Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 83
A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.
1 Do not keep Your silence, O God;
do not hold Your peace or be still, O God.
2 For, look, Your enemies make an uproar,
and those who hate You have lifted up their heads.
3 They have given crafty counsel against Your people,
and have consulted against Your treasured ones.
4 They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation,
that the name of Israel may be no more remembered.”
5 For they have conspired together;
they make a covenant against You—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
even Moab and the Hagrites;
7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
the Philistines with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assyria also is joined with them,
they are the strength of the descendants of Lot. Selah
9 Do to them as You did to the Midianites,
as to Sisera and Jabin at the river of Kishon,
10 who perished at Endor;
they became as dung for the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb;
yes, all their princes as Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let us take for ourselves
the pastures of God as a possession.”
13 O my God, make them like a tumbleweed,
as stubble before the wind.
14 As fire burns a forest,
and as the flame sets the mountains ablaze,
15 so pursue them with Your storm,
and make them afraid with Your hurricane.
16 Fill their faces with shame,
that they may seek your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be confounded and troubled forever;
yes, let them be put to shame and perish,
18 that they may know that You, whose name alone is the Lord,
are the Most High over all the earth.
Psalm 145
A Psalm of Praise. Of David.
1 I will exalt you, my God and King,
and I will bless Your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless You,
and I will praise Your name forever and ever.
3 Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised,
and His greatness is unfathomable.
4 One generation shall praise Your works to another
and shall declare Your mighty acts.
5 I will speak of the glorious honor of Your majesty
and of Your wondrous works.
6 They shall speak of the might of Your awesome acts,
and I will declare Your greatness.
7 They shall abundantly declare the fame of Your great goodness
and shall sing of Your righteousness.
8 The Lord is gracious and full of compassion,
slow to anger, and great in mercy.
9 The Lord is good to all,
and His compassion is over all His works.
10 All Your works shall praise You, O Lord,
and Your godly ones shall bless You.
11 They shall speak of the glory of Your kingdom
and talk of Your power,
12 to make known to people His mighty acts,
and the glorious majesty of His kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and Your dominion endures throughout all generations.
14 The Lord upholds all who fall,
and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all wait upon You,
and You give them their food in due season.
16 You open Your hand
and satisfy the desire of every living thing.
17 The Lord is righteous in all His ways
and loving in all His works.
18 The Lord is near to all those who call upon Him,
to all who call upon Him in truth.
19 He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him;
He also will hear their cry and will save them.
20 The Lord preserves all those who love Him,
but all the wicked He will destroy.
21 My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord,
and let all people bless His holy name
forever and ever.
Psalm 85
For the Music Director. A Psalm of the songs of Korah.
1 Lord, You have been favorable to Your land;
You have brought back the captivity of Jacob.
2 You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people;
You have covered all their sin. Selah
3 You have withdrawn all Your wrath;
You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger.
4 Restore us, O God of our salvation,
and put away Your indignation toward us.
5 Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You draw out Your anger to all generations?
6 Will You not revive us again,
that Your people may rejoice in You?
7 Show us Your mercy, O Lord,
and grant us Your deliverance.
8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak,
for He will speak peace to His people and to His saints,
but let them not turn again to folly.
9 Surely His salvation is near to them who fear Him,
that glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met together;
righteousness and peace have kissed.
11 Truth springs from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from the sky.
12 Yes, the Lord gives that which is good,
and our land shall yield its increase.
13 Righteousness shall go before Him
and prepare a way for His footsteps.
Psalm 86
A Prayer of David.
1 Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me,
for I am oppressed and needy.
2 Preserve my soul, for I am godly;
You are my God; save Your servant
who trusts in You.
3 Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for to You I cry all day long.
4 Gladden the soul of Your servant,
for to You, O Lord,
I lift my soul.
5 For You, Lord, are good, and forgiving,
abounding in kindness to all who call on You.
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer,
and attend to my plea for mercy.
7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon You,
for You will answer me.
8 Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord;
neither are there any works like Your works.
9 All nations whom You have made
shall come and worship before You, O Lord,
and shall glorify Your name.
10 For You are great and do wondrous deeds;
You are God alone.
11 Teach me Your way, O Lord,
that I will walk in Your truth;
bind my heart
to fear Your name.
12 I will give You thanks, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
and I will glorify Your name forever.
13 For great is Your mercy toward me,
and You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.
14 O God, insolent men have risen against me,
and bands of violent men have sought my life;
they have not set You before them.
15 But You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion and gracious,
slow to anger, and abundant in mercy and truth.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;
give Your strength to Your servant,
and save the humble son of Your female servant.
17 Show me a sign of Your favor,
that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed
because You, Lord, have helped and comforted me.
