Book of Common Prayer
Prayer to Frustrate Conspiracy Against Israel
A Song. A Psalm of Asaph.
83 Do(A) not keep silent, O God!
Do not hold Your peace,
And do not be still, O God!
2 For behold, (B)Your enemies make a [a]tumult;
And those who hate You have [b]lifted up their head.
3 They have taken crafty counsel against Your people,
And consulted together (C)against Your sheltered ones.
4 They have said, “Come, and (D)let us cut them off from being a nation,
That the name of Israel may be remembered no more.”
5 For they have consulted together with one [c]consent;
They [d]form a confederacy against You:
6 (E)The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites;
Moab and the Hagrites;
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
8 Assyria also has joined with them;
They have helped the children of Lot. Selah
9 Deal with them as with (F)Midian,
As with (G)Sisera,
As with Jabin at the Brook Kishon,
10 Who perished at En Dor,
(H)Who became as refuse on the earth.
11 Make their nobles like (I)Oreb and like Zeeb,
Yes, all their princes like (J)Zebah and Zalmunna,
12 Who said, “Let us take for ourselves
The pastures of God for a possession.”
13 (K)O my God, make them like the whirling dust,
(L)Like the chaff before the wind!
14 As the fire burns the woods,
And as the flame (M)sets the mountains on fire,
15 So pursue them with Your tempest,
And frighten them with Your storm.
16 Fill their faces with shame,
That they may seek Your name, O Lord.
17 Let them be [e]confounded and dismayed forever;
Yes, let them be put to shame and perish,
18 (N)That they may know that You, whose (O)name alone is the Lord,
Are (P)the Most High over all the earth.
The Happiness of Those Whose Help Is the Lord
146 Praise[a] the Lord!
(A)Praise the Lord, O my soul!
2 (B)While I live I will praise the Lord;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 (C)Do not put your trust in princes,
Nor in [b]a son of man, in whom there is no [c]help.
4 (D)His spirit departs, he returns to his earth;
In that very day (E)his plans perish.
5 (F)Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help,
Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
6 (G)Who made heaven and earth,
The sea, and all that is in them;
Who keeps truth forever,
7 (H)Who executes justice for the oppressed,
(I)Who gives food to the hungry.
(J)The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners.
8 (K)The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;
(L)The Lord raises those who are bowed down;
The Lord loves the righteous.
9 (M)The Lord watches over the strangers;
He relieves the fatherless and widow;
(N)But the way of the wicked He [d]turns upside down.
10 (O)The Lord shall reign forever—
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the Lord!
Praise to God for His Word and Providence
147 Praise[e] the Lord!
For (P)it is good to sing praises to our God;
(Q)For it is pleasant, and (R)praise is beautiful.
2 The Lord (S)builds up Jerusalem;
(T)He gathers together the outcasts of Israel.
3 (U)He heals the brokenhearted
And binds up their [f]wounds.
4 (V)He counts the number of the stars;
He calls them all by name.
5 (W)Great is our Lord, and (X)mighty in power;
(Y)His understanding is infinite.
6 (Z)The Lord lifts up the humble;
He casts the wicked down to the ground.
7 Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
Sing praises on the harp to our God,
8 (AA)Who covers the heavens with clouds,
Who prepares rain for the earth,
Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.
9 (AB)He gives to the beast its food,
And (AC)to the young ravens that cry.
10 (AD)He does not delight in the strength of the horse;
He takes no pleasure in the legs of a man.
11 The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him,
In those who hope in His mercy.
12 Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem!
Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For He has strengthened the bars of your gates;
He has blessed your children within you.
14 (AE)He makes peace in your borders,
And (AF)fills you with [g]the finest wheat.
15 (AG)He sends out His command to the earth;
His word runs very swiftly.
16 (AH)He gives snow like wool;
He scatters the frost like ashes;
17 He casts out His hail like [h]morsels;
Who can stand before His cold?
18 (AI)He sends out His word and melts them;
He causes His wind to blow, and the waters flow.
19 (AJ)He declares His word to Jacob,
(AK)His statutes and His judgments to Israel.
20 (AL)He has not dealt thus with any nation;
And as for His judgments, they have not known them.
[i]Praise the Lord!
Prayer that the Lord Will Restore Favor to the Land
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm (A)of the sons of Korah.
85 Lord, You have been favorable to Your land;
You have (B)brought back the captivity of Jacob.
2 You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people;
You have covered all their sin. Selah
3 You have taken away all Your wrath;
You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger.
4 (C)Restore us, O God of our salvation,
And cause Your anger toward us to cease.
5 (D)Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger to all generations?
6 Will You not (E)revive us again,
That Your people may rejoice in You?
7 Show us Your mercy, Lord,
And grant us Your salvation.
8 I will hear what God the Lord will speak,
For He will speak peace
To His people and to His saints;
But let them not turn back to [a]folly.
9 Surely (F)His salvation is near to those who fear Him,
(G)That glory may dwell in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met together;
(H)Righteousness and peace have kissed.
