Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 131
A song of David for those journeying to worship.
1 O Eternal One, my heart is not occupied with proud thoughts;
my eyes do not look down on others;
I don’t even begin to get involved in matters too big, matters of faith, state, business,
or the many things that defy my ability to understand them.
2 Of one thing I am certain: my soul has become calm, quiet, and contented in You.
Like a weaned child resting upon his mother, I am quiet.
My soul is like this weaned child.
3 O Israel, stake your trust completely in the Eternal—
from this very moment and into the vast future.
Psalm 132
A song for those journeying to worship.
1 Eternal One, don’t let the suffering of our father David be forgotten—
for his sake, remember!
2 Remember the pledge he made, how he poured out his heart to the Eternal,
the promise he made to the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 He said, “I will not go inside my house
or lie down in my bed;
4 I will not even rest my eyes—
I will not take comfort in sleep—
5 Until I find a dwelling place for You, the Eternal,
a holy residence dedicated to the Mighty One of Jacob.”
7 Let us journey to His dwelling place;
let us worship at His footstool.
8 Eternal One, arise and go to Your new home—
You and the ark of Your strength.
9 Let every priest join the march wearing righteousness,
and let songs of joy erupt from the hearts and mouths of Your godly ones.
10 For the well-being of Your anointed servant,
do not turn Your back on David.
11 The Eternal made His own promise, sworn in truth to David,
an oath which He cannot, will not break:
“I will continue your dynasty, David;
one of your descendants will sit on your throne.
12 If your children obey My covenant
and follow the statutes which I shall teach them,
And if they remain faithful, their children will also
sit upon your throne—forever.”
13 For the Eternal selected Zion;
He desired it as His holy place of residence.
14 “This is My sanctuary, My resting place, forever and ever;
I will remain here, for this is what I have desired.
15 I will bless Zion with an endless supply of all she needs;
I will satisfy the bellies of her hungry with bread.
16 I will clothe her priests with salvation,
and songs of joy will erupt from the hearts and mouths of her godly people.
17 “From there I will make the strength of David’s kingdom grow
and prepare a lamp for My anointed one.
18 I will clothe his enemies with a garment of shame;
but as for David’s son, his crown will shine brightly like the sun.”
Psalm 133
A song of David for those journeying to worship.
1 How good and pleasant it is
when brothers and sisters live together in peace!
2 It is like the finest oils poured on the head,
sweet-smelling oils flowing down to cover the beard,
Flowing down the beard of Aaron,
flowing down the collar of his robe.
3 It is like the gentle rain of Mount Hermon
that falls on the hills of Zion.
Yes, from this place, the Eternal spoke the command,
from there He gave His blessing—life forever.
Psalm 134
A song for those journeying to worship.
1 Praise the Eternal, all you who serve Him—
who stand ready to serve in the house of the Eternal through the night.
2 Lift up your hands toward His sanctuary,
and praise the Eternal.
3 May the Eternal grant you His blessing from Zion,
God, the weaver of heaven and earth.
Psalm 135
1 Praise the Eternal!
Praise and glorify the name of the One who always has been and always will be;
praise Him, servants of the Eternal!
2 Join in the chorus, all you who minister in the Eternal’s temple;
in the courts of our God’s temple,
3 Glorify the Eternal, for He is good!
Sing praises, and honor His name for it is delightful.
4 For the Eternal made His choice; He selected Jacob as His own;
He claimed Israel as His possession.
5 Now I know this: the Eternal is great; His power is unmatched.
Our Master is above any so-called god.
6 He does whatever He pleases,
in heaven, on earth,
in the seas, and in all the ocean depths.
7 He draws up the clouds that rise over the whole earth,
He causes rain and the lightning to strike,
and He summons the wind from His storehouses.
8 He took the lives of Egypt’s firstborn,
human and beast alike.
9 O Egypt, He worked wonders and signs before your eyes,
signs against Pharaoh and Pharaoh’s servants.
10 He destroyed nation after nation
and killed mighty kings:
11 Sihon, the Amorite king;
Og, the king of Bashan;
and even all the kingdoms of Canaan.
12 He conquered their land and gave it as an inheritance—
an inheritance for His people, Israel.
13 Eternal One, Your name is everlasting.
Your legacy, Eternal One, will be known through all the ages.
14 For the Eternal will judge His people,
He will show compassion to those who serve Him.
15 The nations have idols of silver and gold,
crafted by human hands!
16 They shaped mouths for them, but they cannot speak;
they carved eyes into them, but they cannot see;
17 They placed ears on them, but they cannot hear;
they cannot breathe, not even a puff of air from their mouths!
