Book of Common Prayer
A Request to Act against Israel’s Neighbors
A song. A psalm of Asaph.[a]
83 O God, do not rest silently.
Do not keep silent or be still, O God.
2 For look, your enemies roar,
and those who hate you have lifted their head.
3 They devise cunning schemes[b] against your people,
and consult together against your protected ones.[c]
4 They say, “Come, let us annihilate them from being a nation,
so that the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
5 For they have consulted together with a unified purpose.[d]
They have made a covenant against you:
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,
7 Gebal and Ammon and Amalek,
Philistia, with the inhabitants of Tyre.
8 Assyria also has joined with them.
They provide help[e] to the children of Lot. Selah
9 Do to them as you did with Midian,
as with Sisera, as with Jabin at the wadi of Kishon.
10 They were destroyed at En-dor;
they became dung for the ground.
11 Make their leaders like Oreb and Zeeb,
and all their chiefs like Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 who said, “Let us take as our possession
the pastures of God.”
13 O my God, make them like the tumbleweed,
like the chaff before wind.
14 As fire burns a forest,
and as a flame sets afire mountains,
15 so pursue them with your tempest
and terrify them with your storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame,
that they may seek your name, O Yahweh.
17 Let them be ashamed and terrified forever,
and let them be humiliated and perish
18 that they may know that you,
whose name is Yahweh, you alone,
are the Most High over the whole earth.
Thanksgiving for Yahweh’s Deliverance
Of David, when he pretended to be crazy[a] in front of Abimelech[b]
so that he drove him out, and so he departed.[c]
34 I will bless Yahweh at all times;
his praise shall be in my mouth continually.
2 My soul makes its boast in Yahweh;
let the humble hear and be glad.
3 Magnify Yahweh with me,
and let us exalt his name together.
4 I sought Yahweh and he answered me,
and from all my terrors he delivered me.
5 They looked to him and were radiant,
and their faces shall not be ashamed.[d]
6 This poor man called and Yahweh heard,
and saved him from all his troubles.
7 The angel of Yahweh encamps
around those who fear him,
and he rescues them.
8 Taste and see that Yahweh is good;
blessed is the man who takes refuge in him.
9 Fear Yahweh, you his saints,[e]
for there is no lack for those who fear him.
10 The young lions are in want and suffer hunger,
but those who seek Yahweh will not lack for any good thing.
11 Come, you children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of Yahweh.
12 Who is the man who desires life,
who loves many days in order to see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Turn from evil and do good.
Seek peace and pursue it.
15 The eyes of Yahweh are toward the righteous,
and his ears toward their cry for help.
16 The face of Yahweh is against evildoers,
to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth.
17 They[f] cry out and Yahweh hears
and delivers them from all of their troubles.
18 Yahweh is near to those who are heartbroken
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
19 Many are the distresses of the righteous,
but Yahweh delivers him out of them all.
20 He protects all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
21 Evil will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will incur guilt.
22 Yahweh redeems the life of his servants,
and none who take refuge in him will incur guilt.
Hope in God’s Future Help
For the music director. Of the sons of Korah. A psalm.[a]
85 O Yahweh, you favored your land.
You restored the fortunes[b] of Jacob.
2 You took away the guilt[c] of your people;
you covered all their sin. Selah
3 You withdrew all your wrath;
you turned from your burning anger.
4 Restore us, O God of our salvation,
and annul your vexation with us.
5 Will you be angry against us forever?
Will you prolong your anger generation after generation?
6 Will you not again revive us,
that your people might rejoice in you?
7 Show us, O Yahweh, your loyal love,
and grant us your salvation.
8 I will hear what God, Yahweh, will speak,
because he will speak peace
to his people, even his faithful ones,[d]
but let them not return to folly.
9 Surely his salvation is near for those who fear him,
that glory may abide in our land.
10 Loyal love and faithfulness[e] will meet one another;
righteousness and peace will kiss.
11 Faithfulness[f] will sprout from the ground,
and righteousness will look down from heaven.
12 Yes, Yahweh will give what is good,
and our land will give its produce.
13 Righteousness will go before him,
and it will make his steps a pathway.
A Prayer for Help against Ruthless Men
A prayer of David.[g]
86 Incline, O Yahweh, your ear and answer me,
because I am poor and needy.
2 Watch over my life because I am faithful.
You are my God; save your servant.
I am the one who trusts you.
3 Be gracious to me, O Lord,
because I call to you all day long.[h]
4 Make glad the soul of your servant,
because I desire you,[i] O Lord.
5 For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
and abundant in loyal love[j] for all who call to you.
6 Heed, O Yahweh, my prayer,
and attend to the voice of my supplications.
7 In the day of my trouble I call to you,
because you answer me.
