Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 41
For the music leader. A psalm of David.
41 Those who pay close attention to the poor are truly happy!
The Lord rescues them during troubling times.
2 The Lord protects them and keeps them alive;
they are widely regarded throughout the land as happy people.
You[a] won’t hand them over to the will of their enemies.
3 The Lord will strengthen them when they are lying in bed, sick.
You will completely transform the place where they lie ill.
4 But me? I said, “Lord, have mercy on me!
Heal me because I have sinned against you.”
5 My enemies speak maliciously about me:
“When will he die and his name disappear?”
6 Whenever they come to visit, they say nothing of value.
Their hearts collect evil gossip;
once they leave, they tell it to everybody.
7 All of those who hate me talk about me, whispering to each other,
plotting evil against me:
8 “Some horrible thing has been poured into him;
the next time he lies down, he won’t get up.”
9 Even my good friend,
the one I trusted,
who shared my food,
has kicked me with his heel—a betrayer!
10 But you, Lord, please have mercy on me and lift me up
so I can pay them back!
11 Then I’ll know you are pleased with me
because my enemy won’t be shouting in triumph over me.
12 You support me in my integrity;
you put me in your presence forever.
13 Bless the Lord, the God of Israel,
from forever to forever!
Amen and Amen!
Psalm 52
For the music leader. A maskil[a] of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, “David has gone to Ahimelech’s house.”
52 Hey, powerful person!
Why do you brag about evil?
God’s faithful love lasts all day long.
2 Your tongue devises destruction:
it’s like a sharpened razor, causing deception.
3 You love evil more than good;
you love lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
4 You love all destructive words;
you love the deceiving tongue.
5 But God will take you down permanently;
he will snatch you up,
tear you out of your tent,
and uproot you from the land of the living! Selah
6 The righteous will see and be in awe;
they will laugh at those people:
7 “Look at them! They didn’t make God their refuge.
Instead, they trusted in their own great wealth.
They sought refuge in it—to their own destruction!”
8 But I am like a green olive tree in God’s house;
I trust in God’s faithful love forever and always.
9 I will give thanks to you, God, forever,
because you have acted.
In the presence of your faithful people,
I will hope in your name because it’s so good.
Psalm 44
For the music leader. A maskil[a] of the Korahites.
44 We have heard it, God, with our own ears;
our ancestors told us about it:
about the deeds you did in their days,
in days long past.
2 You, by your own hand, removed all the nations,
but you planted our ancestors.
You crushed all the peoples,
but you set our ancestors free.
3 No, not by their own swords
did they take possession of the land—
their own arms didn’t save them.
No, it was your strong hand, your arm,
and the light of your face
because you were pleased with them.
4 It’s you, God! You who are my king,
the one who orders salvation for Jacob.
5 We’ve pushed our foes away by your help;
we’ve trampled our enemies by your name.
6 No, I won’t trust in my bow;
my sword won’t save me
7 because it’s you who saved us from our foes,
you who put those who hate us to shame.
8 So we glory in God at all times
and give thanks to your name forever. Selah
9 But now you’ve rejected and humiliated us.
You no longer accompany our armies.
10 You make us retreat from the enemy;
our adversaries plunder us.
11 You’ve handed us over like sheep for butchering;
you’ve scattered us among the nations.
12 You’ve sold your people for nothing,
not even bothering to set a decent price.
13 You’ve made us a joke to all our neighbors;
we’re mocked and ridiculed by everyone around us.
14 You’ve made us a bad joke to the nations,
something to be laughed at by all peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace confronts me,
and shame covers my face
16 because of the voices of those
who make fun of me and bad-mouth me,
because of the enemy who is out for revenge.
17 All this has come upon us,
but we haven’t forgotten you
or broken your covenant.
18 Our hearts haven’t turned away,
neither have our steps strayed from your way.
19 But you’ve crushed us in the place where jackals[b] live,
covering us with deepest darkness.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or spread out our hands to some strange deity,
21 wouldn’t God have discovered it?
After all, God knows every secret of the heart.
22 No, God, it’s because of you that we are getting killed every day—
it’s because of you that we are considered sheep ready for slaughter.
23 Wake up! Why are you sleeping, Lord?
Get up! Don’t reject us forever!
24 Why are you hiding your face,
forgetting our suffering and oppression?
25 Look: we’re going down to the dust;
our stomachs are flat on the ground!
26 Stand up! Help us!
Save us for the sake of your faithful love.
