Book of Common Prayer
A Song of Praise and Thanksgiving[a]
66 Praise God with shouts of joy, all people!
2 Sing to the glory of his name;
offer him glorious praise!
3 Say to God, “How wonderful are the things you do!
Your power is so great
that your enemies bow down in fear before you.
4 Everyone on earth worships you;
they sing praises to you,
they sing praises to your name.”
5 Come and see what God has done,
his wonderful acts among people.
6 (A)He changed the sea into dry land;
our ancestors crossed the river on foot.
There we rejoiced because of what he did.
7 He rules forever by his might
and keeps his eyes on the nations.
Let no rebels rise against him.
8 Praise our God, all nations;
let your praise be heard.
9 He has kept us alive
and has not allowed us to fall.
10 You have put us to the test, God;
as silver is purified by fire,
so you have tested us.
11 You let us fall into a trap
and placed heavy burdens on our backs.
12 You let our enemies trample us;
we went through fire and flood,
but now you have brought us to a place of safety.[b]
13 I will bring burnt offerings to your house;
I will offer you what I promised.
14 I will give you what I said I would
when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer sheep to be burned on the altar;
I will sacrifice bulls and goats,
and the smoke will go up to the sky.
16 Come and listen, all who honor God,
and I will tell you what he has done for me.
17 I cried to him for help;
I praised him with songs.
18 If I had ignored my sins,
the Lord would not have listened to me.
19 But God has indeed heard me;
he has listened to my prayer.
20 I praise God,
because he did not reject my prayer
or keep back his constant love from me.
A Song of Thanksgiving[c]
67 God, be merciful to us and bless us;
look on us with kindness,
2 so that the whole world may know your will;
so that all nations may know your salvation.
3 May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
4 May the nations be glad and sing for joy,
because you judge the peoples with justice
and guide every nation on earth.
5 May the peoples praise you, O God;
may all the peoples praise you!
6 The land has produced its harvest;
God, our God, has blessed us.
7 God has blessed us;
may all people everywhere honor him.
God's Glory in Creation[a]
19 How clearly the sky reveals God's glory!
How plainly it shows what he has done!
2 Each day announces it to the following day;
each night repeats it to the next.
3 No speech or words are used,
no sound is heard;
4 (A)yet their message[b] goes out to all the world
and is heard to the ends of the earth.
God made a home in the sky for the sun;
5 it comes out in the morning like a happy bridegroom,
like an athlete eager to run a race.
6 It starts at one end of the sky
and goes across to the other.
Nothing can hide from its heat.
The Law of the Lord
7 The law of the Lord is perfect;
it gives new strength.
The commands of the Lord are trustworthy,
giving wisdom to those who lack it.
8 The laws of the Lord are right,
and those who obey them are happy.
The commands of the Lord are just
and give understanding to the mind.
9 Reverence for the Lord is good;
it will continue forever.
The judgments of the Lord are just;
they are always fair.
10 They are more desirable than the finest gold;
they are sweeter than the purest honey.
11 They give knowledge to me, your servant;
I am rewarded for obeying them.
12 None of us can see our own errors;
deliver me, Lord, from hidden faults!
13 Keep me safe, also, from willful sins;
don't let them rule over me.
Then I shall be perfect
and free from the evil of sin.
14 May my words and my thoughts be acceptable to you,
O Lord, my refuge and my redeemer!
God Is with Us[a]
46 God is our shelter and strength,
always ready to help in times of trouble.
2 So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken
and mountains fall into the ocean depths;
3 even if the seas roar and rage,
and the hills are shaken by the violence.
4 There is a river that brings joy to the city of God,
to the sacred house of the Most High.
5 God is in that city, and it will never be destroyed;
at early dawn he will come to its aid.
6 Nations are terrified, kingdoms are shaken;
God thunders, and the earth dissolves.
7 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
8 Come and see what the Lord has done.
See what amazing things he has done on earth.
9 He stops wars all over the world;
he breaks bows, destroys spears,
and sets shields on fire.
10 “Stop fighting,” he says, “and know that I am God,
supreme among the nations,
supreme over the world.”
11 The Lord Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
The Terrible Drought
14 The Lord said to me concerning the drought,
2 “Judah is in mourning;
its cities are dying,
its people lie on the ground in sorrow,
and Jerusalem cries out for help.
3 The rich people send their servants for water;
they go to the cisterns,
but find no water;
they come back with their jars empty.
