Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Victory[a]
20 May the Lord answer you when you are in trouble!
May the God of Jacob protect you!
2 May he send you help from his Temple
and give you aid from Mount Zion.
3 May he accept all your offerings
and be pleased with all your sacrifices.
4 May he give you what you desire
and make all your plans succeed.
5 Then we will shout for joy over your victory
and celebrate your triumph by praising our God.
May the Lord answer all your requests.
6 Now I know that the Lord gives victory to his chosen king;
he answers him from his holy heaven
and by his power gives him great victories.
7 Some trust in their war chariots
and others in their horses,
but we trust in the power of the Lord our God.
8 Such people will stumble and fall,
but we will rise and stand firm.
9 Give victory to the king, O Lord;
answer[b] us when we call.
Praise for Victory[c]
21 The king is glad, O Lord, because you gave him strength;
he rejoices because you made him victorious.
2 You have given him his heart's desire;
you have answered his request.
3 You came to him with great blessings
and set a crown of gold on his head.
4 He asked for life, and you gave it,
a long and lasting life.
5 His glory is great because of your help;
you have given him fame and majesty.
6 Your blessings are with him forever,
and your presence fills him with joy.
7 The king trusts in the Lord Almighty;
and because of the Lord's constant love
he will always be secure.
8 The king will capture all his enemies;
he will capture everyone who hates him.
9 He will destroy them like a blazing fire
when he appears.
The Lord will devour them in his anger,
and fire will consume them.
10 None of their descendants will survive;
the king will kill them all.
11 They make their plans, and plot against him,
but they will not succeed.
12 He will shoot his arrows at them
and make them turn and run.
13 We praise you, Lord, for your great strength!
We will sing and praise your power.
The Lord and His Chosen King[a]
110 (A)The Lord said to my lord,
“Sit here at my right side
until I put your enemies under your feet.”
2 From Zion the Lord will extend your royal power.
“Rule over your enemies,” he says.
3 On the day you fight your enemies,
your people will volunteer.
Like the dew of early morning
your young men will come to you on the sacred hills.[b]
4 (B)The Lord made a solemn promise and will not take it back:
“You will be a priest forever
in the priestly order of Melchizedek.”[c]
5 The Lord is at your right side;
when he becomes angry, he will defeat kings.
6 He will pass judgment on the nations
and fill the battlefield with corpses;
he will defeat kings all over the earth.
7 The king will drink from the stream by the road,
and strengthened, he will stand victorious.
Someone Saved from Death Praises God
116 I love the Lord, because he hears me;
he listens to my prayers.
2 He listens to me
every time I call to him.
3 The danger of death was all around me;
the horrors of the grave closed in on me;
I was filled with fear and anxiety.
4 Then I called to the Lord,
“I beg you, Lord, save me!”
5 The Lord is merciful and good;
our God is compassionate.
6 The Lord protects the helpless;
when I was in danger, he saved me.
7 Be confident, my heart,
because the Lord has been good to me.
8 The Lord saved me from death;
he stopped my tears
and kept me from defeat.
9 And so I walk in the presence of the Lord
in the world of the living.
10 (A)I kept on believing, even when I said,
“I am completely crushed,”
11 even when I was afraid and said,
“No one can be trusted.”
12 What can I offer the Lord
for all his goodness to me?
13 I will bring a wine offering to the Lord,
to thank him for saving me.
14 In the assembly of all his people
I will give him what I have promised.
15 How painful it is to the Lord
when one of his people dies!
16 I am your servant, Lord;
I serve you just as my mother did.
You have saved me from death.
17 I will give you a sacrifice of thanksgiving
and offer my prayer to you.
18-19 In the assembly of all your people,
in the sanctuary of your Temple in Jerusalem,
I will give you what I have promised.
Praise the Lord!
In Praise of the Lord
117 (B)Praise the Lord, all nations!
Praise him, all peoples!
2 His love for us is strong,
and his faithfulness is eternal.
Praise the Lord!
