Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Victory over Enemies.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
20 May the Lord answer you (A)in the day of trouble!
May the (B)name of the (C)God of Jacob set you securely on high!
2 May He send you help (D)from the sanctuary
And (E)support you from Zion!
3 May He (F)remember all your meal offerings
And (G)find your burnt offering [a]acceptable! [b]Selah.
4 May He grant you your (H)heart’s desire
And (I)fulfill all your [c]counsel!
5 [d]We will (J)sing for joy over your [e]victory,
And in the name of our God we will (K)set up our banners.
May the Lord (L)fulfill all your petitions.
6 Now (M)I know that the Lord saves His anointed;
He will (N)answer him from His holy heaven
With the [f](O)saving strength of His right hand.
7 Some [g]boast in chariots and some in (P)horses,
But (Q)we [h]will boast in the name of the Lord, our God.
8 They have (R)bowed down and fallen,
But we have (S)risen and stood upright.
9 [i](T)Save, O Lord;
May the (U)King answer us in the day we call.
Praise for Deliverance.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
21 O Lord, in Your strength the king will (V)be glad,
And in Your [j]salvation how greatly he will rejoice!
2 You have (W)given him his heart’s desire,
And You have not withheld the request of his lips. [k]Selah.
3 For You (X)meet him with the blessings of good things;
You set a (Y)crown of fine gold on his head.
4 He asked life of You,
You (Z)gave it to him,
(AA)Length of days forever and ever.
5 His (AB)glory is great through Your [l]salvation,
(AC)Splendor and majesty You place upon him.
6 For You make him [m]most (AD)blessed forever;
You make him joyful (AE)with gladness in Your presence.
7 For the king (AF)trusts in the Lord,
And through the lovingkindness of the Most High (AG)he will not be shaken.
8 Your hand will (AH)find out all your enemies;
Your right hand will find out those who hate you.
9 You will make them (AI)as a fiery oven in the time [n]of your anger;
The Lord will (AJ)swallow them up in His wrath,
And (AK)fire will devour them.
10 Their [o]offspring You will destroy from the earth,
And their [p](AL)descendants from among the sons of men.
11 Though they [q](AM)intended evil against You
And (AN)devised a plot,
They will not succeed.
12 For You will (AO)make them turn their back;
You will [r]aim (AP)with Your bowstrings at their faces.
13 Be exalted, O Lord, in Your strength;
We will (AQ)sing and praise Your power.
The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.
A Psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my (A)shepherd,
I [a]shall (B)not want.
2 He makes me lie down in (C)green pastures;
He (D)leads me beside [b](E)quiet waters.
3 He (F)restores my soul;
He (G)guides me in the [c](H)paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.
4 Even though I (I)walk through the [d]valley of the shadow of death,
I (J)fear no [e]evil, for (K)You are with me;
Your (L)rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You (M)prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You [f]have (N)anointed my head with oil;
My (O)cup overflows.
6 [g]Surely (P)goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life,
And I will [h](Q)dwell in the house of the Lord [i]forever.
A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.
A Psalm of David.
27 The Lord is my (A)light and my (B)salvation;
Whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the [a](C)defense of my life;
(D)Whom shall I dread?
2 When evildoers came upon me to (E)devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they (F)stumbled and fell.
3 Though a (G)host encamp against me,
My heart will not fear;
Though war arise against me,
In spite of this I [b]shall be (H)confident.
4 (I)One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may (J)dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold (K)the [c]beauty of the Lord
And to [d](L)meditate in His temple.
5 For in the (M)day of trouble He will (N)conceal me in His [e]tabernacle;
In the secret place of His tent He will (O)hide me;
He will (P)lift me up on a rock.
6 And now (Q)my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer in His tent (R)sacrifices [f]with shouts of joy;
I will (S)sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
7 (T)Hear, O Lord, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and (U)answer me.
8 When You said, “(V)Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“Your face, O Lord, (W)I shall seek.”
9 (X)Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in (Y)anger;
You have been (Z)my help;
(AA)Do not abandon me nor (AB)forsake me,
O God of my salvation!
10 [g]For my father and (AC)my mother have forsaken me,
But (AD)the Lord will take me up.
11 (AE)Teach me Your way, O Lord,
And lead me in a (AF)level path
Because of [h]my foes.
12 Do not deliver me over to the [i](AG)desire of my adversaries,
For (AH)false witnesses have risen against me,
And such as (AI)breathe out violence.
13 [j]I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the (AJ)goodness of the Lord
In the (AK)land of the living.
14 (AL)Wait for the Lord;
Be (AM)strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.
Elijah Raises the Widow’s Son
17 Now it came about after these things that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, became sick; and his sickness was so severe that there was no breath left in him. 18 So she said to Elijah, “(A)What do I have to do with you, O (B)man of God? [a]You have come to me to bring my iniquity to remembrance and to put my son to death!” 19 He said to her, “Give me your son.” Then he took him from her bosom and carried him up to the upper room where he was living, and laid him on his own bed. 20 He called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, have You also brought calamity to the widow with whom I am [b]staying, by causing her son to die?” 21 (C)Then he stretched himself upon the child three times, and called to the Lord and said, “O Lord my God, I pray You, let this child’s life return [c]to him.” 22 The Lord heard the voice of Elijah, (D)and the life of the child returned [d]to him and he revived. 23 Elijah took the child and brought him down from the upper room into the house and gave him to his mother; and Elijah said, “See, your son is alive.” 24 Then the woman said to Elijah, “(E)Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of the Lord in your mouth is truth.”
You Walk in the Truth
1 (A)The elder to the beloved (B)Gaius, whom I (C)love in truth.
2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. 3 For I (D)was very glad when (E)brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you (F)are walking in truth. 4 I have no greater joy than [a]this, to hear of (G)my children (H)walking in the truth.
5 Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the (I)brethren, and [b]especially when they are (J)strangers; 6 and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to (K)send them on their way in a manner (L)worthy of God. 7 For they went out for the sake of (M)the Name, (N)accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to [c]support such men, so that we may [d]be fellow workers [e]with the truth.
9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to (O)be first among them, does not accept [f]what we say. 10 For this reason, (P)if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not (Q)receive the (R)brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and (S)puts them out of the church.
11 Beloved, (T)do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. (U)The one who does good is of God; (V)the one who does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius (W)has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we add our testimony, and (X)you know that our testimony is true.
13 (Y)I had many things to write to you, but I am not willing to write them to you with pen and ink; 14 but I hope to see you shortly, and we will speak face to face.
15 (Z)Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends (AA)by name.
Healing a Nobleman’s Son
46 Therefore He came again to (A)Cana of Galilee (B)where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at (C)Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come (D)out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see [a](E)signs and (F)wonders, you simply will not believe.” 49 The royal official *said to Him, “[b]Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus *said to him, “(G)Go; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. 51 As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his [c]son was living. 52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the [d]seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed and (H)his whole household. 54 This is again a (I)second [e]sign that Jesus performed when He had (J)come out of Judea into Galilee.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.