11 Truth shall spring out of the earth,
And righteousness shall look down from heaven.
12 (I)Yes, the Lord will give what is good;
And our land will yield its increase.
13 Righteousness will go before Him,
And shall make His footsteps our pathway.
Prayer for Mercy, with Meditation on the Excellencies of the Lord
A Prayer of David.
86 Bow down Your ear, O Lord, hear me;
For I am poor and needy.
2 Preserve my [b]life, for I am holy;
You are my God;
Save Your servant who trusts in You!
3 Be merciful to me, O Lord,
For I cry to You all day long.
4 [c]Rejoice the soul of Your servant,
(J)For to You, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
5 For (K)You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive,
And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.
6 Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer;
And attend to the voice of my supplications.
7 In the day of my trouble I will call upon You,
For You will answer me.
8 (L)Among the gods there is none like You, O Lord;
Nor are there any works like Your works.
9 All nations whom You have made
Shall come and worship before You, O Lord,
And shall glorify Your name.
10 For You are great, and (M)do wondrous things;
(N)You alone are God.
11 (O)Teach me Your way, O Lord;
I will walk in Your truth;
[d]Unite my heart to fear Your name.
12 I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart,
And I will glorify Your name forevermore.
13 For great is Your mercy toward me,
And You have delivered my soul from the depths of [e]Sheol.
14 O God, the proud have risen against me,
And a mob of violent men have sought my life,
And have not set You before them.
15 But (P)You, O Lord, are a God full of compassion, and gracious,
Longsuffering and abundant in mercy and truth.
16 Oh, turn to me, and have mercy on me!
Give Your strength to Your servant,
And save the son of Your maidservant.
17 Show me a sign for good,
That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,
Because You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Haman Hanged Instead of Mordecai
7 So the king and Haman went to dine with Queen Esther. 2 And on the second day, (A)at the banquet of wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request, up to half the kingdom? It shall be done!”
3 Then Queen Esther answered and said, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it pleases the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. 4 For we have been (B)sold, my people and I, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be annihilated. Had we been sold as (C)male and female slaves, I would have held my tongue, although the enemy could never compensate for the king’s loss.”
5 So King Ahasuerus answered and said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would dare presume in his heart to do such a thing?”
6 And Esther said, “The adversary and (D)enemy is this wicked Haman!”
So Haman was terrified before the king and queen.
7 Then the king arose in his wrath from the banquet of wine and went into the palace garden; but Haman stood before Queen Esther, pleading for his life, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. 8 When the king returned from the palace garden to the place of the banquet of wine, Haman had fallen across (E)the couch where Esther was. Then the king said, “Will he also assault the queen while I am in the house?”
As the word left the king’s mouth, they (F)covered Haman’s face. 9 Now (G)Harbonah, one of the eunuchs, said to the king, “Look! (H)The [a]gallows, fifty cubits high, which Haman made for Mordecai, who spoke (I)good on the king’s behalf, is standing at the house of Haman.”
Then the king said, “Hang him on it!”
10 So (J)they (K)hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the king’s wrath subsided.
Miracles Glorify Christ
11 Now (A)God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 (B)so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them. 13 (C)Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists (D)took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, [a]“We [b]exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul (E)preaches.” 14 Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.
15 And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”
16 Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, [c]overpowered them, and prevailed against [d]them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. 17 This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and (F)fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified. 18 And many who had believed came (G)confessing and telling their deeds. 19 Also, many of those who had practiced magic brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted up the value of them, and it totaled fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 (H)So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.
Jesus Begins His Galilean Ministry(A)
14 (B)Then Jesus returned (C)in the power of the Spirit to (D)Galilee, and (E)news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. 15 And He (F)taught in their synagogues, (G)being glorified by all.
Jesus Rejected at Nazareth(H)
16 So He came to (I)Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, (J)He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read. 17 And He was handed the book of the prophet Isaiah. And when He had opened the book, He found the place where it was written:
18 “The(K) Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me [a]to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To (L)set at liberty those who are [b]oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.”
20 Then He closed the book, and gave it back to the attendant and sat down. And the eyes of all who were in the synagogue were fixed on Him. 21 And He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture is (M)fulfilled in your hearing.” 22 So all bore witness to Him, and (N)marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, (O)“Is this not Joseph’s son?”
23 He said to them, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we have heard done in (P)Capernaum,[c] do also here in (Q)Your country.’ ” 24 Then He said, “Assuredly, I say to you, no (R)prophet is accepted in his own country. 25 But I tell you truly, (S)many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there was a great famine throughout all the land; 26 but to none of them was Elijah sent except to [d]Zarephath, in the region of Sidon, to a woman who was a widow. 27 (T)And many lepers were in Israel in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed except Naaman the Syrian.”
28 So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were (U)filled with [e]wrath, 29 (V)and rose up and thrust Him out of the city; and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff. 30 Then (W)passing through the midst of them, He went His way.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.