Book of Common Prayer
God the Judge[a]
75 We give thanks to you, O God, we give thanks to you!
We proclaim how great you are
and tell of[b] the wonderful things you have done.
2 “I have set a time for judgment,” says God,
“and I will judge with fairness.
3 Though every living creature tremble
and the earth itself be shaken,
I will keep its foundations firm.
4 I tell the wicked not to be arrogant;
5 I tell them to stop their boasting.”
6 Judgment does not come from the east or from the west,
from the north or from the south;[c]
7 it is God who is the judge,
condemning some and acquitting others.
8 The Lord holds a cup in his hand,
filled with the strong wine of his anger.
He pours it out, and all the wicked drink it;
they drink it down to the last drop.
9 But I will never stop speaking of the God of Jacob
or singing praises to him.
10 He will break the power of the wicked,
but the power of the righteous will be increased.
God the Victor[d]
76 God is known in Judah;
his name is honored in Israel.
2 He has his home in Jerusalem;
he lives on Mount Zion.
3 There he broke the arrows of the enemy,
their shields and swords, yes, all their weapons.
4 How glorious you are, O God!
How majestic, as you return from the mountains
where you defeated your foes.
5 Their brave soldiers have been stripped of all they had
and now are sleeping the sleep of death;
all their strength and skill was useless.
6 When you threatened them, O God of Jacob,
the horses and their riders fell dead.
7 But you, Lord, are feared by all.
No one can stand in your presence
when you are angry.
8 You made your judgment known from heaven;
the world was afraid and kept silent,
9 when you rose up to pronounce judgment,
to save all the oppressed on earth.
10 Human anger only results in more praise for you;
those who survive the wars will keep your festivals.[e]
11 Give the Lord your God what you promised him;
bring gifts to him, all you nearby nations.
God makes everyone fear him;
12 he humbles proud princes
and terrifies great kings.
The Lord Our Shepherd[a]
23 The Lord is my shepherd;
I have everything I need.
2 (A)He lets me rest in fields of green grass
and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water.
3 He gives me new strength.
He guides me in the right paths,
as he has promised.
4 Even if I go through the deepest darkness,
I will not be afraid, Lord,
for you are with me.
Your shepherd's rod and staff protect me.
5 You prepare a banquet for me,
where all my enemies can see me;
you welcome me as an honored guest
and fill my cup to the brim.
6 I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life;
and your house will be my home as long as I live.
A Prayer of Praise[a]
27 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
I will fear no one.
The Lord protects me from all danger;
I will never be afraid.
2 When evil people attack me and try to kill me,
they stumble and fall.
3 Even if a whole army surrounds me,
I will not be afraid;
even if enemies attack me,
I will still trust God.[b]
4 I have asked the Lord for one thing;
one thing only do I want:
to live in the Lord's house all my life,
to marvel there at his goodness,
and to ask for his guidance.
5 In times of trouble he will shelter me;
he will keep me safe in his Temple
and make me secure on a high rock.
6 So I will triumph over my enemies around me.
With shouts of joy I will offer sacrifices in his Temple;
I will sing, I will praise the Lord.
7 Hear me, Lord, when I call to you!
Be merciful and answer me!
8 When you said, “Come worship me,”
I answered, “I will come, Lord.”
9 Don't hide yourself from me!
Don't be angry with me;
don't turn your servant away.
You have been my help;
don't leave me, don't abandon me,
O God, my savior.
10 My father and mother may abandon me,
but the Lord will take care of me.
11 Teach me, Lord, what you want me to do,
and lead me along a safe path,
because I have many enemies.
12 Don't abandon me to my enemies,
who attack me with lies and threats.
13 I know that I will live to see
the Lord's goodness in this present life.
14 Trust in the Lord.
Have faith, do not despair.
Trust in the Lord.
