Book of Common Prayer
(A)A Prayer of Trust in God[a]
56 Be merciful to me, O God,
because I am under attack;
my enemies persecute me all the time.
2 All day long my opponents attack me.
There are so many who fight against me.
3 When I am afraid, O Lord Almighty,
I put my trust in you.
4 I trust in God and am not afraid;
I praise him for what he has promised.
What can a mere human being do to me?
5 My enemies make trouble for me all day long;
they are always thinking up some way to hurt me!
6 They gather in hiding places
and watch everything I do,
hoping to kill me.
7 Punish[b] them, O God, for their evil;
defeat those people in your anger!
8 You know how troubled I am;
you have kept a record of my tears.
Aren't they listed in your book?
9 The day I call to you,
my enemies will be turned back.
I know this: God[c] is on my side—
10 the Lord, whose promises I praise.
11 In him I trust, and I will not be afraid.
What can a mere human being do to me?
12 O God, I will offer you what I have promised;
I will give you my offering of thanksgiving,
13 because you have rescued me from death
and kept me from defeat.
And so I walk in the presence of God,
in the light that shines on the living.
(B)A Prayer for Help[d]
57 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful,
because I come to you for safety.
In the shadow of your wings I find protection
until the raging storms are over.
2 I call to God, the Most High,
to God, who supplies my every need.
3 He will answer from heaven and save me;
he will defeat my oppressors.
God will show me his constant love and faithfulness.
4 I am surrounded by enemies,
who are like lions hungry for human flesh.
Their teeth are like spears and arrows;
their tongues are like sharp swords.
5 Show your greatness in the sky, O God,
and your glory over all the earth.
6 My enemies have spread a net to catch me;
I am overcome with distress.
They dug a pit in my path,
but fell into it themselves.
7 I have complete confidence, O God;
I will sing and praise you!
8 Wake up, my soul!
Wake up, my harp and lyre!
I will wake up the sun.
9 I will thank you, O Lord, among the nations.
I will praise you among the peoples.
10 Your constant love reaches the heavens;
your faithfulness touches the skies.
11 Show your greatness in the sky, O God,
and your glory over all the earth.
A Prayer for God to Punish the Wicked[e]
58 Do you rulers[f] ever give a just decision?
Do you judge everyone fairly?
2 No! You think only of the evil you can do,
and commit crimes of violence in the land.
3 Evildoers go wrong all their lives;
they tell lies from the day they are born.
4 They are full of poison like snakes;
they stop up their ears like a deaf cobra,
5 which does not hear the voice of the snake charmer,
or the chant of the clever magician.
6 Break the teeth of these fierce lions, O God.
7 May they disappear like water draining away;
may they be crushed like weeds on a path.[g]
8 May they be like snails that dissolve into slime;
may they be like a baby born dead that never sees the light.
9 Before they know it, they are cut down like weeds;
in his fierce anger God will blow them away
while they are still living.[h]
10 The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished;
they will wade through the blood of the wicked.
11 People will say, “The righteous are indeed rewarded;
there is indeed a God who judges the world.”
A Prayer for Protection[a]
64 I am in trouble, God—listen to my prayer!
I am afraid of my enemies—save my life!
2 Protect me from the plots of the wicked,
from mobs of evil people.
3 They sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim cruel words like arrows.
4 They are quick to spread their shameless lies;
they destroy good people with cowardly slander.
5 They encourage each other in their evil plots;
they talk about where they will place their traps.
“No one can see them,” they say.
6 They make evil plans and say,
“We have planned a perfect crime.”
The human heart and mind are a mystery.
7 But God shoots his arrows at them,
and suddenly they are wounded.
8 He will destroy them because of those words;[b]
all who see them will shake their heads.
9 They will all be afraid;
they will think about what God has done
and tell about his deeds.
10 All righteous people will rejoice
because of what the Lord has done.
They will find safety in him;
all good people will praise him.
Praise and Thanksgiving[c]
65 O God, it is right for us to praise you in Zion
and keep our promises to you,
2 because you answer prayers.
People everywhere will come to you
3 on account of their sins.
Our faults defeat us,[d]
but you forgive them.
4 Happy are those whom you choose,
whom you bring to live in your sanctuary.
We shall be satisfied with the good things of your house,
the blessings of your sacred Temple.
5 You answer us by giving us victory,
and you do wonderful things to save us.
People all over the world
and across the distant seas trust in you.
6 You set the mountains in place by your strength,
showing your mighty power.
7 You calm the roar of the seas
and the noise of the waves;
you calm the uproar of the peoples.
8 The whole world stands in awe
of the great things that you have done.
Your deeds bring shouts of joy
from one end of the earth to the other.
9 You show your care for the land by sending rain;
you make it rich and fertile.
You fill the streams with water;
you provide the earth with crops.
This is how you do it:
10 you send abundant rain on the plowed fields
and soak them with water;
you soften the soil with showers
and cause the young plants to grow.
