Book of Common Prayer
The Lord rules as king![a]
97 The Lord rules as king!
Everyone on earth should be happy!
The people who live on the shore of the seas
should sing with joy!
2 Dark clouds are all round the Lord.
He rules with justice,
and he is fair to everyone.
3 Fire goes in front of him.
It burns up his enemies on every side.
4 His lightning lights up the whole world.
The earth sees it and it shakes with fear.
5 The mountains melt like butter
in front of the Lord,
when they see the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The sky itself tells us that he is righteous
People from every nation see his glory.
7 Everyone who worships idols should be ashamed.
They should not boast about useless idols!
All gods like that will fall down in front of the Lord.
8 When Zion's people hear about it,
they will be happy.
Yes, the people of Judah will be very happy!
They will be happy, Lord,
because you bring justice.
9 You, Lord, are the Most High God
who rules over all the earth.
You are much greater than any other god![b]
10 If you love the Lord,
then hate anything that is evil.
The Lord protects the lives of those who serve him.
He keeps them safe from the power of wicked people.
11 God's light shines on righteous people.
Good, honest people will be very happy.
12 All you righteous people,
be happy because of what the Lord has done.
Thank him because he is holy.
God rules the world[c]
98 Sing a new song to praise the Lord.
He has done great things.
He has used his own power and his holy strength
to win against his enemies.
2 The Lord has shown everybody
that he has the power to save.
All the nations of the world
can see that he does what is right.
3 He has kept his promise
that he made to the people of Israel.
He has continued to take care of them
with his faithful love.
Everyone who lives everywhere on the earth can see
that God has the power to save people.
4 All people on the earth should shout aloud
to praise the Lord![d]
Sing happy songs to praise him!
5 Make music on your harps to praise him!
Make beautiful music!
6 Make a happy sound with trumpets and horns!
Shout aloud to praise the Lord, your king!
7 The sea and everything that is in it
should shout to praise the Lord!
The earth and all those who live in it
should shout as well!
8 The rivers should clap their hands,
and the mountains should all sing together,
9 to praise the Lord.
He is coming to judge the earth.[e]
He is a fair judge.
He will judge all the people of the world honestly.
22 The Lord created me as the first thing that he did.
That was the first of his acts long ago.
23 He chose me as his servant from the beginning of time.
That was before the world began.
24 I was born before the deep seas were there.
There were not yet springs that poured out water.
25 I was born before the mountains or the hills appeared in their places.
26 I was born before the Lord made the earth and its fields,
before there was soil on the earth.
27 I was there when he put the heavens in their place.
I was there when he made the border of the sea where it meets the sky.
28 I was there when he put the clouds in the sky.
I was there when he made streams of water fill the seas.
29 He gave his command to the seas, that they should obey him.
The waters of the sea must stay inside its borders.
I was there when he built the foundations of the earth.
30 When the Lord made all that happen,
I was beside him as his faithful helper.
I pleased him every day, and I was happy to be with him.
20 I tell you this: Anyone who accepts someone that I send to them is also accepting me. Anyone who accepts me is also accepting my Father God who sent me.’
Jesus tells the disciples what will happen to him
21 After Jesus had said this, he felt very upset. He said to the disciples very seriously, ‘I tell you this: One of you will help my enemies to take hold of me.’ 22 The disciples looked at each other. They did not know which of them Jesus was speaking about. 23 The disciple that Jesus loved was sitting very near to Jesus. 24 Simon Peter looked towards that disciple and said to him, ‘Ask Jesus who he is speaking about.’ 25 So that disciple moved even nearer to Jesus and he asked, ‘Who is it, Lord?’ 26 Jesus answered, ‘I will put a piece of bread in the dish of food. Then I will give the bread to him. That is the man.’ So he put a piece of bread in the dish. Then he gave it to Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot.
27 When Judas had taken the bread, Satan came into him. Then Jesus said to Judas, ‘Do quickly what you want to do.’ 28 None of the other disciples who were sitting at the meal understood this. They did not know why Jesus said this to Judas. 29 Judas kept the bag of money on behalf of the group of disciples. So some of them thought that Jesus had asked Judas to buy some things. Maybe he should buy what they needed for the festival. Or maybe he should go and give some money to the poor people.
