Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 83
Surrounded by Enemies
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A song. A psalm by Asaph.
Opening Plea
1 God, do not keep silent.
Do not be deaf. Do not be quiet, God.
A Catalog of Enemies
2 Look! Your enemies are in an uproar,
and those who hate you have raised their head.
3 Against your people they devise deceptive schemes,
and they plot together against the people you treasure.
4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation,
so the name of Israel will not be remembered anymore.”
5 Indeed, with one mind they plot together.
They form an alliance against you—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Gebal[a] and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia, with the inhabitants of Tyre.
8 Even Ashshur has joined with them. Interlude
They have become the arm of the sons of Lot.[b]
Prayer for Destruction of the Enemies
9 Do to them as you did to Midian,
as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the stream Kishon.
10 They perished at Endor.
They became like manure for the ground.
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and like Zeeb,
all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let us take possession of God’s pastures for ourselves.”
13 My God, make them like tumbleweed,
like chaff before the wind.
14 As fire burns the forest,
or as a flame sets the mountains on fire,
15 so pursue them with your violent wind,
and terrify them with your storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame
so that they will seek your name, O Lord.
17 May they be ashamed and terrified forever.
May they be disgraced and perish.
18 Let them know that you, whose name is the Lord,
you alone are the Most High over all the earth.
Psalm 146
Praise Him for Protection
Praise for Protection
1 Praise the Lord.[a]
A Lifetime of Praise
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
2 I will praise the Lord as long as I live.
I will make music to my God as long as I exist.
No Help in Humans
3 Do not trust in human helpers,[b]
in a mortal man who cannot save you.
4 His spirit departs.
He returns to the ground he came from.
On that day, his plans have perished.
Help in the Lord
5 Blessed is everyone who has the God of Jacob as his help.
His hope is in the Lord his God,
6 the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything which is in them.
He is the one who stays faithful forever.
7 He obtains justice for the oppressed.
He gives food to the hungry.
The Lord releases prisoners.
8 The Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down.
The Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the aliens.
The fatherless and the widow he sustains,
but he turns aside the way of the wicked.
An Eternity for Praise
10 The Lord reigns forever.
Your God, O Zion, rules for all generations.
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 147
Praise Him for Providing for His People
The Creator Restores His People
1 Praise the Lord.[c]
How good it is to make music to our God.
Yes, praise is pleasant and fitting!
2 The one who builds Jerusalem is the Lord.
He assembles the outcasts of Israel.
3 He is the one who heals the brokenhearted
and who bandages their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars.
He calls them all by name.
5 Great is our Lord and mighty in power.
To his understanding there is no limit.
6 The one who sustains the humble is the Lord.
He pushes the wicked down to the ground.
The Creator Loves His People
7 Respond to the Lord with thanksgiving.
Make music to our God on the lyre.
8 He is the one who covers the sky with clouds.
He determines rain for the earth.
He makes grass sprout on the mountains.
9 He gives their food to the cattle
and to the young ravens when they call.
10 He is not impressed by the strength of the horse.
He is not pleased with the legs of a man.
11 The Lord is pleased with those who fear him,
those who wait for his mercy.
The Creator Reveals His Word
12 Worship the Lord, O Jerusalem.
Praise your God, O Zion,
13 because he strengthens the bars on your gates.
He blesses your children within you.
14 He brings peace to your borders.
He satisfies you with the best wheat.
15 He sends his message to the earth.
His word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool.
He scatters frost like ashes.
17 He sends his hail like pieces of bread.
Who can stand in the face of his cold winds?
18 He sends his word, and the ice melts.
He breathes on the snow.[d] The waters flow.[e]
19 He reveals his words to Jacob,
his statutes and his judgments to Israel.
20 He has not done this for any other nation.
They do not know his judgments.
Praise the Lord.
Psalm 85
You Showed Favor to Your Land
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For the choir director. By the Sons of Korah. A psalm.
Past Goodness
1 You showed favor to your land, O Lord.
You restored Jacob.
2 You removed the guilt of your people. Interlude
You covered all their sin.
3 You put away all your wrath.
You turned from your burning anger.
Present Distress
4 Restore us, O God who saves us.
Put an end to your indignation with us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you extend your anger through all generations?
6 Will you not turn and revive us,
so that your people may rejoice in you?
Hope for the Future
7 Show us your mercy, O Lord,
and give us your salvation.
8 I will hear what the true God, the Lord, will say.
He indeed speaks peace to his people, to his favored ones,
but do not let them turn to foolish ways.
9 Surely his salvation is near for those who fear him,
so that glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth meet together.
Righteousness and peace kiss each other.
11 Truth springs up from the earth,
and righteousness looks down from heaven.
12 The Lord will indeed give good things,
and our land will yield its harvest.
13 Righteousness walks in front of him.
It prepares the way for his footsteps.
