Book of Common Prayer
(A special psalm by Ethan the Ezrahite.)
The Lord's Agreement with David
1 (A) Our Lord, I will sing
of your love forever.
Everyone yet to be born
will hear me praise
your faithfulness.
2 I will tell them, “God's love
can always be trusted,
and his faithfulness lasts
as long as the heavens.”
3 You said, “David, my servant,
is my chosen one,
and this is the agreement
I made with him:
4 (B) David, one of your descendants
will always be king.”
5 Our Lord, let the heavens
now praise your miracles,
and let all your angels
praise your faithfulness.
6 None who live in the heavens
can compare with you.
7 You are the most fearsome
of all who live in heaven;
all the others fear
and greatly honor you.
8 You are Lord God All-Powerful!
No one is as loving
and faithful as you are.
9 You rule the roaring sea
and calm its waves.
10 You crushed the monster Rahab,[a]
and with your powerful arm
you scattered your enemies.
11 The heavens and the earth
belong to you.
And so does the world
with all its people
because you created them
12 and everything else.[b]
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon
gladly praise you.
13 You are strong and mighty!
14 Your kingdom is ruled
by justice and fairness
with love and faithfulness
leading the way.
15 Our Lord, you bless those
who join in the festival
and walk in the brightness
of your presence.
16 We are happy all day
because of you,
and your saving power
brings honor to us.
17 Your own glorious power
makes us strong,
and because of your kindness,
our strength increases.
18 Our Lord and our King,
the Holy One of Israel,
you are truly our shield.
19 In a vision, you once said
to your faithful followers:
“I have helped a mighty hero.
I chose him from my people
and made him famous.
20 (C) David, my servant, is the one
I chose to be king,
21 and I will always be there
to help and strengthen him.
22 “No enemy will outsmart David,
and he won't be defeated
by any hateful people.
23 I will strike down and crush
his troublesome enemies.
24 He will always be able
to depend on my love,
and I will make him strong
with my own power.
25 I will let him rule the lands
across the rivers and seas.
26 He will say to me,
‘You are my Father
and my God,
as well as the mighty rock[c]
where I am safe.’
27 (D) “I have chosen David
as my first-born son,
and he will be the ruler
of all kings on earth.
28 My love for him will last,
and my agreement with him
will never be broken.
29 “One of David's descendants
will always be king,
and his family will rule
until the sky disappears.
30 Suppose some of his children
should reject my Law
and refuse my instructions.
31 Or suppose they should disobey
all of my teachings.
32 Then I will correct
and punish them
because of their sins.
33 But I will always love David
and faithfully keep all
of my promises to him.
34 “I won't break my agreement
or go back on my word.
35 I have sworn once and for all
by my own holy name,
and I won't lie to David.
36 His family will always rule.
I will let his kingdom last
as long as the sun 37 and moon
appear in the sky.”
38 You are now angry, Lord,
and you have turned your back
on your chosen king.
39 You broke off your agreement
with your servant, the king,
and you completely destroyed
his kingdom.
40 The walls of his city
have been broken through,
and every fortress
now lies in ruins.
41 All who pass by
take what they want,
and nations everywhere
joke about the king.
42 You made his enemies powerful
and let them celebrate.
43 But you forced him to retreat
because you did not fight
on his side.
44 You took his crown[d]
and threw his throne
in the dirt.
45 You made an old man of him
and put him to shame.
46 How much longer, Lord?
Will you hide forever?
How long will your anger
keep burning like fire?
47 Remember, life is short![e]
Why did you empty our lives
of all meaning?
48 No one can escape the power
of death and the grave.
49 Our Lord, where is the love
you have always shown
and that you promised
so faithfully to David?
50 Remember your servant, Lord!
People make jokes about me,
and I suffer many insults.
51 I am your chosen one,
but your enemies chase
and make fun of me.
52 Our Lord, we praise you
forever. Amen and amen.
The Ephraim Tribe Fights Jephthah's Army
12 The men of the Ephraim tribe got together an army and went across the Jordan River to Zaphon to meet with Jephthah. They said, “Why did you go to war with the Ammonites without asking us to help? Just for that, we're going to burn down your house with you inside!”
2 “But I did ask for your help,” Jephthah answered. “That was back when the people of Gilead and I were having trouble with the Ammonites, and you wouldn't do a thing to help us. 3 So when we realized you weren't coming, we risked our lives and attacked the Ammonites. And the Lord let us defeat them. There's no reason for you to come here today to attack me.”
