Book of Common Prayer
The Majesty of the Lord
93 The Lord ·is king [reigns; 47:2; 96:10; 97:1; 98:6; 99:1; Rev. 19:6]. He is ·clothed [robed] in majesty.
The Lord is ·clothed [robed] in majesty
and ·armed [girded] with strength.
The world is ·set [established],
and it ·cannot be moved [will not totter].
2 Lord, your ·kingdom [L throne] was ·set up [established] long ago;
you are everlasting.
3 Lord, the ·seas [L rivers; C perhaps referring to currents within the sea] raise,
the ·seas [L rivers] raise their voice.
The ·seas [L rivers] raise up their pounding waves [C representing chaos].
4 The sound of the water is loud;
the ·ocean waves [L breakers of the sea] are ·powerful [majestic],
but the Lord above is much ·greater [more powerful/majestic; C God is in control of chaos].
5 Lord, your ·laws [decrees; testimonies] ·will stand forever [are very faithful/true].
·Your Temple will be holy forevermore [L At your house holiness is fitting/appropriate and will be for length of days].
Praise for the Lord’s Glory
96 Sing to the Lord a new song [C celebrating victory; 33:3; 40:3; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Is. 42:10; Rev. 5:9; 14:3];
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord and ·praise [bless] his name;
every day ·tell [announce the good news] ·how he saves us [L of his salvation/victory].
3 Tell the nations of his glory [C his manifest presence];
tell all peoples the ·miracles [wonderful acts] he does,
4 because the Lord is great; he should be praised ·at all times [or with vigor].
He ·should be honored [is awesome; should be feared] more than all the gods,
5 because all the gods of the nations are ·only idols [or worthless],
but the Lord made the heavens [Gen. 1].
6 The Lord has ·glory [splendor] and majesty;
he has power and beauty in his ·Temple [sanctuary; L Holy Place].
7 ·Praise [L Ascribe to] the Lord, all ·nations on earth [L families of peoples];
·praise the Lord’s [L ascribe to the Lord] glory and power.
8 ·Praise the glory of the Lord’s [L Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his] name.
Bring an ·offering [grain/gift/tribute sacrifice; Lev. 2:1] and come into his Temple courtyards.
9 ·Worship [Bow down to] the Lord ·because he is holy [L in the splendor of his holiness].
Tremble before him, everyone on earth.
10 Tell the nations, “The Lord ·is king [reigns; 47:2; 93:1; 97:1; 98:6; 99:1; Rev. 19:6].”
The earth is ·set [established], and it cannot be moved.
He will judge the people fairly.
11 Let the ·skies [heavens] rejoice and the earth be glad;
let the sea and everything in it ·shout [thunder; roar].
12 Let the fields and everything in them rejoice.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 before the Lord, because he is coming.
He is coming to judge the world;
he will judge the world with ·fairness [righteousness]
and the peoples with ·truth [faithfulness; 98:9].
The World Should Praise the Lord
148 Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the ·skies [heavens].
Praise him ·high above the earth [in the heights].
2 Praise him, all you ·angels [messengers].
Praise him, all ·you armies of heaven [his hosts; C the angelic army].
3 Praise him, sun and moon.
Praise him, all you ·shining stars [L stars of light].
4 Praise him, ·highest heavens [L heaven of heavens]
and you waters above the ·sky [heavens].
5 Let them praise the name of the Lord,
because ·they were created by his command [L he commands and they were created; Gen. 1].
6 He ·put them in place [L made them stand] forever and ever;
he made a ·law [statute; requirement; ordinance] that will never ·change [pass].
7 Praise the Lord from the earth,
you large sea ·animals [monsters; C like Leviathan; 74:12–17; 104:26; Gen. 1:21; Job 3:8; 41; Is. 27:1] and all the ·oceans [deeps],
8 ·lightning [L fire] and hail, snow and ·mist [cloud; or smoke],
and stormy winds that ·obey him [L do his word],
9 mountains and all hills,
fruit trees and all cedars,
10 wild animals and all cattle,
crawling animals and birds,
11 kings of the earth and all ·nations [peoples],
princes and all ·rulers [judges] of the earth,
12 young men and women,
old people and ·children [youth].
