Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)
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.
7 For thus says Yahweh,
“Sing for joy for Jacob with gladness,
and shout out for the head of the nations.
Proclaim, praise, and say,
‘Save, O Yahweh, your people, the remnant of Israel.’
8 Look, I am going to bring them from the land of the north,
and I will gather them from the remotest part of the earth.
Among them the blind, and the lame,
those who are pregnant, and those who give birth,
together, a great assembly,
they will return here.
9 With weeping they will come,
and with pleas for mercy I will bring them;
I will let them walk by streams of water in a straight path.
They will not stumble in it,
for I have become to Israel a father,
and Ephraim, he is my firstborn.”
10 Hear the word of Yahweh, O nations,
and declare in the coastlands from afar, and say,
“The scatterer of Israel will gather him,
and he will keep him as a shepherd his flock.
11 For Yahweh has ransomed Jacob,
and he has redeemed him from the hand of the person stronger[a] than he.
12 And they will come,
and they will sing for joy on the height of Zion,
and they will be radiant over the goodness of Yahweh,
over the grain, and over the wine, and over the olive oil,
and over the young ones of the flock, and over the cattle.
And their life will become like a well-watered garden,
and they will never languish again.”
13 “Then the young woman will rejoice in the dancing in a ring,
and the young men and the old men together.
And I will turn their mourning to jubilation,
and I will comfort them,
and I will gladden them from their sorrow.
14 And I will saturate the appetite of the priests with fatness,
and my people will be satisfied with my goodness,” declares[b] Yahweh.
The Prologue to John’s Gospel
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 This one was in the beginning with God. 3 All things came into being through him, and apart from him not one thing came into being that[a] has come into being. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of humanity.[b] 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome[c] it.
6 A man came, sent from God, whose name was[d] John. 7 This one came for a witness, in order that he could testify about the light, so that all would believe through him. 8 That one was not the light, but came[e] in order that he could testify about the light. 9 The true light, who gives light to every person, was coming into the world.
10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world did not recognize[a] him. 11 He came to his own things, and his own people did not receive him. 12 But as many as received him—to those who believe in his name—he gave to them authority to become children of God, 13 who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of a husband, but of God.
14 And the Word became flesh and took up residence among us, and we saw his glory, glory as of the one and only from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 John testified about him and cried out, saying, “This one was he about whom I said, ‘The one who comes after me is ahead of me, because he existed before me.’” 16 For from his fullness we have all received, and grace after grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came about through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has seen God at any time; the one and only, God, the one who is in the bosom of the Father—that one has made him[b] known.
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