Book of Common Prayer
For the choir director; on a stringed instrument; by David.
61 Listen to my cry for help, O God.
Pay attention to my prayer.
2 From the ends of the earth, I call to you
when I begin to lose heart.
Lead me to the rock that is high above me.
3 You have been my refuge,
a tower of strength against the enemy.
4 I would like to be a guest in your tent forever
and to take refuge under the protection of your wings. Selah
5 O God, you have heard my vows.
You have given me the inheritance
that belongs to those who fear your name.
6 Add days upon days to the life of the king.
May his years endure throughout every generation.
7 May he sit enthroned in the presence of God forever.
May mercy and truth protect him.
8 Then I will make music to praise your name forever,
as I keep my vows day after day.
For the choir director; according to Jeduthun; a psalm by David.
62 My soul waits calmly for God alone.
My salvation comes from him.
2 He alone is my rock and my savior—my stronghold.
I cannot be severely shaken.
3 How long will all of you attack a person?
How long will you try to murder him,
as though he were a leaning wall or a sagging fence?
4 They plan to force him out of his high position.
They are happy to lie.
They bless with their mouths,
but in their hearts they curse. Selah
5 Wait calmly for God alone, my soul,
because my hope comes from him.
6 He alone is my rock and my savior—my stronghold.
I cannot be shaken.
7 My salvation and my glory depend on God.
God is the rock of my strength, my refuge.
8 Trust him at all times, you people.
Pour out your hearts in his presence.
God is our refuge. Selah
9 Common people are only a whisper in the wind.
Important people are only a delusion.
When all of them are weighed on a scale, they amount to nothing.
They are less than a whisper in the wind.
10 Do not count on extortion ⌞to make you rich⌟.
Do not hope to gain anything through robbery.
When riches increase, do not depend on them.
11 God has spoken once.
I have heard it ⌞said⌟ twice:
“Power belongs to God.
12 Mercy belongs to you, O Lord.
You reward a person based on what he has done.”
For the choir director; a psalm by David; a song.
68 God will arise.
His enemies will be scattered.
Those who hate him will flee from him.
2 Blow them away like smoke.
Let wicked people melt in God’s presence like wax next to a fire.
3 But let righteous people rejoice.
Let them celebrate in God’s presence.
Let them overflow with joy.
4 Sing to God; make music to praise his name.
Make a highway for him to ride through the deserts.[a]
The Lord is his name.
Celebrate in his presence.
5 The God who is in his holy dwelling place
is the father of the fatherless and the defender of widows.
6 God places lonely people in families.
He leads prisoners out of prison into productive lives,
but rebellious people must live in an unproductive land.
7 O God, when you went in front of your people,
when you marched through the desert, Selah
8 the earth quaked and the sky poured
in the presence of the God of Sinai,
in the presence of the God of Israel.
9 You watered the land with plenty of rain, O God.
You refreshed it when your land was exhausted.
10 Your flock settled there.
Out of your goodness, O God,
you provided for oppressed people.
11 The Lord gives instructions.
The women who announce the good news are a large army.
12 ⌞They say,⌟ “The kings of the armies flee; they run away.
The women who remained at home will divide the goods.
13 Though you stayed among the sheep pens,
⌞you will be like⌟ the wings of a dove covered with silver, its feathers with yellow gold.
14 Meanwhile, the Almighty was still scattering kings there
like snow falling on Mount Zalmon.”
15 The mountain of Bashan is the mountain of God.
The mountain of Bashan is the mountain with many peaks.
16 Why do you look with envy, you mountains with many peaks,
at the mountain where God has chosen to live?
Certainly, the Lord will live there forever.
17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand in number,
thousands upon thousands.
The Lord is among them.
⌞The God of⌟ Sinai is in his holy place.
18 You went to the highest place.
You took prisoners captive.
You received gifts from people,
even from rebellious people, so that the Lord God may live there.
19 Thanks be to the Lord,
who daily carries our burdens for us.
God is our salvation. Selah
20 Our God is the God of victories.
The Almighty Lord is our escape from death.
21 Certainly, God will crush the heads of his enemies
⌞and destroy even⌟ the hair on the heads
of those who continue to be guilty.
22 The Lord said, “I will bring them back from Bashan.
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea
23 so that you, ⌞my people,⌟ may bathe [b] your feet in blood
and the tongues of your dogs
may lick the blood of your enemies.”
24 Your festival processions, O God, can be seen by everyone.
They are the processions for my God, my king, into the holy place.
25 The singers are in front.
The musicians are behind them.
The young women beating tambourines are between them.
26 Thank God, the Lord, the source of Israel, with the choirs.
27 Benjamin, the youngest, is leading them,
⌞next⌟ the leaders of Judah with their noisy crowds,
⌞then⌟ the leaders of Zebulun,
⌞then⌟ the leaders of Naphtali.