The Suicidal Stupidity of the Egyptians
19 But the godless continued to feel your pitiless anger until the very end. You knew what they would do before they did it. 2 You knew that even though they let your people go and made them leave quickly, they would change their minds and pursue them. 3-4 While the Egyptians were still mourning at the graves of their dead, they forgot why all this had happened, and they foolishly decided that the people they had begged to leave were runaways. So they chased after them. They were led into this as part of the punishment they deserved, so that they would suffer the rest of the torments they were due to receive. 5 They were to meet a strange death, while your people continued on their miraculous journey.
God Guides and Protects His People
6 The whole nature of the universe was changed at your command so that your people would not be harmed. 7 They saw the cloud over their camp and dry land where water had been. There was a grass-covered plain between the stormy waves of the Red Sea, making it easy for them to cross over. 8 All your people, under your protection, saw this miracle and went across.
God's Miraculous Power
18 On a harp each string keeps its own pitch, but each sound can be combined with others to make different melodies. That is how it was in those days, when the very elements entered into new combinations. Look at what happened! 19 Land animals took to the water, and swimming creatures came up on the land. 20 Fire burned even in water, which could not put it out. 21 And yet the flames could not burn the flesh of the perishable creatures walking in them and did not melt that heavenly food that would ordinarily have melted like frost.
22 Lord, you have made your people great—glorious in all respects. You have never neglected them. You have given them help, always, everywhere.
Please Others, Not Yourselves
15 We who are strong in the faith ought to help the weak to carry their burdens. We should not please ourselves. 2 Instead, we should all please other believers for their own good, in order to build them up in the faith. 3 (A)For Christ did not please himself. Instead, as the scripture says, “The insults which are hurled at you have fallen on me.” 4 (B)Everything written in the Scriptures was written to teach us, in order that we might have hope through the patience and encouragement which the Scriptures give us. 5 And may God, the source of patience and encouragement, enable you to have the same point of view among yourselves by following the example of Christ Jesus, 6 so that all of you together may praise with one voice the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Gospel to the Gentiles
7 Accept one another, then, for the glory of God, as Christ has accepted you. 8 For I tell you that Christ's life of service was on behalf of the Jews, to show that God is faithful, to make his promises to their ancestors come true, 9 (C)and to enable even the Gentiles to praise God for his mercy. As the scripture says,
“And so I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing praises to you.”
10 (D)Again it says,
“Rejoice, Gentiles, with God's people!”
11 (E)And again,
“Praise the Lord, all Gentiles;
praise him, all peoples!”
12 (F)And again, Isaiah says,
“A descendant of Jesse will appear;
he will come to rule the Gentiles,
and they will put their hope in him.”
13 May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your faith in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Disciples(A)
9 Jesus called the twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases. 2 Then he sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick, 3 after saying to them, “Take nothing with you for the trip: no walking stick, no beggar's bag, no food, no money, not even an extra shirt. 4 Wherever you are welcomed, stay in the same house until you leave that town; 5 (B)wherever people don't welcome you, leave that town and shake the dust off your feet as a warning to them.”
6 The disciples left and traveled through all the villages, preaching the Good News and healing people everywhere.
Herod's Confusion(C)
7 (D)When Herod, the ruler of Galilee, heard about all the things that were happening, he was very confused, because some people were saying that John the Baptist had come back to life. 8 Others were saying that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. 9 Herod said, “I had John's head cut off; but who is this man I hear these things about?” And he kept trying to see Jesus.
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand(E)
10 The apostles came back and told Jesus everything they had done. He took them with him, and they went off by themselves to a town named Bethsaida. 11 When the crowds heard about it, they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about the Kingdom of God, and healed those who needed it.
12 When the sun was beginning to set, the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the people away so that they can go to the villages and farms around here and find food and lodging, because this is a lonely place.”
13 But Jesus said to them, “You yourselves give them something to eat.”
They answered, “All we have are five loaves and two fish. Do you want us to go and buy food for this whole crowd?” 14 (There were about five thousand men there.)
Jesus said to his disciples, “Make the people sit down in groups of about fifty each.”
15 After the disciples had done so, 16 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, thanked God for them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. 17 They all ate and had enough, and the disciples took up twelve baskets of what was left over.
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.