David and Bathsheba
11 In the spring of the year, the time when the kings go out to battle, David sent out Joab and his officers, all of Israel with him. They brought to ruin the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but David remained in Jerusalem.
2 One evening when David arose from his bed and was walking on the roof of the king’s house, from the roof he saw a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. 3 So, David sent someone to inquire about the woman. And it was asked, “Is this not Bathsheba the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” 4 So David sent messengers, and took her; and she came to him, and he lay with her. When she had purified herself from her uncleanness, she returned to her house. 5 The woman conceived. So she sent a message and reported to David, “I am pregnant.”
6 Then David sent an order to Joab, “Send Uriah the Hittite to me.” So, Joab sent Uriah to David. 7 When Uriah came to him, David asked about the welfare of Joab, the people, and the fighting. 8 Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house. Wash your feet.” So Uriah left the house of the king, and a gift from the king followed him. 9 But Uriah slept at the entrance of the house of the king with all of the servants of his lord; he did not go down to his house.
10 When they reported to David, saying, “Uriah did not go down to his house,” David said to Uriah, “Have you not come from a journey? Why did you not go down to your house?”
11 Uriah responded to David, “The ark, Israel, and Judah dwell in makeshift shelters. My lord Joab and the officers of my lord are camping in the open field. But I may enter my house to eat, to drink, and to sleep with my wife? As you live and as your soul lives, I will not do this thing!”
12 So David said to Uriah, “Remain here another day, and I will send you back tomorrow.” Uriah remained in Jerusalem that day and the following day. 13 Now David invited him to eat in his presence, and he drank until he got Uriah drunk. In the evening, he went to lie down in his lodging with the servants of his lord, but he did not go down to his house.
14 That morning, David wrote a message to Joab and sent it by way of Uriah. 15 He wrote in the message, “Send Uriah to the front of the line where the fighting is heaviest then withdraw from him, so that he may be struck down and die.”
16 So as Joab was besieging the city, he stationed Uriah in a place where he knew fierce men were. 17 When the men of the city came out, they fought with Joab, and some people among those who served David fell; Uriah the Hittite died among them.
18 Joab sent word to inform David of all of the events of the battle. 19 He instructed the messenger, “When you finish telling the king all the details of the battle, 20 if his anger rises and he says to you, ‘Why did you approach so near to the city? Did you not know that they might shoot from the city wall? 21 Who killed Abimelek the son of Jerub-Besheth? Did not a woman throw an upper millstone on him from the city wall so that he died at Thebez? Why did you approach so near to the city wall?’ You shall then say, ‘Additionally your servant Uriah the Hittite is dead.’ ”
22 So the messenger departed and came to report to David everything that Joab had sent with him. 23 The messenger reported to David, “The men prevailed over us when they came out against us in the open field, but we drove them back to the entrance of the gate. 24 Then the archers shot at your servants from upon the city wall, and some of those who serve the king are dead. Even your servant Uriah the Hittite died.”
25 So David replied to the messenger, “Thus you shall report to Joab, ‘Do not allow this thing to dismay you, for the sword devours one as well as another. Sustain your attack against the city and bring it to ruin.’ Encourage him with this reply.”
26 When the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband. 27 When the time of mourning was concluded, David sent for her and brought her to his house. She became his wife and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done was displeasing to the Lord.
The Sons of Sceva
11 God worked powerful miracles by the hands of Paul. 12 So handkerchiefs or aprons he had touched were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits went out of them.
13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists invoked the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “We command you to come out in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches.” 14 There were seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva doing this. 15 The evil spirit answered, “I know Jesus, and I know Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was jumped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled from that house naked and wounded.
17 This became known to all Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus. And fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18 Many who believed came confessing and telling their deeds. 19 Many who practiced magic brought their books together and burned them before everyone. They calculated their value, which equaled fifty thousand drachmas.[a] 20 So the word of the Lord powerfully grew and spread.
The Transfiguration(A)
2 After six days Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John and led them up a high mountain, alone by themselves. And He was transfigured before them. 3 His garments became shiny, extremely white as snow, such as no launderer on earth could whiten them. 4 And there appeared to them Elijah with Moses. And they were talking with Jesus.
5 Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us make three sanctuaries: one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 For he did not know what to say, because they were very afraid.
7 Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Listen to Him.”
8 Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus only.
9 As they came down the mountain, He warned them to tell no one what they had seen, until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. 10 They kept that statement to themselves, questioning each other what the rising from the dead meant.
11 And they asked Him, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must first come?”
12 He answered, “Elijah indeed comes first to restore all things. Yet how is it written of the Son of Man that He should suffer many things and be treated with contempt? 13 But I say to you that Elijah has indeed come, and they have done to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.