Book of Common Prayer
The Psalmist in Sickness Complains of Enemies and False Friends.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
41 How blessed is he who (A)considers the [a]helpless;
The Lord will deliver him (B)in a day of [b]trouble.
2 The Lord will (C)protect him and keep him alive,
And he shall [c]be called (D)blessed upon the earth;
And (E)do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
3 The Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You [d]restore him to health.
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
(F)Heal my soul, for (G)I have sinned against You.”
5 My enemies (H)speak evil against me,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And [e]when he comes to see me, he (I)speaks [f]falsehood;
His heart gathers wickedness to itself;
When he goes outside, he tells it.
7 All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me they (J)devise my hurt, saying,
8 “A wicked thing is poured out [g]upon him,
That when he lies down, he will (K)not rise up again.”
9 Even my (L)close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.
10 But You, O Lord, be gracious to me and (M)raise me up,
That I may repay them.
11 By this I know that (N)You are pleased with me,
Because (O)my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
12 As for me, (P)You uphold me in my integrity,
And You set me (Q)in Your presence forever.
13 (R)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
Futility of Boastful Wickedness.
For the choir director. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you (A)boast in evil, O mighty man?
The (B)lovingkindness of God endures all day long.
2 Your tongue devises (C)destruction,
Like a (D)sharp razor, (E)O worker of deceit.
3 You (F)love evil more than good,
(G)Falsehood more than speaking what is right. [c]Selah.
4 You love all words that devour,
O (H)deceitful tongue.
5 [d]But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and (I)tear you away from your tent,
And (J)uproot you from the (K)land of the living. Selah.
6 The righteous will (L)see and fear,
And will (M)laugh at him, saying,
7 “Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But (N)trusted in the abundance of his riches
And (O)was strong in [e]his evil desire.”
Former Deliverances and Present Troubles.
For the choir director. A [a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.
44 O God, we have heard with our ears,
Our (A)fathers have told us
The (B)work that You did in their days,
In the (C)days of old.
2 You with Your own hand (D)drove out the nations;
Then You (E)planted them;
You (F)afflicted the peoples,
Then You (G)spread them abroad.
3 For by their own sword they (H)did not possess the land,
And their own arm did not save them,
But Your right hand and Your (I)arm and the (J)light of Your presence,
For You (K)favored them.
4 You are (L)my King, O God;
(M)Command [b]victories for Jacob.
5 Through You we will (N)push back our adversaries;
Through Your name we will (O)trample down those who rise up against us.
6 For I will (P)not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
7 But You (Q)have saved us from our adversaries,
And You have (R)put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have (S)boasted all day long,
And we will (T)give thanks to Your name forever. [c]Selah.
9 Yet You (U)have rejected us and brought us to (V)dishonor,
And (W)do not go out with our armies.
10 You cause us to (X)turn back from the adversary;
And those who hate us (Y)have taken spoil for themselves.
11 You give us as (Z)sheep [d]to be eaten
And have (AA)scattered us among the nations.
12 You (AB)sell Your people [e]cheaply,
And have not [f]profited by their sale.
13 You make us a (AC)reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and a (AD)derision to those around us.
14 You make us (AE)a byword among the nations,
A [g](AF)laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my dishonor is before me
And [h]my (AG)humiliation has overwhelmed me,
16 Because of the voice of him who (AH)reproaches and reviles,
Because of the presence of the (AI)enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us, but we have (AJ)not forgotten You,
And we have not (AK)dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18 Our heart has not (AL)turned back,
And our steps (AM)have not deviated from Your way,
19 Yet You have (AN)crushed us in a place of (AO)jackals
And covered us with (AP)the shadow of death.
20 If we had (AQ)forgotten the name of our God
Or extended our [i]hands to (AR)a strange god,
21 Would not God (AS)find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 But (AT)for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are considered as (AU)sheep to be slaughtered.
23 (AV)Arouse Yourself, why (AW)do You sleep, O Lord?
Awake, (AX)do not reject us forever.
24 Why do You (AY)hide Your face
And (AZ)forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our (BA)soul has sunk down into the dust;
Our body cleaves to the earth.
26 (BB)Rise up, be our help,
And (BC)redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.
