Book of Common Prayer
The Psalmist in Sickness Complains of Enemies and False Friends.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
41 Blessed is one who (A)considers the [a]helpless;
The Lord will save him (B)on a day of [b]trouble.
2 The Lord will (C)protect him and keep him alive,
And he will be called [c](D)blessed upon the earth;
And (E)do not turn him over to the desire of his enemies.
3 The Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You [d]restore him to health.
4 As for me, I said, “Lord, be gracious to me;
(F)Heal my soul, for (G)I have sinned against You.”
5 My enemies (H)speak evil against me,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And [e]when he comes to see me, he (I)speaks [f]empty words;
His heart gathers wickedness to itself;
When he goes outside, he tells it.
7 All who hate me whisper together against me;
They (J)plot my harm against me, saying,
8 “A wicked thing is poured out [g]upon him,
So that when he lies down, he will (K)not get up again.”
9 Even my [h](L)close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.
10 But You, Lord, be gracious to me and (M)raise me up,
That I may repay them.
11 By this I know that (N)You are pleased with me,
Because (O)my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
12 As for me, (P)You uphold me in my integrity,
And You place me (Q)in Your presence forever.
13 (R)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
Futility of Boastful Wickedness.
For the music director. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you (A)boast in evil, you mighty man?
The (B)faithfulness of God endures all day long.
2 Your tongue devises (C)destruction,
Like a (D)sharp razor, (E)you worker of deceit.
3 You (F)love evil more than good,
(G)Lies more than speaking what is right. Selah
4 You love all words that devour,
You (H)deceitful tongue.
5 [c]But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and (I)tear you away from your tent,
And (J)uproot you from the (K)land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous will (L)see and fear,
And they will (M)laugh at him, saying,
7 “Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But (N)trusted in the abundance of his riches
And (O)was strong in [d]his evil desire.”
Former Times of Help and Present Troubles.
For the music director. A [a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.
44 God, we have heard with our ears,
Our (A)fathers have told us
The (B)work that You did in their days,
In the (C)days of old.
2 You with Your own hand (D)drove out the nations;
Then You (E)planted them;
You (F)afflicted the peoples,
Then You (G)let them go free.
3 For by their own sword they (H)did not possess the land,
And their own arm did not save them,
But Your right hand and Your (I)arm and the (J)light of Your presence,
For You (K)favored them.
4 You are (L)my King, God;
(M)Command [b]victories for Jacob.
5 Through You we will (N)push back our adversaries;
Through Your name we will (O)trample down those who rise up against us.
6 For I will (P)not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
7 But You (Q)have saved us from our adversaries,
And You have (R)put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have (S)boasted all day long,
And we will (T)give thanks to Your name forever. Selah
9 Yet You (U)have rejected us and brought us to (V)dishonor,
And (W)do not go out with our armies.
10 You cause us to (X)turn back from the enemy;
And those who hate us (Y)have taken spoils for themselves.
11 You turn us over [c]to be eaten like (Z)sheep,
And have (AA)scattered us among the nations.
12 You (AB)sell Your people [d]cheaply,
And have not [e]profited by their sale.
13 You make us an object of (AC)reproach to our neighbors,
Of scoffing and (AD)ridicule to those around us.
14 You make us (AE)a proverb among the nations,
A [f](AF)laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my dishonor is before me
And [g]I am covered with my (AG)humiliation,
16 Because of the voice of one who (AH)taunts and reviles,
Because of the presence of the (AI)enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us, but we have (AJ)not forgotten You,
And we have not (AK)dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18 Our heart has not (AL)turned back,
And our steps (AM)have not deviated from Your way,
19 Yet You have (AN)crushed us in a place of (AO)jackals
And covered us with [h](AP)deep darkness.
20 If we had (AQ)forgotten the name of our God
Or extended our [i]hands to (AR)a strange god,
21 Would God not (AS)find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 But (AT)for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are regarded as (AU)sheep to be slaughtered.
23 (AV)Wake Yourself up, why (AW)do You sleep, Lord?
Awake, (AX)do not reject us forever.
24 Why do You (AY)hide Your face
And (AZ)forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our (BA)souls have sunk down into the dust;
Our bodies cling to the earth.
26 (BB)Rise up, be our help,
And (BC)redeem us because of Your mercy.
