Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer of Humble Trust[a]
131 Lord, I have given up my pride
and turned away from my arrogance.
I am not concerned with great matters
or with subjects too difficult for me.
2 Instead, I am content and at peace.
As a child lies quietly in its mother's arms,
so my heart is quiet within me.
3 Israel, trust in the Lord
now and forever!
In Praise of the Temple
132 Lord, do not forget David
and all the hardships he endured.
2 Remember, Lord, what he promised,
the vow he made to you, the Mighty God of Jacob:
3 “I will not go home or go to bed;
4 I will not rest or sleep,
5 until I provide a place for the Lord,
a home for the Mighty God of Jacob.”
6 (A)In Bethlehem we heard about the Covenant Box,
and we found it in the fields of Jearim.
7 We said, “Let us go to the Lord's house;
let us worship before his throne.”
8 Come to the Temple, Lord, with the Covenant Box,
the symbol of your power,
and stay here forever.
9 May your priests do always what is right;
may your people shout for joy!
10 You made a promise to your servant David;
do not reject your chosen king, Lord.
11 (B)You made a solemn promise to David—
a promise you will not take back:
“I will make one of your sons king,
and he will rule after you.
12 If your sons are true to my covenant
and to the commands I give them,
their sons, also, will succeed you for all time as kings.”
13 The Lord has chosen Zion;
he wants to make it his home:
14 “This is where I will live forever;
this is where I want to rule.
15 I will richly provide Zion with all she needs;
I will satisfy her poor with food.
16 I will bless her priests in all they do,
and her people will sing and shout for joy.
17 (C)Here I will make one of David's descendants a great king;
here I will preserve the rule of my chosen king.
18 I will cover his enemies with shame,
but his kingdom will prosper and flourish.”
In Praise of Living in Peace[b]
133 How wonderful it is, how pleasant,
for God's people to live together in harmony!
2 It is like the precious anointing oil
running down from Aaron's head and beard,
down to the collar of his robes.
3 It is like the dew on Mount Hermon,
falling on the hills of Zion.
That is where the Lord has promised his blessing—
life that never ends.
A Call to Praise God
134 Come, praise the Lord,
all his servants,
all who serve in his Temple at night.
2 Raise your hands in prayer in the Temple,
and praise the Lord!
3 May the Lord, who made heaven and earth,
bless you from Zion!
A Hymn of Praise
135 Praise the Lord!
Praise his name, you servants of the Lord,
2 who stand in the Lord's house,
in the Temple of our God.
3 Praise the Lord, because he is good;
sing praises to his name, because he is kind.[c]
4 He chose Jacob for himself,
the people of Israel for his own.
5 I know that our Lord is great,
greater than all the gods.
6 He does whatever he wishes
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and in the depths below.
7 He brings storm clouds from the ends of the earth;
he makes lightning for the storms,
and he brings out the wind from his storeroom.
8 In Egypt he killed all the first-born
of people and animals alike.
9 There he performed miracles and wonders
to punish the king and all his officials.
10 He destroyed many nations
and killed powerful kings:
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kings in Canaan.
12 He gave their lands to his people;
he gave them to Israel.
13 Lord, you will always be proclaimed as God;
all generations will remember you.
14 The Lord will defend his people;
he will take pity on his servants.
15 (D)The gods of the nations are made of silver and gold;
they are formed by human hands.
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
and eyes, but cannot see.
17 They have ears, but cannot hear;
they are not even able to breathe.
18 May all who made them and who trust in them
become[d] like the idols they have made!
19 Praise the Lord, people of Israel;
praise him, you priests of God!
20 Praise the Lord, you Levites;
praise him, all you that worship him!
21 Praise the Lord in Zion,
in Jerusalem, his home.
Praise the Lord!
13 “When that time comes,” says the Lord Almighty, “a fountain will be opened to purify the descendants of David and the people of Jerusalem from their sin and idolatry. 2 At that time I will remove the names of the idols from the land, and no one will remember them any more. I will get rid of anyone who claims to be a prophet and will take away the desire to worship idols. 3 Then if anyone still insists on prophesying, his own father and mother will tell him that he must be put to death, because he claimed to speak the Lord's word, but spoke lies instead. When he prophesies, his own father and mother will stab him to death. 4 When that time comes, no prophet will be proud of his visions or act like a prophet or wear a prophet's coarse garment in order to deceive people. 5 Instead, he will say, ‘I am not a prophet. I am a farmer—I have farmed the land all my life.’ 6 Then if someone asks him, ‘What are those wounds on your chest?’ he will answer, ‘I got them at a friend's house.’”
The Command to Kill God's Shepherd
7 (A)The Lord Almighty says, “Wake up, sword, and attack the shepherd[a] who works for me! Kill him, and the sheep will be scattered. I will attack my people 8 and throughout the land two-thirds of the people will die. 9 And I will test the third that survives and will purify them as silver is purified by fire. I will test them as gold is tested. Then they will pray to me, and I will answer them. I will tell them that they are my people, and they will confess that I am their God.”
Paul's Prayer
15 For this reason, ever since I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all of God's people, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks to God for you. I remember you in my prayers 17 and ask the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, to give you the Spirit, who will make you wise and reveal God to you, so that you will know him. 18 I ask that your minds may be opened to see his light, so that you will know what is the hope to which he has called you, how rich are the wonderful blessings he promises his people, 19 and how very great is his power at work in us who believe. This power working in us is the same as the mighty strength 20 (A)which he used when he raised Christ from death and seated him at his right side in the heavenly world. 21 Christ rules there above all heavenly rulers, authorities, powers, and lords; he has a title superior to all titles of authority in this world and in the next. 22 (B)God put all things under Christ's feet and gave him to the church as supreme Lord over all things. 23 The church is Christ's body, the completion of him who himself completes all things everywhere.[a]
The Parable of the Gold Coins(A)
11 While the people were listening to this, Jesus continued and told them a parable. He was now almost at Jerusalem, and they supposed that the Kingdom of God was just about to appear. 12 So he said, “There was once a man of high rank who was going to a country far away to be made king, after which he planned to come back home. 13 Before he left, he called his ten servants and gave them each a gold coin and told them, ‘See what you can earn with this while I am gone.’ 14 Now, his own people hated him, and so they sent messengers after him to say, ‘We don't want this man to be our king.’
15 “The man was made king and came back. At once he ordered his servants to appear before him, in order to find out how much they had earned. 16 The first one came and said, ‘Sir, I have earned ten gold coins with the one you gave me.’ 17 ‘Well done,’ he said; ‘you are a good servant! Since you were faithful in small matters, I will put you in charge of ten cities.’ 18 The second servant came and said, ‘Sir, I have earned five gold coins with the one you gave me.’ 19 To this one he said, ‘You will be in charge of five cities.’ 20 Another servant came and said, ‘Sir, here is your gold coin; I kept it hidden in a handkerchief. 21 I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take what is not yours and reap what you did not plant.’ 22 He said to him, ‘You bad servant! I will use your own words to condemn you! You know that I am a hard man, taking what is not mine and reaping what I have not planted. 23 Well, then, why didn't you put my money in the bank? Then I would have received it back with interest when I returned.’ 24 Then he said to those who were standing there, ‘Take the gold coin away from him and give it to the servant who has ten coins.’ 25 But they said to him, ‘Sir, he already has ten coins!’ 26 (B)‘I tell you,’ he replied, ‘that to those who have something, even more will be given; but those who have nothing, even the little that they have will be taken away from them. 27 (C)Now, as for those enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king, bring them here and kill them in my presence!’”
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.