Book of Common Prayer
God the Judge
For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A song of Asaph.
75 God, we thank you.
We thank you because you are near.
We tell about the wonderful things you do.
2 You say, “I set the time for trial.
I will judge fairly.
3 The earth with all its people may shake.
I am the one who holds it steady. Selah
4 I say to those who are proud, ‘Don’t brag.’
I say to the wicked, ‘Don’t show your power.
5 Don’t try to use your power against heaven.
Don’t be stubborn.’”
6 No one from the east or the west
or the desert can judge you.
7 God is the judge.
He judges one person as guilty, and another as innocent.
8 The Lord holds a cup of anger in his hand.
It is full of wine mixed with spices.
He pours it out even to the last drop.
And the wicked drink it all.
9 I will tell about this forever.
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
10 He will take all power away from the wicked.
But the power of good people will grow.
The God Who Always Wins
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A song of Asaph.
76 People in Judah know God.
People in Israel know he is great.
2 He lives in Jerusalem.
His home is on Mount Zion.
3 There God broke the flaming arrows,
the shields and swords of war. Selah
4 God, how wonderful you are!
You are more wonderful than the hills full of animals.
5 The brave soldiers were stripped
as they lay asleep in death.
Not one warrior
had the strength to stop it.
6 God of Jacob, when you spoke strongly,
horses and riders fell dead.
7 You should be feared.
Who can stand against you when you are angry?
8 From heaven you gave the decision.
And the earth was afraid and silent.
9 God, you stood up to judge
and to save the people of the earth who were not proud. Selah
10 People praise you for your anger against evil.
Those who live through your anger are stopped from doing more evil.
11 Keep your promises to the Lord your God.
From all around gifts should come to the God we worship.
12 God defeats great leaders.
The kings on earth fear him.
The Lord the Shepherd
A song of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd.
I have everything I need.
2 He gives me rest in green pastures.
He leads me to calm water.
3 He gives me new strength.
For the good of his name,
he leads me on paths that are right.
4 Even if I walk
through a very dark valley,
I will not be afraid
because you are with me.
Your rod and your shepherd’s staff comfort me.
5 You prepare a meal for me
in front of my enemies.
You pour oil of blessing on my head.[a]
You give me more than I can hold.
6 Surely your goodness and love will be with me
all my life.
And I will live in the house of the Lord forever.
A Song of Trust in God
Of David.
27 The Lord is my light and the one who saves me.
So why should I fear anyone?
The Lord protects my life.
So why should I be afraid?
2 Evil people may try to destroy my body.
My enemies and those who hate me attack me.
But they are overwhelmed and defeated.
3 If an army surrounds me,
I will not be afraid.
If war breaks out,
I will trust the Lord.
4 I ask only one thing from the Lord.
This is what I want:
Let me live in the Lord’s house
all my life.
Let me see the Lord’s beauty.
Let me look around in his Temple.
5 During danger he will keep me safe in his shelter.
He will hide me in his Holy Tent.
Or he will keep me safe on a high mountain.
6 My head is higher
than my enemies around me.
I will offer joyful sacrifices in his Holy Tent.
I will sing and praise the Lord.
7 Lord, hear me when I call.
Be kind and answer me.
8 My heart said of you, “Go, worship him.”
So I come to worship you, Lord.
9 Do not turn away from me.
Do not turn your servant away in anger.
You have helped me.
Do not push me away or leave me alone,
God, my Savior.
10 If my father and mother leave me,
the Lord will take me in.
11 Lord, teach me your ways.
Guide me to do what is right
because I have enemies.
12 Do not let my enemies defeat me.
They tell lies about me.
They say they will hurt me.
13 I truly believe
I will live to see the Lord’s goodness.
14 Wait for the Lord’s help.
Be strong and brave
and wait for the Lord’s help.
28 Then Rebekah ran and told her mother’s family about all these things. 29 She had a brother named Laban. He ran out to Abraham’s servant, who was still at the spring. 30 Laban had heard what she had said. And he had seen the ring and the bracelets on his sister’s arms. So he ran out to the well. And there was the man standing by the camels at the spring. 31 Laban said, “Sir, you are welcome to come in. You don’t have to stand outside. I have prepared the house for you and also a place for your camels.”
32 So Abraham’s servant went into the house. Laban unloaded the camels and gave them straw and food. Then Laban gave water to Abraham’s servant so he and the men with him could wash their feet. 33 Then Laban gave the servant food. But the servant said, “I will not eat until I have told you why I came.”
So Laban said, “Then tell us.”
34 He said, “I am Abraham’s servant. 35 The Lord has greatly blessed my master in everything. My master has become a rich man. The Lord has given him many flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. He has given Abraham silver and gold, male and female servants, camels and horses. 36 Sarah, my master’s wife, gave birth to a son when she was old. My master has given everything he owns to that son. 37 My master had me make a promise to him. He said, ‘Don’t get a wife for my son from the Canaanite girls who live around here. 38 Instead you must go to my father’s people and to my family. There you must get a wife for my son.’
