Book of Common Prayer
Asaph wrote this psalm.
God is our judge[a]
50 God, the great God, the Lord, is speaking.
He is calling everybody on the earth,
from where the sun rises in the east,
to where it goes down in the west.
2 God is shining out from Zion,
that most beautiful place.
3 Our God is coming,
and he does not come quietly!
A fire burns up everything that is in front of him.
There is a great storm all round him.
4 He calls to the skies above,
and to the earth below.
They must watch while he judges his people.
5 He says, ‘Bring my people to me.
They are the people who offered sacrifices to me,
to agree our covenant.’
6 The skies above show that God is righteous,
and God himself is the judge.
Selah.
7 He says, ‘Listen to me, my people,
and I will speak to you.
I have something to say against you, Israel.
I am God, your God.
8 You offer sacrifices and burnt offerings to me all the time
but that is not why I speak against you.
9 I do not need a bull from your farm,
or goats from your fields.
10 All the wild animals of the forest belong to me!
All the cows on a thousand hills belong to me!
11 I know every bird in the mountains,
as well as all the insects.
12 Even if I did become hungry,
I would not tell you.
All the world belongs to me,
and everything that is in it.
13 Do I eat the meat of bulls? No!
Do I drink the blood of goats? No!
14 Say “thank you” to me as your offering.
Do whatever you have promised to do for me,
the Most High God.
15 Pray to me when you are in trouble.
Then I will rescue you,
and you will praise me.’[b]
16 But God says this to the wicked people:
‘It is useless for you to speak about my commands,
or about my covenant.
17 For you hate my teaching,
and you refuse to accept my message.
18 If you see a robber,
you run to help him!
You become friends with adulterers.
19 You speak about evil things,
and you are always telling lies.
20 You say bad things about your own brother,
and you speak against your own family!
21 You did all these things,
and I said nothing.
So you thought that I was as bad as you are.
But now I am warning you!
I will tell you clearly
what you have done wrong.
22 So think carefully about this,
all you people who have turned away from me.
If not, I will tear you into pieces,
and nobody will be able to save you.
23 If anyone wants to praise me,
they should say “thank you” to me as their offering.
If anyone obeys my commands,
I will show them my power to save people.’
This is for the music leader, and he should use special music.
David wrote this prayer when King Saul sent men to catch David at his house and murder him.
A prayer[a]
59 My God, please save me from my enemies!
They are attacking me,
so please keep me safe from them.
2 Rescue me from those dangerous men,
who are doing evil things.
3 Look at them! They are waiting to kill me!
Cruel men are ready to attack me.
Lord, I have not done anything against them,
but they still want to kill me.
4 I have done nothing that is wrong,
but they are preparing to attack me.
Do something to help me!
Look at what they are doing!
5 For you are the Lord God Almighty,
the God that Israel serves.
Get up and punish all the foreign nations.
Do not forgive any wicked people
who have turned against us.
Selah.
6 Those bad people come back to the city every evening.
They go from place to place,
and they cry out like dogs.
7 They shout evil things,
and their words hurt like swords.
They think, ‘Nobody can hear what we say!’
8 But Lord, you laugh at them.
You laugh at all the foreign nations.
9 I will wait for you to help me,
because you are the one who gives me strength.
You, God, are the strong place
where I will be safe.
10 Yes God, you love me with a faithful love,
and you will come to help me.
God will let me see that he has won against my enemies.
11 Do not kill them yet,
or my people will soon forget.
Use your power to send them away without homes.
Then make them fall!
You are our Lord
who keeps us safe like a soldier's shield.
12 They speak bad words that are evil.
Let their own pride catch them in a trap,
because they curse people,
and they tell lies.
13 Because you are angry with them,
destroy them!
Destroy them completely,
so that they are no more.
Then everybody will know that God rules in Israel,
and he rules everywhere in the earth.
Selah.
14 Those bad people come back to the city every evening.
They go from place to place,
and they cry out like dogs.
