Book of Common Prayer
A Request to Act against Israel’s Neighbors
A song. A psalm of Asaph.[a]
83 O God, do not rest silently.
Do not keep silent or be still, O God.
2 For look, your enemies roar,
and those who hate you have lifted their head.
3 They devise cunning schemes[b] against your people,
and consult together against your protected ones.[c]
4 They say, “Come, let us annihilate them from being a nation,
so that the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
5 For they have consulted together with a unified purpose.[d]
They have made a covenant against you:
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia, with the inhabitants of Tyre.
8 Assyria also has joined with them.
They provide help[e] to the children of Lot. Selah
9 Do to them as you did with Midian,
as with Sisera, as with Jabin at the wadi of Kishon.
10 They were destroyed at En-dor;
they became dung for the ground.
11 Make their leaders like Oreb and Zeeb,
and all their chiefs like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let us take as our possession
the pastures of God.”
13 O my God, make them like the tumbleweed,
like the chaff before wind.
14 As fire burns a forest,
and as a flame sets afire mountains,
15 so pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame,
that they may seek your name, O Yahweh.
17 Let them be ashamed and terrified forever,
and let them be humiliated and perish
18 that they may know that you,
whose name is Yahweh, you alone,
are the Most High over the whole earth.
Praise to Yahweh for His Help
146 Praise Yah.[a]
Praise Yahweh, O my soul.
2 I will praise Yahweh while I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I am still alive.
3 Do not place trust in princes,
in a son of humankind with whom there is no deliverance.
4 His breath departs; he returns to his plot;[b]
on that day his plans perish.
5 Blessed is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is on Yahweh as his God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them,
the one who keeps faith[c] forever,
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food for the hungry.
Yahweh sets prisoners free;
8 Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind;
Yahweh raises up those bowed down;
Yahweh loves the righteous;
9 Yahweh protects[d] the strangers.
He helps up the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.[e]
10 Yahweh will reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.[f]
Praise Yah.[g]
Praise to Yahweh for His Providence
147 Praise Yah.[h]
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for it is pleasant; praise is fitting.
2 Yahweh is building Jerusalem;
he gathers the scattered ones of Israel.
3 He is the one who heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars;
he gives names to all of them.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is unlimited.
6 Yahweh helps the afflicted up;
he brings the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing to Yahweh with thanksgiving;
sing praises to our God with lyre,
8 who covers the heavens with clouds,
who provides rain for the earth,
who causes grass to grow on the mountains.
9 He gives to the animal its food,
and to the young ravens that cry.
10 He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
he takes no pleasure in the legs of the man.
11 Yahweh takes pleasure in those who fear him,
the ones who hope[i] for his loyal love.
12 Laud Yahweh, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion,
13 for he strengthens the bars of your gates.
He blesses your children within you;
14 he makes your border peaceful;
he satisfies you with the finest of wheat.[j]
15 He sends out his command[k] to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes;
17 he throws his hail like crumbs.
Who can stand before his cold?[l]
18 He sends out his word and melts them;
he blows his breath, the water flows.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not done so for any nation,
and they do not know his ordinances.
Praise Yah.[m]
Hope in God’s Future Help
For the music director. Of the sons of Korah. A psalm.[a]
85 O Yahweh, you favored your land.
You restored the fortunes[b] of Jacob.
2 You took away the guilt[c] of your people;
you covered all their sin. Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your burning anger.
4 Restore us, O God of our salvation,
and annul your vexation with us.
5 Will you be angry against us forever?
Will you prolong your anger generation after generation?
6 Will you not again revive us,
that your people might rejoice in you?
7 Show us, O Yahweh, your loyal love,
and grant us your salvation.
8 I will hear what God, Yahweh, will speak,
because he will speak peace
to his people, even his faithful ones,[d]
but let them not return to folly.
9 Surely his salvation is near for those who fear him,
that glory may abide in our land.
10 Loyal love and faithfulness[e] will meet one another;
righteousness and peace will kiss.