49 Now, tell me, will you be kind and truthful to my master? And if not, tell me so. Then I will know what I should do.”
50 Laban and Bethuel answered, “This is clearly from the Lord. We cannot change what must happen. 51 Rebekah is yours. Take her and go. Let her marry your master’s son as the Lord has commanded.”
Be Careful How You Live
12 You have become weak. So make yourselves strong again. 13 Keep on the right path so the weak will not stumble but rather be strengthened.
14 Try to live in peace with all people. And try to live lives free from sin. If anyone’s life is not holy, he will never see the Lord. 15 Be careful that no one fails to get God’s grace. Be careful that no one becomes like a bitter weed growing among you. A person like that can ruin all of you. 16 Be careful that no one takes part in sexual sin. And be careful that no person is unholy like Esau. He sold all his rights as the oldest son for a single meal. 17 You remember that after Esau did this, he wanted to get his father’s blessing. He wanted this blessing so much that he cried. But his father refused to give him the blessing, because Esau could find no way to change what he had done.
18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire. You have not come to darkness, sadness and storms. 19 You have not come to the noise of a trumpet or to the sound of a voice. When the people of Israel heard the voice, they begged not to have to hear another word. 20 They did not want to hear the command: “If anything, even an animal, touches the mountain, it must be put to death with stones.”[a] 21 What they saw was so terrible that Moses said, “I am shaking with fear.”[b]
22 But you have not come to that kind of place. The new place you have come to is Mount Zion.[c] You have come to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands of angels gathered together with joy. 23 You have come to the meeting of God’s firstborn[d] children. Their names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all people. And you have come to the spirits of good people who have been made perfect. 24 You have come to Jesus, the One who brought the new agreement from God to his people. You have come to the sprinkled blood[e] that has a better message than the blood of Abel.[f]
25 So be careful and do not refuse to listen when God speaks. They refused to listen to him when he warned them on earth. And they did not escape. Now God is warning us from heaven. So it will be worse for us if we refuse to listen to him. 26 When he spoke before, his voice shook the earth. But now he has promised, “Once again I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”[g] 27 The words “once again” clearly show us that everything that was made will be destroyed. These are the things that can be shaken. And only the things that cannot be shaken will remain.
28 So let us be thankful because we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken. We should worship God in a way that pleases him. So let us worship him with respect and fear, 29 because our God is like a fire that burns things up.
Jesus Teaches at the Feast
14 The feast was about half over. Then Jesus went to the Temple and began to teach. 15 The Jews were amazed. They said, “This man has never studied in school. How did he learn so much?”
16 Jesus answered, “The things I teach are not my own. My teaching comes from him who sent me. 17 If anyone chooses to do what God wants, then he will know that my teaching comes from God. He will know that this teaching is not my own. 18 He who teaches his own ideas is trying to get honor for himself. But he who tries to bring honor to the one who sent him—that person speaks the truth. There is nothing false in him. 19 Moses gave you the law,[a] but none of you obey that law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
20 The people answered, “A demon has come into you. We are not trying to kill you.”
21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Moses gave you the law about circumcision. (But really Moses did not give you circumcision. Circumcision came from our ancestors.) And yet you circumcise a baby boy on a Sabbath day. 23 This shows that a baby boy can be circumcised on a Sabbath day to obey the law of Moses. So why are you angry at me for healing a person’s whole body on the Sabbath day? 24 Stop judging by the way things look! Be fair, and judge by what is really right.”
Is Jesus the Christ?
25 Then some of the people who lived in Jerusalem said, “This is the man they are trying to kill. 26 But he is teaching where everyone can see and hear him. And no one is trying to stop him. Maybe the leaders have decided that he really is the Christ. 27 But we know where this man is from. Yet when the real Christ comes, no one will know where he comes from.”
28 Jesus was still teaching in the Temple. He cried out, “Yes, you know me, and you know where I am from. But I have not come by my own authority. I was sent by the One who is true. You don’t know him. 29 But I know him. I am from him, and he sent me.”
30 When Jesus said this, they tried to seize him. But no one was able to touch him. It was not yet the right time. 31 But many of the people believed in Jesus. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miracles than this man has done?”
Some Leaders Try to Arrest Jesus
32 The Pharisees heard the crowd whispering these things about Jesus. So the leading priests and the Pharisees sent some Temple guards to arrest him. 33 Then Jesus said, “I will be with you a little while longer. Then I will go back to the One who sent me. 34 You will look for me, but you will not find me. And you cannot come where I am.”
35 The Jews said to each other, “Where will this man go so we cannot find him? Will he go to the Greek cities where our people live? Will he teach the Greek people there? 36 This man says, ‘You will look for me but you will not find me.’ He also says, ‘You cannot come where I am.’ What does this mean?”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.