15 They go from place to place
and they look for food to eat.
They will not rest until they are full.
16 But I will sing to praise you.
I will sing about your strength!
In the morning,
I will praise you for your faithful love.
Because you are the strong place where I can hide.
When I am in trouble,
you keep me safe.
17 You are the one who gives me strength.
I will sing songs to praise you.
You, God, are my strong, safe place.
You are the God who loves me with a faithful love.
This is for the music leader, and he should use special music.
David wrote this prayer to teach people. He wrote it when he fought wars in north Syria. After the battle, Joab's army killed 12,000 of Edom's people in Salt Valley.
God, please help us![b]
60 God, you have turned against us,
and you have broken down our strong walls.[c]
You are angry with us,
but please make us strong again!
2 You made the ground shake
and you tore it open.
Now mend the holes,
or everything will fall down.
3 You have given your people a time of difficult trouble.
You have given us strong wine to drink,
that has made us fall like drunk people.[d]
4 But you have lifted up a flag
for the people who serve you.
They can meet together there,
to be safe in the battle.
Selah.
5 Use your power to rescue us!
Answer our prayers!
Then the people that you love will be safe.
6 God has spoken from his holy place![e]
He has promised:
‘I will show my power!
I will make Shechem into separate pieces.
I will measure Succoth Valley.
7 Gilead belongs to me,
and so does Manasseh.
Ephraim is like my helmet for war.
Judah has the authority of my royal sceptre.[f]
8 But Moab is the place where I wash my hands.
Edom is my servant.
I can throw my shoes at him!
I will shout loudly,
because I have won against the Philistines.’[g]
9 Who will lead me into the strong city?
Who will take me to fight and win against Edom?[h]
10 God, have you really turned against us?
Will you not lead our armies into battle?
11 Help us to fight against our enemies,
because help from men is useless!
12 With God's help, we will win!
He will beat down our enemies for us.
This psalm is a song for the music leader.
Praise God![a]
66 Everyone on earth, shout aloud to praise God,
because you are very happy.
2 Sing to praise his great name!
Praise him in the way that he deserves.
3 Say to God, ‘You do great things!
Your great power makes your enemies afraid.
They come to you and they bend down to the ground.
4 The whole world bends down to worship you.
Everyone sings to praise your name.’
Selah.
5 Come and see the great things that God has done.
He has done wonderful miracles for people!
6 He caused the Red Sea to become dry land.
Then his people walked across the Jordan River![b]
So we praise him for what he did there!
7 He has the power to rule for ever.
He watches everything that the nations do.
Wicked people should not be proud and turn against him.
Selah.
8 You people from every nation,
agree that our God is great!
Praise him with loud voices,
so that everyone can hear!
9 He keeps our lives safe.
He does not let us fall to the ground.
10 You have tested us, God.
You wanted to make us pure,
as they make silver pure in a hot fire.
11 You caused a trap to catch us,
so that we had much pain and trouble.
12 You gave people power to hurt us.
We went through dangerous fire and water.
But then you brought us into a safe, open place.[c]
13 I will bring burnt offerings to your Temple.
I will bring to you the gifts that I promised.
14 When I was in trouble, I made those promises.
I spoke them aloud.
15 I will offer to you gifts of fat animals,
to burn them as sacrifices.
I will also burn sheep as offerings,
and their smell will please you.
I will also offer to you bulls and goats.
Selah.
16 Come and listen,
all you people who serve God.
I will tell you about the things that God has done for me.
17 I called to him for help,
then I praised him aloud!
18 If I had kept wicked things in my mind,
the Lord would not have listened to me.
19 But God did hear me.
When I called to him,
he listened to my prayer.
20 So I praise God, as he deserves.[d]
He has not refused to listen to me.
He has continued to love me with his faithful love.
This psalm is a song for the music leader. He is to use stringed instruments.
All the nations should praise God[e]
67 God, please be kind to us and bless us.
Look at us with a smile on your face.
