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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.
² May he judge your people with righteousness,
   and your poor with justice.
³ May the mountains yield prosperity for the people,
   and the hills, in righteousness.
⁴ May he defend the cause of the poor of the people,
   give deliverance to the needy,
   and crush the oppressor.

⁵ May he live^* while the sun endures,
   and as long as the moon, throughout all generations.
⁶ May he be like rain that falls on the mown grass,
   like showers that water the earth.
⁷ In his days may righteousness flourish
   and peace abound, until the moon is no more.

⁸ May he have dominion from sea to sea,
   and from the River to the ends of the earth.
⁹ May his foes^* bow down before him,
   and his enemies lick the dust.
¹⁰ May the kings of Tarshish and of the isles
   render him tribute,
may the kings of Sheba and Seba
   bring gifts.
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.
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.

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.
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.
¹⁷ May his name endure for ever,
   his fame continue as long as the sun.
May all nations be blessed in him;^*
   may they pronounce him happy.

¹⁸ Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
   who alone does wondrous things.
¹⁹ Blessed be his glorious name for ever;
   may his glory fill the whole earth.Amen and Amen.

²⁰ The prayers of David son of Jesse are ended.

Feeding the Five Thousand

30 The apostles gathered around Jesus, and told him all that they had done and taught. ³¹He said to them, ‘Come away to a deserted place all by yourselves and rest a while.’ For many were coming and going, and they had no leisure even to eat. ³²And they went away in the boat to a deserted place by themselves. ³³Now many saw them going and recognized them, and they hurried there on foot from all the towns and arrived ahead of them. ³⁴As he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. ³⁵When it grew late, his disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now very late; ³⁶send them away so that they may go into the surrounding country and villages and buy something for themselves to eat.’ ³⁷But he answered them, ‘You give them something to eat.’ They said to him, ‘Are we to go and buy two hundred denarii^* worth of bread, and give it to them to eat?’ ³⁸And he said to them, ‘How many loaves have you? Go and see.’ When they had found out, they said, ‘Five, and two fish.’ ³⁹Then he ordered them to get all the people to sit down in groups on the green grass. ⁴⁰So they sat down in groups of hundreds and of fifties. ⁴¹Taking the five loaves and the two fish, he looked up to heaven, and blessed and broke the loaves, and gave them to his disciples to set before the people; and he divided the two fish among them all. ⁴²And all ate and were filled; ⁴³and they took up twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish. ⁴⁴Those who had eaten the loaves numbered five thousand men.