Book of Common Prayer
An instruction[a]. By Ethan, the Ezrahite
God’s Covenant with David
89 I will sing forever about the gracious love of the Lord;
from generation to generation
I will declare your faithfulness with my mouth.
2 I will declare that your gracious love was established forever;
in the heavens itself, you have established your faithfulness.
3 I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have made a promise to David, my servant.
4 “I will establish your dynasty forever,
and I will lift up one who will build[b] your throne
from generation to generation.”
5 Even the heavens praise your awesome deeds, Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies compares to the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the divine beings?
7 God is feared in the council of the holy ones,
revered by all those around him.
8 Lord God of the Heavenly Armies,
who is as mighty as you, Lord?
Your faithfulness surrounds you.
9 You rule over the majestic[c] sea;
when its waves surge,
you calm them.
10 You crushed the proud one[d] to death;
with your powerful arm
you scattered your enemies.
11 Heaven and the earth belong to you,
the world and everything it contains—
you established them.
12 The north and south—you created them;
Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
13 Your arm is strong;
your hand is mighty;
indeed, your right hand is victorious.[e]
14 Righteousness and justice make up
the foundation of your throne;
gracious love and truth meet before you.
15 How happy are the people who can worship joyfully![f]
Lord, they walk in the light of your presence.
16 In your name they rejoice all day long;
they exult in your justice.[g]
17 For you are their strength’s grandeur;
by your favor you exalted our power.[h]
18 Indeed, our shield belongs to the Lord,
and our king to the Holy One of Israel.
God’s Describes His Anointed
19 You spoke to your faithful[i] ones through a vision:[j]
“I will set a helper over[k] a warrior.
I will raise up a chosen one from the people.
20 I have found my servant David;
I have anointed him with my sacred oil,
21 with whom my power[l] will be firmly established;
for my arm will strengthen him.
22 No enemy will deceive him;
no wicked person[m] will afflict him.
23 I will crush his enemies before him
and strike those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and gracious love will be with him,
and in my name his power[n] will be exalted.
25 I will place his hand[o] over the sea,
and his right hand[p] over the rivers.
26 He will announce to me
‘You are my father,
my God, and the rock of my salvation.’
27 “Indeed, I myself made him the firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
28 I will show[q] my gracious love toward him forever,
since my covenant is securely established with him.
29 I will establish his dynasty[r] forever,
and his throne as long as heaven endures.[s]
30 “But if his sons abandon my laws and
do not follow my ordinances,
31 if they profane my statutes;
and do not keep my commands,
32 then I will punish their disobedience with a rod
and their iniquity with lashes.
33 But I will not cut off[t] my gracious love from him,
and I will not stop being faithful.
34 I will not dishonor my covenant,
because I will not change what I have spoken.[u]
35 I have sworn by my holiness once for all:
I will not lie to David.
36 His dynasty[v] will last forever
and his throne will be like the sun before me.
37 It will be established forever like the moon,
a faithful witness in the sky.”
A Commitment to Persevere
38 But you have spurned, rejected,
and became angry with your anointed one.
39 You have dishonored the covenant with your servant;
you have defiled his crown on the ground.
40 You have broken through all his[w] walls;
you have laid his fortresses in ruin.
41 All who pass by on their way plunder him;
he has become a reproach to his neighbors.
42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries;
you have caused all of his enemies to rejoice.
43 Moreover, you have turned back the edge of his sword
and did not support him in battle.
44 You have caused his splendor[x] to cease
and cast down his throne to the ground.
45 You have caused the days of his youth to be cut short;
you have covered him with shame.
46 How long, Lord, will you hide yourself? Forever?
Will your anger continuously burn like fire?
47 Remember how short my lifetime is!
How powerless have you created all human beings![y]
48 What valiant man can live and not see death?
Who can deliver himself[z] from the power[aa] of Sheol.[ab]
49 Where is your gracious love of old, Lord,
that in your faithfulness you promised to David?
50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of your servant!
I carry inside me all the insults of many people,
51 when your enemies reproached you, Lord,
when they reproached the footsteps[ac] of your anointed.
52 Blessed is the Lord forever!
Amen and amen!
Absalom’s Men Kill Amnon
23 Two full years later, Absalom took some men to Baal-hazor near Ephraim to shear his sheep. He[a] also invited all of the king’s sons to come. 24 Absalom had gone to the king to ask him, “I’ve brought some men to shear the sheep. Won’t you please come and join me, along with your senior staff?”