28 Your God has decided you will be strong.
Display your strength, O God,
as you have for us before.
29 Kings will bring you gifts
because of your temple high above Jerusalem.
30 Threaten the beast who is among the cattails,
the herd of bulls with the calves of the nations,
until it humbles itself with pieces of silver.
Scatter the people who find joy in war.
31 Ambassadors will come from Egypt.
Sudan will stretch out its hands to God ⌞in prayer⌟.
32 You kingdoms of the world, sing to God.
Make music to praise the Lord. Selah
33 God rides through the ancient heaven, the highest heaven.
Listen! He makes his voice heard, his powerful voice.
34 Acknowledge the power of God.
His majesty is over Israel, and his power is in the skies.
35 God, the God of Israel, is awe-inspiring in his holy place.
He gives strength and power to his people.
Thanks be to God!
The People Continue to Reject the Lord’s Love for Them
2 The Lord spoke his word to me,
2 “Go and announce to Jerusalem,
‘This is what the Lord says:
I remember the unfailing loyalty of your youth,
the love you had for me as a bride.
I remember how you followed me into the desert,
into a land that couldn’t be farmed.
3 Israel was set apart for the Lord.
It was the best part of the harvest.
All who devoured it became guilty,
and disaster struck them,’ ” declares the Lord.
4 Listen to the Lord’s word, descendants of Jacob,
all the families in the nation of Israel.
5 This is what the Lord says:
What did your ancestors find wrong with me
that they went so far away from me?
They followed worthless idols and became worthless themselves.
6 They didn’t ask, “Where is the Lord,
who brought us from Egypt?
He led us through the desert,
through a wasteland and its pits,
a land of drought and the shadow of death.
No one lives there or travels there.”
7 I brought them into a fertile land
to eat its fruit and its produce.
They came and made my land unclean.[a]
They made my property disgusting.
8 The priests didn’t ask, “Where is the Lord?”
Those who deal with my teachings didn’t know me.
The rulers rebelled against me.
The prophets prophesied in the name of Baal
and followed statues that couldn’t help them.
9 “That is why I am bringing charges against you,” declares the Lord,
“and I am bringing charges against your grandchildren.
10 Go over to the coasts of Cyprus, and see.
Send ⌞someone⌟ to Kedar, and observe closely.
See if there has ever been anything like this.
11 Has any nation ever exchanged gods?
(Their gods aren’t really gods.)
Yet, my people have exchanged their Glory
for something that doesn’t help them.
12 Be horrified over this, heaven.
Be terribly afraid,” declares the Lord.
13 “My people have done two things wrong.
They have abandoned me,
the fountain of life-giving water.
They have also dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that can’t hold water.
16 I’m not ashamed of the Good News. It is God’s power to save everyone who believes, Jews first and Greeks as well. 17 God’s approval is revealed in this Good News. This approval begins and ends with faith as Scripture says, “The person who has God’s approval will live by faith.”
God’s Anger against Sinful Humanity
18 God’s anger is revealed from heaven against every ungodly and immoral thing people do as they try to suppress the truth by their immoral living. 19 What can be known about God is clear to them because he has made it clear to them. 20 From the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly observed in what he made. As a result, people have no excuse. 21 They knew God but did not praise and thank him for being God. Instead, their thoughts were pointless, and their misguided minds were plunged into darkness. 22 While claiming to be wise, they became fools. 23 They exchanged the glory of the immortal God for statues that looked like mortal humans, birds, animals, and snakes.
24 For this reason God allowed their lusts to control them. As a result, they dishonor their bodies by sexual perversion with each other. 25 These people have exchanged God’s truth for a lie. So they have become ungodly and serve what is created rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen!
A Believing Official(A)
43 After spending two days in Samaria, Jesus left for Galilee. 44 Jesus had said that a prophet is not honored in his own country. 45 But when Jesus arrived in Galilee, the people of Galilee welcomed him. They had seen everything he had done at the festival in Jerusalem, since they, too, had attended the festival.
46 Jesus returned to the city of Cana in Galilee, where he had changed water into wine. A government official was in Cana. His son was sick in Capernaum. 47 The official heard that Jesus had returned from Judea to Galilee. So he went to Jesus and asked him to go to Capernaum with him to heal his son who was about to die.
48 Jesus told the official, “If people don’t see miracles and amazing things, they won’t believe.”
49 The official said to him, “Sir, come with me before my little boy dies.”
50 Jesus told him, “Go home. Your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus told him and left.
51 While the official was on his way to Capernaum, his servants met him and told him that his boy was alive. 52 The official asked them at what time his son got better. His servants told him, “The fever left him yesterday evening at seven o’clock.” 53 Then the boy’s father realized that it was the same time that Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So the official and his entire family became believers.
54 This was the second miracle that Jesus performed after he had come back from Judea to Galilee.
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