13 Praise the name of the Lord,
because ·he [L his name] alone is ·great [exalted].
·He is more wonderful than [L His splendor is over] heaven and earth.
14 God has ·given his people a king [exalted/raised a horn over his people; C an animal’s horn symbolizes power].
He should be praised by all ·who belong to him [his saints/loyal ones];
he should be praised by the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel], the people ·closest to his heart [L nearest to him].
Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord with Music
150 Praise the Lord!
Praise God in his ·Temple [L holy place; or holiness];
praise him in his ·mighty heaven [L strong firmament; Gen. 1:7].
2 Praise him for his strength;
praise him for his [L abundant] greatness.
3 Praise him with trumpet blasts;
praise him with harps and lyres.
4 Praise him with tambourines and dancing;
praise him with stringed instruments and flutes.
5 Praise him with loud cymbals;
praise him with crashing cymbals.
6 Let everything that breathes praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!
The Law and the Promise
15 Brothers and sisters, let us think ·in human terms [or of an example from everyday life; L according to man]: Even in the case of a human ·agreement [covenant; or will and testament], after it has been ·accepted [ratified; put into affect] no one can ·set it aside [annul it] or add anything to it. 16 God made promises both to Abraham and to his ·descendant [seed]. God did not say, “and to your ·descendants [seeds].” That would mean many people. But God said, “and to your ·descendant [seed; Gen. 12:7; 13:15; 17:7; 24:7].” That means only one person; that person is Christ. 17 This is what I mean: The law, which came four hundred thirty years later, cannot ·change [cancel; nullify] that ·agreement [covenant] previously made by God and so ·destroy [nullify; render invalid] God’s promise to Abraham. 18 If the law could give us ·Abraham’s blessing [L the inheritance], then ·the promise would not be necessary [or it is not based on a promise]. But that is not possible, because God freely gave ·his blessings [L it] to Abraham through the promise he had made.
19 So what was the law for? It was ·given to show that the wrong things people do are against God’s will [L added because of transgressions]. And it continued until the ·special descendant [seed], who had been promised, came. The law was given through angels [Acts 7:53; Heb. 2:2] ·who used Moses for a mediator to give the law to people [L by the hand of a mediator/intermediary]. 20 But a mediator is not needed when there is only one side, and God is only one.
The Purpose of the Law of Moses
21 Does this mean that the law is against God’s promises? ·Never [Absoluely not; May it never be]! That would be true only if the law could make us ·right with God [righteous]. But God did not give a law that can bring life. 22 Instead, the Scriptures ·showed that the whole world is bound by sin [L imprisoned all things under (the power of) sin; C Scripture is personified as the jailer]. This was so the promise would be given ·through faith to people who believe in Jesus Christ [or because of Christ’s faithfulness, to all who believe].
Zechariah Praises God
67 Then Zechariah, John’s father, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
68 “·Let us praise [L Blessed be] the Lord, the God of Israel,
because he has ·come to help his people and has given them freedom [L visited and accomplished redemption for his people].
69 He has ·given us a powerful Savior [L raised up a horn of salvation for us; C referring to the horn of a powerful animal—a metaphor for strength; 1 Sam. 2:1, 10; Ps. 132:17; Ezek. 29:21]
·from the family [L in the house] of God’s servant David.
70 [L …just as] He said that he would do this
through [L the mouth of] his holy prophets who lived long ago:
71 He promised he would save us from our enemies
and from the ·power [L hand; C indicating controlling power or oppression] of all those who hate us.
72 He said he would give mercy to our ·ancestors [forefathers]
and that he would remember his holy ·promise [covenant].