8 There is none like you among the gods, O Lord,
and there are no works like yours.
9 All the nations that you have made will come
and bow down[k] before you, O Lord,
and glorify your name.
10 For you are great and doing wondrous things;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me, O Yahweh, your way,
that I may walk in your truth.
Unite my heart[l] to fear your name.
12 I will give you thanks, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
and glorify your name forever,
13 because your loyal love is great toward me,
and you will have delivered my life from Sheol[m] below.
14 O God, arrogant men have risen up against me,
even a gang of ruthless men seek my life,
but they do not set you before them.[n]
15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger[o] and abundant in loyal love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me.
Give your strength to your servant,
and grant victory to the son[p] of your maidservant.
17 Do a sign that benefits me,
that those who hate me may see and be put to shame,
because you, O Yahweh, have helped me and comforted me.
Yahweh Rebukes Eli
27 Now a man of God came to Eli and said to him: “Thus says Yahweh: ‘Did I not clearly reveal myself to the house of your ancestor[a] when they were in Egypt under the house of Pharaoh? 28 And I chose him from all the tribes of Israel to be a priest to me, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, and to bear an ephod before me. I gave to the house of your ancestor[b] all the offerings made by fire by the Israelites.[c] 29 Why do you despise my sacrifice and my offering which I commanded for my dwelling place, while you honored your sons more than me by making yourselves fat from the best of all the offerings of my people Israel? 30 Therefore,’ declares[d] Yahweh the God of Israel, ‘though I solemnly said that your house and the house of your ancestor[e] would walk before me forever, but now,’ declares[f] Yahweh, ‘far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, but those who despise me, I will treat with contempt! 31 Look, days are coming when I will cut off your strength[g] and the strength[h] of the house of your ancestor[i] so that no one in your house will live to old age.[j] 32 You will look at the distress of my dwelling place, despite all the good caused for Israel, but there will never be an old man in your household forever![k] 33 The only one I will not cut off from my altar is you.[l] Rather, to cause your eyes to fail and to cause your soul to grieve, all the members of your household[m] will die as men.[n] 34 This is the sign for you that will come regarding your two sons Hophni and Phinehas: they will both die on the same day! 35 But I will raise up for myself a reliable[o] priest; he will do just according to what is in my heart and in my soul. I will build for him a lasting[p] house and he will walk continually before my anointed one forever.[q] 36 All the remainder of your household will come to bow down before[r] him for a bit of silver or a loaf of bread and will say, “Please assign me to one of the priestly offices[s] so that I can eat a morsel of bread.”’”
22 “Israelite men, listen to these words! Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with deeds of power and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— 23 this man, delivered up by the determined plan and foreknowledge of God, you executed by[a] nailing to a cross[b] through the hand of lawless men. 24 God raised him[c] up, having brought to an end the pains of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says with reference to him,
‘I saw the Lord before me continually,[d]
for he is at my right hand so that I will not be shaken.
26 For this reason my heart was glad
and my tongue rejoiced greatly,
furthermore also my flesh will live in hope,
27 because you will not abandon my soul in Hades,
nor will you permit your Holy One to experience decay.
28 You have made known to me the paths of life;
you will fill me with gladness with your presence.’[e]
29 “Men and brothers, it is possible to speak with confidence to you about the patriarch David, that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us until this day. 30 Therefore, because he[f] was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one of his descendants[g] on his throne, 31 by[h] having foreseen this,[i] he spoke about the resurrection of the Christ,[j] that neither was he abandoned in Hades nor did his flesh experience decay. 32 This Jesus God raised up, of which[k] we all are witnesses. 33 Therefore, having been exalted to the right hand of God and having received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, he has poured out this that you see and hear.[l] 34 For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
35 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’[m]
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know beyond a doubt, that God has made him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified!”
David’s Son and Lord
41 But he said to them, “In what sense do they say that the Christ is David’s son? 42 For David himself says in the book of Psalms,
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at my right hand,
43 until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet.”’[a]
44 David therefore calls him ‘Lord,’ and how is he his son?”
Warning to Beware of the Scribes
45 And while[b] all the people were listening, he said to the disciples,[c] 46 “Beware of the scribes, who like walking around in long robes and who love greetings in the marketplaces and the best seats in the synagogues and the places of honor at banquets, 47 who devour the houses of widows and pray lengthy prayers for the sake of appearance. These will receive more severe condemnation!”
A Poor Widow’s Offering
21 And he looked up and[d] saw the rich putting their gifts into the contribution box, 2 and he saw a certain poor widow putting in there two small copper coins.[e] 3 And he said, “Truly I say to you that this poor widow put in more than all of them. 4 For these all put gifts[f] into the offering out of their abundance, but this woman out of her poverty put in all the means of subsistence that she had.”
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