Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 20[a]
Prayer for the King in Time of War
1 For the leader. A psalm of David.
I
2 The Lord answer you in time of distress;
the name of the God of Jacob defend you!
3 May he send you help from the sanctuary,
from Zion be your support.(A)
4 May he remember[b] your every offering,
graciously accept your burnt offering,
Selah
5 Grant what is in your heart,
fulfill your every plan.
6 May we shout for joy at your victory,[c]
raise the banners in the name of our God.
The Lord grant your every petition!
II
7 Now I know the Lord gives victory
to his anointed.(B)
He will answer him from the holy heavens
with a strong arm that brings victory.
8 Some rely on chariots, others on horses,
but we on the name of the Lord our God.(C)
9 They collapse and fall,
but we stand strong and firm.(D)
10 Lord, grant victory to the king;
answer when we call upon you.
Psalm 21[d]
Thanksgiving and Assurances for the King
1 For the leader. A psalm of David.
I
2 Lord, the king finds joy in your power;(E)
in your victory how greatly he rejoices!
3 You have granted him his heart’s desire;
you did not refuse the request of his lips.
Selah
4 For you welcomed him with goodly blessings;
you placed on his head a crown of pure gold.
5 He asked life of you;
you gave it to him,
length of days forever.(F)
6 Great is his glory in your victory;
majesty and splendor you confer upon him.
7 You make him the pattern of blessings forever,
you gladden him with the joy of your face.
8 For the king trusts in the Lord,
stands firm through the mercy of the Most High.
II
9 Your hand will find all your enemies;
your right hand will find your foes!
10 At the time of your coming
you will make them a fiery furnace.
Then the Lord in his anger will consume them,
devour them with fire.
11 Even their descendants you will wipe out from the earth,
their offspring from the human race.
12 Though they intend evil against you,
devising plots, they will not succeed,
13 For you will put them to flight;
you will aim at their faces with your bow.
III
14 Arise, Lord, in your power!(G)
We will sing and chant the praise of your might.
Psalm 110[a]
God Appoints the King both King and Priest
1 A psalm of David.
The Lord says to my lord:[b]
“Sit at my right hand,
while I make your enemies your footstool.”(A)
2 The scepter of your might:
the Lord extends your strong scepter from Zion.
Have dominion over your enemies!
3 Yours is princely power from the day of your birth.
In holy splendor before the daystar,
like dew I begot you.(B)
4 The Lord has sworn and will not waver:
“You are a priest forever in the manner of Melchizedek.”[c](C)
5 At your right hand is the Lord,
who crushes kings on the day of his wrath,(D)
6 Who judges nations, heaps up corpses,
crushes heads across the wide earth,
7 [d]Who drinks from the brook by the wayside
and thus holds high his head.(E)
Psalm 116[a]
Thanksgiving to God Who Saves from Death
I
1 I love the Lord, who listened
to my voice in supplication,
2 Who turned an ear to me
on the day I called.
3 I was caught by the cords of death;[b](A)
the snares of Sheol had seized me;
I felt agony and dread.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord,
“O Lord, save my life!”
II
5 Gracious is the Lord and righteous;
yes, our God is merciful.(B)
6 The Lord protects the simple;
I was helpless, but he saved me.
7 Return, my soul, to your rest;
the Lord has been very good to you.(C)
8 For my soul has been freed from death,
my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.(D)
9 I shall walk before the Lord
in the land of the living.[c](E)
III
10 [d]I kept faith, even when I said,
“I am greatly afflicted!”(F)
11 I said in my alarm,
“All men are liars!”(G)
12 How can I repay the Lord
for all the great good done for me?
13 I will raise the cup of salvation[e]
and call on the name of the Lord.
14 I will pay my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his people.
15 [f]Dear in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his devoted.(H)
16 Lord, I am your servant,
your servant, the child of your maidservant;(I)
you have loosed my bonds.
17 I will offer a sacrifice of praise
and call on the name of the Lord.(J)
18 I will pay my vows to the Lord(K)
in the presence of all his people,
19 In the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!
Psalm 117[g]
The Nations Called to Praise
1 Praise the Lord, all you nations!
Extol him, all you peoples!(L)
2 His mercy for us is strong;
the faithfulness of the Lord is forever.
Hallelujah!
