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.
Yod
73 Your hands have made me and established me;
give me understanding that I may learn your commands.
74 Those who fear you will see me and be glad,
because I hope in your word.
75 I know, O Yahweh, that your judgments are right,
and that in faithfulness you afflicted me.
76 Please let your loyal love comfort me,
according to your word[a] to your servant.
77 Let your mercies come to me, that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
78 Let the arrogant be put to shame,
because they have wronged me with lies.[b]
As for me, I will meditate on your precepts.
79 Let those who fear you turn to me,
even those who know[c] your testimonies.
80 May my heart be blameless in your statutes,
so that I may not be ashamed.
Kaph
81 My soul languishes for your salvation;
I hope in your word.
82 My eyes long for[d] your word,[e]
saying, “When will you comfort me?”
83 For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,
yet I have not forgotten your statutes.
84 How many are the days of your servant?
When will you execute justice against those who persecute me?
85 The arrogant have dug pits[f] for me,
which is not according to[g] your law.
86 All your commands are faithful.
They persecute me deceitfully; help me!
87 They have almost destroyed me on the earth,
but I have not forsaken your precepts.
88 According to your loyal love preserve me alive,
so that I may heed the testimony from your mouth.
Lamed
89 Forever, O Yahweh,
your word is settled[h] in heaven.
90 Your faithfulness endures throughout all generations.[i]
You have established the earth and it stands.
91 By your ordinances they stand today,
for all are your servants.
92 Unless your law had been my delight,
then I would have perished in my misery.
93 I will not ever forget your precepts,
for by them you revive me.[j]
94 I am yours. Save me,
for I have sought your precepts.
95 For me the wicked lie in wait to destroy me.
I give attention to your testimonies.
96 I have seen a limit to every perfection;[k]
your command is very broad.
Ehud
12 And again the Israelites[a] did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. So Yahweh strengthened Eglon king of Moab against Israel, because they did evil in the eyes of Yahweh. 13 He gathered to himself the Ammonites and Amalekites,[b] and he went and defeated Israel, and they took possession of the city of palms. 14 And the Israelites[c] served Eglon king of Moab eighteen years.
15 And the Israelites[d] cried out to Yahweh, and Yahweh raised up for them a deliverer, Ehud son of Gera, a Benjaminite and a left-handed man.[e] And the Israelites[f] sent a tribute to Eglon king of Moab through him.[g] 16 Ehud made for himself a short, two-edged[h] sword (a cubit in length), and he fastened it under his clothes on his right thigh. 17 Then he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 When Ehud[i] had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. 19 But he turned back from the sculptured stones[j] that were near Gilgal, and he said, “I have a secret message[k] for you, O king.” And he[l] said, “Silence!” So all those standing in his presence went out, 20 and Ehud came to him while he was sitting alone in his cool upper room. And Ehud said, “I have a message from God[m] for you.” So he got up from his seat. 21 Then Ehud reached with his left hand for the sword on his right thigh, and he thrust it into his[n] stomach. 22 And the handle also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade because he did not draw back the sword from his stomach; and it went protruding out the back.[o] 23 And Ehud went out the vestibule, and he closed the doors of the upper room and locked them behind him.
24 After he left, his servants returned. When they saw that the doors of the upper room were locked, they thought,[p] “Surely he is relieving himself[q] in the cool inner room.” 25 And they waited so long they became embarrassed because he did not open the doors of the upper room. So they took the key and opened the doors, and there their lord was lying on the ground dead.
26 And Ehud escaped while they delayed. He passed by the sculptured stones[r] and escaped to Seirah. 27 And when he arrived he sounded the trumpet in the hill country of Ephraim, and the Israelites[s] went down from the hill country with him leading them. 28 And he said to them, “Follow after me! Yahweh has given Moab your enemies into your hand.” So they went down after him, and they captured the fords of the Jordan toward Moab; and they did not allow anyone to cross over. 29 And they struck Moab at that time, about ten thousand men, all strong and able men;[t] no one escaped. 30 And Moab was subdued on that day under the hand of Israel. And the land rested eighty years.[u]
The Preface
1 I produced the former account, O Theophilus, about all that[a] Jesus began to do and to teach, 2 until the day he was taken up, after he[b] had given orders through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen, 3 to whom he also presented himself alive after he suffered, with many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking the things about the kingdom of God. 4 And while he[c] was with[d] them,[e] he commanded them, “Do not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for what was promised by the Father, which you heard about from me. 5 For John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”[f]
The Ascension
6 So when[g] they had come together, they began asking[h] him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time you are restoring the kingdom to Israel?” 7 But he said to them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when[i] the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest part of the earth.” 9 And after he[j] had said these things, while[k] they were watching, he was taken up, and a cloud received him from their sight. 10 And as they were staring into the sky while[l] he was departing, behold, two men in white clothing stood by them 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee,[m] why do you stand there looking[n] into the sky? This Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven like this will come back in the same way you saw him departing into heaven!”
Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain that is called Olive Grove[o] which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.[p] 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upstairs room where they were staying—Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas son of James. 14 All these were busily engaged with one mind in prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and with[q] his brothers.
Jesus Dies on the Cross
45 Now from the sixth hour, darkness came over all the land until the ninth hour. 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” (that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”)[a] 47 And some of those who were standing there, when they[b] heard it,[c] said, “This man is summoning Elijah!” 48 And immediately one of them ran and took a sponge and filled it[d] with sour wine and put it[e] on a reed and[f] gave it[g] to him to drink. 49 But the others said, “Leave him[h] alone! let us see if Elijah is coming to save him.” 50 And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and[i] gave up his[j] spirit. 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook and the rocks were split. 52 And the tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53 and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection, they went into the holy city and appeared to many.
54 Now the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus, when they[k] saw the earthquake and the things that took place, were extremely frightened, saying, “Truly this man was God’s Son!”
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