Book of Common Prayer
72 O God, help the king to judge as you would, and help his son to walk in godliness. 2 Help him to give justice to your people, even to the poor. 3 May the mountains and hills flourish in prosperity because of his good reign. 4 Help him to defend the poor and needy and to crush their oppressors. 5 May the poor and needy revere you constantly, as long as sun and moon continue in the skies! Yes, forever!
6 May the reign of this son of mine[a] be as gentle and fruitful as the springtime rains upon the grass—like showers that water the earth! 7 May all good men flourish in his reign with abundance of peace to the end of time.
8 Let him reign from sea to sea and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth. 9 The desert nomads shall bow before him; his enemies shall fall face downward in the dust. 10 Kings along the Mediterranean coast—the kings of Tarshish and the islands—and those from Sheba and from Seba—all will bring their gifts. 11 Yes, kings from everywhere! All will bow before him! All will serve him!
12 He will take care of the helpless and poor when they cry to him; for they have no one else to defend them. 13 He feels pity for the weak and needy and will rescue them. 14 He will save them from oppression and from violence, for their lives are precious to him.
15 And he shall live; and to him will be given the gold of Sheba, and there will be constant praise for him.[b] His people will bless him all day long. 16 Bless us with abundant crops throughout the land, even on the highland plains; may there be fruit like that of Lebanon; may the cities be as full of people as the fields are of grass. 17 His name will be honored forever; it will continue as the sun; and all will be blessed in him; all nations will praise him.
18 Blessed be Jehovah God, the God of Israel, who only does wonderful things! 19 Blessed be his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen!
20 (This ends the psalms of David, son of Jesse.)
73 You made my body, Lord; now give me sense to heed your laws. 74 All those who fear and trust in you will welcome me because I too am trusting in your Word.
75-77 I know, O Lord, that your decisions are right and that your punishment was right and did me good. Now let your loving-kindness comfort me, just as you promised. Surround me with your tender mercies that I may live. For your law is my delight.
78 Let the proud be disgraced, for they have cut me down with all their lies. But I will concentrate my thoughts upon your laws.
79 Let all others join me who trust and fear you, and we will discuss your laws. 80 Help me to love your every wish; then I will never have to be ashamed of myself.
81 I faint for your salvation; but I expect your help, for you have promised it. 82 My eyes are straining to see your promises come true. When will you comfort me with your help? 83 I am shriveled like a wineskin in the smoke, exhausted with waiting. But still I cling to your laws and obey them. 84 How long must I wait before you punish those who persecute me? 85-86 These proud men who hate your truth and laws have dug deep pits for me to fall in. Their lies have brought me into deep trouble. Help me, for you love only truth. 87 They had almost finished me off, yet I refused to yield and disobey your laws. 88 In your kindness, spare my life; then I can continue to obey you.
89 Forever, O Lord, your Word stands firm in heaven. 90-91 Your faithfulness extends to every generation, like the earth you created; it endures by your decree, for everything serves your plans.
92 I would have despaired and perished unless your laws had been my deepest delight. 93 I will never lay aside your laws, for you have used them to restore my joy and health. 94 I am yours! Save me! For I have tried to live according to your desires. 95 Though the wicked hide along the way to kill me, I will quietly keep my mind upon your promises.
96 Nothing is perfect except your words.
12 the people of Israel turned once again to their sinful ways, so God helped King Eglon of Moab to conquer part of Israel at that time. 13 Allied with him were the armies of the Ammonites and the Amalekites. These forces defeated the Israelis and took possession of Jericho, often called “The City of Palm Trees.” 14 For the next eighteen years the people of Israel were required to pay crushing taxes to King Eglon.
15 But when they cried to the Lord, he sent them a savior, Ehud (son of Gera, a Benjaminite), who was left-handed. Ehud was the man chosen to carry Israel’s annual tax money to the Moabite capital. 16 Before he went on this journey, he made himself a double-edged dagger eighteen inches long and hid it in his clothing, strapped against his right thigh. 17-19 After delivering the money to King Eglon (who, by the way, was very fat!), he started home again. But outside the city, at the quarries of Gilgal, he sent his companions on and returned alone to the king.
