Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 72[a]
The Kingdom of the Messiah
1 Of Solomon.
O God, endow the king with your judgment,
the son of kings with your righteousness.
2 [b]He will govern your people fairly
and deal justly with your poor ones.
3 The mountains will yield peace for the people,
and the hills, righteousness.
4 He will defend the afflicted among the people,
save the children of the poor,
and overwhelm the oppressor.
5 He will reign as long as the sun,
as long as the moon, through all generations.
6 He will descend like rain on the meadow,
like showers that water the earth.
7 Justice will reign in his days,
and peace will abound
until the moon is no more.
8 His rule will extend from sea to sea,[c]
and from the river to the ends of the earth.
9 His foes[d] will bow down before him,
and his enemies will lick the dust.
10 The kings of Tarshish[e] and the Islands
will offer him tribute;
the kings of Sheba and Seba
will present him with gifts.
11 All kings will pay him homage,
and all nations will serve him.
12 For he will save the poor who cry out
and the needy who have no one to help them.
13 He will have pity on the lowly and the poor;
the lives of the needy he will save.
14 He will free them from oppression and violence,
for their blood is precious in his sight.
15 [f]Long may he live!
May the gold of Sheba be given to him.
May people pray for him unceasingly
and invoke blessings[g] on him all day long.
16 May grain abound throughout the land,
even growing abundantly on the mountain tops.
May its crops[h] be as plenteous as those of Lebanon,
and may its people flourish like the grass of the field.
17 May his name[i] be blessed forever;
may it endure as long as the sun.
May all peoples be blessed in him;
may all the nations proclaim his greatness.
18 [j]Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone can perform such wondrous deeds.
19 May his glorious name be blessed forever,
and may the whole world be filled with his glory.
Amen. Amen.
20 The end of the psalms of David, son of Jesse.[k]
73 [a]Your hands have created and formed me;[b]
grant me understanding so that I may learn your precepts.
74 Those who fear you will rejoice when they see me
because I place my hope in your word.
75 I know, O Lord, that your judgments are righteous
and in your fidelity you have humbled me.
76 May your kindness[c] bring consolation to me
as you have promised your servant.
77 Grant me your compassion so that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
78 May the arrogant[d] who oppress me without cause be put to shame;
I will meditate on your commands.
79 May those turn to me who fear you,
those who understand your statutes.
80 May my heart[e] be without blame toward your decrees
so that I may not be put to shame.
Kaph
81 [f]My soul[g] pines for your salvation without ceasing;
I place my hope in your word.
82 My eyes fail,[h] looking for your word,
and I cry out, “When will you comfort me?”
83 I am shriveled like a smoke-filled wineskin,[i]
but I do not forget your decrees.
84 How long must your servant wait?[j]
When will you pass judgment on my persecutors?
85 The arrogant[k] dig pits to entrap me,
which is not in keeping with your law.
86 All of your precepts are true;
come to my aid, for I am persecuted unjustly.
87 My enemies almost took away my life,
but I have not forsaken your commands.
88 In your kindness[l] spare my life,
and I will obey the statutes of your mouth.
Lamedh
89 [m]Your word, O Lord, is everlasting;
it is firmly fixed in the heavens.[n]
90 Your faithfulness lasts through all generations;
you established the earth, and it endures.
91 By your judgments all creatures continue to exist,
for they are all your servants.
92 [o]If your law had not been my delight,
I would have already perished in my misery.
93 Never will I forget your commands,
for through them you have given me life.
94 I am yours; save me,
for I seek your commandments.
95 The wicked lie in wait to destroy me,
but I continue to ponder your decrees.
96 I have seen that every perfection is limited,
but your precept is unlimited.[p]
Mem
22 The Death of Abner. Just then, David’s men returned with Joab from a raid, bringing with them a large amount of plunder. By then Abner had been dismissed by David and was no longer in Hebron, for he had gone his way in peace. 23 When Joab and all of the soldiers with him arrived, Joab was informed that Abner, the son of Ner, had come to the king, and that the king had sent him on his way in peace.
