Book of Common Prayer
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.
The bronze snake
4 The Israelites left Hor mountain. They travelled round the edge of Edom to the Red Sea. As they travelled, the people were upset. 5 They complained to God and to Moses, ‘You should not have brought us from Egypt to die here in the desert. There is nothing to eat. There is no water to drink. We do not like this bad food, manna.’
6 Then the Lord sent snakes among the people. They bit the people and many of the Israelites died. 7 So the people came to Moses and they said, ‘We did a bad thing when we spoke against the Lord and against you. Please pray to the Lord on our behalf. Ask him to remove the snakes from us.’ So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Make a model of a snake and put it up high on a pole. When a snake bites anyone, they must look at the bronze snake. Then they will not die.’ 9 Moses made a bronze snake and he put it on a pole. When a snake bit anyone and they looked at the bronze snake, they did not die.
11 I tell you this: We speak about things that we know. We tell you about what we have seen. But even then, you people do not believe our message. 12 I have told you about things that happen in this world. And you do not believe me. But now I am telling you about things that happen in heaven. So I do not think that you will ever believe me about those things. 13 The Son of Man came down from heaven. Nobody else has gone up to heaven except him. 14 Long ago Moses lifted up the metal snake in the wilderness to save his people.[a] In the same way, people must lift up the Son of Man on a cross. 15 As a result, everyone who believes him will be able to live for ever with God. 16 God loved the people in the world so much that he gave his one and only Son to save them. As a result, everyone who believes in the Son will not die. Instead, they will live for ever with God.’
17 God did not send his Son into the world because he wanted to punish people. He sent his Son to save the people in the world from punishment.
God is good, so thank him[a]
118 Thank the Lord, because he is good.
His faithful love will always be with us.
2 Israel's people must now say,
‘His faithful love will always be with us.’
3 Aaron's family, the priests, must now say,
‘His faithful love will always be with us.’
4 Everyone who serves the Lord must now say,
‘His faithful love will always be with us.’
5 I was in trouble,
so I called to the Lord to help me.
The Lord answered me
and he made me free.
6 The Lord is there to help me,
so I will not be afraid.
What can any person do to hurt me?
7 The Lord is with me as my helper.
As for those people who hate me,
I will win against them.
8 It is better to go to the Lord to keep you safe,
than to trust in people.
9 It is better to trust the Lord to keep you safe,
than to trust even in important people.
10 All the nations were ready to attack me,
but I turned them away
by the power of the Lord.
11 Yes, they were all round me, ready to attack,
but I won against them
in the name of the Lord.
12 They were all round me like a cloud of bees!
But they were like a fire in a thorn bush
that burns quickly and has soon gone.
I turned them away
by the power of the Lord.
13 My enemies attacked me
and they tried to knock me down!
But the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord makes me strong
and he takes care of me.
He is the one who keeps me safe.
15 Listen to the happy shouts of God's people in their tents!
They have won against their enemies,
because the Lord has power to do great things.
16 Yes, the Lord has lifted up his strong right hand.
He has the strength to win the battle!
17 I will not die. Instead, I will live.
I will tell everyone what the Lord has done.
18 The Lord has punished me very much,
but he has not let me die.
19 Open the gates of the temple!
I will go in there,
and I will thank the Lord.
20 This is the Lord's gate.
Righteous people can go in through it.
21 I will thank you, Lord,
because you answered my prayer.
You have rescued me.
22 The builders threw away a certain stone.
But now that stone has become the most important stone
at the corner of the building.
23 The Lord has done this.
And we can see that it is wonderful![b]
24 This is the day that the Lord has done a great thing.
We will be very happy today!
25 Lord, please save us now!
Lord, please help us to do well!
26 May the Lord bless the man who comes with his authority![c]
We praise you from here,
in the house of the Lord.
27 The Lord is our God.
He has caused his light to shine on us.
Make a happy festival!
Take branches in your hands,
and go to offer a sacrifice on the altar.
28 You are my God,
and I will thank you.
You are my God,
and I will say how great you are.
29 Thank the Lord, because he is good.
His faithful love will always be with us.
17 Sometimes God may let you have trouble and pain even when you have done good things. But that is better than if you have trouble and pain because you have done bad things.
18 Christ himself always did what was right. But he received pain on behalf of people who do what is wrong. He died once to take away all those wrong things. He did that to bring you near to God. People killed Christ's body, but God's Spirit made him alive again. 19 Like this, he went to the spirits who were in prison. He told them God's true message. 20 Those were the spirits of people who had refused to obey God long ago. At that time God waited patiently for them to turn to him while Noah was building a large ship. But only a few people agreed to go into that ship. God saved only eight people when the ship sailed on the deep water.[a] 21 That shows how God now saves you. It is like a picture of baptism. The water of baptism does not wash dirt from a person's body. Instead, it shows that a person has decided to obey God. He is choosing to do what is right. That saves you, because Jesus Christ became alive again after his death. 22 After that, Jesus went into heaven. Now he is sitting at God's right side. He rules over angels and over everything that has authority and power.[b]
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