Book of Common Prayer
93 Jehovah is King! He is robed in majesty and strength. The world is his throne.[a]
2 O Lord, you have reigned from prehistoric times, from the everlasting past. 3 The mighty oceans thunder your praise. 4 You are mightier than all the breakers pounding on the seashores of the world! 5 Your royal decrees cannot be changed. Holiness is forever the keynote of your reign.
96 Sing a new song to the Lord! Sing it everywhere around the world! 2 Sing out his praises! Bless his name. Each day tell someone that he saves.
3 Publish his glorious acts throughout the earth. Tell everyone about the amazing things he does. 4 For the Lord is great beyond description and greatly to be praised. Worship only him among the gods! 5 For the gods of other nations are merely idols, but our God made the heavens! 6 Honor and majesty surround him; strength and beauty are in his Temple.
7 O nations of the world, confess that God alone is glorious and strong. 8 Give him the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come to worship him.[a] 9 Worship the Lord with the beauty of holy lives.[b] Let the earth tremble before him. 10 Tell the nations that Jehovah reigns! He rules the world. His power can never be overthrown. He will judge all nations fairly.
11 Let the heavens be glad, the earth rejoice; let the vastness of the roaring seas demonstrate his glory. 12 Praise him for the growing fields, for they display his greatness. Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise. 13 For the Lord is coming to judge the earth; he will judge the nations fairly and with truth!
34 I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will constantly speak of his glories and grace.[a] 2 I will boast of all his kindness to me. Let all who are discouraged take heart. 3 Let us praise the Lord together and exalt his name.
4 For I cried to him and he answered me! He freed me from all my fears. 5 Others too were radiant at what he did for them. Theirs was no downcast look of rejection! 6 This poor man cried to the Lord—and the Lord heard him and saved him out of his troubles. 7 For the Angel of the Lord guards and rescues all who reverence him.
8 Oh, put God to the test and see how kind he is! See for yourself the way his mercies shower down on all who trust in him. 9 If you belong to the Lord, reverence him; for everyone who does this has everything he needs. 10 Even strong young lions sometimes go hungry, but those of us who reverence the Lord will never lack any good thing.
11 Sons and daughters, come and listen and let me teach you the importance of trusting and fearing the Lord. 12 Do you want a long, good life? 13 Then watch your tongue! Keep your lips from lying. 14 Turn from all known sin and spend your time in doing good. Try to live in peace with everyone; work hard at it.
15 For the eyes of the Lord are intently watching all who live good lives, and he gives attention when they cry to him. 16 But the Lord has made up his mind to wipe out even the memory of evil men from the earth. 17 Yes, the Lord hears the good man when he calls to him for help and saves him out of all his troubles.
18 The Lord is close to those whose hearts are breaking; he rescues those who are humbly sorry for their sins. 19 The good man does not escape all troubles—he has them too. But the Lord helps him in each and every one. 20 Not one of his bones is broken.
21 Calamity will surely overtake the wicked; heavy penalties are meted out to those who hate the good. 22 But as for those who serve the Lord, he will redeem them; everyone who takes refuge in him will be freely pardoned.
25 1-2 While Moses was on Mount Sinai, the Lord gave him these instructions for the people of Israel:
“When you come into the land I am going to give you, you must let the land rest before the Lord every seventh year. 3 For six years you may sow your field and prune your vineyards and harvest your crops, 4 but during the seventh year the land is to lie fallow before the Lord, uncultivated. Don’t sow your crops and don’t prune your vineyards during that entire year. 5 Don’t even reap for yourself the volunteer crops that come up, and don’t gather the grapes for yourself; for it is a year of rest for the land. 6-7 Any crops that do grow that year shall be free to all—for you, your servants, your slaves, and any foreigners living among you. Cattle and wild animals alike shall be allowed to graze there.
8 “Every fiftieth year, 9 on the Day of Atonement,[a] let the trumpets blow loud and long throughout the land. 10 For the fiftieth year shall be holy, a time to proclaim liberty throughout the land to all enslaved debtors, and a time for the canceling of all public and private debts. It shall be a year when all the family estates sold to others shall be returned to the original owners or their heirs.
11 “What a happy year it will be! In it you shall not sow, nor gather crops nor grapes; 12 for it is a holy Year of Jubilee for you. That year your food shall be the volunteer crops that grow wild in the fields. 13 Yes, during the Year of Jubilee everyone shall return home to his original family possession; if he has sold it, it shall be his again! 14-16 Because of this, if the land is sold or bought during the preceding forty-nine years, a fair price shall be arrived at by counting the number of years until the Jubilee. If the Jubilee is many years away, the price will be high; if few years, the price will be low; for what you are really doing is selling the number of crops the new owner will get from the land before it is returned to you.
17-18 “You must fear your God and not overcharge! For I am Jehovah. Obey my laws if you want to live safely in the land.
2 Dear brothers, is your life full of difficulties and temptations? Then be happy, 3 for when the way is rough, your patience has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow, and don’t try to squirm out of your problems. For when your patience is finally in full bloom, then you will be ready for anything, strong in character, full and complete.
5 If you want to know what God wants you to do, ask him, and he will gladly tell you, for he is always ready to give a bountiful supply of wisdom to all who ask him; he will not resent it. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that you really expect him to tell you, for a doubtful mind will be as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind; 7-8 and every decision you then make will be uncertain, as you turn first this way and then that. If you don’t ask with faith, don’t expect the Lord to give you any solid answer.
16 So don’t be misled, dear brothers.
17 But whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God, the Creator of all light, and he shines forever without change or shadow. 18 And it was a happy day for him when[a] he gave us our new lives through the truth of his Word, and we became, as it were, the first children in his new family.
13 Then someone called from the crowd, “Sir, please tell my brother to divide my father’s estate with me.”
14 But Jesus replied, “Man, who made me a judge over you to decide such things as that? 15 Beware! Don’t always be wishing for what you don’t have. For real life and real living are not related to how rich we are.”
16 Then he gave an illustration: “A rich man had a fertile farm that produced fine crops. 17 In fact, his barns were full to overflowing—he couldn’t get everything in. He thought about his problem, 18 and finally exclaimed, ‘I know—I’ll tear down my barns and build bigger ones! Then I’ll have room enough. 19 And I’ll sit back and say to myself, “Friend, you have enough stored away for years to come. Now take it easy! Wine, women, and song for you!”’[a]
20 “But God said to him, ‘Fool! Tonight you die. Then who will get it all?’
21 “Yes, every man is a fool who gets rich on earth but not in heaven.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.