The Death of Moses
34 Moses went up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Mount Pisgah east of Jericho, and there the Lord showed him the whole land: the territory of Gilead as far north as the town of Dan; 2 the entire territory of Naphtali; the territories of Ephraim and Manasseh; the territory of Judah as far west as the Mediterranean Sea; 3 the southern part of Judah; and the plain that reaches from Zoar to Jericho, the city of palm trees. 4 (A)Then the Lord said to Moses, “This is the land that I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob I would give to their descendants. I have let you see it, but I will not let you go there.”
5 So Moses, the Lord's servant, died there in the land of Moab, as the Lord had said he would. 6 The Lord buried him in a valley in Moab, opposite the town of Bethpeor, but to this day no one knows the exact place of his burial. 7 Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; he was as strong as ever, and his eyesight was still good. 8 The people of Israel mourned for him for thirty days in the plains of Moab.
9 Joshua son of Nun was filled with wisdom, because Moses had appointed him to be his successor. The people of Israel obeyed Joshua and kept the commands that the Lord had given them through Moses.
10 (B)There has never been a prophet in Israel like Moses; the Lord spoke with him face-to-face. 11 No other prophet has ever done miracles and wonders like those that the Lord sent Moses to perform against the king of Egypt, his officials, and the entire country. 12 No other prophet has been able to do the great and terrifying things that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.
14 But how can they call to him for help if they have not believed? And how can they believe if they have not heard the message? And how can they hear if the message is not proclaimed? 15 (A)And how can the message be proclaimed if the messengers are not sent out? As the scripture says, “How wonderful is the coming of messengers who bring good news!” 16 (B)But not all have accepted the Good News. Isaiah himself said, “Lord, who believed our message?” 17 So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ.
18 (C)But I ask: Is it true that they did not hear the message? Of course they did—for as the scripture says:
“The sound of their voice went out to all the world;
their words reached the ends of the earth.”
19 (D)Again I ask: Did the people of Israel not understand? Moses himself is the first one to answer:
“I will use a so-called nation
to make my people jealous;
and by means of a nation of fools
I will make my people angry.”
20 (E)And Isaiah is even bolder when he says,
“I was found by those who were not looking for me;
I appeared to those who were not asking for me.”
21 (F)But concerning Israel he says, “All day long I held out my hands to welcome a disobedient and rebellious people.”
The Lesson of the Fig Tree(A)
32 “Let the fig tree teach you a lesson. When its branches become green and tender and it starts putting out leaves, you know that summer is near. 33 In the same way, when you see all these things, you will know that the time is near, ready to begin.[a] 34 Remember that all these things will happen before the people now living have all died. 35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
No One Knows the Day and Hour(B)
36 “No one knows, however, when that day and hour will come—neither the angels in heaven nor the Son;[b] the Father alone knows. 37 (C)The coming of the Son of Man will be like what happened in the time of Noah. 38 In the days before the flood people ate and drank, men and women married, up to the very day Noah went into the boat; 39 (D)yet they did not realize what was happening until the flood came and swept them all away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man comes. 40 At that time two men will be working in a field: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind. 41 Two women will be at a mill grinding meal: one will be taken away, the other will be left behind. 42 Watch out, then, because you do not know what day your Lord will come. 43 (E)If the owner of a house knew the time when the thief would come, you can be sure that he would stay awake and not let the thief break into his house. 44 So then, you also must always be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you are not expecting him.
The Faithful or the Unfaithful Servant(F)
45 “Who, then, is a faithful and wise servant? It is the one that his master has placed in charge of the other servants to give them their food at the proper time. 46 How happy that servant is if his master finds him doing this when he comes home! 47 Indeed, I tell you, the master will put that servant in charge of all his property. 48 But if he is a bad servant, he will tell himself that his master will not come back for a long time, 49 and he will begin to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards. 50 Then that servant's master will come back one day when the servant does not expect him and at a time he does not know. 51 The master will cut him in pieces[c] and make him share the fate of the hypocrites. There he will cry and gnash his teeth.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.