Book of Common Prayer
33 He turns rivers into a wilderness, water springs into a thirsty ground,(A)
34 A fruitful land into a barren, salt waste, because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it.(B)
35 He turns a wilderness into a pool of water and a dry ground into water springs;(C)
36 And there He makes the hungry to dwell, that they may prepare a city for habitation,
37 And sow fields, and plant vineyards which yield fruits of increase.
38 He blesses them also, so that they are multiplied greatly, and allows not their cattle to decrease.
39 When they are diminished and bowed down through oppression, trouble, and sorrow,
40 He pours contempt upon princes and causes them to wander in waste places where there is no road.
41 Yet He raises the poor and needy from affliction and makes their families like a flock.
42 The upright shall see it and be glad, but all iniquity shall shut its mouth.
43 Whoso is wise [if there be any truly wise] will observe and heed these things; and they will diligently consider the mercy and loving-kindness of the Lord.
Psalm 108
A song. A Psalm of David.
1 O God, my heart is fixed (steadfast, in the confidence of faith); I will sing, yes, I will sing praises, even with my glory [all the faculties and powers of one created in Your image]!
2 Awake, harp and lyre; I myself will wake very early—I will waken the dawn!
3 I will praise and give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples; and I will sing praises unto You among the nations.
4 For Your mercy and loving-kindness are great and high as the heavens! Your truth and faithfulness reach to the skies!(D)
5 Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let Your glory be over all the earth.
6 That Your beloved [followers] may be delivered, save with Your right hand and answer us! [or me]!
7 God has promised in His holiness [regarding the establishment of David’s dynasty]: I will rejoice, I will distribute [Canaan among My people], dividing Shechem and [the western region and allotting the eastern region which contains] the Valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead is Mine, Manasseh is Mine; Ephraim also is My stronghold and the defense of My head; Judah is My scepter and lawgiver.(E)
9 Moab is My washbasin; upon Edom [My slave] My shoe I cast [to be cleaned]; over Philistia I shout [in triumph].
10 Who will bring me [David] into the strong, fortified city [of Petra]? Who will lead me into Edom?
11 Have You not cast us off, O God? And will You not go forth, O God, with our armies?
12 Give us help against the adversary, for vain is the help of man.
13 Through and with God we shall do valiantly, for He it is Who shall tread down our adversaries.(F)
Psalm 33
1 Rejoice in the Lord, O you [uncompromisingly] righteous [you upright in right standing with God]; for praise is becoming and appropriate for those who are upright [in heart].
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; sing praises to Him with the harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully [on the strings] with a loud and joyful sound.
4 For the word of the Lord is right; and all His work is done in faithfulness.
5 He loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of the loving-kindness of the Lord.
6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all their host by the breath of His mouth.(A)
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as in a bottle; He puts the deeps in storage places.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord [revere and worship Him]; let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
9 For He spoke, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast.
10 The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nought; He makes the thoughts and plans of the peoples of no effect.
11 The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of His heart through all generations.
12 Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people He has chosen as His heritage.
13 The Lord looks from heaven, He beholds all the sons of men;
14 From His dwelling place He looks [intently] upon all the inhabitants of the earth—
15 He Who fashions the hearts of them all, Who considers all their doings.
16 No king is saved by the great size and power of his army; a mighty man is not delivered by [his] much strength.
17 A horse is devoid of value for victory; neither does he deliver any by his great power.
18 Behold, the Lord’s eye is upon those who fear Him [who revere and worship Him with awe], who wait for Him and hope in His mercy and loving-kindness,
19 To deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.
20 Our inner selves wait [earnestly] for the Lord; He is our Help and our Shield.
21 For in Him does our heart rejoice, because we have trusted (relied on and been confident) in His holy name.
22 Let Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, in proportion to our waiting and hoping for You.
16 When David was a little past the top [of Olivet], behold, Ziba, the servant of Mephibosheth, met him with a couple of donkeys saddled, and upon them 200 loaves of bread, 100 bunches of raisins, 100 summer fruits, and a skin of wine.
2 The king said to Ziba, What do you mean by these? Ziba said, The donkeys are for the king’s household to ride on, the bread and summer fruit for the young men to eat, and the wine is for those to drink who become faint in the wilderness.
3 The king said, And where is your master’s son [grandson Mephibosheth]? Ziba said to the king, Behold, he remains in Jerusalem, for he said, Today the house of Israel will give me back the kingdom of my father [grandfather Saul].
4 Then the king said to Ziba, Behold, all that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours. Ziba said, I do obeisance; let me ever find favor in your sight, my lord O king.
5 When King David came to Bahurim, a man of the family of the house of Saul, Shimei son of Gera, came out and cursed continually as he came.
6 And he cast stones at David and at all the servants of King David; and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left.