Discouraged and confused,
they hide their faces.
4 Because there is no rain
and the ground is dried up,
the farmers are sick at heart;
they hide their faces.
5 In the field the mother deer
abandons her newborn fawn
because there is no grass.
6 The wild donkeys stand on the hilltops
and pant for breath like jackals;
their eyesight fails them
because they have no food.
7 My people cry out to me,
‘Even though our sins accuse us,
help us, Lord, as you have promised.
We have turned away from you many times;
we have sinned against you.
8 You are Israel's only hope;
you are the one who saves us from disaster.
Why are you like a stranger in our land,
like a traveler who stays for only one night?
9 Why are you like someone taken by surprise,
like a soldier powerless to help?
Surely, Lord, you are with us!
We are your people;
do not abandon us.’”
17 The Lord commanded me to tell the people about my sorrow and to say:
“May my eyes flow with tears day and night,
may I never stop weeping,
for my people are deeply wounded
and are badly hurt.
18 When I go out in the fields,
I see the bodies of men killed in war;
when I go into the towns,
I see people starving to death.
Prophets and priests carry on their work,
but they don't know what they are doing.”[a]
The People Plead with the Lord
19 Lord, have you completely rejected Judah?
Do you hate the people of Zion?
Why have you hurt us so badly
that we cannot be healed?
We looked for peace, but nothing good happened;
we hoped for healing, but terror came instead.
20 We have sinned against you, Lord;
we confess our own sins
and the sins of our ancestors.
21 Remember your promises and do not despise us;
do not bring disgrace on Jerusalem,
the place of your glorious throne.
Do not break the covenant you made with us.
22 None of the idols of the nations can send rain;
the sky by itself cannot make showers fall.
We have put our hope in you, O Lord our God,
because you are the one who does these things.
The Example of Hagar and Sarah
21 Let me ask those of you who want to be subject to the Law: do you not hear what the Law says? 22 (A)It says that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman, the other by a free woman. 23 His son by the slave woman was born in the usual way, but his son by the free woman was born as a result of God's promise. 24 These things can be understood as a figure: the two women represent two covenants. The one whose children are born in slavery is Hagar, and she represents the covenant made at Mount Sinai. 25 Hagar, who stands for Mount Sinai in Arabia, is[a] a figure of the present city of Jerusalem, in slavery with all its people. 26 (B)But the heavenly Jerusalem is free, and she is our mother. 27 (C)For the scripture says,
“Be happy, you childless woman!
Shout and cry with joy, you who never felt the pains of childbirth!
For the woman who was deserted will have more children
than the woman whose husband never left her.”
28 Now, you, my friends, are God's children as a result of his promise, just as Isaac was. 29 (D)At that time the son who was born in the usual way persecuted the one who was born because of God's Spirit; and it is the same now. 30 (E)But what does the scripture say? It says, “Send the slave woman and her son away; for the son of the slave woman will not have a part of the father's property along with the son of the free woman.” 31 So then, my friends, we are not the children of a slave woman but of a free woman.
Preserve Your Freedom
5 Freedom is what we have—Christ has set us free! Stand, then, as free people, and do not allow yourselves to become slaves again.
The Pharisees Ask for a Miracle(A)
11 (B)Some Pharisees came to Jesus and started to argue with him. They wanted to trap him, so they asked him to perform a miracle to show that God approved of him. 12 (C)But Jesus gave a deep groan and said, “Why do the people of this day ask for a miracle? No, I tell you! No such proof will be given to these people!”
13 He left them, got back into the boat, and started across to the other side of the lake.
The Yeast of the Pharisees and of Herod(D)
14 The disciples had forgotten to bring enough bread and had only one loaf with them in the boat. 15 (E)“Take care,” Jesus warned them, “and be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and the yeast of Herod.”
16 They started discussing among themselves: “He says this because we don't have any bread.”
17 Jesus knew what they were saying, so he asked them, “Why are you discussing about not having any bread? Don't you know or understand yet? Are your minds so dull? 18 (F)You have eyes—can't you see? You have ears—can't you hear? Don't you remember 19 when I broke the five loaves for the five thousand people? How many baskets full of leftover pieces did you take up?”
“Twelve,” they answered.
20 “And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand people,” asked Jesus, “how many baskets full of leftover pieces did you take up?”
“Seven,” they answered.
21 “And you still don't understand?” he asked them.
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.