War of the Kings
14 And it came about in the days of Amraphel king of (A)Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of (B)Elam, and Tidal king of [a]Goiim, 2 that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of (C)Admah, and Shemeber king of (D)Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, (E)Zoar). 3 All these kings [b]came as allies to (F)the Valley of Siddim (that is, (G)the Salt Sea). 4 For twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but in the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 And in the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him came and [c]defeated the (H)Rephaim in (I)Ashteroth-karnaim, and the Zuzim in Ham, and the Emim in [d](J)Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6 and the (K)Horites on their Mount Seir, as far as (L)El-paran, which is by the wilderness. 7 Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, (M)Kadesh), and [e]conquered all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, who lived in (N)Hazazon-tamar. 8 And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah, the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out; and they lined up for battle against them in (O)the Valley of Siddim, 9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam, Tidal king of [f]Goiim, Amraphel king of Shinar, and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and (P)the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell [g]into them. But those who survived fled to the (Q)hill country. 11 Then they took all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and departed. 12 They also took Lot, (R)Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed, (S)for he was living in Sodom.
13 Then [h]a survivor came and told Abram the (T)Hebrew. Now he was residing by the [i](U)oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and they were [j](V)allies with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that (W)his relative had been taken captive, he [k]led out his trained men, (X)born in his house, numbering 318, and went in pursuit as far as (Y)Dan. 15 Then (Z)he divided [l]his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and [m]defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is [n]north of (AA)Damascus. 16 He (AB)brought back all the possessions, and also brought back (AC)his relative Lot with his possessions, and also the women, and the other people.
God’s Promise to Abram
17 Then after his return from the [o]defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, (AD)the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, (AE)the King’s Valley). 18 And (AF)Melchizedek the king of Salem brought out (AG)bread and wine; now he was a (AH)priest of [p]God Most High. 19 And he blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram of [q]God Most High,
[r](AI)Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be [s]God Most High,
Who has handed over your enemies to you.”
And (AJ)he gave him a tenth of everything. 21 Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the [t]people to me and take the possessions for yourself.” 22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have [u]sworn to the Lord [v](AK)God Most High, [w](AL)Possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that (AM)I will not take a thread or a sandal strap or anything that is yours, so that you do not say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24 [x]I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, (AN)Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share.”
A Better Ministry
8 Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a (A)high priest, who has taken His seat at (B)the right hand of the throne of the (C)Majesty in the heavens, 2 a (D)minister [a]in the sanctuary and [b]in the (E)true [c]tabernacle, which the Lord (F)set up, not man. 3 For every (G)high priest is appointed (H)to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. 4 Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are [d]those who (I)offer the gifts according to the Law; 5 who serve (J)a copy and (K)shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses [e]was (L)warned by God when he was about to erect the [f]tabernacle; for, “(M)See,” He says, “that you make all things by the pattern which was shown to you on the mountain.” 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, to the extent that He is also the (N)mediator of (O)a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.
A New Covenant
7 For (P)if that first covenant had been free of fault, no [g]circumstances would have been sought for a second. 8 For in finding fault with [h]the people, He says,
“(Q)Behold, days are coming, says the Lord,
[i]When I will bring about (R)a new covenant
With the house of Israel and the house of Judah,
9 (S)Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers
On the day I took them by the hand
To bring them out of the land of Egypt;
For they did not continue in My covenant,
And I did not care about them, says the Lord.
10 (T)For this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel
After those days, declares the Lord:
[j]I will put My laws into their minds,
And write them (U)on their hearts.
And I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.
11 (V)And they will not teach, each one his fellow citizen,
And each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
For (W)they will all know Me,
From [k]the least to the greatest of them.
12 (X)For I will be merciful toward their wrongdoings,
(Y)And their sins I will no longer remember.”
13 [l]When He said, “(Z)A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. (AA)But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is [m]about to disappear.
43 And after (A)the two days, He departed from there for Galilee. 44 For Jesus Himself testified that (B)a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, only because (C)they had seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast.
Healing an Official’s Son
46 Therefore He came again to (D)Cana of Galilee, (E)where He had made the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at (F)Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come (G)from Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and began asking Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. 48 Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see [a](H)signs and (I)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, “(J)Go; your son [c]is alive.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went home. 51 And as he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his [d]son was [e]alive. 52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the [f]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 is alive”; and he himself believed, and (K)his entire household. 54 This is again a (L)second [g]sign that Jesus performed when He had (M)come from Judea into Galilee.
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