Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for the King
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
20 May the Lord answer you in ·times [L the day] of ·trouble [distress].
May the name of the God of Jacob ·protect [defend; provide refuge for] you [Num. 6:24].
2 May he send you help from ·his Temple [L the sanctuary]
and support you from Mount Zion [C location of the Temple].
3 May he remember all your ·offerings [gifts; tributes; grain offerings; Lev. 2]
and ·accept [look with favor on] all your ·sacrifices [L whole burnt offerings; Lev. 1]. ·
4 May he give you ·what you want [L all your heart]
and ·make all your plans succeed [L fulfill all your plans],
5 and we will shout for joy when you ·succeed [are victorious; C as in battle],
and we will raise a ·flag [banner] in the name of our God.
May the Lord ·give you [fulfill] all that you ask for.
6 Now I know the Lord ·helps [saves; gives victory to] his ·appointed king [anointed].
He answers him from his holy heaven
and ·saves him [gives him victory] with his strong right hand.
7 Some ·trust in [boast in; rely on] chariots, others in horses,
but we ·trust [boast in; rely on] the name of the Lord our God [Is. 2:7].
8 They ·are overwhelmed and defeated [collapse and fall],
but we ·march forward and win [L rise and stand erect].
9 Lord, ·save [give victory to] the king!
Answer us when we call for help.
Thanksgiving for the King
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
21 Lord, the king rejoices because of your strength;
he is so happy when you ·save him [give him victory/help]!
2 You gave the king ·what he wanted [L the desire of his heart]
and did not ·refuse [withhold] ·what he asked for [L the request of his lips]. ·
3 You put ·good things [rich blessings] before him
and placed a gold crown on his head.
4 He asked you for life,
and you gave it to him,
·so his years go on and on [L length of days forever and ever].
5 He has great glory because you gave him ·victories [help];
you gave him ·honor [splendor] and ·praise [majesty].
6 You ·always [forever] gave him blessings;
you made him glad because ·you were with him [L of the joy of your presence].
7 The king truly ·trusts [has confidence in] the Lord.
Because God Most High always ·loves [is loyal toward] him,
he will not be ·overwhelmed [moved].
8 Your hand ·is against [L will find out] all your enemies;
·those who hate you will feel your power [L your right hand will find out those who hate you].
9 When ·you [L the Lord] appear,
you will burn them as in a furnace.
In your anger you will swallow them up,
and fire will burn them up.
10 You will destroy their ·families [offspring] from the earth;
their ·children [L seed] will not live.
11 They made evil plans against you,
but ·their traps [L the schemes they devise] won’t ·work [succeed].
12 You will make them turn their backs
when you aim your arrows at ·them [L their faces].
13 Be ·supreme [exalted], Lord, in your power.
We sing and praise your ·greatness [strength].
The Lord Appoints a King
A psalm of David.
110 ·The Lord said [L Utterance/Oracle of the Lord] to my Lord,
“Sit at my right ·side [L hand]
until I put your enemies under your ·control [L feet; Matt. 22:44; 26:64; Mark 12:36; 16:19; Luke 20:42–44; 22:59; Acts 2:34–35; Rom. 8:34; 1 Cor. 15:25; Eph. 1:20; Col. 3:1; Heb. 1:3, 13; 8:1; 10:12–13; 12:2].”
2 The Lord will ·enlarge [L send] ·your kingdom [L the scepter of your strength; C symbol of royal power] beyond ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C location of the Temple],
and ·you will rule over [L give you dominion in the midst of] your enemies.
3 Your people will ·join [freely offer themselves to] you on ·your day of battle [L the day of your power/army].
You have been dressed in ·holiness [splendor of holiness] from ·birth [L the womb of dawn];
you have the ·freshness of a child [L dew of your youth].
4 The Lord has made a promise
and will not ·change his mind [waver].
He said, “You are a priest forever,
a priest like Melchizedek [C in reference to an ancient priest-king in Jerusalem; ultimately fulfilled in Christ; Gen. 14:18; Heb. 5:6; 7:17, 21].”
