Book of Common Prayer
33 If you start doing wrong,
the Lord will turn rivers
into deserts,
34 (A) flowing streams
into scorched land,
and fruitful fields
into beds of salt.
35 But the Lord can also turn
deserts into lakes
and scorched land
into flowing streams.
36 If you are hungry,
you can settle there
and build a town.
37 You can plant fields
and vineyards that produce
a good harvest.
38 The Lord will bless you
with many children
and with herds of cattle.
39 Sometimes you may be crushed
by troubles and sorrows,
until only a few of you
are left to survive.
40 But the Lord will take revenge
on those who conquer you,
and he will make them wander
across desert sands.
41 When you are suffering
and in need,
he will come to your rescue,
and your families will grow
as fast as a herd of sheep.
42 You will see this because
you obey the Lord,
but everyone who is wicked
will be silenced.
43 Be wise! Remember this
and think about the kindness
of the Lord.
(A song and a psalm by David.)
With God on Our Side
1 Our God, I am faithful to you
with all my heart,
and you can trust me.
I will sing
and play music for you
with all that I am.
2 I will start playing my harps
before the sun rises.
3 I will praise you, Lord,
for everyone to hear;
I will sing hymns to you
in every nation.
4 Your love reaches higher
than the heavens,
and your loyalty extends
beyond the clouds.
5 Our God, may you be honored
above the heavens;
may your glory be seen
everywhere on earth.
6 Answer my prayers
and use your powerful arm
to give us victory.
Then the people you love
will be safe.
7 Our God, from your holy place
you made this promise:
“I will gladly divide up
the city of Shechem
and give away Succoth Valley
piece by piece.
8 The lands of Gilead
and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is my war helmet,
and Judah is my symbol
of royal power.
9 Moab is merely my washbasin,
and Edom belongs to me.
I shout with victory
over the Philistines.”
10 Our God, who will bring me
to the fortress
or lead me to Edom?
11 Have you rejected us?
You don't lead our armies.
12 Help us defeat our enemies!
No one else can rescue us.
13 Only you give us victory
and crush our enemies.
Sing Praises to the Lord
1 You are the Lord's people.
Obey him and celebrate!
He deserves your praise.
2 Praise the Lord with harps!
Use harps with ten strings
to make music for him.
3 Sing a new song. Shout!
Play beautiful music.
4 The Lord is truthful;
he can be trusted.
5 He loves justice and fairness,
and he is kind to everyone
everywhere on earth.
6 The Lord made the heavens
and everything in them
by his word.
7 He scooped up the ocean
and stored the water.
8 Everyone in this world
should worship and honor
the Lord!
9 As soon as he spoke
the world was created;
at his command,
the earth was formed.
10 The Lord destroys the plans
and spoils the schemes
of the nations.
11 But what the Lord has planned
will stand forever.
His thoughts never change.
12 The Lord blesses each nation
that worships only him.
He blesses his chosen ones.
13 The Lord looks at the world
14 from his throne in heaven,
and he watches us all.
15 The Lord gave us each a mind,
and nothing we do
can be hidden from him.
16 (A) Mighty armies alone
cannot win wars for a king;
great strength by itself
cannot keep a soldier safe.
17 In war the strength of a horse
cannot be trusted
to take you to safety.
18 But the Lord watches over
all
who honor him
and trust his kindness.
19 He protects them from death
and starvation.
20 We depend on you, Lord,
to help and protect us.
21 You make our hearts glad
because we trust you,
the only God.
22 Be kind and bless us!
We depend on you.
Israel Isn't Allowed To Go through Edom
14 Moses sent messengers from Israel's camp near Kadesh with this message for the king of Edom:
We are Israelites, your own relatives, and we're sure you have heard the terrible things that have happened to us. 15 Our ancestors settled in Egypt and lived there a long time. But later the Egyptians were cruel to us, 16 and when we begged our Lord for help, he answered our prayer and brought us out of that land.
Now we are camped at the border of your territory, near the town of Kadesh. 17 Please let us go through your country. We won't go near your fields or vineyards, and we won't drink any water from your wells. We will stay on the main road[a] until we leave your territory.
18 But the king of Edom answered, “No, I won't let you go through our country! And if you try, we will attack you.”
19 Moses sent back this message: “We promise to stay on the main road, and if any of us or our livestock drink your water, we will pay for it. We just want to pass through.”
20 But the king insisted, “You can't go through our land!”
Then Edom sent out its strongest troops 21 to keep Israel from passing through its territory. So the Israelites had to go in another direction.
Aaron Dies
22 After the Israelites had left Kadesh and had gone as far as Mount Hor 23 on the Edomite border, the Lord said, 24 “Aaron, this is where you will die. You and Moses disobeyed me at Meribah, and so you will not enter the land I promised the Israelites. 25 Moses, go with Aaron and his son Eleazar to the top of the mountain. 26 Then take Aaron's priestly robe from him and place it on Eleazar. Aaron will die there.”
27 Moses obeyed, and everyone watched as he and Aaron and Eleazar walked to the top of Mount Hor. 28 (A) Moses then took the priestly robe from Aaron and placed it on Eleazar. Aaron died there.
When Moses and Eleazar came down, 29 the people knew that Aaron had died, and they mourned his death for 30 days.
Dead to Sin but Alive because of Christ
6 What should we say? Should we keep on sinning, so that God's gift of undeserved grace will show up even better? 2 No, we should not! If we are dead to sin, how can we go on sinning? 3 Don't you know that all who share in Christ Jesus by being baptized also share in his death? 4 (A) When we were baptized, we died and were buried with Christ. We were baptized, so we would live a new life, as Christ was raised to life by the glory of God the Father.
5 If we shared in Jesus' death by being baptized, we will be raised to life with him. 6 We know that the persons we used to be were nailed to the cross with Jesus. This was done, so our sinful bodies would no longer be the slaves of sin. 7 We know sin doesn't have power over dead people.
8 As surely as we died with Christ, we believe we will also live with him. 9 We know that death no longer has any power over Christ. He died and was raised to life, never again to die. 10 When Christ died, he died for sin once and for all. But now he is alive, and he lives only for God. 11 In the same way, you must think of yourselves as dead to the power of sin. But Christ Jesus has given life to you, and you live for God.
Jesus Enters Jerusalem
(Mark 11.1-11; Luke 19.28-38; John 12.12-19)
21 When Jesus and his disciples came near Jerusalem, he went to Bethphage on the Mount of Olives and sent two of them on ahead. 2 He told them, “Go into the next village, where you will at once find a donkey and her colt. Untie the two donkeys and bring them to me. 3 If anyone asks why you are doing this, just say, ‘The Lord[a] needs them.’ He will at once let you have the donkeys.”
4 So God's promise came true, just as the prophet had said,
5 (A) “Announce to the people
of Jerusalem:
‘Your king is coming to you!
He is humble
and rides on a donkey.
He comes on the colt
of a donkey.’ ”
6 The disciples left and did what Jesus had told them to do. 7 They brought the donkey and its colt and laid some clothes on their backs. Then Jesus got on.
8 Many people spread clothes in the road, while others put down branches[b] which they had cut from trees. 9 (B) Some people walked ahead of Jesus and others followed behind. They were all shouting,
“Hooray[c] for the Son of David![d]
God bless the one who comes
in the name of the Lord.
Hooray for God
in heaven above!”
10 When Jesus came to Jerusalem, everyone in the city was excited and asked, “Who can this be?”
11 The crowds answered, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”
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