Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 72
Prayer for Guidance and Support for the King
Of Solomon.
1 Give the king your justice, O God,
and your righteousness to a king’s son.(A)
2 May he judge your people with righteousness
and your poor with justice.(B)
3 May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,
and the hills, in righteousness.(C)
4 May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
give deliverance to the needy,
and crush the oppressor.(D)
5 May he live[a] while the sun endures
and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.(E)
6 May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
like showers that water the earth.(F)
7 In his days may righteousness flourish
and peace abound, until the moon is no more.(G)
8 May he have dominion from sea to sea
and from the River to the ends of the earth.(H)
9 May his foes[b] bow down before him,
and his enemies lick the dust.(I)
10 May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles
render him tribute;
may the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring gifts.(J)
11 May all kings fall down before him,
all nations give him service.
12 For he delivers the needy when they call,
the poor and those who have no helper.(K)
13 He has pity on the weak and the needy
and saves the lives of the needy.
14 From oppression and violence he redeems their life,
and precious is their blood in his sight.(L)
15 Long may he live!
May gold of Sheba be given to him.
May prayer be made for him continually
and blessings invoked for him all day long.(M)
16 May there be abundance of grain in the land;
may it wave on the tops of the mountains;
may its fruit be like Lebanon;
and may people blossom in the cities
like the grass of the field.(N)
17 May his name endure forever,
his fame continue as long as the sun.
May all nations be blessed in him;[c]
may they pronounce him happy.(O)
18 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
who alone does wondrous things.(P)
19 Blessed be his glorious name forever;
may his glory fill the whole earth.
Amen and Amen.(Q)
20 The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.
73 Your hands have made and fashioned me;
give me understanding that I may learn your commandments.(A)
74 Those who fear you shall see me and rejoice,
because I have hoped in your word.(B)
75 I know, O Lord, that your judgments are right
and that in faithfulness you have humbled me.(C)
76 Let your steadfast love become my comfort
according to your promise to your servant.
77 Let your mercy come to me, that I may live,
for your law is my delight.
78 Let the arrogant be put to shame,
for they have subverted me with guile;
as for me, I will meditate on your precepts.(D)
79 Let those who fear you turn to me,
so that they may know your decrees.
80 May my heart be blameless in your statutes,
so that I may not be put to shame.
81 My soul languishes for your salvation;
I hope in your word.(E)
82 My eyes fail with watching for your promise;
I ask, “When will you comfort me?”(F)
83 For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke,
yet I have not forgotten your statutes.(G)
84 How long must your servant endure?
When will you judge those who persecute me?(H)
85 The arrogant have dug pitfalls for me;
they flout your law.(I)
86 All your commandments are enduring;
I am persecuted without cause; help me!(J)
87 They have almost made an end of me on earth,
but I have not forsaken your precepts.
88 In your steadfast love spare my life,
so that I may keep the decrees of your mouth.
89 The Lord exists forever;
your word is firmly fixed in heaven.(K)
90 Your faithfulness endures to all generations;
you have established the earth, and it stands fast.(L)
91 By your appointment they stand today,
for all things are your servants.(M)
92 If your law had not been my delight,
I would have perished in my misery.
93 I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have given me life.(N)
94 I am yours; save me,
for I have sought your precepts.
95 The wicked lie in wait to destroy me,
but I consider your decrees.
96 I have seen a limit to all perfection,
but your commandment is exceedingly broad.
A Call to Repentance
6 The Lord said to me in the days of King Josiah: Have you seen what she did, that faithless one, Israel, how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree and prostituted herself there?(A) 7 And I thought, “After she has done all this she will return to me,” but she did not return, and her false sister Judah saw it.(B) 8 She[a] saw that for all the adulteries of that faithless one, Israel, I had sent her away with a decree of divorce, yet her false sister Judah did not fear, but she also went and prostituted herself.(C) 9 Because she took her prostitution so lightly, she polluted the land, committing adultery with stone and tree.(D) 10 Yet for all this her false sister Judah did not return to me with her whole heart but only in pretense, says the Lord.(E)
11 Then the Lord said to me: Faithless Israel has shown herself less guilty than false Judah.(F) 12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say:
Return, faithless Israel,
says the Lord.
I will not look on you in anger,
for I am merciful,
says the Lord;
I will not be angry forever.(G)
13 Only acknowledge your guilt,
that you have rebelled against the Lord your God
and scattered your favors among strangers under every green tree
and have not obeyed my voice,
says the Lord.(H)
14 Return, O faithless children,
says the Lord,
for I am your husband;
I will take you, one from a city and two from a family,
and I will bring you to Zion.(I)
15 I will give you shepherds after my own heart who will feed you with knowledge and understanding.(J) 16 And when you have multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, says the Lord, they shall no longer say, “The ark of the covenant of the Lord.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed, nor shall another one be made.(K) 17 At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord, and all nations shall gather to it, to the presence of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they shall no longer stubbornly follow their own evil will.(L) 18 In those days the house of Judah shall join the house of Israel, and together they shall come from the land of the north to the land that I gave your ancestors for a heritage.(M)
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to an unfit mind and to do things that should not be done.(A) 29 They were filled with every kind of injustice, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters,[a] insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents,(B) 31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.(C) 32 They know God’s decree, that those who practice such things deserve to die, yet they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.(D)
The Righteous Judgment of God
2 Therefore you are without excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others, for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.(E) 2 We know that God’s judgment on those who do such things is in accordance with truth. 3 Do you imagine, whoever you are, that when you judge those who do such things and yet do them yourself, you will escape the judgment of God? 4 Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience? Do you not realize that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?(F) 5 But by your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.(G) 6 He will repay according to each one’s deeds:(H) 7 to those who by patiently doing good seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life, 8 while for those who are self-seeking and who obey not the truth but injustice, there will be wrath and fury.(I) 9 There will be affliction and distress for everyone who does evil, both the Jew first and the Greek,(J) 10 but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, both the Jew first and the Greek. 11 For God shows no partiality.(K)
Jesus Heals on the Sabbath
5 After this there was a festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew[a] Beth-zatha,[b] which has five porticoes.(A) 3 In these lay many ill, blind, lame, and paralyzed people.[c] 5 One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7 The ill man answered him, “Sir,[d] I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am making my way someone else steps down ahead of me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Stand up, take your mat and walk.”(B) 9 At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk.
Now that day was a Sabbath.(C) 10 So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.”(D) 11 But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’ ” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take it up and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in[e] the crowd that was there. 14 Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.”(E) 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.”(F) 18 For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the Sabbath but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.(G)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.