Selah.
2 Then people on the earth will know
what pleases you.
People from all nations will know
that you have the power to save them.
3 May people everywhere praise you, God.
Yes, may they all praise you!
4 May the nations be so happy
that they sing aloud with joy!
Because you are fair when you judge people,
and you are a guide for all the nations of the world.
Selah.
5 May people everywhere praise you, God.
Yes, may they all praise you!
6 The land has given us a harvest of food,
and God, our God, continues to bless us.
7 God, please bless us!
Then all people everywhere will respect you.
King Saul visits a woman who uses magic
3 Samuel had died before this. All the Israelites had been very sad at his death. They had buried him in Ramah, the town where he had lived. When Samuel had been alive, Saul had removed magicians from Israel. Saul removed everyone who used magic to speak to the spirits of dead people.
4 The Philistine army came together and they put up their tents at Shunem. Saul called together the whole Israelite army. They put up their tents at Gilboa. 5 Saul saw the camp of the Philistine army. He became very afraid. 6 Saul asked the Lord what he should do. But the Lord did not answer him in any way. He did not give Saul a dream. He did not use the Urim. He did not give a message to the prophets. 7 So Saul said to his servants, ‘Look for a woman who can talk to dead people. Then I will go and ask her what will happen.’
His servants replied, ‘There is a woman at Endor who can do that.’
8 Saul changed his clothes so that no one would recognize him. At night, Saul and two of his men went to see the woman. Saul said to her, ‘Use your magic to bring up the spirit of a certain dead man. I will tell you his name.’
9 But the woman said to him, ‘You know what King Saul has done. He has removed all the magicians from Israel. Are you using a trap to catch me? Do you want me to die?’
10 Then Saul promised the woman very strongly. He said, ‘As surely as the Lord lives, nobody will punish you if you do this.’[a]
11 The woman said, ‘Who is it that you want me to bring for you?’ Saul replied, ‘Bring Samuel to me.’
12 The woman screamed when she saw Samuel. She said to Saul, ‘You have deceived me! You are King Saul!’
13 The king said to her, ‘Do not be afraid. Tell me what you can see.’
She replied, ‘I can see a spirit that is coming up from the ground.’
14 Saul asked, ‘What does he look like?’ She said, ‘I see an old man who is wearing a long coat.’
Saul realized that this was Samuel. He bent down low on his knees with his face towards the ground.
15 Samuel said to Saul, ‘Why have you caused this trouble for me? Why have you brought me back?’
Saul said, ‘I have a lot of trouble. The Philistines are fighting against me. God has turned away from me. He will not use the prophets or give me dreams to answer my questions. So I have called you to come here. Please tell me what I should do.’
16 Samuel said, ‘The Lord has turned away from you and he has become your enemy. So do not ask me what you should do. 17 I told you what the Lord would do. Now he has done it! The Lord has taken the kingdom away from you. He has given it to another Israelite, David. 18 The Lord has punished you today because you did not obey him. The Lord was very angry with the Amalekites. He told you to destroy them all. But you refused to do that. 19 The Lord will put you and the Israelites under the power of the Philistines. Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me in the place for dead people. The Lord will also let the Philistines win against Israel's army.’
20 Saul immediately fell down on the ground and he lay there. He was very afraid because of what Samuel had said. Saul was also very weak because he had eaten nothing all that day and night.
Paul and Barnabas go to Jerusalem
15 Some men arrived in Antioch from Judea.[a] They began to teach the believers there who were not Jews. They said to them, ‘God cannot save you unless someone circumcises you. This is in the Law that God gave to Moses.’