5 The Lord is ·beside you to help you [L by your right hand].
·When he becomes angry [L In the day of his anger], he will ·crush [shatter] kings.
6 He will judge those nations, filling them with ·dead bodies [corpses];
he will ·defeat rulers [L crush/shatter heads] ·all over the [L throughout the wide] world.
7 ·The king [or The Lord; L He] will drink from the brook on the way.
Then he will ·be strengthened [L lift up his head].
Thanksgiving for Escaping Death
116 I love the Lord,
because he ·listens to my prayers for help [L hears/or heard my voice, my prayer of supplication].
2 He ·paid attention [L extends his ear] to me,
so I will ·call to him for help [call; pray] ·as long as I live [L in my days].
3 The ·ropes [cords] of death ·bound [encompass] me,
and the ·fear [hardship; distress] of ·the grave [L Sheol; C the grave or the underworld] ·took hold of [reached; found] me.
I ·was troubled and sad [L found distress and sadness].
4 Then I ·called out [prayed in] the name of the Lord.
I said, “Please, Lord, ·save [rescue] me!”
5 The Lord is ·kind [gracious] and ·does what is right [righteous];
our God is ·merciful [compassionate; Ex. 34:6–7].
6 The Lord ·watches over [keeps; guards] the ·foolish [immature; simpleminded];
when I was ·helpless [brought low], he ·saved me [gave me victory].
7 I said to myself, “·Relax [L Return, my soul/life to your rest],
because the Lord ·takes care of you [treats you well].”
8 Lord, you ·saved [rescued] me from death.
·You stopped my eyes from crying [L …and my eyes from tears];
·you kept me from being defeated [L …my feet from stumbling].
9 So I will walk ·with [before; in the presence of] the Lord
in the land of the living [C as opposed to the grave].
10 I ·believed [trusted], so I said,
“I am ·completely ruined [afflicted greatly; 2 Cor. 4:13].”
11 In my ·distress [worry] I said,
“All people are liars [Rom. 3:4].”
12 What can I ·give [L return to] the Lord
for all the ·good things [benefits] he has given to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation,
and I will pray ·to [L in the name of] the Lord.
14 I will ·give the Lord what I promised [pay my vow to the Lord]
in front of all his people.
15 The death of ·one that belongs to the Lord [his loyal ones/saints]
is precious in his ·sight [L eyes].
16 Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant and the son of your female servant.
You have ·freed me from [loosened] my chains.
17 I will give you ·an offering to show thanks to you [a thanksgiving offering],
and I will pray ·to [L in the name of] the Lord.
18 I will ·give the Lord what I promised [pay my vow to the Lord]
in front of all his people,
19 in the ·Temple courtyards [L courtyards of the house of the Lord]
in your midst, Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
A Hymn of Praise
117 All you nations, praise the Lord.
All you people, ·praise [extol] him
2 because ·the Lord loves us very much [L great is his loyalty/love toward us],
and his ·truth [faithfulness] is everlasting.
Praise the Lord!
The Lord’s Day of Judging
18 ·How terrible it will be for [L Woe to] you who want
the ·Lord’s day of judging [L day of the Lord] to come.
Why do you want that day to come?
It will bring darkness for you, not light.
19 It will be like someone who runs from a lion
and meets a bear,
or like someone who goes into his house
and ·puts [leans] his hand on the wall,
and then is bitten by a snake.
20 So the ·Lord’s day of judging [L day of the Lord] will bring darkness, not light;
it will be ·very dark [deep gloom], not ·light at all [brightness].
21 The Lord says, “I ·hate and reject [despise] your ·feasts [religious festivals];
I ·cannot stand [take no delight in] your ·religious meetings [sacred assemblies].
22 If you offer me burnt offerings [Lev. 1:1–17] and ·grain [L gift; tribute] offerings [Lev. 2:1],
I won’t accept them.
You bring your best ·fellowship [or peace; well-being] offerings [Lev. 3:1] of fattened cattle,
but I will ·ignore [have no regard for] them [Is. 1:11].