11 What a rich harvest your goodness provides!
Wherever you go there is plenty.
12 The pastures are filled with flocks;
the hillsides are full of joy.
13 The fields are covered with sheep;
the valleys are full of wheat.
Everything shouts and sings for joy.
16 The people replied, “We would never leave the Lord to serve other gods! 17 The Lord our God brought our fathers and us out of slavery in Egypt, and we saw the miracles that he performed. He kept us safe wherever we went among all the nations through which we passed. 18 As we advanced into this land, the Lord drove out all the Amorites who lived here. So we also will serve the Lord; he is our God.”
19 Joshua said to the people, “But you may not be able to serve the Lord. He is a holy God and will not forgive your sins. He will tolerate no rivals, 20 and if you leave him to serve foreign gods, he will turn against you and punish you. He will destroy you, even though he was good to you before.”
21 The people said to Joshua, “No! We will serve the Lord.”
22 Joshua told them, “You are your own witnesses to the fact that you have chosen to serve the Lord.”
“Yes,” they said, “we are witnesses.”
23 “Then get rid of those foreign gods that you have,” he demanded, “and pledge your loyalty to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
24 The people then said to Joshua, “We will serve the Lord our God. We will obey his commands.”
25 So Joshua made a covenant for[a] the people that day, and there at Shechem he gave them laws and rules to follow. 26 Joshua wrote these commands in the book of the Law of God. Then he took a large stone and set it up under the oak tree in the Lord's sanctuary. 27 He said to all the people, “This stone will be our witness. It has heard all the words that the Lord has spoken to us. So it will be a witness against you, to keep you from rebelling against your God.” 28 Then Joshua sent the people away, and everyone returned to their own part of the land.
Joshua and Eleazar Die
29 After that, the Lord's servant Joshua son of Nun died at the age of a hundred and ten. 30 (A)They buried him on his own land at Timnath Serah in the hill country of Ephraim north of Mount Gaash.
31 As long as Joshua lived, the people of Israel served the Lord, and after his death they continued to do so as long as those leaders were alive who had seen for themselves everything that the Lord had done for Israel.
32 (B)The body of Joseph, which the people of Israel had brought from Egypt, was buried at Shechem, in the piece of land that Jacob had bought from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred pieces of silver. This land was inherited by Joseph's descendants.
33 Eleazar son of Aaron died and was buried at Gibeah, the town in the hill country of Ephraim which had been given to his son Phinehas.
Personal Greetings
16 I recommend to you our sister Phoebe, who serves the church at Cenchreae. 2 Receive her in the Lord's name, as God's people should, and give her any help she may need from you; for she herself has been a good friend to many people and also to me.
3 (A)I send greetings to Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in the service of Christ Jesus; 4 they risked their lives for me. I am grateful to them—not only I, but all the Gentile churches as well. 5 Greetings also to the church that meets in their house.
Greetings to my dear friend Epaenetus, who was the first in the province of Asia to believe in Christ. 6 Greetings to Mary, who has worked so hard for you. 7 Greetings also to Andronicus and Junia,[a] fellow Jews who were in prison with me; they are well known among the apostles, and they became Christians before I did.
8 My greetings to Ampliatus, my dear friend in the fellowship of the Lord. 9 Greetings also to Urbanus, our fellow worker in Christ's service, and to Stachys, my dear friend. 10 Greetings to Apelles, whose loyalty to Christ has been proved. Greetings to those who belong to the family of Aristobulus. 11 Greetings to Herodion, a fellow Jew, and to the Christians in the family of Narcissus.
12 My greetings to Tryphaena and Tryphosa, who work in the Lord's service, and to my dear friend Persis, who has done so much work for the Lord. 13 (B)I send greetings to Rufus, that outstanding worker in the Lord's service, and to his mother, who has always treated me like a son. 14 My greetings to Asyncritus, Phlegon, Hermes, Patrobas, Hermas, and all the other Christians with them. 15 Greetings to Philologus and Julia, to Nereus and his sister, to Olympas and to all of God's people who are with them.
16 Greet one another with the kiss of peace. All the churches of Christ send you their greetings.
24 (A)When Pilate saw that it was no use to go on, but that a riot might break out, he took some water, washed his hands in front of the crowd, and said, “I am not responsible for the death of this man! This is your doing!”
25 The whole crowd answered, “Let the responsibility for his death fall on us and on our children!”
26 Then Pilate set Barabbas free for them; and after he had Jesus whipped, he handed him over to be crucified.
The Soldiers Make Fun of Jesus(B)
27 Then Pilate's soldiers took Jesus into the governor's palace, and the whole company gathered around him. 28 They stripped off his clothes and put a scarlet robe on him. 29 Then they made a crown out of thorny branches and placed it on his head, and put a stick in his right hand; then they knelt before him and made fun of him. “Long live the King of the Jews!” they said. 30 They spat on him, and took the stick and hit him over the head. 31 When they had finished making fun of him, they took the robe off and put his own clothes back on him. Then they led him out to crucify him.
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.