away], but the words I have said will never ·be destroyed [pass away].
When Will Jesus Come Again?(A)
36 “No one knows when that day or ·time [hour] will be, not the angels in heaven, not even the Son.[a] Only the Father knows. 37 When the Son of Man comes [Dan. 7:13–14], it will be like what happened during Noah’s time. 38 [L For] In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving their children to be married, until the day Noah entered the boat. 39 They ·knew [understood] nothing about what was happening until the flood came and ·destroyed them [L took/swept them all away]. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. 40 Two men will be in the field. One will be taken, and the other will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding grain with a ·mill [handmill; C two large, round, flat rocks used for grinding grain to make flour]. One will be taken, and the other will be left.
42 “So ·always be ready [stay alert; keep watching], because you don’t know the day your Lord will come. 43 ·Remember [Know] this: If the owner of the house knew what time of night a thief was coming, the owner would ·watch [have stayed alert; kept watching] and not let ·the thief break in [L his house be broken into]. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at a ·time [hour] you don’t expect him.
The Story of the Two Servants(B)
45 “Who is the ·loyal [faithful; trusted] and ·wise [sensible] ·servant [slave] that the master ·trusts [L puts in charge of his household] to give ·the other servants [L them] their food at the right time? 46 That servant will be ·blessed [happy; or rewarded] when the master comes and finds him doing his work. 47 I tell you the truth, the master will ·choose that servant to take care [put him in charge] of everything he owns. 48 But suppose that evil servant thinks to himself, ‘My master ·will not come back soon [will be away for a long time; is delayed],’ 49 and he begins to beat the other servants and eat and ·get drunk with others like him [drink with drunkards]? 50 The master [L of that servant/slave] will come [L on a day] when that servant is not ready and [L at an hour when he] is not expecting him. 51 Then the master will cut him in pieces and ·send him away to be [L assign/appoint him a place] with the hypocrites, where ·people will cry and grind their teeth with pain [T there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth; C indicating agony and remorse].
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