[Note: On Monday, October 26, Kiryat Arba resident Danny Vargas, 29, was
killed as he was driving home from his job at the electric station outside
Kiryat Arba. The killers shot him four times, threw his body out of the car,
and drove off. On the same day, Mohammed Azalmout, 72, from Beit Forik, was
killed near Itamar Settlement, his face smashed beyond recognition. He had
gone out to pick olives in the morning and never returned.]

God is our refuge and strength
an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the
earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart
of the sea. (ps. 46: 1-2)

We pray for the two men so senselessly killed: one an Israeli, the other a
Palestinian. We pray also for their families and friends, for those who
committed these crimes, and for the innocent people who must bear the
consequences. We ask you to join in our prayer that the sorrow and compassion
expressed by ordinary people may reach out to heal the anger and hatred that
erupts in such violence and bring a measure of justice and peace to this
conflicted land.

God makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
God breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
burns the shields with fire.
Be still and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth. (v. 9-10)