Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 118[a]
118 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
and his loyal love endures.[b]
2 Let Israel say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures.”
3 Let the family[c] of Aaron say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures.”
4 Let the loyal followers of the Lord[d] say,
“Yes, his loyal love endures.”
5 In my distress[e] I cried out to the Lord.
The Lord answered me and put me in a wide open place.[f]
6 The Lord is on my side;[g] I am not afraid.
What can people do to me?[h]
7 The Lord is on my side[i] as my helper.[j]
I look in triumph on those who hate me.
8 It is better to take shelter[k] in the Lord
than to trust in people.
9 It is better to take shelter in the Lord
than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me.[l]
Indeed, in the name of the Lord[m] I pushed them away.[n]
11 They surrounded me, yes, they surrounded me.
Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.
12 They surrounded me like bees.
But they disappeared as quickly[o] as a fire among thorns.[p]
Indeed, in the name of the Lord I pushed them away.
13 “You aggressively attacked me[q] and tried to knock me down,[r]
but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord gives me strength and protects me;[s]
he has become my deliverer.”[t]
15 They celebrate deliverance in the tents of the godly.[u]
The Lord’s right hand conquers.[v]
16 The Lord’s right hand gives victory;[w]
the Lord’s right hand conquers.
17 I will not die, but live,
and I will proclaim what the Lord has done.[x]
18 The Lord severely[y] punished me,
but he did not hand me over to death.
19 Open for me the gates of the just king’s temple.[z]
I will enter through them and give thanks to the Lord.
20 This is the Lord’s gate—
the godly enter through it.
21 I will give you thanks, for you answered me,
and have become my deliverer.
22 The stone that the builders discarded[aa]
has become the cornerstone.[ab]
23 This is the Lord’s work.
We consider it amazing![ac]
24 This is the day the Lord has brought about.[ad]
We will be happy and rejoice in it.
25 Please, Lord, deliver!
Please, Lord, grant us success![ae]
26 May the one who comes in the name of the Lord[af] be blessed.
We will pronounce blessings on you[ag] in the Lord’s temple.[ah]
27 The Lord is God, and he has delivered us.[ai]
Tie the offering[aj] with ropes
to the horns of the altar.[ak]
28 You are my[al] God, and I will give you thanks.
You are my God and I will praise you.
29 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good
and his loyal love endures.[am]
Psalm 145[a]
A psalm of praise; by David.
145 I will extol you, my God, O King.
I will praise your name continually.[b]
2 Every day I will praise you.
I will praise your name continually.[c]
3 The Lord is great and certainly worthy of praise.
No one can fathom his greatness.[d]
4 One generation will praise your deeds to another,
and tell about your mighty acts.[e]
5 I will focus on your honor and majestic splendor,
and your amazing deeds.[f]
6 They will proclaim[g] the power of your awesome acts.
I will declare your great deeds.
7 They will talk about the fame of your great kindness,[h]
and sing about your justice.[i]
8 The Lord is merciful and compassionate;
he is patient[j] and demonstrates great loyal love.[k]
9 The Lord is good to all,
and has compassion on all he has made.[l]
10 All your works will give thanks to you, Lord.
Your loyal followers will praise you.
11 They will proclaim the splendor of your kingdom;
they will tell about your power,
12 so that mankind[m] might acknowledge your mighty acts,
and the majestic splendor of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom is an eternal kingdom,[n]
and your dominion endures through all generations.
14 [o] The Lord supports all who fall,
and lifts up all who are bent over.[p]
15 Everything looks to you in anticipation,[q]
and you provide them with food on a regular basis.[r]
16 You open your hand,
and fill every living thing with the food it desires.[s]
17 The Lord is just in all his actions,[t]
and exhibits love in all he does.[u]
18 The Lord is near all who cry out to him,
all who cry out to him sincerely.[v]
19 He satisfies the desire[w] of his loyal followers;[x]
he hears their cry for help and delivers them.
20 The Lord protects all those who love him,
but he destroys all the wicked.
21 My mouth will praise the Lord.[y]
Let all who live[z] praise his holy name forever.
The Death of Ahithophel
17 Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me pick out 12,000 men. Then I will go and pursue David this very night. 2 When I catch up with[a] him he will be exhausted and worn out.[b] I will rout him, and the entire army that is with him will flee. I will kill only the king 3 and will bring the entire army back to you. In exchange for the life of the man you are seeking, you will get back everyone.[c] The entire army will return unharmed.”[d]
4 This seemed like a good idea to Absalom and to all the leaders[e] of Israel. 5 But Absalom said, “Call for[f] Hushai the Arkite, and let’s hear what he has to say.”[g] 6 So Hushai came to Absalom. Absalom said to him, “Here is what Ahithophel has advised. Should we follow his advice? If not, what would you recommend?”
