Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Help against Ruthless Men
A prayer of David.[a]
86 Incline, O Yahweh, your ear and answer me,
because I am poor and needy.
2 Watch over my life because I am faithful.
You are my God; save your servant.
I am the one who trusts you.
3 Be gracious to me, O Lord,
because I call to you all day long.[b]
4 Make glad the soul of your servant,
because I desire you,[c] O Lord.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
and abundant in loyal love[d] for all who call to you.
6 Heed, O Yahweh, my prayer,
and attend to the voice of my supplications.
7 In the day of my trouble I call to you,
because you answer me.
8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
and there are no works like yours.
9 All the nations that you have made will come
and bow down[e] before you, O Lord,
and glorify your name.
10 For you are great and doing wondrous things;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me, O Yahweh, your way,
that I may walk in your truth.
Unite my heart[f] to fear your name.
12 I will give you thanks, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
and glorify your name forever,
13 because your loyal love is great toward me,
and you will have delivered my life from Sheol[g] below.
14 O God, arrogant men have risen up against me,
even a gang of ruthless men seek my life,
but they do not set you before them.[h]
15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger[i] and abundant in loyal love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me.
Give your strength to your servant,
and grant victory to the son[j] of your maidservant.
17 Do a sign that benefits me,
that those who hate me may see and be put to shame,
because you, O Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me.
Jacob’s Dream
10 Then Jacob went out from Beersheba and went to Haran. 11 And he arrived at a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head and slept at that place. 12 And he dreamed, and behold, a stairway was set on the earth, and its top touched the heavens. And behold, angels of God were going up and going down on it. 13 And behold, Yahweh was standing beside him,[a] and he said, “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The ground on which you were sleeping I will give to you and to your descendants. 14 Your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and through your descendants. 15 Now behold, I am with you, and I will keep you wherever you go. And I will bring you to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised to you.” 16 Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely Yahweh is indeed[b] in this place and I did not know!” 17 Then he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is nothing else than the house of God,[c] and this is the gate of heaven!”
Jesus Calls Philip and Nathanael
43 On the next day he wanted to depart for Galilee, and he found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow me!” 44 (Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the town of Andrew and Peter.) 45 Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found the one whom Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets wrote about—Jesus son of Joseph from Nazareth!” 46 And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see!”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Look! A true Israelite[a] in whom is no deceit!” 48 Nathanael said to him, “From where do you know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you[b] were under the fig tree, I saw you.” 49 Nathanael answered him, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God! You are the king of Israel!” 50 Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these!” 51 And he said to him, “Truly, truly I say to all of you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man.”
A Description of Those Who May Dwell with Yahweh
A psalm of David.[a]
15 O Yahweh, who may reside in your tent?
Who may dwell on your holy mountain?
2 He who walks blamelessly and does what is right.
He who speaks honestly in his heart.
3 He does not slander with his tongue.
He does not harm his friend,
nor bring up[b] a disgrace against his neighbor.
4 In his eyes a rejected one is contemptible,
but he honors those who respect Yahweh.
He takes an oath to his own injury and does not retract it.
5 He does not lend his money at interest,
and does not take a bribe against the innocent.
He who does these things
will never be shaken.
A Prayer of Blessing
For the music director, with stringed instruments. A psalm. A song.[a]
67 May God be gracious to us and bless us.
May he cause his face to shine toward us, Selah
2 that your way may be known on the earth,
your salvation among all nations.
3 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all of the peoples praise you.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing for joy,
because you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations on the earth. Selah
5 Let the peoples praise you, O God;
let all the peoples praise you.
6 The earth has yielded its produce.
God, our God, will bless us.
7 God will bless us,
and all the ends of the earth will fear him.
Leadership and Humility
5 Therefore I, your fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and[a] also a sharer of the glory that is going to be revealed, exhort the elders among you: 2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising oversight not by compulsion but willingly, in accordance with God, and not greedily but eagerly, 3 and not as lording it over those under your care[b], but being examples for the flock. 4 And when[c] the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.
5 In the same way, younger men, be subject to the elders, and all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you at the right time, 7 casting all your cares on him, because he cares[d] for you.
8 Be sober; be on the alert. Your adversary the devil walks around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. 9 Resist him[e], steadfast in your[f] faith, because you[g] know the same kinds of sufferings are being accomplished by your community of believers in the world. 10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ,[h] after you[i] have suffered for a short time, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the power forever and ever[j].[k] Amen.
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