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 of trouble.
May the God of Jacob protect you.
2 May he send you help from his Temple
and support you from Mount Zion.
3 May he remember all your offerings
and accept all your sacrifices. Selah
4 May he give you what you want
and make all your plans succeed,
5 and we will shout for joy when you succeed,
and we will raise a flag in the name of our God.
May the Lord give you all that you ask for.
6 Now I know the Lord helps his appointed king.
He answers him from his holy heaven
and saves him with his strong right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots, others in horses,
but we trust the Lord our God.
8 They are overwhelmed and defeated,
but we march forward and win.
9 Lord, save 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!
2 You gave the king what he wanted
and did not refuse what he asked for. Selah
3 You put good things 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.
5 He has great glory because you gave him victories;
you gave him honor and praise.
6 You always gave him blessings;
you made him glad because you were with him.
7 The king truly trusts the Lord.
Because God Most High always loves him,
he will not be overwhelmed.
8 Your hand is against all your enemies;
those who hate you will feel your power.
9 When you 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 from the earth;
their children will not live.
11 They made evil plans against you,
but their traps won’t work.
12 You will make them turn their backs
when you aim your arrows at them.
13 Be supreme, Lord, in your power.
We sing and praise your greatness.
The Lord Appoints a King
A psalm of David.
110 The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit by me at my right side
until I put your enemies under your control.”
2 The Lord will enlarge your kingdom beyond Jerusalem,
and you will rule over your enemies.
3 Your people will join you on your day of battle.
You have been dressed in holiness from birth;
you have the freshness of a child.
4 The Lord has made a promise
and will not change his mind.
He said, “You are a priest forever,
a priest like Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is beside you to help you.
When he becomes angry, he will crush kings.
6 He will judge those nations, filling them with dead bodies;
he will defeat rulers all over the world.
7 The king will drink from the brook on the way.
Then he will be strengthened.
Thanksgiving for Escaping Death
116 I love the Lord,
because he listens to my prayers for help.
2 He paid attention to me,
so I will call to him for help as long as I live.
3 The ropes of death bound me,
and the fear of the grave took hold of me.
I was troubled and sad.
4 Then I called out the name of the Lord.
I said, “Please, Lord, save me!”
5 The Lord is kind and does what is right;
our God is merciful.
6 The Lord watches over the foolish;
when I was helpless, he saved me.
7 I said to myself, “Relax,
because the Lord takes care of you.”
8 Lord, you saved me from death.
You stopped my eyes from crying;
you kept me from being defeated.
9 So I will walk with the Lord
in the land of the living.
10 I believed, so I said,
“I am completely ruined.”
11 In my distress I said,
“All people are liars.”
12 What can I give the Lord
for all the good things he has given to me?
13 I will lift up the cup of salvation,
and I will pray to the Lord.
14 I will give the Lord what I promised
in front of all his people.
15 The death of one that belongs to the Lord
is precious in his sight.
16 Lord, I am your servant;
I am your servant and the son of your female servant.
You have freed me from my chains.
17 I will give you an offering to show thanks to you,
and I will pray to the Lord.
18 I will give the Lord what I promised
in front of all his people,
19 in the Temple courtyards
in Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
A Hymn of Praise
117 All you nations, praise the Lord.
All you people, praise him
2 because the Lord loves us very much,
and his truth is everlasting.
Praise the Lord!
Moses Dies
34 Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Mount Pisgah, across from Jericho. From there the Lord showed him all the land from Gilead to Dan, 2 all of Naphtali and the lands of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, 3 as well as the southern desert and the whole Valley of Jericho up to Zoar. (Jericho is called the city of palm trees.) 4 Then the Lord said to Moses, “This is the land I promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob when I said to them, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ I have let you look at it, Moses, but you will not cross over there.”
5 Then Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there in Moab, as the Lord had said. 6 He buried Moses in Moab in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but even today no one knows where his grave is. 7 Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died. His eyes were not weak, and he was still strong. 8 The Israelites cried for Moses for thirty days, staying in the plains of Moab until the time of sadness was over.
9 Joshua son of Nun was then filled with wisdom, because Moses had put his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to Joshua, and they did what the Lord had commanded Moses.
10 There has never been another prophet in Israel like Moses. The Lord knew Moses face to face 11 and sent him to do signs and miracles in Egypt—to the king, to all his officers, and to the whole land of Egypt. 12 Moses had great power, and he did great and wonderful things for all the Israelites to see.
14 But before people can ask the Lord for help, they must believe in him; and before they can believe in him, they must hear about him; and for them to hear about the Lord, someone must tell them; 15 and before someone can go and tell them, that person must be sent. It is written, “How beautiful is the person who comes to bring good news.”[a] 16 But not all the Jews accepted the good news. Isaiah said, “Lord, who believed what we told them?”[b] 17 So faith comes from hearing the Good News, and people hear the Good News when someone tells them about Christ.
18 But I ask: Didn’t people hear the Good News? Yes, they heard—as the Scripture says:
“Their message went out through all the world;
their words go everywhere on earth.” Psalm 19:4
19 Again I ask: Didn’t the people of Israel understand? Yes, they did understand. First, Moses says:
“I will use those who are not a nation to make you jealous.
I will use a nation that does not understand to make you angry.” Deuteronomy 32:21
20 Then Isaiah is bold enough to say:
“I was found by those who were not asking me for help.
I made myself known to people who were not looking for me.” Isaiah 65:1
21 But about Israel God says,
“All day long I stood ready to accept
people who disobey and are stubborn.” Isaiah 65:2
32 “Learn a lesson from the fig tree: When its branches become green and soft and new leaves appear, you know summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things happening, you will know that the time is near, ready to come. 34 I tell you the truth, all these things will happen while the people of this time are still living. 35 Earth and sky will be destroyed, but the words I have said will never be destroyed.
When Will Jesus Come Again?
36 “No one knows when that day or time will be, not the angels in heaven, not even the Son.[a] Only the Father knows. 37 When the Son of Man comes, it will be like what happened during Noah’s time. 38 In those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving their children to be married, until the day Noah entered the boat. 39 They knew nothing about what was happening until the flood came and destroyed them. It will be the same when the Son of Man comes. 40 Two men will be in the field. One will be taken, and the other will be left. 41 Two women will be grinding grain with a mill.[b] One will be taken, and the other will be left.
42 “So always be ready, because you don’t know the day your Lord will come. 43 Remember this: If the owner of the house knew what time of night a thief was coming, the owner would watch and not let the thief break in. 44 So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at a time you don’t expect him.
45 “Who is the wise and loyal servant that the master trusts to give the other servants their food at the right time? 46 When the master comes and finds the servant doing his work, the servant will be blessed. 47 I tell you the truth, the master will choose that servant to take care of everything he owns. 48 But suppose that evil servant thinks to himself, ‘My master will not come back soon,’ 49 and he begins to beat the other servants and eat and get drunk with others like him? 50 The master will come when that servant is not ready and is not expecting him. 51 Then the master will cut him in pieces and send him away to be with the hypocrites, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.