7 Hushai replied to Absalom, “Ahithophel’s advice is not sound this time.”[h] 8 Hushai went on to say, “You know your father and his men—they are soldiers and are as dangerous as a bear out in the wild that has been robbed of her cubs.[i] Your father is an experienced soldier; he will not stay overnight with the army. 9 At this very moment he is hiding out in one of the caves or in some other similar place. If it should turn out that he attacks our troops first,[j] whoever hears about it will say, ‘Absalom’s army has been slaughtered!’ 10 If that happens even the bravest soldier—one who is lion-hearted—will virtually melt away. For all Israel knows that your father is a warrior and that those who are with him are brave. 11 My advice therefore is this: Let all Israel from Dan to Beer Sheba—in number like the sand by the sea—be mustered to you, and you lead them personally into battle. 12 We will come against him wherever he happens to be found. We will descend on him like the dew falls on the ground. Neither he nor any of the men who are with him will be spared alive—not one of them! 13 If he regroups in a city, all Israel will take up ropes to that city and drag it down to the valley, so that not a single pebble will be left there!”
14 Then Absalom and all the men of Israel said, “The advice of Hushai the Arkite sounds better than the advice of Ahithophel.” Now the Lord had decided[k] to frustrate the sound advice of Ahithophel, so that the Lord could bring disaster on Absalom.
15 Then Hushai reported to Zadok and Abiathar the priests, “Here is what Ahithophel has advised Absalom and the leaders[l] of Israel to do, and here is what I have advised. 16 Now send word quickly to David and warn him,[m] “Don’t spend the night at the fords[n] of the wilderness tonight. Instead, be sure you cross over,[o] or else the king and everyone who is with him may be overwhelmed.”[p]
17 Now Jonathan and Ahimaaz were staying in En Rogel. A female servant would go and inform them, and they would then go and inform King David. It was not advisable for them to be seen going into the city. 18 But a young man saw them on one occasion and informed Absalom. So the two of them quickly departed and went to the house of a man in Bahurim. There was a well in his courtyard, and they got down in it. 19 His wife then took the covering and spread it over the top of the well and scattered some grain over it. No one was aware of what she had done.
20 When the servants of Absalom approached the woman at her home, they asked, “Where are Ahimaaz and Jonathan?” The woman replied to them, “They crossed over the stream.” Absalom’s men[q] searched but did not find them, so they returned to Jerusalem.
21 After the men had left, Ahimaaz and Jonathan[r] climbed out of the well. Then they left and informed King David. They advised David, “Get up and cross the stream[s] quickly, for Ahithophel has devised a plan to catch you.”[t] 22 So David and all the people who were with him got up and crossed the Jordan River.[u] By dawn there was not one person left who had not crossed the Jordan.
23 When Ahithophel realized that his advice had not been followed, he saddled his donkey and returned to his house in his hometown. After setting his household in order, he hanged himself. So he died and was buried in the grave[v] of his father.
6 Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,[a] 7 so then, understand[b] that those who believe are the sons of Abraham.[c] 8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, proclaimed the gospel to Abraham ahead of time,[d] saying, “All the nations[e] will be blessed in you.”[f] 9 So then those who believe[g] are blessed along with Abraham the believer. 10 For all who[h] rely on doing the works of the law are under a curse, because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not keep on doing everything written in the book of the law.”[i] 11 Now it is clear no one is justified before God by the law, because the righteous one will live by faith.[j] 12 But the law is not based on faith,[k] but the one who does the works of the law[l] will live by them.[m] 13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming[n] a curse for us (because it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”)[o] 14 in order that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham would come to the Gentiles,[p] so that we could receive the promise of the Spirit by faith.
30 I can do nothing on my own initiative.[a] Just as I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just,[b] because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the one who sent me.[c]
More Testimony About Jesus
31 “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another[d] who testifies about me, and I know the testimony he testifies about me is true. 33 You have sent to John,[e] and he has testified to the truth. 34 (I do not accept[f] human testimony, but I say this so that you may be saved.) 35 He was a lamp that was burning and shining,[g] and you wanted to rejoice greatly for a short time[h] in his light.
36 “But I have a testimony greater than that from John. For the deeds[i] that the Father has assigned me to complete—the deeds[j] I am now doing—testify about me that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself testified about me. You people[k] have never heard his voice nor seen his form at any time,[l] 38 nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent. 39 You study the scriptures thoroughly[m] because you think in them you possess eternal life,[n] and it is these same scriptures[o] that testify about me, 40 but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.
41 “I do not accept[p] praise[q] from people,[r] 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God[s] within you. 43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept[t] me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept[u] him. 44 How can you believe, if you accept praise[v] from one another and don’t seek the praise[w] that comes from the only God?[x]
45 “Do not suppose that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope.[y] 46 If[z] you believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47 But if you do not believe what Moses[aa] wrote, how will you believe my words?”
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