War of the Kings
14 And it came about in the days of Amraphel king of (A)Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of (B)Elam, and Tidal king of [a]Goiim, 2 that they made war with Bera king of Sodom, and with Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of (C)Admah, and Shemeber king of (D)Zeboiim, and the king of Bela (that is, (E)Zoar). 3 All these [b]came as allies to (F)the valley of Siddim (that is, (G)the Salt Sea). 4 Twelve years they had served Chedorlaomer, but the thirteenth year they rebelled. 5 In the fourteenth year Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, came and [c]defeated the (H)Rephaim in (I)Ashteroth-karnaim and the Zuzim in Ham and the Emim in [d](J)Shaveh-kiriathaim, 6 and the (K)Horites in their Mount Seir, as far as (L)El-paran, which is by the wilderness. 7 Then they turned back and came to En-mishpat (that is, (M)Kadesh), and [e]conquered all the country of the Amalekites, and also the Amorites, who lived in (N)Hazazon-tamar. 8 And the king of Sodom and the king of Gomorrah and the king of Admah and the king of Zeboiim and the king of Bela (that is, Zoar) came out; and they arrayed for battle against them in (O)the valley of Siddim, 9 against Chedorlaomer king of Elam and Tidal king of [f]Goiim and Amraphel king of Shinar and Arioch king of Ellasar—four kings against five. 10 Now the valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and (P)the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell [g]into them. But those who survived fled to the (Q)hill country. 11 Then they took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food supply, and departed. 12 They also took Lot, (R)Abram’s nephew, and his possessions and departed, (S)for he was living in Sodom.
13 Then [h]a fugitive came and told Abram the (T)Hebrew. Now he was [i]living by the [j](U)oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol and brother of Aner, and these were [k](V)allies with Abram. 14 When Abram heard that (W)his [l]relative had been taken captive, he [m]led out his trained men, (X)born in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and went in pursuit as far as (Y)Dan. 15 (Z)He divided [n]his forces against them by night, he and his servants, and [o]defeated them, and pursued them as far as Hobah, which is [p]north of (AA)Damascus. 16 He (AB)brought back all the goods, and also brought back (AC)his [q]relative Lot with his possessions, and also the women, and the people.
God’s Promise to Abram
17 Then after his return from the [r]defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, (AD)the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the valley of Shaveh (that is, (AE)the King’s Valley). 18 And (AF)Melchizedek king of Salem brought out (AG)bread and wine; now he was a (AH)priest of [s]God Most High. 19 He blessed him and said,
“Blessed be Abram of [t]God Most High,
[u](AI)Possessor of heaven and earth;
20 And blessed be [v]God Most High,
Who has delivered your enemies into your hand.”
(AJ)He gave him a tenth of all. 21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, “Give the [w]people to me and take the goods for yourself.” 22 Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have [x]sworn to the Lord [y](AK)God Most High, [z](AL)possessor of heaven and earth, 23 that (AM)I will not take a thread or a sandal thong or anything that is yours, for fear you would say, ‘I have made Abram rich.’ 24 [aa]I will take nothing except what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who went with me, (AN)Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share.”
A Better Ministry
8 Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a (A)high priest, who has taken His seat at (B)the right hand of the throne of the (C)Majesty in the heavens, 2 a (D)minister [a]in the sanctuary and [b]in the (E)true [c]tabernacle, which the Lord (F)pitched, not man. 3 For every (G)high priest is appointed (H)to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer. 4 Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who (I)offer the gifts according to the Law; 5 who serve (J)a copy and (K)shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses [d]was (L)warned by God when he was about to erect the [e]tabernacle; for, “(M)See,” He says, “that you make all things according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.” 6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the (N)mediator of (O)a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.
A New Covenant
7 For (P)if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. 8 For finding fault with them, He says,
“(Q)Behold, days are coming, says the Lord,
[f]When I will effect (R)a new covenant
With the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;
9 (S)Not like the covenant which I made with their fathers
On the day when I took them by the hand
To lead them out of the land of Egypt;
For they did not continue in My covenant,
And I did not care for them, says the Lord.
10 “(T)For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel
After those days, says the Lord:
[g]I will put My laws into their minds,
And I will write them (U)on their hearts.
And I will be their God,
And they shall be My people.
11 “(V)And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen,
And everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’
For (W)all will know Me,
From [h]the least to the greatest of them.
12 “(X)For I will be merciful to their iniquities,
(Y)And I will remember their sins no more.”
13 [i]When He said, “(Z)A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. (AA)But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is [j]ready to disappear.
43 After (A)the two days He went forth from there into Galilee. 44 For Jesus Himself testified that (B)a prophet has no honor in his own country. 45 So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, (C)having seen all the things that He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they themselves also went to the feast.
Healing a Nobleman’s Son
46 Therefore He came again to (D)Cana of Galilee (E)where He had made the water wine. And there was a royal official whose son was sick at (F)Capernaum. 47 When he heard that Jesus had come (G)out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and was imploring Him to come down and heal his son; for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see [a](H)signs and (I)wonders, you simply will not believe.” 49 The royal official *said to Him, “[b]Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus *said to him, “(J)Go; your son lives.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and started off. 51 As he was now going down, his slaves met him, saying that his [c]son was living. 52 So he inquired of them the hour when he began to get better. Then they said to him, “Yesterday at the [d]seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 So the father knew that it was at that hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives”; and he himself believed and (K)his whole household. 54 This is again a (L)second [e]sign that Jesus performed when He had (M)come out of Judea into Galilee.
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