24 Then Joab went to the king and said: “What have you done? Abner came to you. What motivated you to dismiss him and allow him to go away as an innocent man? 25 You must be aware that Abner, the son of Ner, came here with the purpose of deceiving you, in order to learn about your movements and to find out what you are doing.”
26 When Joab left David’s presence, he sent messengers to pursue Abner, and they brought him back from the cistern of Sirah. However, David knew nothing at all about this. 27 When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab pretended that he wanted to speak to him privately and took him aside at the city gate, where he stabbed him fatally in the stomach. Thus Abner died in retaliation for the murder of Asahel, the brother of Joab.
28 Later, when David heard the news, he said: “Before the Lord, I and my kingdom are forever innocent of the blood of Abner, the son of Ner. 29 May the guilt for this act fall on the head of Joab and his entire family. May the house of Joab never be unafflicted by men who suffer from running sores or leprosy or effeminacy or who are doomed to die by the sword or are in need of bread.” ( 30 Joel and his brother Abishai had murdered Abner because he had killed their brother Asahel at the battle of Gibeon.)
31 David Mourns Abner. Then David said to Joab and all the people who were with him: “Tear off your clothes, put on sackcloth, and mourn over Abner.” King David himself walked behind the bier. 32 After they buried Abner at Hebron, the king wept aloud at the grave of Abner, and all the people also wept. 33 Then the king sang this lament for Abner:
“Why should Abner have died
the way a lawless brute dies?
34 Your hands were not bound,
your feet were not fettered
As one falls at the hands of the wicked,
you too have fallen.”
And all the people continued to weep for him.
35 After that, the people tried to persuade David to eat something while it was still day, but David swore: “May God deal with me severely, and even more terribly, if I eat bread or anything else prior to sunset.” 36 All the people took note of his pledge with approval, just as everything that the king did truly pleased them. 37 Therefore, on that day the people and all Israel were fully convinced that the king had no part in the killing of Abner, the son of Ner.
38 Then the king said to his servants: “You surely must realize that a prince and a great warrior has fallen this day in Israel. 39 And today, even though I have been anointed as the king, I feel weak and powerless with the realization that these men, the sons of Zeruiah, are too strong for me. May the Lord repay the evildoer as his evil crimes deserve.”
16 Paul Imprisoned at Philippi.[a]On one occasion, as we were on our way to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who was possessed by a spirit of divination and brought large profits to her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She began to follow Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, and they have come to proclaim to you a way of salvation.” 18 She kept doing this for many days, until Paul became very greatly troubled. He turned and said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her.” And the spirit came out of her instantly.
19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money from her was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are causing a disturbance in our city. They are Jews, 21 and they are advocating practices that it is illegal for us as Romans to adopt or follow.”
22 The crowd joined in the attack against them, and the magistrates had them stripped and ordered them to be beaten. 23 After they had inflicted a severe beating on them, they threw them into prison and instructed the jailer to guard them closely. 24 Following these instructions, he put them in the innermost cell and locked their feet in the stocks.
47 When evening came, the boat was far out on the water while he was alone on the shore. 48 He could see that the disciples were having difficulty in rowing the boat in the face of a headwind. Around the fourth watch of the night he came toward them, walking on the water. He was going to pass by them, 49 but when the disciples saw him walking on the water they thought it was a ghost and they cried out, 50 for they all had seen him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them, saying, “Have courage! It is I![a] Do not be afraid!” 51 Then he got into the boat with them, and the wind died down. They were utterly astounded, 52 for they had not understood about the loaves. Their minds were closed.
53 Jesus Heals the Sick at Gennesaret.[b] After they had completed the crossing, they landed at Gennesaret and moored the boat. 54 When they disembarked, the people recognized Jesus immediately. 55 They rushed throughout the entire countryside, and began to bring the sick to him on pallets wherever they heard he was. 56 Everywhere he went, whether to village or town or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak. And all who touched it were completely healed.
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