Book of Common Prayer
Praise to God for His Loyal Love
118 Give thanks to Yahweh for he is good,
for his loyal love is forever.
2 Let Israel say,
“His loyal love is forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say,
“His loyal love is forever.”
4 Let those who fear Yahweh say,
“His loyal love is forever.”
5 Out of my distress I called to Yah.[a]
Yah answered me, setting me in a broad place.
6 Yahweh is for me; I do not fear.
What can mere humans[b] do to me?
7 Yahweh is for me as my helper,
and so I will look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh
than to trust in humans.[c]
9 It is better to take refuge in Yahweh
than to trust princes.
10 All nations surrounded me.
In the name of Yahweh I opposed them indeed.
11 They surrounded me; yes, they surrounded me.
In the name of Yahweh I opposed them indeed.
12 They surrounded me like bees;
they were extinguished like a fire of thorns.
In the name of Yahweh I opposed them indeed.
13 You pushed me hard[d] to make me fall,
but Yahweh helped me.
14 Yah[e] is my strength and my song,[f]
and he has become my salvation.[g]
15 The sound of rejoicing and salvation[h]
is in the tents of the righteous;
the right hand of Yahweh has done valiantly.
16 The right hand of Yahweh has exalted;
the right hand of Yahweh has done valiantly.
17 I will not die but live,
and tell of the works of Yah.[i]
18 Yah has disciplined me severely,
but he did not consign[j] me to death.
19 Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to Yah.[k]
20 This is the gate of Yahweh,
through which the righteous will enter.
21 I will give thanks to you for you have answered me,
and you have become my salvation.[l]
22 The stone the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
23 This is from Yahweh;
it is wonderful in our eyes.
24 This is the day Yahweh has worked;[m]
let us rejoice and be glad in him.[n]
25 O Yahweh, please save;
O Yahweh, please grant success.
26 Blessed is he who comes in the name of Yahweh.
We bless you[o] from the house[p] of Yahweh.
27 Yahweh is God, and he has given us light.[q]
Bind the festal sacrifice[r] with cords[s]
to the horns[t] of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I will give thanks to you.
You are my God; I will exalt you.
29 Give thanks to Yahweh for he is good,
for his loyal love is forever.
A Song of God’s Majesty and Love
A praise of David.[a]
145 I will exalt you, my God, O king,
and I will bless[b] your name forever and ever.
2 Every day I will bless you
and praise your name forever and ever.
3 Great is Yahweh, and very worthy of praise,
and his greatness is unsearchable.
4 One generation will laud your works to another,
and will declare your mighty deeds.
5 On the splendor of the glory of your majesty,
and on your wonderful deeds, I will meditate.
6 And they will speak of the power of your awesome deeds,[c]
and I will tell of your greatness.[d]
7 They will utter [e] the renown of your abundant goodness,
and they will proclaim with joy your righteousness.
8 Yahweh is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger[f] and great in loyal love.
9 Yahweh is good to all,
and his mercies are over all his works.
10 All your works will praise you, O Yahweh,
and your faithful ones will bless[g] you.
11 They will speak of the glory of your kingdom,
and talk of your power,
12 to make known to the children of humankind his mighty deeds,
and the glory of the majesty of his kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom,
and your dominion endures throughout all generations.[h]
14 Yahweh upholds all who are falling,
and raises up all who are bowed down.
15 The eyes of all look hopefully to you,
and you give them their food in due time,
16 opening your hand,
and satisfying the desire of every living creature.
17 Yahweh is righteous in all his ways,
and loyal in all his works.
18 Yahweh is near to all who call on him,
to all who call on him in truth.
19 He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;
he also hears their cry for help, and saves them.
20 Yahweh protects all those who love him,
but all the wicked he will exterminate.
21 My mouth will speak the praise of Yahweh,
and all flesh will bless his holy name
forever and ever.
