Book of Common Prayer
Asaph wrote this song for the music leader. He should use special music.
God judges people fairly
75 God, we thank you!
Yes, we thank you!
You are very near to us.
People everywhere say what great things you have done.
2 God says, ‘I choose the time when I will judge people,
and I will be a fair judge.
3 When the earth shakes and the people in it are afraid,
I will keep its foundations strong.’
Selah.
4 I say to people who are proud,
‘Do not be proud.’
I say to wicked people,
‘Do not boast about your power.
5 Do not boast against God.
Do not speak with such proud words.’
6 Who has the power to judge people?
Nobody from the east, or from the west,
or from the desert can be judge.
7 God is the one who judges people.
He decides who to bring down
and who to lift up.[a]
8 The Lord holds a cup of punishment in his hand.[b]
It is full of wine, with spices in it.
The Lord pours out his anger from this cup.
All the wicked people in the world will have to drink it.
They will drink all of it, so that none remains.
9 But as for me, I will always thank you, God.
I will sing to praise you,
the God of Jacob.
10 You say, ‘I will destroy the power of wicked people.
I will give strength to my righteous people.’
This psalm is a song that Asaph wrote for the music leader. Sing it with the music of stringed instruments.
God has great power
76 People in Judah know who God is.
He is famous in Israel.[c]
2 His home is in Salem.
Yes, he lives in Zion.[d]
3 There he destroyed all the weapons of our enemy,
their arrows, their shields,
and their swords.
He destroyed everything that they use to fight wars.
Selah.
4 God, you are the one who shines with glory!
You are greater than the greatest mountains.
5 You won against brave soldiers,
so that we robbed them of everything.
Now they are sleeping,
and they will never wake up!
They are completely helpless.
6 God of Jacob,
when your enemies heard your battle cry,
both the horses and their riders fell down dead.
7 Yes, everyone is afraid of you, our God!
When you are angry,
nobody can stand against you.
8 From heaven you said how you would judge people.
Everybody on earth became afraid.
They could not say anything!
9 This happened when you came to punish wicked people.
You came to rescue the weak and poor people in the land.
Selah.
10 Everybody will praise you,
even those who are angry against you.
You will show them how angry you really are.[e]
11 Make promises to the Lord your God,
and do what you have promised.
Everyone who serves God should bring gifts to him.
We must respect him with fear.
12 He makes proud rulers become humble.
All the kings of the world should be afraid of him.
This is a song that David wrote.
God takes care of his people[a]
23 The Lord takes care of me,
like a shepherd with his sheep.
I have everything that I need.
2 He takes me to green fields where I can rest.
He leads me to streams of water where I can drink.
3 He gives me new strength in my life.
He is my guide to the right paths.
He does this to give honour to his name.
4 I may walk through a valley that is as dark as death.
But I will not be afraid of any danger.
This is because you are with me, Lord.
Your stick and your shepherd's pole protect me from danger.
5 You prepare a big meal for me while my enemies watch.
You put olive oil on my head.
You bless me so much that my cup is completely full.
6 I am sure that you will always be good to me.
You will love me all the days of my life.
That will never change.
I will live in the Lord's house for as long as I live.
This is a song that David wrote.
I trust God to keep me safe
27 The Lord gives me light in my life
and he makes me safe.
So I am not afraid of anyone!
The Lord takes care of my life.
Nobody can make me afraid!
2 Evil men are ready to attack me.
They want to destroy my body.
But when my enemies attack me,
they trip and fall to the ground!
3 Even if a whole army comes to fight against me,
I will not be afraid.
Even if they attack me in war,
I will continue to trust God.
4 There is one thing that I have asked the Lord to do for me.
This is the one thing that I really want:
I want to live in the Lord's house
all the days of my life.
Then I will clearly see the Lord's beauty.
I will pray to him in his temple.
5 When danger is near,
the Lord will keep me safe.
He will take care of me in his home.
He will put me in a safe place,
on the top of a high rock.
6 My enemies may be all round me,
but I will win against them.