25 But King David declined,[b] saying to Absalom, “No, my son, we won’t all go, since that would be too much trouble for you.” Although Absalom begged David, he would not go, even though he did give his blessing.
26 So Absalom responded, “If you aren’t coming, please allow my brother Amnon to accompany us.”
The king asked, “Why should he go with you?”
27 But Absalom kept begging David[c] until he sent Amnon and all of David’s[d] sons to accompany Absalom.
28 Then Absalom instructed his young men, “Please keep watching Amnon until he’s drunk. Then I’ll tell you, ‘Attack Amnon!’ As soon as I do, kill him and don’t be afraid! You have your orders, so be strong and brave!” 29 So Absalom’s young men did to Amnon just as they had been[e] ordered, but the rest of David’s sons jumped up, mounted their mules, and escaped.
30 While they were still on the road, this rumor came to David: “Absalom has struck down all of the king’s sons and none of them has survived.” 31 David arose, ripped his clothes in anguish,[f] and collapsed to the ground while all of his staff stood by with their own clothes torn.
32 But David’s brother Shimeah’s son Jonadab reported, “Your majesty, don’t assume they’ve killed all of the young men—the king’s sons—only Amnon has died, since that was Absalom’s intention from the day Amnon raped[g] his sister Tamar. 33 Now your majesty, don’t be concerned about this rumor that all the king’s sons have died, because only Amnon is dead.”
34 Meanwhile, Absalom had run away. While the young man standing watch was looking around, all of a sudden he observed many people coming down the road behind and to the west of the mountain! So the watchman left his post and reported, “I have seen men coming from the direction of Horonaim.”[h]
35 Jonadab told the king, “Look! Here come the king’s sons. This thing has turned out just like your servant reported.” 36 Just as he finished his comments, the king’s sons arrived, crying loudly. At this, with tears overflowing, the king and his entire staff wept bitterly.
37 Absalom continued to flee, eventually going to Ammihud’s son King Talmai of Geshur, while King David continued to mourn for his son every day. 38 After fleeing to Geshur, Absalom remained there for three years. 39 Meanwhile, King David longed to visit Absalom, since he was moved to compassion over Amnon’s death.
Paul Meets with the Ephesian Elders
17 From Miletus he sent messengers[a] to Ephesus to ask the elders of the church to meet with him. 18 When they came to him, he told them, “You know how I lived among you the entire time from the first day I set foot in Asia. 19 I served the Lord with all humility, with tears, and with trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews. 20 I never shrank from telling you anything that would help you nor from teaching you publicly and from house to house. 21 I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus.[b] 22 And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that in town after town the Holy Spirit assures me that imprisonment and suffering are waiting for me. 24 But I don’t place any value on my life, if only I can finish my race and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.
25 “Now I know that none of you among whom I traveled preaching about the kingdom will ever see my face again. 26 I therefore declare to you today that I’m not responsible for the blood of any of you, 27 because I never shrank from telling you the whole plan of God. 28 Pay attention to yourselves and to the entire flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to be shepherds of God’s[c] church, which he acquired with his own blood. 29 I know that when I’m gone, savage wolves will come among you and not spare the flock. 30 Indeed, some of your own men will arise and distort the truth in order to lure the disciples into following them. 31 So be alert! Remember that for three years, night and day, I never stopped tearfully warning each of you.
32 “I’m now entrusting you to God and to the message of his grace, which is able to build you up and secure for you an inheritance among all who are sanctified. 33 I never desired anyone’s silver, gold, or clothes. 34 You yourselves know that I worked with my own hands to support myself and those who were with me. 35 In every way I showed you that by working hard like this we should help the weak and remember the words that the Lord Jesus himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”[d]
36 When Paul[e] had said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them. 37 All of them cried and cried[f] as they put their arms around Paul and kissed[g] him affectionately. 38 They were especially sorrowful because of what he had said—that they would never see his face again. Then they took him to the ship.
Causing Others to Sin(A)
42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a large millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43 So if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better for you to enter life injured than to have two hands and go to hell,[a] to the fire that cannot be put out. 44 In that place, worms never die, and the fire is never put out.[b]
45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It’s better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell.[c] 46 In that place, worms never die, and the fire is never put out.[d]
47 And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out. It’s better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell.[e] 48 In that place, worms never die, and the fire is never put out.
49 Because everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt.[f] 50 Salt is good. But if salt loses its taste, how can you restore its flavor? Keep on having salt among yourselves, and live in peace with one another.”
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