Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for the Prosperity of God’s Anointed King
Of Solomon.[a]
72 O God, give your judgments to the king,
and your righteousness to the king’s son.
2 May he judge your people with righteousness,
and your poor with justice.
3 Let the mountains yield prosperity[b] for the people,
and the hills in righteousness.
4 May he provide justice for the poor of the people,
save the children of the needy,
and crush the oppressor.
5 May he live long[c] while the sun endures[d]
as long as the moon[e] for all generations.[f]
6 May he descend like rain on mown grass,
like showers watering the earth.
7 May what is right blossom in his days
and an abundance of peace, until the moon is no more.
8 And may he rule from sea up to sea,
and from the River[g] to the edges of the land.
9 Let the desert dwellers bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.
10 Let the kings of Tarshish and the islands bring tribute.
Let the kings of Sheba and Seba present gifts,
11 and let all kings bow down to him.
Let all nations serve him.
12 Indeed he will deliver the needy who is crying for help,
and the afflicted who has no helper.
13 He will take pity on the helpless and needy,
and the lives of the needy he will save.
14 From oppression and from violence
he will redeem their lives,
and their blood will be precious in his eyes.
15 So may he live, and may gold from Sheba be given to him,
and may prayers be offered for him continually.
May blessings be invoked for him all day long.[h]
16 May there be an abundance of grain in the land
even on the top of the mountains.
May his crop[i] sway like the trees of Lebanon,
and may those from the city blossom like the grass of the earth.
17 May his name endure forever.
May his name increase as long as the sun shines,[j]
and let them be blessed in him.
Let all nations call him blessed.
18 Blessed be Yahweh God, the God of Israel,
who alone does wonderful things.
19 And blessed be his glorious name forever,
and may the whole earth be filled with his glory.
Amen and Amen.
20 The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are completed.
The Family of Elkanah
1 There was a certain man from Ramathaim Zophim, from the hill country of Ephraim, whose name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.[a] 2 He had two wives; the name of the first was Hannah, and the name of the second was Peninnah. Now Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children. 3 Now this man used to go up from his town year by year[b] to worship and to sacrifice to Yahweh of hosts in Shiloh, where[c] the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were priests to Yahweh. 4 On[d] the day Elkanah sacrificed, he would give portions to his wife Peninnah and to all her sons and daughters. 5 But to Hannah he would give a double portion,[e] because he loved Hannah, though Yahweh had closed her womb. 6 (Now her rival wife would provoke her severely in order to upset her because Yahweh had closed her womb.) 7 And so he used to do[f] year after year; whenever[g] she went up to the house of Yahweh, she[h] would provoke her so that she[i] would weep and would not eat. 8 So Elkanah her husband would say to her: “Hannah, why do you weep and why do you not eat? And why are you heartsick?[j] Am I not better to you than ten sons?” 9 Then Hannah got up after eating and drinking at Shiloh. (Now Eli the priest was sitting on his chair by the doorpost of the temple[k] of Yahweh.) 10 She was deeply troubled,[l] so she prayed to Yahweh and wept bitterly. 11 She made a vow[m] and said: “O Yahweh of hosts, if you will look with compassion on the misery of your female servant, and will remember me, and not forget your female servant, and will give to your female servant a male child[n] then I will give him to Yahweh all the days of his life, and a razor will never pass over his head.”[o] 12 While[p] she continued to pray before Yahweh, Eli was observing her mouth. 13 Now Hannah had been speaking in her heart; her lips were moving, but her voice could not be heard, so Eli considered her to be drunk. 14 Then Eli said to her, “How long will you behave like someone who is drunk? Put away your wine!” 15 But Hannah answered and said, “No, my lord. I am a woman deeply distressed,[q] but I have not drunk wine or strong drink. Rather, I have poured out my soul before Yahweh. 16 Do not regard your female servant as worthless,[r] but because of the extent of my worries and my provocation I have spoken all of this.” 17 Then Eli answered and said, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant your request that you have asked of him.” 18 And she said, “May your female slave find favor in your sight.” Then the woman went on her way and ate something, and her face did not look sad any longer.[s]
The Birth of Samuel
19 Then they rose early in the morning and worshiped before Yahweh and returned[t] to their house at Ramah. Then Elkanah had sexual relations with[u] Hannah his wife, and Yahweh remembered her. 20 In due time,[v] Hannah conceived and gave birth to a son. She called his name Samuel, for she said, “I requested him from Yahweh.”
The Superiority of Jesus to Moses
3 Therefore, holy brothers, sharers in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, 2 who was faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses also was in his household.[a] 3 For this one is considered worthy of greater glory than Moses, inasmuch as the one who builds it has greater honor than the house. 4 For every house is built by someone, but the one who built all things is God. 5 And Moses was faithful in all his house as a servant, for a testimony to the things that would be spoken, 6 but Christ was faithful[b] as a son over his house, whose house we are, if[c] we hold fast to our confidence and the hope we can be proud of.
Praise to Yahweh for His Help
146 Praise Yah.[a]
Praise Yahweh, O my soul.
2 I will praise Yahweh while I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I am still alive.
3 Do not place trust in princes,
in a son of humankind with whom there is no deliverance.
4 His breath departs; he returns to his plot;[b]
on that day his plans perish.
5 Blessed is the one whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is on Yahweh as his God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea and all that is in them,
the one who keeps faith[c] forever,
7 who executes justice for the oppressed,
who gives food for the hungry.
Yahweh sets prisoners free;
8 Yahweh opens the eyes of the blind;
Yahweh raises up those bowed down;
Yahweh loves the righteous;
9 Yahweh protects[d] the strangers.
He helps up the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he thwarts.[e]
10 Yahweh will reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, throughout all generations.[f]
Praise Yah.[g]
Praise to Yahweh for His Providence
147 Praise Yah.[h]
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for it is pleasant; praise is fitting.
2 Yahweh is building Jerusalem;
he gathers the scattered ones of Israel.
3 He is the one who heals the brokenhearted,
and binds up their wounds.
4 He counts the number of the stars;
he gives names to all of them.
5 Great is our Lord, and abundant in power;
his understanding is unlimited.
6 Yahweh helps the afflicted up;
he brings the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing to Yahweh with thanksgiving;
sing praises to our God with lyre,
8 who covers the heavens with clouds,
who provides rain for the earth,
who causes grass to grow on the mountains.
9 He gives to the animal its food,
and to the young ravens that cry.
10 He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
he takes no pleasure in the legs of the man.
11 Yahweh takes pleasure in those who fear him,
the ones who hope[i] for his loyal love.
12 Laud Yahweh, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion,
13 for he strengthens the bars of your gates.
He blesses your children within you;
14 he makes your border peaceful;
he satisfies you with the finest of wheat.[j]
15 He sends out his command[k] to the earth;
his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool;
he scatters frost like ashes;
17 he throws his hail like crumbs.
Who can stand before his cold?[l]
18 He sends out his word and melts them;
he blows his breath, the water flows.
19 He declares his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not done so for any nation,
and they do not know his ordinances.
Praise Yah.[m]
25 So a dispute occurred on the part of John’s disciples with a Jew[a] concerning purification. 26 And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you on the other side of the Jordan, about whom you testified—look, this one is baptizing, and all are coming to him!”
27 John answered and said, “A man can receive not one thing unless it is granted to him from heaven! 28 You yourselves testify about me that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I am sent before that one.’ 29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly[b] because of the bridegroom’s voice. So this joy of mine is complete. 30 It is necessary for that one to increase, but for me to decrease.”
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