7 Shimei said as he cursed, Get out, get out, you man of blood, you base fellow!
8 The Lord has avenged upon you all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead you have reigned; and the Lord has delivered the kingdom into the hands of Absalom your son. Behold, the calamity is upon you because you are a bloody man!
9 Then said [David’s nephew] Abishai son of Zeruiah to the king, Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? Let me go over and take off his head.
10 The king said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? If he is cursing because the Lord said to him, Curse David, who then shall ask, Why have you done so?
11 And David said to Abishai and to all his servants, Behold, my son, who was born to me, seeks my life. With how much more reason now may this Benjamite do it? Let him alone; and let him curse, for the Lord has bidden him to do it.
12 It may be that the Lord will look on the iniquity done me and will recompense me with good for his cursing this day.
13 So David and his men went by the road, and Shimei went along on the hillside opposite David and cursed as he went and threw stones and dust at him.
14 And the king and all the people who were with him came [to the Jordan] weary, and he refreshed himself there.
15 And Absalom and all the people, the men of Israel, came to Jerusalem, and Ahithophel with him.
16 And when Hushai the Archite, David’s friend, came to Absalom, Hushai said to [him], Long live the king! Long live the king!
17 Absalom said to Hushai, Is this your kindness and loyalty to your friend? Why did you not go with your friend?
18 Hushai said to Absalom, No, for whom the Lord and this people and all the men of Israel choose, his will I be, and with him I will remain.
19 And again, whom should I serve? Should it not be his son? As I have served your father, so will I serve you.
20 Then Absalom said to Ahithophel, Give your counsel. What shall we do?
21 And Ahithophel said to Absalom, Go in to your father’s concubines whom he has left to keep the house; and all Israel will hear that you are abhorred by your father. Then the hands of all who are with you will be made strong.
22 So they spread for Absalom a tent on the top of the [king’s] house, and Absalom went in to his father’s harem in the sight of all Israel.
23 And the counsel of Ahithophel in those days was as if a man had consulted the word of God; so was all Ahithophel’s counsel considered both by David and by Absalom.
17 Then when I had come back to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple [[a]enclosure], I fell into a trance (an ecstasy);
18 And I saw Him as He said to me, Hurry, get quickly out of Jerusalem, because they will not receive your testimony about Me.
19 And I said, Lord, they themselves well know that throughout all the synagogues I cast into prison and flogged those who believed on (adhered to and trusted in and relied on) You.
20 And when the blood of Your witness (martyr) Stephen was shed, I also was personally standing by and consenting and approving and guarding the garments of those who slew him.
21 And the Lord said to me, Go, for I will send you far away unto the Gentiles (nations).
22 Up to the moment that Paul made this last statement, the people listened to him; but now they raised their voices and shouted, Away with such a fellow from the earth! He is not fit to live!
23 And as they were shouting and tossing and waving their garments and throwing dust into the air,
24 The commandant ordered that Paul be brought into the barracks, and that he be examined by scourging in order that [the commandant] might learn why the people cried out thus against him.
25 But when they had stretched him out with the thongs (leather straps), Paul asked the centurion who was standing by, Is it legal for you to flog a man who is a Roman citizen and uncondemned [without a trial]?
26 When the centurion heard that, he went to the commandant and said to him, What are you about to do? This man is a Roman citizen!
27 So the commandant came and said to [Paul], Tell me, are you a Roman citizen? And he said, Yes [indeed]!
28 The commandant replied, I purchased this citizenship [as a capital investment] for a big price. Paul said, But I was born [Roman]!
29 Instantly those who were about to examine and flog him withdrew from him; and the commandant also was frightened, for he realized that [Paul] was a Roman citizen and he had put him in chains.
11 When they were getting near to Jerusalem, to Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, He sent ahead two of His disciples
2 And instructed them, Go into the village in front of you, and as soon as you enter it, you will find a colt tied, which has never been ridden by anyone; unfasten it and bring it [here].
3 If anyone asks you, Why are you doing this? answer, The Lord needs it, and He will send it back here presently.
4 So they went away and found a colt tied at the door out in the [winding] open street, and they loosed it.
5 And some who were standing there said to them, What are you doing, untying the colt?
6 And they replied as Jesus had directed them, and they allowed them to go.
7 And they brought the colt to Jesus and threw their outer garments upon it, and He sat on it.
8 And many [of the people] spread their garments on the road, and others [scattered a layer of] leafy branches which they had cut from the fields.
9 And those who went before and those who followed cried out [ [a]with a cry of happiness], Hosanna! [Be graciously inclined and propitious to Him!] Praised and blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord!(A)
10 Praised and blessed in the name of the Lord is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna (O save us) in the highest [heaven]!
11 And Jesus went into Jerusalem and entered the temple [[b]enclosure]; and when He had looked around, surveying and observing everything, as it was already late, He went out to Bethany together with the Twelve [apostles].
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