11 Faithfulness[f] will sprout from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from heaven.
12 Yes, Yahweh will give what is good,
and our land will give its produce.
13 Righteousness will go before him,
and it will make his steps a pathway.
A Prayer for Help against Ruthless Men
A prayer of David.[g]
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.[h]
4 Make glad the soul of your servant,
because I desire you,[i] O Lord.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
and abundant in loyal love[j] 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[k] 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[l] 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[m] 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.[n]
15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger[o] 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[p] 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.
Esther’s Banquet
7 So the king and Haman went to dine[a] with Queen Esther. 2 And the king again said to Esther, on the second day while they were drinking,[b] “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It will be given to you. What is your request? It will be given to you—even half the kingdom.” 3 Then Queen Esther answered, and she said, “If I have found favor in your eyes,[c] O king, and if it is good to the king, let my life be given to me at my petition and my people at my request; 4 I and my people have been sold to be destroyed and killed, to be annihilated. If we had been sold as male and female slaves I would have kept quiet, because this[d] is not a need sufficient to trouble the king.”[e] 5 And King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who gave himself the right to do this?”[f] 6 And Esther said, “The adversary and enemy is this evil Haman!” And Haman was terrified before the king and queen.
Haman is Hanged
7 The king rose in his anger from the banquet[g] and went to the palace garden, and Haman stood to beg for his life from Queen Esther, for he realized that the king was determined to make an end to his life.[h] 8 And the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall,[i] where Haman was lying prostrate on the couch that Esther was on, and the king said, “Will he also molest the queen with me in the house?” As the words[j] went from the king’s mouth they covered Haman’s face. 9 And Habrona, one of the eunuchs in the presence of the king, said, “Look, the same gallows that Haman had prepared for Mordecai who spoke good for the sake of the king stands at Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on it.” 10 And they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai, and the anger of the king was abated.
Would-be Exorcists
11 And God was performing extraordinary[a] miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or work aprons that had touched his skin[b] were carried away to those who were sick, and their[c] diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.[d] 13 But some itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches!” 14 (Now seven sons of a certain Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.) 15 But the evil spirit answered and[e] said to them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I am acquainted with, but who are you?” 16 And the man who had the evil spirit[f] leaped on them, subdued all of them, and[g] prevailed against them, so that they ran away from that house naked and wounded. 17 And this became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was exalted. 18 And many of those who had believed came, confessing and disclosing their practices, 19 and many of those who practiced magic brought together their[h] books and[i] burned them[j] up in the sight of everyone. And they counted up their value and found it was fifty thousand silver coins.[k] 20 In this way the word of the Lord was growing in power and was prevailing.
Public Ministry in Galilee
14 And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news about him went out throughout all the surrounding region. 15 And he began to teach[a] in their synagogues, and[b] was praised by all.
Rejected at Nazareth
16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up,[c] and according to his custom[d] he entered into the synagogue on the day of the Sabbath and stood up to read. 17 And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to him, and unrolling the scroll he found the place where it was written,
18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because of which he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me
to proclaim release to the captives,
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to send out in freedom those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.”[e]
20 And he rolled up the scroll and[f] gave it[g] back to the attendant and[h] sat down. And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were looking intently at him. 21 And he began to say to them, “Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 And they were all speaking well of him, and were astonished at the gracious words that were coming out of his mouth. And they were saying, “Is this man not the son of Joseph?” 23 And he said to them, “Doubtless you will tell me this parable: ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ Whatever we have heard that took place in Capernaum, do here in your hometown also!” 24 And he said, “Truly I say to you that no prophet is acceptable in his own hometown. 25 But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three years and six months while a great famine took place over all the land. 26 And Elijah was sent to none of them, but only to Zarephath in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of the prophet Elisha, and none of them was made clean except Naaman the Syrian.” 28 And all those in the synagogue were filled with anger when they[i] heard these things. 29 And they stood up and[j] forced him out of the town and brought him up to the edge of the hill on which their town was built, so that they could throw him down the cliff. 30 But he passed through their midst and[k] went on his way.
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