31 The words that David had spoken were overheard and reported to Saul, who sent for him.
David Challenges Goliath. 32 Then David spoke to Saul: “My lord should not lose heart. Let your servant go and fight this Philistine.” 33 But Saul answered David, “You cannot go up against this Philistine and fight with him, for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34 (A)Then David told Saul: “Your servant used to tend his father’s sheep, and whenever a lion or bear came to carry off a sheep from the flock, 35 I would chase after it, attack it, and snatch the prey from its mouth. If it attacked me, I would seize it by the throat, strike it, and kill it. 36 Your servant has killed both a lion and a bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be as one of them, because he has insulted the armies of the living God.”
37 David continued: “The same Lord who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul answered David, “Go! the Lord will be with you.”(B)
Preparation for the Encounter. 38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic, putting a bronze helmet on his head and arming him with a coat of mail. 39 David also fastened Saul’s sword over the tunic. He walked with difficulty, however, since he had never worn armor before. He said to Saul, “I cannot go in these, because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40 Then, staff in hand, David selected five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag. With his sling in hand, he approached the Philistine.
David’s Victory. 41 [a]With his shield-bearer marching before him, the Philistine advanced closer and closer to David. 42 When he sized David up and saw that he was youthful, ruddy, and handsome in appearance, he began to deride him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with a staff?” Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods 44 and said to him, “Come here to me, and I will feed your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.”(C) 45 David answered him: “You come against me with sword and spear and scimitar, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have insulted. 46 Today the Lord shall deliver you into my hand; I will strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will feed your dead body and the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field; thus the whole land shall learn that Israel has a God. 47 All this multitude, too, shall learn that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves. For the battle belongs to the Lord, who shall deliver you into our hands.”(D)
48 The Philistine then moved to meet David at close quarters, while David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 David put his hand into the bag and took out a stone, hurled it with the sling, and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone embedded itself in his brow, and he fell on his face to the ground.
Chapter 11
The Baptism of the Gentiles Explained.[a] 1 Now the apostles and the brothers who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles too had accepted the word of God. 2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem the circumcised believers confronted him, 3 saying, “You entered[b] the house of uncircumcised people and ate with them.” 4 Peter began and explained it to them step by step, saying, 5 (A)“I was at prayer in the city of Joppa when in a trance I had a vision, something resembling a large sheet coming down, lowered from the sky by its four corners, and it came to me. 6 Looking intently into it, I observed and saw the four-legged animals of the earth, the wild beasts, the reptiles, and the birds of the sky. 7 I also heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Slaughter and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘Certainly not, sir, because nothing profane or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9 But a second time a voice from heaven answered, ‘What God has made clean, you are not to call profane.’ 10 This happened three times, and then everything was drawn up again into the sky. 11 Just then three men appeared at the house where we were, who had been sent to me from Caesarea. 12 The Spirit told me to accompany them without discriminating. These six brothers[c] also went with me, and we entered the man’s house. 13 He related to us how he had seen [the] angel standing in his house, saying, ‘Send someone to Joppa and summon Simon, who is called Peter,(B) 14 who will speak words to you by which you and all your household will be saved.’ 15 As I began to speak, the holy Spirit fell upon them as it had upon us at the beginning,(C) 16 and I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water but you will be baptized with the holy Spirit.’(D) 17 If then God gave them the same gift he gave to us when we came to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to be able to hinder God?”(E) 18 When they heard this, they stopped objecting and glorified God, saying, “God has then granted life-giving repentance to the Gentiles too.”
The Church at Antioch.[d]
II. The Mystery of Jesus
The Beginning of the Galilean Ministry. 14 (A)After John had been arrested,[a] Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the gospel of God: 15 (B)“This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”
The Call of the First Disciples.[b] 16 (C)As he passed by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and his brother Andrew casting their nets into the sea; they were fishermen. 17 Jesus said to them, “Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 18 Then they abandoned their nets and followed him. 19 He walked along a little farther and saw James, the son of Zebedee, and his brother John. They too were in a boat mending their nets. 20 Then he called them. So they left their father Zebedee in the boat along with the hired men and followed him.
The Cure of a Demoniac. 21 [c](D)Then they came to Capernaum, and on the sabbath he entered the synagogue and taught. 22 (E)The people were astonished at his teaching, for he taught them as one having authority and not as the scribes. 23 [d]In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; 24 [e]he cried out, “What have you to do with us,[f] Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!” 25 Jesus rebuked him and said, “Quiet! Come out of him!” 26 The unclean spirit convulsed him and with a loud cry came out of him. 27 All were amazed and asked one another, “What is this? A new teaching with authority. He commands even the unclean spirits and they obey him.” 28 His fame spread everywhere throughout the whole region of Galilee.
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.