73 ·God promised [L The oath that he swore to] Abraham, our father [Gen. 22:16–18],
74 that he would ·save [rescue] us from the ·power [hand; v. 71] of our enemies
so we could serve him without fear,
75 being holy and ·good [righteous] before God as long as we live.
76 “Now you, child, will be called ·a [or the] prophet of the Most High God.
[L For] You will go before the Lord to prepare his ·way [or paths; Mal. 3:1].
77 You will ·make his people know that they will be saved [L give his people the knowledge of salvation]
by having their sins forgiven [Jer. 31:34].
78 ·With [or Because of] the ·loving [tender] mercy of our God,
·a new day from heaven will dawn upon us [L the sunrise/dawn from heaven will visit us; C a metaphor for the Messiah; Mal. 4:2].
79 It will shine on those who ·live [dwell; sit] in darkness,
in the shadow of death [Is. 9:2].
It will guide ·us [L our feet] into the path of peace [Is. 59:8].”
80 And so the child grew up and became strong ·in spirit [or in the Spirit]. John lived in the ·desert [wilderness] until the time when he ·came out to preach [appeared; was revealed] to Israel.
The Family History of Jesus(A)
1 This is the ·family history [record of the ancestors; genealogy; L book of the offspring/family; C perhaps a title for the entire book] of Jesus ·Christ [the Messiah]. ·He came from the family of David, and David came from the family of Abraham [L …the son of David, the son of Abraham; C “son” can mean descendant].
2 Abraham ·was the father of [fathered; T begot; C and so throughout the genealogy; the word can refer to more distant ancestry] Isaac.
Isaac was the father of Jacob.
Jacob was the father of Judah and his brothers.
3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah.
(Their mother was Tamar [Gen. 38].)
Perez was the father of Hezron.
Hezron was the father of Ram.
4 Ram was the father of Amminadab.
Amminadab was the father of Nahshon.
Nahshon was the father of Salmon.
5 Salmon was the father of Boaz.
(Boaz’s mother was Rahab [Josh. 2].)
Boaz was the father of Obed.
(Obed’s mother was Ruth [Ruth 4:13–22].)
Obed was the father of Jesse.
6 Jesse was the father of King David.
David was the father of Solomon.
(Solomon’s mother had been Uriah’s wife [C Bathsheba; 2 Sam. 11—12].)
7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam.
Rehoboam was the father of Abijah.
Abijah was the father of Asa.[a]
8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat.
Jehoshaphat was the father of Joram [C a variant spelling of Jehoram; 1 Kin. 22:50].
Joram was the ·ancestor [or father; C see v. 2] of Uzziah.
9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham.
Jotham was the father of Ahaz.
Ahaz was the father of Hezekiah.
10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh.
Manasseh was the father of Amon.
Amon was the father of Josiah.
11 Josiah was the ·grandfather [or father; C see v. 2] of Jeconiah [C another name for Jehoiachin; see 2 Kin. 24:6; 1 Chr. 3:16] and his brothers.
(This was at the time ·that the people were taken [L of the exile/deportation; 2 Kin. 24:8–17] to Babylon.)
12 After ·they were taken [the exile/deportation] to Babylon:
Jeconiah was the father of Shealtiel.
Shealtiel was the ·grandfather [or father; C see v. 2] of Zerubbabel [Ezra 2].
13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abiud.
Abiud was the father of Eliakim.
Eliakim was the father of Azor.
14 Azor was the father of Zadok.
Zadok was the father of ·Akim [Achim].
·Akim [Achim] was the father of Eliud.
15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar.
Eleazar was the father of Matthan.
Matthan was the father of Jacob.
16 Jacob was the father of Joseph.
Joseph was the husband of Mary,
and Mary ·was the mother of [gave birth to] Jesus, who is called the ·Christ [Messiah].
17 So there were fourteen generations [L in all] from Abraham to David. And there were fourteen generations from David until the ·people were taken [exile; deportation] to Babylon. And there were fourteen generations from the time ·when the people were taken [of the exile/deportation] to Babylon until ·Christ [the Messiah] was born.
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