30 Judas took the bread and he ate it. Then he went out immediately. By now it was night.
Jesus' new rule
31 When Judas had left, Jesus said, ‘Now people will see how great the Son of Man is. Because of him, they will also see how great God is. 32 The Son will show how great God is. Then God will take the Son to himself and he will show how great the Son is. He will do that very soon.
33 My children, I will be with you for only a short time now. You will look for me. But I tell you now what I told the Jews. You cannot go where I am now going. 34 I give a new rule to you. Love each other. You must love each other as I have loved you. 35 In this way, everyone will know that you are my disciples. They will know it, if you really love each other.’
This is a song that David wrote to praise God.
An alphabet of praise[a]
145 Always I will praise you, my God and my king,
and I will say how great you are!
2 Because you are good, I will praise you every day.
Yes, I will always praise your name.
3 Clearly the Lord is great!
He is so great that we cannot understand it.
4 Down from father to son, people will praise you.
They will tell each other about the powerful things that you have done.
5 Everyone will speak about your glory and authority.
I also will think carefully about your great miracles.
6 Famous are the powerful things that you have done.
People will talk about them.
I also will speak about the great things that you do.
7 Good things are what everybody will remember about you.
They will sing about your justice.
8 How very kind the Lord is!
He is very patient and his faithful love continues.
9 It is the Lord who takes care of everybody.
He is kind to everything that he has made.
10 Join together to thank the Lord!
Everything that he has made will praise him.
Your own people will praise you, Lord!
11 King is who you are and your kingdom is great!
People will speak about your royal authority.
12 Let everyone agree that you do great things!
Let them say that you rule with great authority.
13 Many years your kingdom will remain, even for ever.
You will always rule your people and their descendants.
Nothing that the Lord promises is false.
He is kind in everything that he does.[b]
14 Often people fall, but the Lord lifts them up.
He helps everyone who has trouble.
15 People look to you for help.
You give them food when they need it.
16 Ready to help, you open your hand.
You give to every living thing the good things that they want.
17 So the Lord is fair in all that he does.
He always shows how much he loves us.
18 The Lord is ready to help everyone who asks him.
He is near to everyone who prays honestly.
19 Very kindly he gives his own people the things that they need.
He saves them when they call to him for help.
20 Whoever loves the Lord, he keeps safe.
But he destroys wicked people.
21 Yes, I will praise the Lord!
Everyone who lives should praise his holy name for ever!
Believe in Jesus Christ
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is God's Messiah has become a child of God. And if we love God, our Father, we will love his other children too. 2 How do we know that we love God's children? We know it when we love God and we do what he tells us to do. 3 Because, if we really love God, we will obey his commands. And those commands are not difficult for us to obey. 4 Because we have become God's children, we can live in a good way. We can refuse to live like people who belong to this world. We are able to win against the wrong ways of this world because we trust Jesus Christ. 5 It is only people who believe that Jesus is the Son of God who can do that. Only they can win against the wrong ways of this world.
6 Jesus Christ is the man that God sent into the world. John baptized Jesus in water. When Jesus died, his blood poured out. God showed that Jesus is his Son with the water and with the blood. It was not only with the water of Jesus' baptism. It was also with the blood of his death. God's Holy Spirit also shows us that Jesus is God's Son. The Holy Spirit always says what is true. 7 So there are three things that show us clearly that Jesus came from God. 8 Those things are the Holy Spirit, the water of Jesus' baptism and the blood of his death on the cross. These all show us the same thing, that Jesus came from God.[a]
9 We believe people who tell us about things that they know. So we can believe even more what God says. He has told us what is true about his Son. So we should believe his message.
10 Anyone who believes in Jesus, the Son of God, will know that what God says is true. But anyone who does not believe God is saying that God tells lies. He does not believe the message that God has told us clearly about his Son. 11 This is what God has told us: God has given us life with him that never ends. We receive this life when we believe in his Son, Jesus. 12 So whoever belongs to the Son has this true life. But anyone who does not belong to the Son of God does not have this true life.
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