18 The artisans who made them
are just like them,
and so are all who mistakenly trust in them, no exceptions.
19 House of Israel, praise the Eternal;
house of Aaron, praise the Eternal;
20 House of Levi, praise the Eternal;
all those who revere the Eternal, praise Him!
21 Blessed be the Eternal from Zion,
the One who has made Jerusalem His home.
Praise the Eternal!
1 Once there was a man from Uz by the name of Job. He was a very good man—his character spotless, his integrity unquestioned. In fact, he so believed in God that he sought to honor Him in all things. He deliberately avoided evil in all of his affairs. 2 He had 7 sons and 3 daughters; 3 he owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and a large number of servants. Among Easterners, he was the most powerful and influential man. 4 His sons, who were all wealthy landowners, too, all used to gather together on each others’ birthdays and special occasions. The brothers would take turns hosting the others in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When these days of feasting were through, Job would call all of his family to his own house and purify them, rising up early in the morning to offer burnt sacrifices for each one.
Job: God, forgive my children for any secret sins or grudges they have against You deep in their hearts.
No worshiper of God could ever curse Him, so the Hebrew says “bless God” when the reality is, as Job says, they have “grudges . . . deep in their hearts.”
Job did this again and again.
6 Now one day, it came time for the sons of God, God’s heavenly messengers, to present themselves to the Eternal One to give reports and receive instructions. The Accuser[a] was with them there.
The dialogue between the Accuser and God is similar to what might be heard during a court case. Job is a person of the utmost integrity; he is someone God highly respects as His servant. Attacked by the Accuser in God’s heavenly court, Job’s actions are both supported and evaluated by God, who fills the roles of both Job’s Advocate and the Promoter of Justice.
Eternal One (to the Accuser): 7 Where have you been?
The Accuser: Oh, roaming here and there, running about the earth and observing its inhabitants.
Eternal One: 8 Well, have you looked into the man, Job, My servant? He is unlike any other person on the whole earth—a very good man—his character spotless, his integrity unquestioned. In fact, he so believes in Me that he seeks, in all things, to honor Me and deliberately avoids evil in all of his affairs.
The Accuser: 9 I won’t argue with You that he is pious, but is all of this believing in You and honoring You for no reason? 10 Haven’t You encircled him with Your very own protection, and not only him but his entire household and all that he has? Not only this, but Your blessing accompanies whatever his hand touches, and see how his possessions have grown. It is easy to be so pious in the face of such prosperity. 11 So now extend Your hand! Destroy all of these possessions of his, and he will certainly curse You, right to Your face.
Eternal One: 12 I delegate this task to you. His possessions are now in your hand. One thing, though: you are not to lay a finger on the man himself. Job must not be touched.
With that, the Accuser left the court and the Eternal’s presence.
13 Now one day, all of Job’s children were gathered together under the roof of Job’s firstborn for their usual celebration—feasting and drinking wine— 14 when a messenger came to Job.
Messenger: We were in the field. The oxen were plowing, the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 and out of nowhere, the Sabeans attacked. They stole your animals, all 1,000 oxen and donkeys, and as for your servants, they put their swords to us, and everyone is dead—every last one, except me. I am the only one who got away from the fields to tell you.
16 And while the words were still leaving the messenger’s mouth, another messenger arrived.
Second Messenger: Lightning has struck! The fire of God fell from the sky and burned the 7,000 sheep alive . . . alive! Shepherds, too—all of them burned; everyone is dead—every last one, except me. I am the only one who got away from the pastures to tell you.
17 And while the words were still leaving that messenger’s mouth, a third messenger arrived.
Third Messenger: Chaldeans! Three groups of them attacked us. They converged on the camels and stole your 3,000 animals, and as for your servants, they put their swords to us, and everyone is dead—every last one, except me. I am the only one who got away to tell you.
18 And while the words were still leaving that messenger’s mouth, yet a fourth messenger arrived.
Fourth Messenger: All of your children were gathered together today under the roof of your firstborn to celebrate—eating a feast and drinking wine— 19 and then a powerful wind rose up from the other side of the desert, and it struck all four corners of the house. It collapsed! Everyone is dead—all of those young people—every last one, except me. I am the only one who got away from your son’s house to tell you.
20 Then Job stood up, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell to the ground. Face down, Job sprawled in the dirt to worship.
21 Job: I was naked, with nothing, when I came from my mother’s womb;
and naked, with nothing, I will return to the earth.
