Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Israel’s Restoration
To the Chief Musician. (A)Set to [a]“The Lilies.” A [b]Testimony of Asaph. A Psalm.
80 Give ear, O Shepherd of Israel,
(B)You who lead Joseph (C)like a flock;
You who dwell between the cherubim, (D)shine forth!
2 Before (E)Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh,
Stir up Your strength,
And come and save us!
4 O Lord God of hosts,
(H)How long will You be angry
Against the prayer of Your people?
5 (I)You have fed them with the bread of tears,
And given them tears to drink in great measure.
6 You have made us a strife to our neighbors,
And our enemies laugh among themselves.
7 Restore us, O God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
8 You have brought (J)a vine out of Egypt;
(K)You have cast out the [c]nations, and planted it.
9 You prepared room for it,
And caused it to take deep root,
And it filled the land.
10 The hills were covered with its shadow,
And the [d]mighty cedars with its (L)boughs.
11 She sent out her boughs to [e]the Sea,
And her branches to [f]the River.
12 Why have You (M)broken down her [g]hedges,
So that all who pass by the way pluck her fruit?
13 The boar out of the woods uproots it,
And the wild beast of the field devours it.
14 Return, we beseech You, O God of hosts;
(N)Look down from heaven and see,
And visit this vine
15 And the vineyard which Your right hand has planted,
And the branch that You made strong (O)for Yourself.
16 It is burned with fire, it is cut down;
(P)They perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.
17 (Q)Let Your hand be upon the man of Your right hand,
Upon the son of man whom You made strong for Yourself.
18 Then we will not turn back from You;
Revive us, and we will call upon Your name.
19 Restore us, O Lord God of hosts;
Cause Your face to shine,
And we shall be saved!
David Anointed King
16 Now the Lord said to Samuel, (A)“How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? (B)Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to (C)Jesse the Bethlehemite. For (D)I have [a]provided Myself a king among his sons.”
2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”
But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, (E)‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.”
4 So Samuel did what the Lord said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town (F)trembled at his coming, and said, (G)“Do you come peaceably?”
5 And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. (H)Sanctify[b] yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at (I)Eliab and (J)said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!”
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, (K)“Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have [c]refused him. (L)For[d] the Lord does not see as man sees; for man (M)looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the (N)heart.”
8 So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the (O)sheep.”
And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not [e]sit down till he comes here.” 12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was (P)ruddy, (Q)with [f]bright eyes, and good-looking. (R)And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and (S)the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
Deceptions of the Last Hour
18 (A)Little children, (B)it is the last hour; and as you have heard that (C)the[a] Antichrist is coming, (D)even now many antichrists have come, by which we know (E)that it is the last hour. 19 (F)They went out from us, but they were not of us; for (G)if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out (H)that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
20 But (I)you have an anointing (J)from the Holy One, and (K)you[b] know all things. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22 (L)Who is a liar but he who denies that (M)Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son. 23 (N)Whoever denies the Son does not have the (O)Father either; (P)he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
Let Truth Abide in You
24 Therefore let that abide in you (Q)which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, (R)you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 (S)And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.
The Sovereignty of the Lord in Creation and History
33 Rejoice (A)in the Lord, O you righteous!
For praise from the upright is beautiful.
2 Praise the Lord with the harp;
[a]Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord is right,
And all His work is done in truth.
5 He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord.
6 (B)By the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
And all the (C)host of them (D)by the breath of His mouth.
7 (E)He gathers the waters of the sea together [b]as a heap;
He lays up the deep in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
9 For (F)He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
10 (G)The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
He makes the plans of the peoples of no effect.
11 (H)The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The plans of His heart to all generations.
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
The people He has (I)chosen as His own inheritance.
13 (J)The Lord looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men.
14 From the place of His dwelling He looks
On all the inhabitants of the earth;
15 He fashions their hearts individually;
(K)He [c]considers all their works.
16 (L)No king is saved by the multitude of an army;
A mighty man is not delivered by great strength.
17 (M)A horse is a [d]vain hope for safety;
Neither shall it deliver any by its great strength.
18 (N)Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope in His mercy,
19 To deliver their soul from death,
And (O)to keep them alive in famine.
20 Our soul waits for the Lord;
He is our help and our shield.
21 For our heart shall rejoice in Him,
Because we have trusted in His holy name.
22 Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon us,
Just as we hope in You.
The Ephesian Elders Exhorted
17 From Miletus he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. 18 And when they had come to him, he said to them: “You know, (A)from the first day that I came to Asia, in what manner I always lived among you, 19 serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears and trials which happened to me (B)by the plotting of the Jews; 20 how (C)I kept back nothing that was helpful, but proclaimed it to you, and taught you publicly and from house to house, 21 (D)testifying to Jews, and also to Greeks, (E)repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ. 22 And see, now (F)I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that will happen to me there, 23 except that (G)the Holy Spirit testifies in every city, saying that chains and tribulations await me. 24 [a]But (H)none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, (I)so that I may finish my [b]race with joy, (J)and the ministry (K)which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
25 “And indeed, now I know that you all, among whom I have gone preaching the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am (L)innocent[c] of the blood of all men. 27 For I have not [d]shunned to declare to you (M)the whole counsel of God. 28 (N)Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit (O)has made you overseers, to shepherd the church [e]of God (P)which He purchased (Q)with His own blood. 29 For I know this, that after my departure (R)savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Also (S)from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking [f]perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves. 31 Therefore watch, and remember that (T)for three years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day with tears.
32 “So now, brethren, I commend you to God and (U)to the word of His grace, which is able (V)to build you up and give you (W)an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have coveted no one’s silver or gold or apparel. 34 [g]Yes, you yourselves know (X)that these hands have provided for my necessities, and for those who were with me. 35 I have shown you in every way, (Y)by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.