23 Take ·the noise of your songs [or your noisy songs] away from me!
I won’t listen to the music of your ·harps [stringed instruments].
24 But let justice ·flow [roll] like a river,
and let ·goodness [righteousness; justice] flow like a ·never-ending [ever-flowing] stream.
25 “·People [L House] of Israel, you did not bring me sacrifices and offerings
while you traveled in the desert for forty years.
26 You have ·carried with you [lifted up]
·your king, the god Sakkuth [or the shrine of your idol-king],
·and Kaiwan your idol [or the pedestal of your idols; C either names of Mesopotamian star gods, or general terms for idols],
the star gods you have made for yourselves.
27 So I will send you ·away as captives [into exile] beyond Damascus,”
says the Lord, whose name is the God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
A Warning and Things to Do
17 [L But you] ·Dear friends [Beloved], remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ ·said before [predicted; prophesied; foretold; 2 Pet. 3:2]. 18 [L For] They said to you, “In the ·last times [end time] there will be ·people who laugh about God [scoffers; mockers], ·following [pursuing] their own ·evil [ungodly] ·desires [passions; lusts; 2 Pet. 3:3].” 19 These are the people who ·divide you [cause divisions], people ·whose thoughts are only of this world [who are worldly; or who live by natural instincts/desires], who do not have the Spirit [C living within them and guiding them].
20 But [L you] ·dear friends [beloved], ·use your most holy faith to build yourselves up [or build yourselves up on the foundation of your most holy faith; C the whole body of true Christian doctrine and practice], praying ·in [in dependence on; or as directed by; or according to the will of] the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ ·to give you [that leads to] ·life forever [eternal life].
22 Show mercy to ·some people who have doubts [those who waver; C in their faith]. 23 ·Take others out of the fire, and save them [L Save/Rescue others by snatching them from the fire; C fire represents judgment]. Show mercy mixed with fear to others [C fear inspired by God’s righteous judgment against sin], hating even their clothes which are ·dirty from sin [L stained by the sinful nature/flesh].
Praise God
24 ·God is strong and can [L Now to the one who is able to] ·help you not to fall [keep/guard you from falling/stumbling]. ·He can bring you [L …and to present you] before his ·glory [glorious presence] ·without any wrong in you [faultless; blameless; spotless] and ·can give you great joy [with gladness/jubilation/rejoicing]. 25 To the only God, ·the One who saves us [L our Savior], be glory, ·greatness [majesty], ·power [might], and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord for all ·time past [the ages], now, and forever. Amen.
Is It Right to Pay Taxes or Not?(A)
15 Then the Pharisees left that place and ·made plans [plotted] to ·trap [catch] Jesus in ·saying something wrong [his words]. 16 They sent some of their own ·followers [disciples] and some people from the group called Herodians [C a political group that supported king Herod and his family]. They said, “Teacher, we know that you are ·an honest man [true; sincere] and that you teach ·the truth [with sincerity/honesty] about God’s way. You are not ·afraid of [L concerned about] what other people think about you, because you ·pay no attention to who they are [play no favorites; are impartial; aren’t swayed by appearances]. 17 So tell us what you think. Is it ·right [permissible; lawful] to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” [C Saying “yes” would anger Jews who hated Roman rule; saying “no” could result in being charged with insurrection.]
18 But knowing ·that these leaders were trying to trick him [their evil/malicious motives], Jesus said, “You hypocrites! Why are you ·trying to trap [testing] me? 19 Show me a coin used for paying the tax.” So the men ·showed him a coin [L brought him a denarius; C a Roman coin worth a day’s wages]. 20 Then Jesus asked, “Whose ·image [likeness; portrait] and ·name [inscription] are on the coin?”
21 The men answered, “Caesar’s.” [C Ironically, the religious leaders were carrying coins bearing the idolatrous image of Caesar.]
Then Jesus said to them, “·Give [T Render] to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and give to God the things that are God’s.”
22 When the men heard what Jesus said, they were amazed and left him and went away.
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