Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for the Nation's Welfare[a]
85 Lord, you have been merciful to your land;
you have made Israel prosperous again.
2 You have forgiven your people's sins
and pardoned all their wrongs.
3 You stopped being angry with them
and held back your furious rage.
4 Bring us back, O God our savior,
and stop being displeased with us!
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will your anger never cease?
6 Make us strong again,
and we, your people, will praise you.
7 Show us your constant love, O Lord,
and give us your saving help.
8 I am listening to what the Lord God is saying;
he promises peace to us, his own people,
if we do not go back to our foolish ways.
9 Surely he is ready to save those who honor him,
and his saving presence will remain in our land.
10 Love and faithfulness will meet;
righteousness and peace will embrace.
11 Human loyalty will reach up from the earth,
and God's righteousness will look down from heaven.
12 The Lord will make us prosperous,
and our land will produce rich harvests.
13 Righteousness will go before the Lord
and prepare the path for him.
A Prayer for Help[b]
86 Listen to me, Lord, and answer me,
for I am helpless and weak.
2 Save me from death, because I am loyal to you;
save me, for I am your servant and I trust in you.
3 You are my God, so be merciful to me;
I pray to you all day long.
4 Make your servant glad, O Lord,
because my prayers go up to you.
5 You are good to us and forgiving,
full of constant love for all who pray to you.
6 Listen, Lord, to my prayer;
hear my cries for help.
7 I call to you in times of trouble,
because you answer my prayers.
8 There is no god like you, O Lord,
not one has done what you have done.
9 (A)All the nations that you have created
will come and bow down to you;
they will praise your greatness.
10 You are mighty and do wonderful things;
you alone are God.
11 Teach me, Lord, what you want me to do,
and I will obey you faithfully;
teach me to serve you with complete devotion.
12 I will praise you with all my heart, O Lord my God;
I will proclaim your greatness forever.
13 How great is your constant love for me!
You have saved me from the grave itself.
14 Proud people are coming against me, O God;
a cruel gang is trying to kill me—
people who pay no attention to you.
15 But you, O Lord, are a merciful and loving God,
always patient, always kind and faithful.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me;
strengthen me and save me,
because I serve you just as my mother did.
17 Show me proof of your goodness, Lord;
those who hate me will be ashamed
when they see that you have given me comfort and help.
God Our Protector
91 Whoever goes to the Lord for safety,
whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty,
2 can say to him,
“You are my defender and protector.
You are my God; in you I trust.”
3 He will keep you safe from all hidden dangers
and from all deadly diseases.
4 He will cover you with his wings;
you will be safe in his care;
his faithfulness will protect and defend you.
5 You need not fear any dangers at night
or sudden attacks during the day
6 or the plagues that strike in the dark
or the evils that kill in daylight.
7 A thousand may fall dead beside you,
ten thousand all around you,
but you will not be harmed.
8 You will look and see
how the wicked are punished.
9 You have made the Lord your[a] defender,
the Most High your protector,
10 and so no disaster will strike you,
no violence will come near your home.
11 (A)God will put his angels in charge of you
to protect you wherever you go.
12 (B)They will hold you up with their hands
to keep you from hurting your feet on the stones.
13 (C)You will trample down lions and snakes,
fierce lions and poisonous snakes.
14 God says, “I will save those who love me
and will protect those who acknowledge me as Lord.
15 When they call to me, I will answer them;
when they are in trouble, I will be with them.
I will rescue them and honor them.
16 I will reward them with long life;
I will save them.”
A Song of Praise[b]
92 How good it is to give thanks to you, O Lord,
to sing in your honor, O Most High God,
2 to proclaim your constant love every morning
and your faithfulness every night,
3 with the music of stringed instruments
and with melody on the harp.
4 Your mighty deeds, O Lord, make me glad;
because of what you have done, I sing for joy.
5 How great are your actions, Lord!
How deep are your thoughts!
