Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for the Prosperity of God’s Anointed King
Of Solomon.[a]
72 O God, give your judgments to the king,
and your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice.
3 Let the mountains yield prosperity[b] for the people,
and the hills in righteousness.
4 May he provide justice for the poor of the people,
save the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor.
5 May he live long[c] while the sun endures[d]
as long as the moon[e] for all generations.[f]
6 May he descend like rain on mown grass,
like showers watering the earth.
7 May what is right blossom in his days
and an abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.
8 And may he rule from sea up to sea,
and from the River[g] to the edges of the land.
9 Let the desert dwellers bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 Let the kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute.
Let the kings of Sheba and Seba present gifts,
11 and let all kings bow down to him.
Let all nations serve him.
12 Indeed he will deliver the needy who is crying for help,
and the afflicted who has no helper.
13 He will take pity on the helpless and needy,
and the lives of the needy he will save.
14 From oppression and from violence
he will redeem their lives,
and their blood will be precious in his eyes.
15 So may he live, and may gold from Sheba be given to him,
and may prayers be offered for him continually.
May blessings be invoked for him all day long.[h]
16 May there be an abundance of grain in the land
even on the top of the mountains.
May his crop[i] sway like the trees of Lebanon,
and may those from the city blossom like the grass of the earth.
17 May his name endure forever.
May his name increase as long as the sun shines,[j]
and let them be blessed in him.
Let all nations call him blessed.
18 Blessed be Yahweh God, the God of Israel,
who alone does wonderful things.
19 And blessed be his glorious name forever,
and may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.
20 The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are completed.
Yod
73 Your hands have made me and established me;
give me understanding that I may learn your commands.
74 Those who fear you will see me and be glad,
because I hope in your word.
75 I know, O Yahweh, that your judgments are right,
and that in faithfulness you afflicted me.
76 Please let your loyal love comfort me,
according to your word[a] to your servant.
77 Let your mercies come to me, that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
78 Let the arrogant be put to shame,
because they have wronged me with lies.[b]
As for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
79 Let those who fear you turn to me,
even those who know[c] your testimonies.
80 May my heart be blameless in your statutes,
so that I may not be ashamed.
Kaph
81 My soul languishes for your salvation;
I hope in your word.
82 My eyes long for[d] your word,[e]
saying, “When will you comfort me?”
83 For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,
yet I have not forgotten your statutes.
84 How many are the days of your servant?
When will you execute justice against those who persecute me?
85 The arrogant have dug pits[f] for me,
which is not according to[g] your law.
86 All your commands are faithful.
They persecute me deceitfully; help me!
87 They have almost destroyed me on the earth,
but I have not forsaken your precepts.
88 According to your loyal love preserve me alive,
so that I may heed the testimony from your mouth.
Lamed
89 Forever, O Yahweh,
your word is settled[h] in heaven.
90 Your faithfulness endures throughout all generations.[i]
You have established the earth and it stands.
91 By your ordinances they stand today,
for all are your servants.
92 Unless your law had been my delight,
then I would have perished in my misery.
93 I will not ever forget your precepts,
for by them you revive me.[j]
94 I am yours. Save me,
for I have sought your precepts.
95 For me the wicked lie in wait to destroy me.
I give attention to your testimonies.
96 I have seen a limit to every perfection;[k]
your command is very broad.
Nehemiah Brings Reform
4 Before this, Eliashib the priest who was appointed over the chambers of the house of our God—the one related to Tobiah— 5 prepared for Tobiah a large chamber where they had formerly put the grain offering, the frankincense, the temple objects, tithes of grain, wine, and oil commanded for the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the offerings of the priests. 6 During all of this, I was not in Jerusalem because in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I went to the king. At the end of some days I asked permission from the king to leave. 7 So I came to Jerusalem. And I came to learn of the wrong that Eliashib had done for Tobiah by making him a room in the courtyard of the house of God. 8 It was very displeasing for me, and I threw all of the objects from the house of Tobiah outside of the chamber. 9 And I spoke in order, and they cleansed the chambers. Then I returned the objects of the house of God—the grain offering and the frankincense.
10 And then I came to learn that the food of the Levites had not been given to them, so that the Levites and the singers, the doers of the work, had gone back each to his field. 11 So I quarreled with the prefects, and I said, “Why is the house of God forsaken?” And I gathered them and set them at their station. 12 So all of Judah brought the tithe of grain, new wine, and olive oil into the storehouses. 13 I appointed as treasurer over the storehouses Shelemiah the priest, Zadok the scribe, Pedaiah from the Levites, and as their hand Hanan son of Zaccur, son of Mattaniah, for they were considered faithful. The responsibility given to them was to distribute to their brothers. 14 Remember me, my God, concerning this, and do not wipe out my loyal acts which I have done in the house of my God and in his service.
Nehemiah Begins Sabbath Reforms
15 In those days I saw in Judah people treading the wine press on the Sabbath, bringing in heaps of grain and loading them on donkeys along with wine, grapes and figs, and every kind of burden and bringing it all to Jerusalem on the day of the Sabbath. And I warned them at that time against selling food. 16 Tyrian men who lived in Jerusalem brought fish and every kind of merchandise and sold it on the Sabbath to the descendants[a] of Judah and in Jerusalem. 17 So I quarreled with the nobles of Judah and said to them, “What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the day of the Sabbath? 18 Did not your ancestors[b] do this also, and our God brought on us all of this disaster and on this city too? Now you are adding fierce wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath!”
19 So when it became dark at the gates of Jerusalem before the Sabbath, I commanded that the doors be shut and said that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I appointed some of my young men over the gates to prevent any goods[c] being brought in on the day of the Sabbath. 20 So the merchants and the sellers of merchandise spent the night outside of Jerusalem once or twice. 21 But I warned them and said to them, “Why are you spending the night opposite the wall? If you do it again, I will lay hands against you.” From that time on they did not come on the Sabbath. 22 And then I told two Levites that they must purify themselves and come to guard the gates in order to consecrate the day of the Sabbath. Remember this also, my God, and take pity on me according to the greatness of your loyal love.
The Woman and Her Son Versus the Dragon
12 And a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun and with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars, 2 and who was pregnant[a] and was crying out because she[b] was having birth pains, and was in torment to give birth. 3 And another sign appeared in heaven, and behold, a great fiery red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his heads were seven royal headbands.[c] 4 And his tail swept away a third of the stars from heaven and threw them to the earth. And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to give birth, in order that whenever she gave birth to her child he could devour it. 5 And she gave birth to a son, a male child, who is going to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod,[d] and her child was snatched away to God and to his throne. 6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared there by God, so that they could feed her there for one thousand two hundred sixty days.
Satan Thrown Down from Heaven to Earth
7 And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against[e] the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back[f]. 8 And they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them any longer in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,
“Now the salvation and the power
and the kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Christ have come,
because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down,
the one who accuses them before our God day and night.
11 And they conquered him by the blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony,
and they did not love their lives until death.
12 Because of this, rejoice, you heavens,
and those who live in them!
Woe to the earth and to the sea,
because the devil has come down to you,
having great anger,
because he[g] knows that he has little time!”
Rejected at Nazareth
53 And it happened that when Jesus had finished these parables he went away from there. 54 And he came to his hometown and[a] began to teach[b] them in their synagogue, so that they were amazed and said, “From where did this man get this wisdom and these miracles? 55 Is not this one the son of the carpenter? Is not his mother called Mary and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? 56 And are not all his sisters with us? From where then did this man get all these things?” 57 And they were offended by him. But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own hometown and in his own household.” 58 And he did not perform many miracles in that place because of their unbelief.
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