Abram rescues Lot
14 While Amraphel was king of Shinar, Ellasar’s King Arioch, Elam’s King Chedorlaomer, and Goiim’s King Tidal 2 declared war on Sodom’s King Bera, Gomorrah’s King Birsha, Admah’s King Shinab, Zeboiim’s King Shemeber, and the king of Bela, that is, Zoar. 3 These latter kings formed an alliance in the Siddim Valley (that is, the Dead Sea[a]). 4 For twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, and in the thirteenth year they revolted. 5 In the fourteenth year, Chedorlaomer and the kings of his alliance came and attacked the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim, the Zuzim in Ham, the Emim in Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6 and the Horites in the mountains of Seir as far as El-paran near the desert. 7 Then they turned back, came to En-mishpat (that is, Kadesh), and attacked the territory of the Amalekites, as well as the Amorites who lived in Hazazon-tamar.
8 Then the kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bera (that is, Zoar) took up battle positions in the Siddim Valley 9 against King Chedorlaomer of Elam, King Tidal of Goiim, King Amraphel of Shinar, and King Arioch of Ellasar, four kings against five.
10 Now the Siddim Valley was filled with tar pits. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah retreated, they fell into them; and the rest fled to the mountains. 11 They took everything from Sodom and Gomorrah, including its food supplies, and left. 12 They also took Lot, Abram’s nephew who lived in Sodom, and everything he owned, and took off. 13 When a survivor arrived, he told Abram the Hebrew, who lived near the oaks of the Amorite Mamre, who was the brother of Eshcol and Aner, Abram’s treaty partners.
14 When Abram heard that his relative had been captured, he took all of the loyal men born in his household, three hundred eighteen, and went after them as far as Dan. 15 During the night, he and his servants divided themselves up against them, attacked, and chased them to Hobah, north of Damascus. 16 He brought back all of the looted property, together with his relative Lot and Lot’s property, wives, and people.
Abram blessed by Melchizedek
17 After Abram returned from his attack on Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom came out to the Shaveh Valley (that is, the King’s Valley) to meet him. 18 Now Melchizedek the king of Salem and the priest of El Elyon[b] had brought bread and wine, 19 and he blessed him,
“Bless Abram by El Elyon,
creator of heaven and earth;
20 bless El Elyon,
who gave you the victory over your enemies.”
Abram gave Melchizedek one-tenth of everything. 21 Then the king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give me the people and take the property for yourself.”
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I promised the Lord, El Elyon, creator of heaven and earth, 23 that I wouldn’t take even a thread or a sandal strap from anything that was yours so that you couldn’t say, ‘I’m the one who made Abram rich.’ 24 The only exception is that the young men may keep whatever they have taken to eat, and the men who went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre—may keep their share.”
Meeting tents, sacrifices, and covenants
8 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We have this kind of high priest. He sat down at the right side of the throne of the majesty in the heavens. 2 He’s serving as a priest in the holy place, which is the true meeting tent that God, not any human being, set up. 3 Every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices. So it’s necessary for this high priest also to have something to offer. 4 If he was located on earth, he wouldn’t be a priest because there are already others who offer gifts based on the Law. 5 They serve in a place that is a copy and shadow of the heavenly meeting tent. This is indicated when Moses was warned by God when he was about to set up the meeting tent: See that you follow the pattern that I showed you on the mountain in every detail.[a] 6 But now, Jesus has received a superior priestly service just as he arranged a better covenant that is enacted with better promises.
7 If the first covenant had been without fault, it wouldn’t have made sense to expect a second. 8 But God did find fault with them, since he says,
Look, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a covenant with the house of Israel,
and I will make a new covenant with the house of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors
on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt,
because they did not continue to keep my covenant,
and I lost interest in them, says the Lord.
10 This is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
after those days, says the Lord.
I will place my laws in their minds,
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 And each person won’t ever teach a neighbor
or their brother or sister, saying, “Know the Lord,”
because they will all know me,
from the least important of them to the most important;
12 because I will be lenient toward their unjust actions,
and I won’t remember their sins anymore.[b]
13 When it says new, it makes the first obsolete. And if something is old and outdated, it’s close to disappearing.
Jesus arrives in Galilee
43 After two days Jesus left for Galilee. (44 Jesus himself had testified that prophets have no honor in their own country.) 45 When he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him because they had seen all the things he had done in Jerusalem during the festival, for they also had been at the festival.
Jesus’ second miraculous sign in Galilee
46 He returned to Cana in Galilee where he had turned the water into wine. In Capernaum there was a certain royal official whose son was sick. 47 When he heard that Jesus was coming from Judea to Galilee, he went out to meet him and asked Jesus if he would come and heal his son, for his son was about to die. 48 Jesus said to him, “Unless you see miraculous signs and wonders, you won’t believe.”
49 The royal official said to him, “Lord, come before my son dies.”
50 Jesus replied, “Go home. Your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and set out for his home.
51 While he was on his way, his servants were already coming to meet him. They said, “Your son lives!” 52 So he asked them at what time his son had started to get better. And they said, “The fever left him yesterday at about one o’clock in the afternoon.” 53 Then the father realized that this was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son lives.” And he and his entire household believed in Jesus. 54 This was the second miraculous sign Jesus did while going from Judea to Galilee.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible