Book of Common Prayer
BOOK ONE(A)
True Happiness
1 Happy are those
who reject the advice of evil people,
who do not follow the example of sinners
or join those who have no use for God.
2 Instead, they find joy in obeying the Law of the Lord,
and they study it day and night.
3 (B)They are like trees that grow beside a stream,
that bear fruit at the right time,
and whose leaves do not dry up.
They succeed in everything they do.
4 But evil people are not like this at all;
they are like straw that the wind blows away.
5 Sinners will be condemned by God
and kept apart from God's own people.
6 The righteous are guided and protected by the Lord,
but the evil are on the way to their doom.
God's Chosen King
2 (C)Why do the nations plan rebellion?
Why do people make their useless plots?
2 Their kings revolt,
their rulers plot together against the Lord
and against the king he chose.
3 “Let us free ourselves from their rule,” they say;
“let us throw off their control.”
4 From his throne in heaven the Lord laughs
and mocks their feeble plans.
5 Then he warns them in anger
and terrifies them with his fury.
6 “On Zion,[a] my sacred hill,” he says,
“I have installed my king.”
7 (D)“I will announce,” says the king, “what the Lord has declared.
He said to me: ‘You are my son;
today I have become your father.
8 Ask, and I will give you all the nations;
the whole earth will be yours.
9 (E)You will break them with an iron rod;
you will shatter them in pieces like a clay pot.’”
10 Now listen to this warning, you kings;
learn this lesson, you rulers of the world:
11 Serve the Lord with fear;
tremble 12 and bow down to him;[b]
or else his anger will be quickly aroused,
and you will suddenly die.
Happy are all who go to him for protection.
(F)Morning Prayer for Help[c]
3 I have so many enemies, Lord,
so many who turn against me!
2 They talk about me and say,
“God will not help him.”
3 But you, O Lord, are always my shield from danger;
you give me victory
and restore my courage.
4 I call to the Lord for help,
and from his sacred hill[d] he answers me.
5 I lie down and sleep,
and all night long the Lord protects me.
6 I am not afraid of the thousands of enemies
who surround me on every side.
7 Come, Lord! Save me, my God!
You punish all my enemies
and leave them powerless to harm me.
8 Victory comes from the Lord—
may he bless his people.
Evening Prayer for Help[e]
4 Answer me when I pray,
O God, my defender!
When I was in trouble, you helped me.
Be kind to me now and hear my prayer.
2 How long will you people insult me?
How long will you love what is worthless
and go after what is false?
3 Remember that the Lord has chosen the righteous for his own,
and he hears me when I call to him.
4 (G)Tremble with fear and stop sinning;
think deeply about this,
when you lie in silence on your beds.
5 Offer the right sacrifices to the Lord,
and put your trust in him.
6 There are many who pray:
“Give us more blessings, O Lord.
Look on us with kindness!”
7 But the joy that you have given me
is more than they will ever have
with all their grain and wine.
8 When I lie down, I go to sleep in peace;
you alone, O Lord, keep me perfectly safe.
A Prayer for Justice[a]
7 O Lord, my God, I come to you for protection;
rescue me and save me from all who pursue me,
2 or else like a lion they will carry me off
where no one can save me,
and there they will tear me to pieces.
3-4 O Lord, my God, if I have wronged anyone,
if I have betrayed a friend
or without cause done violence to my enemy[b]—
if I have done any of these things—
5 then let my enemies pursue me and catch me,
let them cut me down and kill me
and leave me lifeless on the ground!
6 Rise in your anger, O Lord!
Stand up against the fury of my enemies;
rouse yourself and help me!
Justice is what you demand,
7 so bring together all the peoples around you,
and rule over them from above.[c]
8 You are the judge of all people.
Judge in my favor, O Lord;
you know that I am innocent.
9 (A)You are a righteous God
and judge our thoughts and desires.
Stop the wickedness of evildoers
and reward those who are good.
10 God is my protector;
he saves those who obey him.
11 God is a righteous judge
and always condemns the wicked.
12 If they do not change their ways,
God will sharpen his sword.
He bends his bow and makes it ready;
13 he takes up his deadly weapons
and aims his burning arrows.
14 See how wicked people think up evil;
they plan trouble and practice deception.
15 But in the traps they set for others,
they themselves get caught.
16 So they are punished by their own evil
and are hurt by their own violence.
17 I thank the Lord for his justice;
I sing praises to the Lord, the Most High.
10 Jerusalem, your rulers and your people are like those of Sodom and Gomorrah. Listen to what the Lord is saying to you. Pay attention to what our God is teaching you. 11 (A)He says, “Do you think I want all these sacrifices you keep offering to me? I have had more than enough of the sheep you burn as sacrifices and of the fat of your fine animals. I am tired of the blood of bulls and sheep and goats. 12 Who asked you to bring me all this when you come to worship me? Who asked you to do all this tramping around in my Temple? 13 It's useless to bring your offerings. I am disgusted with the smell of the incense you burn. I cannot stand your New Moon Festivals, your Sabbaths, and your religious gatherings; they are all corrupted by your sins. 14 I hate your New Moon Festivals and holy days; they are a burden that I am tired of bearing.
15 “When you lift your hands in prayer, I will not look at you. No matter how much you pray, I will not listen, for your hands are covered with blood. 16 Wash yourselves clean. Stop all this evil that I see you doing. Yes, stop doing evil 17 and learn to do right. See that justice is done—help those who are oppressed, give orphans their rights, and defend widows.”
18 The Lord says, “Now, let's settle the matter. You are stained red with sin, but I will wash you as clean as snow.[a] Although your stains are deep red, you will be as white as wool.[b] 19 If you will only obey me, you will eat the good things the land produces. 20 But if you defy me, you are doomed to die. I, the Lord, have spoken.”
1 (A)From Paul, Silas, and Timothy—
To the people of the church in Thessalonica, who belong to God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ:
May grace and peace be yours.
The Life and Faith of the Thessalonians
2 We always thank God for you all and always mention you in our prayers. 3 For we remember before our God and Father how you put your faith into practice, how your love made you work so hard, and how your hope in our Lord Jesus Christ is firm. 4 Our friends, we know that God loves you and has chosen you to be his own. 5 For we brought the Good News to you, not with words only, but also with power and the Holy Spirit, and with complete conviction of its truth. You know how we lived when we were with you; it was for your own good. 6 (B)You imitated us and the Lord; and even though you suffered much, you received the message with the joy that comes from the Holy Spirit. 7 So you became an example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 For not only did the message about the Lord go out from you throughout Macedonia and Achaia, but the news about your faith in God has gone everywhere. There is nothing, then, that we need to say. 9 All those people speak about how you received us when we visited you, and how you turned away from idols to God, to serve the true and living God 10 and to wait for his Son to come from heaven—his Son Jesus, whom he raised from death and who rescues us from God's anger that is coming.
The Question about Jesus' Authority(A)
20 One day when Jesus was in the Temple teaching the people and preaching the Good News, the chief priests and the teachers of the Law, together with the elders, came 2 and said to him, “Tell us, what right do you have to do these things? Who gave you such right?”
3 Jesus answered them, “Now let me ask you a question. Tell me, 4 did John's right to baptize come from God or from human beings?”
5 They started to argue among themselves, “What shall we say? If we say, ‘From God,’ he will say, ‘Why, then, did you not believe John?’ 6 But if we say, ‘From human beings,’ this whole crowd here will stone us, because they are convinced that John was a prophet.” 7 So they answered, “We don't know where it came from.”
8 And Jesus said to them, “Neither will I tell you, then, by what right I do these things.”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.