“I have a secret message for you,” he told him.
The king immediately dismissed all those who were with him so that he could have a private interview. 20 Ehud walked over to him as he was sitting in a cool upstairs room and said to him, “It is a message from God!”
King Eglon stood up at once to receive it, 21 whereupon Ehud reached beneath his robe with his strong left hand, pulled out the double-bladed dagger strapped against his right thigh, and plunged it deep into the king’s belly. 22-23 The hilt of the dagger disappeared beneath the flesh, and the fat closed over it as the entrails oozed out. Leaving the dagger there, Ehud locked the doors behind him and escaped across an upstairs porch.
24 When the king’s servants returned and saw that the doors were locked, they waited, thinking that perhaps he was using the bathroom. 25 But when, after a long time, he still didn’t come out, they became concerned and got a key. And when they opened the door, they found their master dead on the floor.
26 Meanwhile Ehud had escaped past the quarries to Seirah. 27 When he arrived in the hill country of Ephraim, he blew a trumpet as a call to arms and mustered an army under his own command.
28 “Follow me,” he told them, “for the Lord has put your enemies, the Moabites, at your mercy!”
The army then proceeded to seize the fords of the Jordan River near Moab, preventing anyone from crossing. 29 Then they attacked the Moabites and killed about ten thousand of the strongest and most skillful of their fighting men, letting not one escape. 30 So Moab was conquered by Israel that day, and the land was at peace for the next eighty years.
1 1-2 Dear friend who loves God:
In my first letter[a] I told you about Jesus’ life and teachings and how he returned to heaven after giving his chosen apostles further instructions from the Holy Spirit. 3 During the forty days after his crucifixion he appeared to the apostles from time to time, actually alive, and proved to them in many ways that it was really he himself they were seeing. And on these occasions he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.
4 In one of these meetings he told them not to leave Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them in fulfillment of the Father’s promise, a matter he had previously discussed with them.
5 “John baptized you with water,”[b] he reminded them, “but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit in just a few days.”
6 And another time when he appeared to them, they asked him, “Lord, are you going to free Israel from Rome[c] now and restore us as an independent nation?”
7 “The Father sets those dates,” he replied, “and they are not for you to know. 8 But when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power to testify about me with great effect, to the people in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth, about my death and resurrection.”
9 It was not long afterwards that he rose into the sky and disappeared into a cloud, leaving them staring after him. 10 As they were straining their eyes for another glimpse, suddenly two white-robed men were standing there among them, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here staring at the sky? Jesus has gone away to heaven, and some day, just as he went, he will return!”
12 They were at the Mount of Olives when this happened, so now they walked the half mile back to Jerusalem 13 and held a prayer meeting in an upstairs room of the house where they were staying.
Here is the list of those who were present at the meeting: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (also called “The Zealot”), Judas (son of James), and the brothers of Jesus. 14 Several women, including Jesus’ mother, were also there.
45 That afternoon, the whole earth[a] was covered with darkness for three hours, from noon until three o’clock.
46 About three o’clock, Jesus shouted, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” which means, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”
47 Some of the bystanders misunderstood and thought he was calling for Elijah. 48 One of them ran and filled a sponge with sour wine and put it on a stick and held it up to him to drink. 49 But the rest said, “Leave him alone. Let’s see whether Elijah will come and save him.”
50 Then Jesus shouted out again, dismissed his spirit, and died.
51 And look! The curtain secluding the Holiest Place[b] in the Temple was split apart from top to bottom; and the earth shook, and rocks broke, 52 and tombs opened, and many godly men and women who had died came back to life again. 53 After Jesus’ resurrection, they left the cemetery and went into Jerusalem, and appeared to many people there.
54 The soldiers at the crucifixion and their sergeant were terribly frightened by the earthquake and all that happened. They exclaimed, “Surely this was God’s Son.”[c]
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.