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.
Job’s Repentance and Restoration
42 Then[a] Job answered Yahweh and said,
2 “I know that you can do all things,
and any scheme from you will not be thwarted.
3 ‘Who is this darkening counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I uttered, but[b] I did not understand;
things too wonderful for me,[c] but I did not know.
4 ‘Hear and I will speak;
I will question you, then[d] inform me.’
5 By the ear’s hearing I heard of you,
but[e] now my eye has seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
7 And then[f] after Yahweh spoke these words to Job, Yahweh said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath has been kindled[g] against you[h] and against the two of your friends, for you[i] have not spoken to me what is right as my servant Job has. 8 So then,[j] take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to my servant Job and offer a burnt offering for yourselves. And my servant Job will pray for you,[k] for I will certainly accept his prayer,[l] so that it will not be done with you[m] according to your folly, for you[n] have not spoken to me what is right as my servant Job has.”
9 So[o] Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did just as Yahweh had told them, and Yahweh accepted Job’s prayer.[p]
10 Then[q] Yahweh returned Job’s fortune when he prayed to him on behalf of his friends. Thus[r] Yahweh increased all that Job had twice as much as before.[s] 11 So[t] all his brothers and all his sisters and all those who had known him before[u] came to him, and they ate bread[v] with him in his house and showed sympathy to him and comforted him for all the disaster[w] that Yahweh had brought upon him. Then[x] each one gave to him one piece of money, and each one gave to him one ornamental ring of gold.
12 So[y] Yahweh blessed Job’s latter days more than his beginning. Thus he had[z] fourteen thousand sheep and goats and six thousand camels and a thousand pair of oxen and a thousand female donkeys. 13 And he had[aa] seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he called the name of the first Jemimah and the name of the second Keziah and the name of the third Qeren-Happuk. 15 And beautiful women were not found in all the land like Job’s daughters, and their father gave to them an inheritance in the midst of their brothers.
16 And Job lived after this one hundred and forty years, and he saw his sons and his grandsons[ab] for four generations. 17 Then[ac] Job died old and full of days.
Paul and Silas Imprisoned
16 And it happened that as[a] we were going to the place of prayer, a certain female slave who had a spirit of divination[b] met us, who was bringing a large profit to her owners by[c] fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and us and[d] was crying out, saying, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who are proclaiming to you the way of salvation!” 18 And she was doing this for many days. But Paul, becoming greatly annoyed and turning around, said to the spirit, “I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!” And it came out immediately.[e]
19 But when[f] her owners saw that their hope of profit was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and[g] dragged them[h] into the marketplace before the rulers. 20 And when they[i] had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, “These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, 21 and are proclaiming customs that are not permitted for us to accept or to practice, because we[j] are Romans!” 22 And the crowd joined in attacking them, and the chief magistrates tore off their clothing and[k] gave orders to beat them[l] with rods. 23 And after they[m] had inflicted many blows on them, they threw them[n] into prison, giving orders to the jailer to guard them securely. 24 Having received such an order, he[o] put them in the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.[p]
Greeks Seeking Jesus
20 Now some Greeks were among those who had gone up in order to worship at the feast. 21 So these approached Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and began asking him saying, “Sir, we want to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went and told Andrew. Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man will be glorified. 24 Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and[a] dies, it remains by itself alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 The one who loves his life loses it, and the one who hates his life in this world preserves it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software