They will see how strong I am!
I will offer sacrifices to the Lord in his temple.
I will be so happy that I will shout aloud!
Yes, I will sing to praise the Lord.
7 Lord, hear me when I call to you for help.[a]
Be kind to me and answer me.
8 I have heard you say to me, ‘Come near to me.’
So I will come and pray to you, Lord.
9 Please do not turn away from me.
I am your servant,
so do not be angry with me.
You have always helped me in the past,
so do not push me away now.
You are the one who saves me, God,
so do not turn away from me.
10 Even if my father and my mother leave me,
the Lord will still take care of me.
11 Lord, please teach me to follow your way.
Lead me along a good, safe path,
because my enemies are waiting to attack me.
12 Do not give me to my enemies.
They say false things against me,
so that they can destroy me.
13 But I surely believe
that I will see how good the Lord is!
I will know his love while I still live in this world.
14 Wait for the Lord to help you!
Be strong and brave.
Yes, wait for the Lord to help you!
Paul's third visit to Corinth
13 This is the third time that I will be coming to visit you. Remember this: ‘There must be two or three people to say certainly that another person has done something wrong. Two or three people must agree what has happened.’[a] 2 I have already warned those people who did wrong things before. I did that when I was with you on my second visit. Now I am warning them again, while I am away from you. So, when I come to you the next time, nobody will go free. I will punish those people and all the others who have done wrong things. 3 That will tell you what you want to know about me. You will surely know that I speak with the authority of Christ himself. Christ is not weak when he works in you. He shows his power among you. 4 People killed Christ on the cross as a weak person. But he now lives by God's power. We are also weak as we serve Christ, like he was weak. But we live, because he now lives. So, when we come to you, we will show God's power among you.
5 Think carefully about how you are living. Are you really believing the message about Christ? I hope you know that Jesus Christ is in you. You ought to know that, unless you have completely failed. 6 I hope that you will know that we ourselves have not failed. We do belong to Christ, as you do.
7 Now we pray to God that you will not do any wrong things. We do not pray this to show that God has accepted us as good. We pray like that because we want you to do what is right. We want that, even if we ourselves seem to have failed. 8 We can only work to show what is true. We cannot do anything against what is true. 9 We are happy when we seem to be weak, if you become strong as a result. We pray that you will become completely as you should be.
10 That is why I am writing these things to you now, while I am away from you. Then, when I arrive, I will not need to be angry with you. I will not have to use my authority to punish you. The Lord gave that authority to me to help you to become stronger as believers. He did not give it to me so that I could destroy you.
Paul finishes his letter
11 Now I say ‘goodbye’ to you, my Christian friends. Do only what is right. Let my message make you strong. Agree with each other. Live together in peace. I pray that God will be with you. He is the one who loves us and gives us peace in our minds. 12 When you meet, kiss each other as Christian brothers and sisters. 13 All God's people here say ‘hello’ to you. 14 I pray that the Lord Jesus Christ will continue to be very kind to you all. I pray that God's love will be with you. And I pray that the Holy Spirit will help you to serve each other as friends.
Jesus talks about his authority
20 One day, Jesus was teaching people in the yard of the temple. He was telling people the good news about God. Then the leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law came to him. With them were some other important Jews. 2 They asked him, ‘Tell us what authority you have to do these things? Who gave you the authority to do them?’
3 Jesus replied, ‘I also will ask you a question. Tell me the answer. 4 John baptized people. Did God give him the authority to do this? Or did men tell him to do it?’
5 The Jewish leaders talked to each other about Jesus' question. ‘We could say that God gave John his authority. But if we say that, Jesus will say to us, “Then you should have believed John.” 6 But we do not want to say that only men gave John his authority. Then all the people would throw stones at us to kill us. They are sure that John really was a prophet from God.’ 7 So the Jewish leaders answered Jesus, ‘We do not know who gave John his authority.’
8 Jesus said to them, ‘You will not answer my question. So I will not tell you what authority I have to do these things.’
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