Book of Common Prayer
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
A Prayer for Victory
20 May the Lord answer you in the day of distress;
may the name of the God of Jacob[a] protect you.
2 May he send you help from the sanctuary,
and may he sustain you from Zion.
3 May he remember all your gifts,
and may he accept your burnt offerings.
4 May he give you what your heart desires,
and may he fulfill all your plans.
5 May we shout for joy at your deliverance
and unfurl our banners in the name of our God.
May the Lord fulfill all your petitions.
6 Now I know that the Lord has delivered his anointed;
he has answered him from his sanctuary
with the strength of his right hand of deliverance.
7 Some boast[b] in chariots,
others in horses;
but we will boast in[c] the name of the Lord our God.
8 While they bowed down and fell,
we arose and stood upright.
9 Deliver us, Lord!
Answer us, our King,[d] on the day we cry out!
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
Praise for the Lord’s Deliverance
21 The king rejoices in your strength, Lord.
How greatly he rejoices in your deliverance.
2 You have granted him the desire of his heart,
and have not withheld what his lips requested.
3 You go before him with wonderful blessings,
and put a crown of fine gold on his head.
4 He asked life from you, and you gave it to him—
a long life for ever and ever.
5 His glory is great because of your deliverance,
you have given him honor and majesty.
6 Indeed, you have given him eternal blessings;
you will make him glad with the joy of your presence.
7 The king trusts in the Lord;
because of the gracious love of the Most High,
he will stand firm.[e]
8 Your hand will find all your enemies,
your right hand will find those who hate you.
9 When you appear,
you will set them ablaze like a fire furnace.
In his wrath, the Lord will consume them,
and the fire will devour them.
10 You will destroy their descendants[f] from the earth,
even their offspring from the ranks[g] of mankind.
11 Though they plot evil against you and devise schemes,
they will not succeed.
12 Indeed, you will make them retreat,[h]
when you aim your bow[i] at their faces.
13 Rise up, Lord, because you are strong;
we will sing and praise your power.
A Davidic Psalm.
The Lord Shepherds His People
23 The Lord is the one who is shepherding me;
I lack nothing.
2 He causes me to lie down in pastures of green grass;
he guides me beside quiet waters.
3 He revives my life;
he leads me in pathways that are righteous
for the sake of his name.[a]
4 Even when I walk through a valley of deep darkness,[b]
I will not be afraid
because you are with me.
Your rod and your staff—they comfort me.
5 You prepare a table before me,
even in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.
6 Truly, goodness and gracious love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will remain in[c] the Lord’s Temple forever.[d]
Davidic
Confidence in the Lord
27 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom will I fear?
The Lord is the strength of my life;
of whom will I be afraid?
2 When those who practice evil, my enemies, and my oppressors
come near me to devour my flesh,
they stumble and fall.
3 If an army encamps against me,
my heart will not fear.
If a war is launched against me,
I will even trust in that situation.
4 I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I really seek:
that I may remain in the Lord’s Temple
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord;
and to inquire in his Temple.
5 For he will conceal me in his shelter on the day of evil;
He will hide me in a secluded chamber within his tent;
He will place me on a high rock.
6 Now my head will be lifted up above my enemies,
even those who surround me.
I will sacrifice in his tent with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melodies to the Lord.
7 Hear my voice, Lord, when I cry out!
Be gracious to me and answer me.
8 My mind recalls your word,[a]
“Seek my face,”
so your face, Lord, I will seek.
9 Do not hide your face from me;
do not turn away in anger from your servant.
You have been my help,
therefore do not abandon or forsake me,
God of my salvation.
10 Though my father and my mother abandoned me,
the Lord gathers me up.
11 Teach me your way, Lord,
and lead me on a level path because of my enemies.
12 Do not hand me over to the desires of my enemies;
for false witnesses have risen up against me;
even the one who breathes out violence.
13 I believe that I will see the Lord’s goodness
in the land of the living.
14 Wait on the Lord.
Be courageous, and he will strengthen your heart.
Wait on the Lord!
Elijah Restores the Widow’s Son
17 Sometime later, the son of the woman who owned the house became ill. In fact, his illness became so severe that he died.[a] 18 “What do we have in common, you man of God?” she accused Elijah. “You came to me so you could uncover my guilt! And you’re responsible for the death of my son!”
19 “Give me your son,” he replied. Then he took him from her lap, carried him upstairs to the room where he lived, and laid him on his bed. 20 Then he called out to the Lord and asked him, “Lord my God, have you also brought evil to this dear widow with whom I am living as her guest? Have you caused the death of her son?” 21 Then he stretched himself three times and cried out to the Lord, “Lord my God, please cause the soul of this little boy to return to him.”
22 The Lord listened to Elijah, and the soul of the little boy returned to him, and he revived. 23 Then Elijah took the little boy downstairs from the upper chamber back into the main house and delivered him to his mother. “Look,” Elijah told her, “your son is alive.”
24 The woman responded to Elijah, “Now at last I’ve really learned that you are a man of God and that what you have to say about the Lord[b] is the truth.”
Greetings from John
1 From:[a] The Elder
To: My dear friend Gaius, whom I genuinely love.
Encouragement for Gaius
2 Dear friend, I pray that you are doing well in every way and that you are healthy, just as your soul is healthy. 3 I was overjoyed when some brothers arrived and testified about your truthfulness and how you live according to the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are living according to the truth.
5 Dear friend, you are faithful in whatever you do for the brothers, especially when they are strangers. 6 They have testified before the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. 7 After all, they went on their trip for the sake of the Name,[b] accepting no support from gentiles. 8 Therefore, we ought to support such people so that we can become genuine helpers with them.
Criticism of Diotrephes
9 I wrote a letter[c] to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be in charge, will not recognize our authority.[d] 10 For this reason, when I come I will call attention to what he is doing in spreading false charges against us. And not content with that, he refuses to receive the brothers. He even tries to stop those who want to accept them[e] and throws them out of the church.
Praise for Demetrius
11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The person who does what is good is from God. The person who does what is evil has never seen God. 12 Demetrius has received a good report from everyone, including the truth itself. We, too, can testify to this report, and you know that our testimony is true.
Final Greeting
13 Although I have a great deal to write to you,[f] I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 Instead, I hope to see you[g] soon and speak face to face.
15 May peace be with you![h] Your friends greet you.[i] Greet[j] each of our friends by name.
46 So Jesus[a] returned to Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. Meanwhile, in Capernaum there was a government official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him repeatedly to come down and heal his son, because he was about to die.
48 Jesus told him, “Unless you people[b] see signs and wonders, you will never believe.”
49 The official told him, “Sir,[c] please come down before my little boy dies.”
50 Jesus told him, “Go home. Your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus told him and started back home.
51 While he was on his way, his servants met him and told him that his child[d] was alive. 52 So he asked them at what hour he had begun to recover, and they told him, “The fever left him yesterday at one o’clock in the afternoon.”[e]
53 Then the father realized that this was the very hour when Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole family.
54 Now this was the second sign that Jesus did after coming from Judea to Galilee.
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