Psalm 86
Guard My Life
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A prayer by David.
David’s Need and David’s Faith
1 Turn your ear, O Lord.
Answer me, for I am poor and needy.
2 Guard my life, for I am favored by you.[a]
You are my God.
Save your servant, who trusts in you.
3 Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I call to you all day long.
4 Bring joy to the soul of your servant,
for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
God’s Grace
5 Indeed, you, Lord, are good and forgiving
and abounding in mercy to all who call to you.
6 Give ear to my prayer, O Lord.
Pay attention to the sound of my cries for mercy.
God’s Ruling Power
7 In the day of my distress I will call to you,
because you will answer me.
8 There is no one like you among the gods, O Lord.
There are no deeds like your deeds.
9 All the nations you have made will come.
They will bow before you, O Lord,
and they will give glory to your name,
10 because you are great and do marvelous deeds.
You alone are God.
God’s Praise
11 Teach me your way, O Lord.
I will walk in your truth.
Give me wholehearted commitment to fear your name.
12 I will thank you, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
and I will glorify your name forever.
13 For great is your mercy toward me,
and you have delivered my soul from “the lowest hell.”[b]
The Plea Repeated
14 God, the arrogant rise against me.
A mob of ruthless men seeks my life.
They pay no attention to you.
15 But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger, abounding in mercy and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me.
Give your strength to your servant.
Save the son of your maidservant.
17 Give a sign of your goodness for me.
Then those who hate me will see it and be put to shame,
because you, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
7 So the king and Haman went to the feast with Queen Esther.
2 On the second day, when they were again drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your request, Queen Esther? It will be given to you. What are you seeking? Up to half of the kingdom—it’s yours.”
3 Queen Esther responded, “My King, if I have found favor in your eyes, and if it pleases the king, I am asking that my life be spared, and I am seeking the lives of my people, 4 because I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. If we were merely being sold to be male and female slaves, I would have remained silent, because that would not have been bad enough to be a reason to bother the king.”
5 King Xerxes spoke up. He said to Queen Esther, “Who is this, and where is this person who has the audacity to do this?”
6 Esther said, “This hateful enemy is this evil Haman!” Haman was terrified in the presence of the king and the queen.
7 The king rose angrily from the place where they were drinking wine[a] and went to the palace garden. But Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther, because he saw the king had evil plans for him.
8 Just as the king was returning from the palace garden to the hall where they had been drinking wine, Haman was falling onto the couch on which Esther was lying. The king said, “Will he even assault the queen when I am in the building?” As soon as the words left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.[b]
9 In addition, Harbona, one of the eunuchs present with the king, said, “You know, there is a gallows seventy-five feet high standing by the house of Haman, which he made for Mordecai, the person who spoke up for the benefit of the king.” The king said, “Hang[c] him on it.”
10 So they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had prepared for Mordecai, and the king’s anger subsided.
11 God was doing extraordinary miracles through Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick; their illnesses left them and the evil spirits went out of them.
The Seven Sons of Sceva
13 Then some Jewish exorcists who went from place to place tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits. They said, “I command you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches to come out!” 14 It was the seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who were doing this. 15 But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and I am acquainted with Paul, but who are you?” 16 Then the man who had the evil spirit jumped on them, overpowered them, and exercised such complete domination over all of them that they fled from that house naked and wounded.
17 This became known to everyone who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. They were all overcome with fear, and they held the name of the Lord Jesus in high honor. 18 Also many of those who had become believers came forward, confessing and admitting their actions. 19 And a large number of those who had practiced magic arts[a] collected their books and burned them in front of everyone. They added up the cost of the books and found it to be fifty thousand pieces of silver.[b] 20 In this way the word of the Lord was growing and gaining strength.
A Prophet in His Hometown
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through all the surrounding area. 15 He was teaching in their synagogues and being honored by everyone.
16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. As was his custom, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up to read. 17 The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:
18 The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he anointed me to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom to the captives
and recovery of sight to the blind,
to set free those who are oppressed,
19 and to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.[a]
20 He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. 21 He began to tell them, “Today, this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”
22 They all spoke well of him and were impressed by the words of grace that came from his mouth. And they kept saying, “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
23 He told them, “Certainly you will quote this proverb to me, ‘Physician, heal yourself!’ Do here in your hometown everything we heard you did in Capernaum.” 24 And he said, “Amen[b] I tell you: No prophet is accepted in his hometown. 25 But truly I tell you: There were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was shut for three years and six months, while a great famine came over all the land. 26 Elijah was not sent to any of them, but to a widow of Zarephath, in Sidon. 27 And there were many lepers in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet not one of them was healed except Naaman the Syrian.”
28 All those who were in the synagogue were filled with rage when they heard these things. 29 They got up and drove him out of the town. They led him to the brow of the hill on which their town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff. 30 But he passed through the middle of them and went on his way.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.