Book of Common Prayer
A psalm of David.
24 The earth belongs to the Lord. And so does everything in it.
The world belongs to him. And so do all those who live in it.
2 He set it firmly on the oceans.
He made it secure on the waters.
3 Who can go up to the temple on the mountain of the Lord?
Who can stand in his holy place?
4 Anyone who has clean hands and a pure heart.
Anyone who does not trust in the statue of a god.
Anyone who doesn’t use the name of that god when he makes a promise.
5 People like that will receive the Lord’s blessing.
When God their Savior hands down his sentence, it will be in their favor.
6 The people who look to God are like that.
God of Jacob, they look to you.
7 Open wide, you gates.
Open up, you ancient doors.
Then the King of glory will come in.
8 Who is the King of glory?
The Lord, who is strong and mighty.
The Lord, who is mighty in battle.
9 Open wide, you gates.
Open wide, you ancient doors.
Then the King of glory will come in.
10 Who is he, this King of glory?
The Lord who rules over all.
He is the King of glory.
A psalm of David.
29 Praise the Lord, you angels in heaven.
Praise the Lord for his glory and strength.
2 Praise the Lord for the glory that belongs to him.
Worship the Lord because of his beauty and holiness.
3 The voice of the Lord is heard over the waters.
The God of glory thunders.
The Lord thunders over the mighty waters.
4 The voice of the Lord is powerful.
The voice of the Lord is majestic.
5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedar trees.
The Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon into pieces.
6 He makes the mountains of Lebanon leap like a calf.
He makes Mount Hermon jump like a young wild ox.
7 The voice of the Lord strikes
with flashes of lightning.
8 The voice of the Lord shakes the desert.
The Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
9 The voice of the Lord twists the oak trees.
It strips the forests bare.
And in his temple everyone cries out, “Glory!”
10 The Lord on his throne rules over the flood.
The Lord rules from his throne as King forever.
11 The Lord gives strength to his people.
The Lord blesses his people with peace.
For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David.
8 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in the whole earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 You have made sure that children
and infants praise you.
Their praise is a wall
that stops the talk of your enemies.
3 I think about the heavens.
I think about what your fingers have created.
I think about the moon and stars
that you have set in place.
4 What are human beings that you think about them?
What is a son of man that you take care of him?
5 You have made them a little lower than the angels.
You placed on them a crown of glory and honor.
6 You made human beings rule over everything your hands created.
You put everything under their control.
7 They rule over all flocks and herds
and over the wild animals.
8 They rule over the birds in the sky
and over the fish in the ocean.
They rule over everything that swims in the oceans.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in the whole earth!
For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of the Sons of Korah.
84 Lord who rules over all,
how lovely is the place where you live!
2 I can’t wait to be in the courtyards of the Lord’s temple.
I really want to be there.
My whole being cries out
for the living God.
3 Lord who rules over all,
even the sparrow has found a home near your altar.
My King and my God,
the swallow also has a nest there,
where she may have her young.
4 Blessed are those who live in your house.
They are always praising you.
5 Blessed are those whose strength comes from you.
They have firmly decided to travel to your temple.
6 As they pass through the dry Valley of Baka,
they make it a place where water flows.
The rain in the fall covers it with pools.
7 Those people get stronger as they go along,
until each of them appears in Zion, where God lives.
8 Lord God who rules over all, hear my prayer.
God of the people of Jacob, listen to me.
9 God, may you be pleased with your anointed king.
You appointed him to be like a shield that keeps us safe.
10 A single day in your courtyards is better
than a thousand anywhere else.
I would rather guard the door of the house of my God
than live in the tents of sinful people.
11 The Lord God is like the sun that gives us light.
He is like a shield that keeps us safe.
The Lord blesses us with favor and honor.
He doesn’t hold back anything good
from those whose lives are without blame.
12 Lord who rules over all,
blessed is the person who trusts in you.
9 Wake up, arm of the Lord! Wake up!
Dress yourself with strength as if it were your clothes!
Wake up, just as you did in the past.
Wake up, as you did long ago.
Didn’t you cut Rahab to pieces?