2 Paul and Barnabas did not agree with these men. They argued strongly against them. As a result, the believers in Antioch decided what to do. They chose Paul, Barnabas and some of the other believers to go to Jerusalem. They should go to meet with the apostles and the other leaders of the believers. The leaders should decide who was right in this quarrel. 3 The group of believers at Antioch sent Paul, Barnabas and the other men on their way. They travelled through Phoenicia and Samaria. They spoke to the believers in those places. They told them, ‘Gentiles are also turning to God and they are believing in Jesus.’ The believers were all very happy to hear this news. 4 When Paul, Barnabas and the other men arrived in Jerusalem, they met with the believers there. The apostles, the other leaders and the whole group of believers were happy to see them. Paul and Barnabas told them about everything that God had helped them to do.
5 Some Jewish believers were there who also belonged to the Pharisees' group. They stood up and they said, ‘We must circumcise Gentiles when they become believers. We must tell them to obey all the Law that God gave to Moses.’
6 So the apostles and the other leaders of the believers met to talk about this problem. 7 After they had all talked about this problem for a long time, Peter stood up to speak.[b] He said, ‘My friends, you know that, a long time ago, God chose me from among all you leaders. He wanted me to teach Gentiles the good news about Jesus. God wanted them to hear his message and to believe in Jesus. 8 God knows what people truly believe. He showed clearly that he accepts Gentile believers as his people. He gave his Holy Spirit to them in the same way that he did for us. 9 He made no difference between them and us. When they believed in Jesus, he saved them. He made them clean inside.
10 So do not say that God has done a wrong thing. God has shown us that he accepts Gentiles when they believe in Jesus. If you make the Gentile believers obey the Law of Moses, that is like a heavy weight on their necks. Even we Jews and our ancestors could not carry that heavy weight. 11 God saves us who are Jews when we believe in Jesus. It is not because we obey the Law of Moses. It is because the Lord Jesus is kind to us. God saves Gentiles in the same way, when they believe in Jesus.’
A man with many bad spirits
5 Jesus and his disciples came to the other side of the lake. They came to a place where the Gerasene people lived.[a]
2-4 Jesus got out of the boat. Immediately, a man with a bad spirit in him came to him. This man lived outside, among some graves. He was very strong and nobody could hold him. People often put chains around his ankles to hold him. They wanted to keep him in a safe place. But he broke the chains that held him. 5 The man often walked in the place where the dead people were and on the hills. Every day and every night, he screamed and he used stones to cut himself.
6 He saw Jesus a long way away and he ran to meet him. He went down on his knees in front of Jesus. 7 He screamed loudly, ‘Jesus, you are the Son of the Most High God! What are you doing here? Please, promise God that you will not hurt me.’ 8 He said that because Jesus had already said to the bad spirit, ‘Come out of this man.’
9 Then Jesus asked the man, ‘What is your name?’
The man replied, ‘My name is Army because there are so many bad spirits in me.’
10 He said to Jesus many times, ‘Please do not send these bad spirits away from this place.’
11 A large group of pigs was eating on the hill. 12 The bad spirits said, ‘Jesus, send us to the pigs. Let us go into them.’ 13 Jesus let them do this. So the bad spirits came out of the man and they went into the pigs. There were about 2,000 pigs. They rushed together down the hill into the lake. All the pigs died there in the water.
14 The men who were taking care of these pigs ran away. They told the people in the town and in the villages what had happened. Then those people came to see the place for themselves. 15 They came to Jesus. They saw the man that the army of bad spirits had ruled. He was now sitting there quietly. He was wearing clothes and his mind was well again. When the people saw this, they were afraid. 16 The people who had seen this told other people what had happened to the man. They also explained what happened to the pigs. 17 Then the people who lived there said to Jesus, ‘Please go away. Leave this place.’
18 Jesus got back into the boat. The man that the bad spirits had ruled spoke to him. He told Jesus that he wanted to go with him. 19 But Jesus did not let him do this. Jesus said to him, ‘Go to your home and to your friends. Tell them what the Lord has done for you. Tell them how he has been kind to you.’ 20 So the man went away. He began to speak to many people in the region called ‘The ten cities’. He told them about the great things that Jesus had done for him. All the people were very surprised.
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