6 (D)This is something a fool cannot know;
someone who is stupid cannot understand:
7 the wicked may grow like weeds,
those who do wrong may prosper;
yet they will be totally destroyed,
8 because you, Lord, are supreme forever.
9 We know that your enemies will die,
and all the wicked will be defeated.
10 You have made me as strong as a wild ox;
you have blessed me with happiness.
11 I have seen the defeat of my enemies
and heard the cries of the wicked.
12 The righteous will flourish like palm trees;
they will grow like the cedars of Lebanon.
13 They are like trees planted in the house of the Lord,
that flourish in the Temple of our God,
14 that still bear fruit in old age
and are always green and strong.
15 This shows that the Lord is just,
that there is no wrong in my protector.
28 that had in it all the colors of the rainbow. This was the dazzling light which shows the presence of the Lord.
God Calls Ezekiel to Be a Prophet
When I saw this, I fell face downward on the ground. Then I heard a voice
2 saying, “Mortal man, stand up. I want to talk to you.” 2 While the voice was speaking, God's spirit entered me and raised me to my feet, and I heard the voice continue, 3 “Mortal man, I am sending you to the people of Israel. They have rebelled and turned against me and are still rebels, just as their ancestors were. 4 They are stubborn and do not respect me, so I am sending you to tell them what I, the Sovereign Lord, am saying to them. 5 Whether those rebels listen to you or not, they will know that a prophet has been among them.
6 “But you, mortal man, must not be afraid of them or of anything they say. They will defy and despise you; it will be like living among scorpions. Still, don't be afraid of those rebels or of anything they say. 7 You will tell them whatever I tell you to say, whether they listen or not. Remember what rebels they are.
8 “Mortal man, listen to what I tell you. Don't be rebellious like them. Open your mouth and eat what I am going to give you.” 9 (A)I saw a hand reaching out toward me, and it was holding a scroll. 10 The hand unrolled the scroll, and I saw that there was writing on both sides—cries of grief were written there, and wails and groans.
3 (B)God said, “Mortal man, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.”
2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat. 3 He said, “Mortal man, eat this scroll that I give you; fill your stomach with it.” I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey.
Jesus the Great High Priest
14 Let us, then, hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we have a great High Priest who has gone into the very presence of God—Jesus, the Son of God. 15 Our High Priest is not one who cannot feel sympathy for our weaknesses. On the contrary, we have a High Priest who was tempted in every way that we are, but did not sin. 16 Let us have confidence, then, and approach God's throne, where there is grace. There we will receive mercy and find grace to help us just when we need it.
5 Every high priest is chosen from his fellow-men and appointed to serve God on their behalf, to offer sacrifices and offerings for sins. 2 Since he himself is weak in many ways, he is able to be gentle with those who are ignorant and make mistakes. 3 (A)And because he is himself weak, he must offer sacrifices not only for the sins of the people but also for his own sins. 4 (B)No one chooses for himself the honor of being a high priest. It is only by God's call that a man is made a high priest—just as Aaron was.
5 (C)In the same way, Christ did not take upon himself the honor of being a high priest. Instead, God said to him,
The Transfiguration(A)
28 About a week after he had said these things, Jesus took Peter, John, and James with him and went up a hill to pray. 29 While he was praying, his face changed its appearance, and his clothes became dazzling white. 30 Suddenly two men were there talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah, 31 who appeared in heavenly glory and talked with Jesus about the way in which he would soon fulfill God's purpose by dying in Jerusalem. 32 Peter and his companions were sound asleep, but they woke up and saw Jesus' glory and the two men who were standing with him. 33 As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (He did not really know what he was saying.)
34 While he was still speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow; and the disciples were afraid as the cloud came over them. 35 (B)A voice said from the cloud, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen—listen to him!”
36 When the voice stopped, there was Jesus all alone. The disciples kept quiet about all this and told no one at that time anything they had seen.
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.