Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 83
Prayer against Enemies
A song. A psalm of Asaph.(A)
1 God, do not keep silent.
Do not be deaf, God; do not be idle.(B)
2 See how Your enemies make an uproar;
those who hate You have acted arrogantly.[a](C)
3 They devise clever schemes against Your people;
they conspire against Your treasured ones.(D)
4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation
so that Israel’s name will no longer be remembered.”(E)
5 For they have conspired with one mind;
they form an alliance[b] against You(F)—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,(G)
Moab and the Hagrites,(H)
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,(I)
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre.(J)
8 Even Assyria has joined them;
they lend support[c] to the sons of Lot.[d](K)
9 Deal with them as You did with Midian,(L)
as You did with Sisera
and Jabin at the Kishon River.(M)
10 They were destroyed at En-dor;
they became manure for the ground.(N)
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,(O)
and all their tribal leaders like Zebah and Zalmunna,(P)
12 who said, “Let us seize God’s pastures for ourselves.”(Q)
13 Make them like tumbleweed, my God,
like straw before the wind.(R)
14 As fire burns a forest,
as a flame blazes through mountains,(S)
15 so pursue them with Your tempest
and terrify them with Your storm.(T)
16 Cover their faces with shame
so that they will seek Your name Yahweh.(U)
17 Let them be put to shame and terrified forever;
let them perish in disgrace.(V)
18 May they know that You alone—
whose name is Yahweh—
are the Most High over all the earth.(W)
Psalm 146
The God of Compassion
1 Hallelujah!
My soul, praise the Lord.(A)
2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing to my God as long as I live.(B)
3 Do not trust in nobles,
in man, who cannot save.(C)
4 When his breath[a] leaves him,
he returns to the ground;
on that day his plans die.(D)
5 Happy is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord his God,(E)
6 the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea and everything in them.(F)
He remains faithful forever,(G)
7 executing justice for the exploited
and giving food to the hungry.(H)
The Lord frees prisoners.(I)
8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.(J)
The Lord raises up those who are oppressed.[b](K)
The Lord loves the righteous.(L)
9 The Lord protects foreigners
and helps the fatherless and the widow,(M)
but He frustrates the ways of the wicked.(N)
10 The Lord reigns forever;
Zion, your God reigns for all generations.(O)
Hallelujah!
Psalm 147
God Restores Jerusalem
1 Hallelujah!
How good it is to sing to our God,
for praise is pleasant and lovely.(P)
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem;(Q)
He gathers Israel’s exiled people.(R)
3 He heals the brokenhearted
and binds up their wounds.(S)
4 He counts the number of the stars;
He gives names to all of them.(T)
5 Our Lord is great, vast in power;
His understanding is infinite.[c](U)
6 The Lord helps the afflicted
but brings the wicked to the ground.(V)
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
play the lyre to our God,(W)
8 who covers the sky with clouds,
prepares rain for the earth,
and causes grass to grow on the hills.(X)
9 He provides the animals with their food,
and the young ravens, what they cry for.(Y)
10 He is not impressed by the strength of a horse;
He does not value the power[d] of a man.(Z)
11 The Lord values those who fear Him,
those who put their hope in His faithful love.(AA)
12 Exalt the Lord, Jerusalem;
praise your God, Zion!(AB)
13 For He strengthens the bars of your gates
and blesses your children within you.(AC)
14 He endows your territory with prosperity;[e](AD)
He satisfies you with the finest wheat.(AE)
Psalm 85
Restoration of Favor
For the choir director. A psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 Lord, You showed favor to Your land;(A)
You restored Jacob’s prosperity.[a](B)
2 You took away Your people’s guilt;
You covered all their sin.(C)
3 You withdrew all Your fury;
You turned from Your burning anger.(D)
4 Return to us, God of our salvation,
and abandon Your displeasure with us.(E)
5 Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger for all generations?(F)
6 Will You not revive us again
so that Your people may rejoice in You?(G)
7 Show us Your faithful love, Lord,
and give us Your salvation.(H)
8 I will listen to what God will say;
surely the Lord will declare peace
to His people, His godly ones,
and not let them go back to foolish ways.(I)
9 His salvation is very near those who fear Him,
so that glory may dwell in our land.(J)
10 Faithful love and truth will join together;
righteousness and peace will embrace.(K)
11 Truth will spring up from the earth,
and righteousness will look down from heaven.(L)
12 Also, the Lord will provide what is good,
and our land will yield its crops.(M)
13 Righteousness will go before Him
to prepare the way for His steps.(N)
Psalm 86
Lament and Petition
A Davidic prayer.