Hushai Frustrates the Counsel of Ahithophel
17 Then Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Please let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will set out and pursue after David tonight.[a] 2 I will come upon him while he is weary and weak.[b] I will startle him, and all of the people who are with him will flee. Then I will strike down the king while he is alone. 3 Then I will return all the people to you; when all have returned, the man whom you are seeking will be dead,[c] but all the people will be safe.” 4 The word was right in the eyes of Absalom and in the eyes of all the elders of Israel. 5 Then Absalom said, “Please call also for Hushai the Arkite, and let us hear what he has to say[d] also.” 6 So Hushai came to Absalom, who said to him, “Shall we do according to this word that Ahithophel has spoken? If not, then you tell us.” 7 Then Hushai said to Absalom, “The counsel that Ahithophel gave is not good at this time.”[e] 8 Hushai continued, “You know your father and his men, that they are mighty warriors and they are enraged[f] as a bear robbed of her offspring in the field. Your father is a man of war, so he will not spend the night with the troops. 9 Now he has hidden himself in one of the caves or in one of the places. At the moment he falls on them[g] the first time, whoever hears[h] the report will say, ‘There has been a defeat among the people who follow after Absalom.’ 10 And he is also a valiant warrior,[i] whose heart is like the heart of the lion. He[j] will certainly melt[k] with fear, for all Israel knows that your father is a mighty warrior and those who are with him are valiant warriors.[l] 11 I give the advice that all of Israel from Dan to Beersheba should be completely gathered to you, as the sand which is on the seashore for abundance, with you personally[m] going into the battle. 12 Then we will come to him in one of the places where he may be found, and we shall come upon him as the dew falls on the ground. He and all the men who are with him will not survive, not even one! 13 Even if he withdraws to a city, all Israel will bring up ropes to that city, and they will drag him away to the valley until there is not even a pebble to be found.” 14 Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Arkite is better than the advice of Ahithophel.” (Now Yahweh had ordained to frustrate the good counsel of Ahithophel in order for Yahweh to bring misery upon Absalom).
Hushai Sends Word to David
15 Hushai said to Zadok and to Abiathar the priests, “Thus and so[n] Ahithophel advised Absalom and the elders of Israel, but thus and so[o] I have advised. 16 So then, send quickly and tell David, ‘Don’t spend the night at the fords of the wilderness! Moreover, by all means cross over lest the king and all the people who are with him be swallowed up.’” 17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying at En Rogel, so a servant girl used to go and tell them, then they would go and tell King David, for they were not able to be seen coming to the city. 18 But a young man saw them and told Absalom, so both of them went quickly and came to the house of a man at Bahurim. Now he had a well in his courtyard, so they went down there. 19 Then the woman took and spread a covering over the opening of the well; then she spread out dried grain on it, so nothing was discovered. 20 When the servants of Absalom came to the woman at the house, they said, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” And she said to them, “They crossed over the brook of water.” So they searched but could not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem. 21 After they left, they came up from the well and went and told King David. They said to David, “Set out and cross over the water quickly, for thus Ahithophel has advised against you.” 22 So David and all the people who were with him set out, and they crossed over the Jordan until morning light until there was no one[p] missing who had not crossed over the Jordan. 23 When Ahithophel saw that his advice was not followed, he saddled the donkey, and he set out and went up to his house in his city. After he set his house in order,[q] he hanged himself, and he died and was buried in the tomb of his ancestors.[r]
6 Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, 7 then understand that the ones who have faith[a], these are sons of Abraham. 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the good news in advance to Abraham: “In you all the nations[b] will be blessed.”[c] 9 So then, the ones who have faith are blessed together with Abraham who believed. 10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse, for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not abide by all the things that are written in the book of the law to do them.”[d] 11 Now it is clear that no one is justified in the sight of God by the law, because “the one who is righteous will live by faith.”[e] 12 But the law is not from faith, but “the one who does these things will live by them.”[f]
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by[g] becoming a curse for us, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree,”[h] 14 in order that the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, so that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
30 I am able to do nothing from myself. Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.
Further Testimony About the Son
31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony which he testifies about me is true. 33 You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34 (And I do not receive testimony from people, but I say these things in order that you may be saved.) 35 That one was the lamp which was burning and shining, and you wanted to rejoice for an hour in his light.
36 “But I have a testimony greater than John’s, for the works which the Father has given to me that I should complete them—the very works which I am doing—these testify about me, that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me, that one has testified about me. You have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his form. 38 And you do not have his word residing in yourselves, because the one whom that one sent, in this one you do not believe. 39 You search[a] the scriptures because you think that you have eternal life in them, and it is these that testify about me. 40 And you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.
41 “I do not accept glory[b] from people, 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me. If another should come in his own name, you would accept that one! 44 How are you able to believe, if you[c] accept glory from one another, and do not seek the glory which is from the only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father! The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have put your hope! 46 For if you had believed Moses, you would believe me, for that one wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe that one’s writings, how will you believe my words?”
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