The Eternal has given, and He has taken away.
May the name of the Eternal One be blessed.
22 In all of this Job neither sinned nor did he make foolish charges against God.
26 A heavenly messenger brought this short message from the Lord to Philip during his time preaching in Samaria:
Messenger of the Lord: Leave Samaria. Go south to the Jerusalem-Gaza road.
The message was especially unusual because this road runs through the middle of uninhabited desert. 27 But Philip got up, left the excitement of Samaria, and did as he was told to do. Along this road, Philip saw a chariot in the distance. In the chariot was a dignitary from Ethiopia (the treasurer for Queen Candace), an African man who had been castrated. He had gone north to Jerusalem to worship at the Jewish temple, 28 and he was now heading southwest on his way home. He was seated in the chariot and was reading aloud from a scroll of the prophet Isaiah.
29 Philip received another prompting from the Holy Spirit:
Holy Spirit: Go over to the chariot and climb on board.
30 So he started running until he was even with the chariot. Philip heard the Ethiopian reading aloud and recognized the words from the prophet Isaiah.
Philip: Do you understand the meaning of what you’re reading?
The Ethiopian: 31 How can I understand it unless I have a mentor?
Then he invited Philip to sit in the chariot. 32 Here’s the passage he was reading from the Hebrew Scriptures:
Like a sheep, He was led to be slaughtered.
Like a lamb about to be shorn of its wool,
He was completely silent.
33 He was humiliated, and He received no justice.
Who can describe His peers? Who would treat Him this way?
For they snuffed out His life.[a]
The Ethiopian: 34 Here’s my first question. Is the prophet describing his own situation, or is he describing someone else’s calamity?
35 That began a conversation in which Philip used the passage to explain the good news of Jesus. 36 Eventually the chariot passed a body of water beside the road.
The Ethiopian: Since there is water here, is there anything that might prevent me from being ceremonially washed through baptism[b] and identified as a disciple of Jesus?
Philip: [37 If you believe in your heart that Jesus the Anointed is God’s Son, then nothing can stop you.
The Ethiopian said that he believed.][c]
Possibly a reference to the Jewish prohibition of full participation in temple worship by men who have been castrated—a prohibition he likely encounters in this very visit to Jerusalem.
38 He commanded the charioteer to stop the horses. Then Philip and the Ethiopian official walked together into the water. There Philip baptized[d] him, initiating him as a fellow disciple. 39 When they came out of the water, Philip was immediately caught up by the Holy Spirit and taken from the sight of the Ethiopian, who climbed back into his chariot and continued on his journey, overflowing with joy. 40 Philip found himself at a town called Azotus (formerly the Philistine capital city of Ashdod, on the Mediterranean); and from there he traveled north again, proclaiming the good news in town after town until he came to Caesarea.
Since the Babylonians seized Judah in 586 b.c., the Jews have endured one foreign occupier after another in their land. As conquerors go, the Romans aren’t all that bad. They allow the Jews to worship God in His temple, and they appoint some of them to government positions. Of course, the Judeans still long to rule themselves and throw the Roman rulers out. Some think Jesus is just the man to lead that revolution. But political upheaval isn’t what He is teaching, and it isn’t why He has come to earth.
16 Later that evening the disciples walked down to the sea, 17 boarded a boat, and set sail toward Capernaum. Twilight gave way to darkness. Jesus had not yet joined them. 18 Suddenly, the waves rose and a fierce wind began to rock the boat. 19 After rowing three or four miles[a] through the stormy seas, they spotted Jesus approaching the boat walking mysteriously upon the deep waters that surrounded them. They panicked.
Jesus (to the disciples): 20 I am the One. Don’t be afraid.
21 They welcomed Jesus aboard their small vessel; and when He stepped into the boat, the next thing they knew, they were ashore at their destination.
22 The following day some people gathered on the other side of the sea and saw that only one boat had been there; they were perplexed. They remembered seeing the disciples getting into the boat without Jesus.
23 Other boats were arriving from Tiberias near the grassy area where the Lord offered thanks and passed out bread. 24 When this crowd could not find Him or His disciples, they boarded their small boats and crossed the sea to Capernaum looking for Him. 25 When they found Jesus across the sea, they questioned Him.
Crowd: Teacher, when did You arrive at Capernaum?
Jesus: 26 I tell you the truth—you are tracking Me down because I fed you, not because you saw signs from God. 27 Don’t spend your life chasing food that spoils and rots. Instead, seek the food that lasts into all the ages and comes from the Son of Man, the One on whom God the Father has placed His seal.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.