4 But the men from Ephraim said, “You people of Gilead are nothing more than refugees from Ephraim. You even live on land that belongs to the tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh.”[a]
So Jephthah called together the army of Gilead, then they attacked and defeated the army from Ephraim. 5 The army of Gilead also posted guards at all the places where the soldiers from Ephraim could cross the Jordan River to return to their own land.
Whenever one of the men from Ephraim would try to cross the river, the guards would say, “Are you from Ephraim?”
“No,” the man would answer, “I'm not from Ephraim.”
6 The guards would then tell them to say “Shibboleth,” because they knew that people of Ephraim could say “Sibboleth,” but not “Shibboleth.”
If the man said “Sibboleth,” the guards would grab him and kill him right there. Altogether, 42,000 men from Ephraim were killed in the battle and at the Jordan.
7 Jephthah was a leader[b] of Israel for six years, before he died and was buried in his hometown Mizpah[c] in Gilead.
Peter's Unusual Power
12 The apostles worked many miracles and wonders among the people. All of the Lord's followers often met in the part of the temple known as Solomon's Porch.[a] 13 No one outside their group dared join them, even though everyone liked them very much.
14 Many men and women started having faith in the Lord. 15 Then sick people were brought out to the road and placed on mats. It was hoped that Peter would walk by, and his shadow would fall on them and heal them. 16 A lot of people living in the towns near Jerusalem brought those who were sick or troubled by evil spirits, and they were all healed.
Trouble for the Apostles
17 The high priest and all the other Sadducees who were with him became jealous. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the city jail. 19 But that night an angel from the Lord opened the doors of the jail and led the apostles out. The angel said, 20 “Go to the temple and tell the people everything about this new life.” 21 So they went into the temple before sunrise and started teaching.
The high priest and his men called together their council, which included all of Israel's leaders. Then they ordered the apostles to be brought to them from the jail. 22 The temple police who were sent to the jail did not find the apostles. They returned and said, 23 “We found the jail locked tight and the guards standing at the doors. But when we opened the doors and went in, we didn't find anyone there.” 24 The captain of the temple police and the chief priests listened to their report, but they did not know what to think about it.
25 Just then someone came in and said, “Now those men you put in jail are in the temple, teaching the people!” 26 The captain went with some of the temple police and brought the apostles back. But they did not use force. They were afraid that the people might start throwing stones at them.
Jesus and Nicodemus
3 There was a man named Nicodemus who was a Pharisee and a Jewish leader. 2 One night he went to Jesus and said, “Rabbi, we know that God has sent you to teach us. You could not work these miracles, unless God were with you.”
3 Jesus replied, “I tell you for certain that you must be born from above[a] before you can see God's kingdom!”
4 Nicodemus asked, “How can a grown man ever be born a second time?”
5 Jesus answered:
I tell you for certain that before you can get into God's kingdom, you must be born not only by water, but by the Spirit. 6 Humans give life to their children. Yet only God's Spirit can change you into a child of God. 7 Don't be surprised when I say that you must be born from above. 8 Only God's Spirit gives new life. The Spirit is like the wind that blows wherever it wants to. You can hear the wind, but you don't know where it comes from or where it is going.
9 “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
10 Jesus replied:
How can you be a teacher of Israel and not know these things? 11 I tell you for certain we know what we are talking about because we have seen it ourselves. But none of you will accept what we say. 12 (A) If you don't believe when I talk to you about things on earth, how can you possibly believe if I talk to you about things in heaven?
13 (B) No one has gone up to heaven except the Son of Man, who came down from there. 14 (C) And the Son of Man must be lifted up, just as the metal snake was lifted up by Moses in the desert.[b] 15 Then everyone who has faith in the Son of Man will have eternal life.
16 God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die. 17 God did not send his Son into the world to condemn its people. He sent him to save them! 18 No one who has faith in God's Son will be condemned. But everyone who doesn't have faith in him has already been condemned for not having faith in God's only Son.
19 The light has come into the world, and people who do evil things are judged guilty because they love the dark more than the light. 20 People who do evil hate the light and won't come to the light, because it clearly shows what they have done. 21 But everyone who lives by the truth will come to the light, because they want others to know that God is really the one doing what they do.
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