Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
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.
Joshua Addresses the Israelites
1 After the death of Moses the servant of Yahweh, Yahweh said to Joshua son of Nun, the assistant[a] of Moses, saying, 2 “My servant Moses is dead. Get up and cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the Israelites.[b] 3 Every place that the soles of your feet will tread, I have given it to you, as I promised[c] to Moses. 4 From the wilderness and the Lebanon,[d] up to the great river, the river Euphrates, all of the land of the Hittites, and up to the great sea in the west,[e] will be your territory. 5 No one will stand before you[f] all the days of your life. Just as I was with Moses, so will I be with you; I will not fail you, and I will not forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, for you will give the people this land as an inheritance that I swore to their ancestors[g] to give them. 7 Only be strong and very courageous to observe diligently the whole law[h] that Moses my servant commanded you. Do not turn aside from it, to the right or left, so that you may succeed wherever you go.[i] 8 The scroll of this law will not depart from your mouth; you will meditate on it day and night so that you may observe diligently all that is written[j] in it. For then you will succeed in your ways and prosper. 9 Did I not command you? Be strong and courageous! Do not fear or be dismayed, for Yahweh your God is with you wherever you go.”[k]
32 And what more shall I say? For time would fail me to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, and Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, accomplished justice, obtained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions, 34 extinguished the effectiveness of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong from weakness, became mighty in battle, put to flight enemy battle lines. 35 Women received back their dead by resurrection. But others were tortured, not accepting release, in order that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 And others experienced mocking and flogging[a], and in addition bonds and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they died by murder with a sword, they wandered about in sheepskins, in goatskins, impoverished, afflicted, mistreated, 38 of whom the world was not worthy, wandering about on deserts and mountains and in caves and in holes in the ground. 39 And although they[b] all were approved[c] through their faith, they did not receive what was promised, 40 because[d] God had provided something better for us, so that they would not be made perfect without us.
The Example of Jesus’ Suffering
12 Therefore, since[e] we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, putting aside every weight and the sin that so easily ensnares us[f], let us run with patient endurance the race that has been set before us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the originator and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
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