1 Listen, Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.(O)
2 Protect my life, for I am faithful.(P)
You are my God; save Your servant who trusts in You.(Q)
3 Be gracious to me, Lord,
for I call to You all day long.(R)
4 Bring joy to Your servant’s life,
because I turn to You, Lord.(S)
5 For You, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive,(T)
rich in faithful love to all who call on You.(U)
6 Lord, hear my prayer;
listen to my plea for mercy.(V)
7 I call on You in the day of my distress,
for You will answer me.(W)
8 Lord, there is no one like You among the gods,
and there are no works like Yours.(X)
9 All the nations You have made
will come and bow down before You, Lord,
and will honor Your name.(Y)
10 For You are great and perform wonders;
You alone are God.(Z)
11 Teach me Your way, Yahweh,
and I will live by Your truth.
Give me an undivided mind to fear Your name.(AA)
12 I will praise You with all my heart, Lord my God,
and will honor Your name forever.(AB)
13 For Your faithful love for me is great,
and You deliver my life from the depths of Sheol.(AC)
14 God, arrogant people have attacked me;
a gang of ruthless men seeks my life.
They have no regard for You.(AD)
15 But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth.(AE)
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me.
Give Your strength to Your servant;
save the son of Your female servant.(AF)
17 Show me a sign of Your goodness;
my enemies will see and be put to shame
because You, Lord, have helped and comforted me.(AG)
Haman Is Executed
7 The king and Haman came to feast[a](A) with Esther the queen. 2 Once again, on the second day while drinking wine,(B) the king asked Esther, “Queen Esther, whatever you ask will be given to you. Whatever you seek, even to half the kingdom, will be done.”(C)
3 Queen Esther answered, “If I have obtained your approval,[b] my king, and if the king is pleased,(D) spare my life—this is my request; and spare my people—this is my desire.(E) 4 For my people and I have been sold out(F) to destruction, death, and extermination.(G) If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves,(H) I would have kept silent. Indeed, the trouble wouldn’t be worth burdening the king.”
5 King Ahasuerus spoke up and asked Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is the one who would devise such a scheme?”[c](I)
6 Esther answered, “The adversary and enemy(J) is this evil Haman.”
Haman stood terrified(K) before the king and queen. 7 Angered(L) by this, the king arose from where they were drinking wine and went to the palace garden.(M) Haman remained to beg Queen Esther for his life because he realized the king was planning something terrible for him.(N) 8 Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the house of wine drinking, Haman was falling on the couch(O) where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Would he actually violate the queen while I am in the palace?” As soon as the statement left the king’s mouth, Haman’s face was covered.(P)
9 Harbona, one of the royal eunuchs,(Q) said: “There is a gallows 75 feet[d] tall at Haman’s house that he made for Mordecai,(R) who gave the report that saved[e] the king.”(S)
The king commanded, “Hang him on it.”
10 They hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai.(T) Then the king’s anger subsided.(U)
Demonism Defeated at Ephesus
11 God was performing extraordinary miracles by Paul’s hands, 12 so that even facecloths or work aprons[a] that had touched his skin were brought to the sick, and the diseases left them, and the evil spirits came out of them.(A)
13 Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I command you by the Jesus that Paul preaches!”(B) 14 Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this. 15 The evil spirit answered them, “I know Jesus, and I recognize Paul—but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit leaped on them, overpowered them all, and prevailed against them, so that they ran out of that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. Then fear fell on all of them, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.(C) 18 And many who had become believers came confessing and disclosing their practices, 19 while many of those who had practiced magic collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. So they calculated their value and found it to be 50,000 pieces of silver. 20 In this way the Lord’s message flourished and prevailed.(D)
Ministry in Galilee
14 Then Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit,(A) and news about Him spread throughout the entire vicinity.(B) 15 He was teaching in their synagogues,(C) being acclaimed[a] by everyone.
Rejection at Nazareth
16 He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up.(D) As usual, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath day(E) and stood up to read.(F) 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him, and unrolling the scroll, He found the place where it was written:
18 The Spirit of the Lord is on Me,
because He has anointed Me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent Me[b]
to proclaim freedom[c] to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free the oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.[d](G)[e]
20 He then rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down.(H) And the eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 He began by saying to them, “Today as you listen, this Scripture has been fulfilled.”
22 They were all speaking well of Him[f] and were amazed by the gracious words that came from His mouth, yet they said, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”(I)
23 Then He said to them, “No doubt you will quote this proverb[g] to Me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. So all we’ve heard that took place in Capernaum,(J) do here in Your hometown also.’”
24 He also said, “I assure you: No prophet is accepted in his hometown.(K) 25 But I say to you, there were certainly many widows in Israel in Elijah’s days,(L) when the sky was shut up for three years and six months while a great famine came over all the land. 26 Yet Elijah was not sent to any of them—but to a widow at Zarephath in Sidon. 27 And in the prophet Elisha’s time, there were many in Israel who had serious skin diseases, yet not one of them was healed[h] —only Naaman the Syrian.”(M)
28 When they heard this, everyone in the synagogue was enraged. 29 They got up, drove Him out of town,(N) and brought Him to the edge[i] of the hill that their town was built on, intending to hurl Him over the cliff. 30 But He passed right through the crowd and went on His way.(O)
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