Didn’t you stab that sea monster to death?
10 Didn’t you dry up the Red Sea?
Didn’t you dry up those deep waters?
You made a road on the bottom of that sea.
Then those who were set free went across.
11 Those the Lord has saved will return to their land.
They will sing as they enter the city of Zion.
Joy that lasts forever will be like beautiful crowns on their heads.
They will be filled with gladness and joy.
Sorrow and sighing will be gone.
12 The Lord says to his people,
“I comfort you because of who I am.
Why are you afraid of mere human beings?
They are like grass that dries up.
13 How can you forget me? I made you.
I stretch out the heavens.
I lay the foundations of the earth.
Why are you terrified every day?
Is it because those who are angry with you are crushing you?
Is it because they are trying to destroy you?
Their anger can’t harm you anymore.
14 You prisoners who are so afraid will soon be set free.
You will not die in your prison cells.
You will not go without food.
15 I am the Lord your God.
I stir up the ocean. I make its waves roar.
My name is the Lord Who Rules Over All.
16 I have put my words in your mouth.
I have kept you safe in the palm of my hand.
I set the heavens in place.
I laid the foundations of the earth.
I say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’ ”
8 Abraham had faith. So he obeyed God. God called him to go to a place he would later receive as his own. So he went. He did it even though he didn’t know where he was going. 9 Because of his faith he made his home in the land God had promised him. Abraham was like an outsider in a strange country. He lived there in tents. So did Isaac and Jacob. They received the same promise he did. 10 Abraham was looking forward to the city that has foundations. He was waiting for the city that God planned and built. 11 And Sarah had faith. So God made it possible for her to become a mother. She became a mother even though she was too old to have children. But Sarah believed that the God who made the promise was faithful. 12 Abraham was past the time when he could have children. But many children came from that one man. They were as many as the stars in the sky. They were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. No one could count them.
13 All these people were still living by faith when they died. They didn’t receive the things God had promised. They only saw them and welcomed them from a long way off. They openly said that they were outsiders and strangers on earth. 14 People who say things like that show that they are looking for a country of their own. 15 What if they had been thinking of the country they had left? Then they could have returned to it. 16 Instead, they longed for a better country. They wanted a heavenly one. So God is pleased when they call him their God. In fact, he has prepared a city for them.
Jesus Teaches at the Feast
14 Jesus did nothing until halfway through the feast. Then he went up to the temple courtyard and began to teach. 15 The Jews there were amazed. They asked, “How did this man learn so much without being taught?”
16 Jesus answered, “What I teach is not my own. It comes from the one who sent me. 17 Here is how someone can find out whether my teaching comes from God or from me. That person must choose to do what God wants them to do. 18 Whoever speaks on their own does it to get personal honor. But someone who works for the honor of the one who sent him is truthful. Nothing about him is false. 19 Didn’t Moses give you the law? But not one of you obeys the law. Why are you trying to kill me?”
20 “You are controlled by demons,” the crowd answered. “Who is trying to kill you?”
21 Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. 22 Moses gave you circumcision, and so you circumcise a child on the Sabbath day. But circumcision did not really come from Moses. It came from Abraham. 23 You circumcise a boy on the Sabbath day. You think that if you do, you won’t break the law of Moses. Then why are you angry with me? I healed a man’s entire body on the Sabbath day! 24 Stop judging only by what you see. Judge in the right way.”
People Don’t Agree About Who Jesus Is
25 Then some of the people of Jerusalem began asking questions. They said, “Isn’t this the man some people are trying to kill? 26 Here he is! He is speaking openly. They aren’t saying a word to him. Have the authorities really decided that he is the Messiah? 27 But we know where this man is from. When the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from.”
28 Jesus was still teaching in the temple courtyard. He cried out, “Yes, you know me. And you know where I am from. I am not here on my own authority. The one who sent me is true. You do not know him. 29 But I know him. I am from him, and he sent me.”
30 When he said this, they tried to arrest him. But no one laid a hand on him. The time for him to show who he really was had not yet come. 31 Still, many people in the crowd believed in him. They said, “How will it be when the Messiah comes? Will he do more signs than this man?”
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