Book of Common Prayer
The sons of Korah wrote this special song for the music leader.
The city of God[a]
46 God is a strong place for us,
where he will keep us safe.
He will always help us
when troubles come.
2 So even when the earth shakes,
we will not be afraid.
And when the mountains fall down
into the deep sea,
we will still not be afraid.
3 If the sea makes dangerous waves,
so that even the mountains shake,
we will never be afraid.
Selah.
4 There is a river that runs into the city of God,
and it brings God's blessing to the people there.
That is the holy place
where the Most High God lives.
5 God is in that city.
Nothing can ever destroy it.
When dawn comes, God will be there to help it.
6 Nations are shouting with anger!
Kingdoms shake and fall.
God calls in a loud voice,
and even the earth melts!
7 The Lord Almighty is there to help us.
The God of Jacob keeps us safe.
Selah.
8 Come and see the great things
that the Lord has done.
He has brought terrible things to the earth!
9 All over the world, he causes wars to finish.
He destroys the soldiers' bows and spears.
He burns their shields in a fire.
10 He says, ‘Be still and quiet!
Understand that I am God.
I rule as king over the nations.
All the world will say that I am great.’
11 The Lord Almighty is there to help us.
The God of Jacob keeps us safe.
Selah.
This psalm is a song that the sons of Korah wrote.
God's holy city[a]
87 The Lord built his city on the holy mountain.
2 The Lord loves Zion city,
more than any other place where Jacob's family lives.[b]
3 People say great things about you!
You are God's own city!
Selah.
4 I will speak about the nations that serve God.
Rahab and Babylon are now among them,
also Philistia, Tyre and Ethiopia.[c]
They say about themselves,
‘This man was born in Zion.’
5 They say this about Zion:
‘Each one of these people was born there.’
It is the Most High God who makes that city strong.
6 The Lord will write a list of all their names.
For the people from different nations,
he will say, ‘This person was born in Zion.’
Selah.
7 The singers and the musicians will say,
‘All our blessings come from you, Zion.’
Solomon prays in the temple
22 Then Solomon stood in front of the Lord's altar. All the Israelite people who had come together there could see him. He lifted up his hands towards the sky.[a] 23 He prayed,
‘Lord, Israel's God, there is no God like you, either in heaven above or down here on the earth. You continue to do what you have promised to do for your people. You faithfully love those who want to serve you. 24 You have done what you promised to do for your servant, my father David. You have used your power to finish today everything that you said you would do. 25 Now Lord, Israel's God, there is another promise that you spoke to my father David. I pray that you will do that too. You said to David, “There will always be one of your descendants to rule Israel as my chosen king. But for this to happen, your sons must be careful to serve me well, as you have done.” 26 So now, God of Israel, please cause what you promised to my father, your servant David, to happen.
27 But surely God, you do not live on the earth! The whole sky, or even heaven itself, is too small to contain you! So how can you live in this temple that I have built? 28 But Lord, my God, please listen to my prayer, as I ask you for help. Please answer me, your servant, because I need your help today. 29 Watch over this temple and take care of it day and night. This is the place about which you said, “People will give honour to my name there.” Please answer my prayers when I turn towards this place to pray to you. 30 Hear the prayers of me, your servant, and the prayers of your people, the Israelites. Please answer us when we turn towards this place and we pray to you. Hear us from heaven, the place where you live. And when we pray, forgive us for our sins.
Christ has brought Jews and Gentiles together
11 So you who were born as Gentiles should remember what you were like before. Jews insulted you because nobody has circumcised you. They themselves are proud that men have circumcised them as God's people. 12 At that time, you did not know about Christ, God's special Messiah. You did not belong to the nation of Israel's people. You did not know about the good things that God had promised to his people. You were living in this world with nothing good to hope for. You were living without God's help. 13 You were far away from God. But now, God has brought you near to himself, because you belong to Christ Jesus. That is possible because of Christ's death on the cross as a sacrifice.
14 It is Christ himself who has brought peace between Jews and Gentiles. He has brought those two groups together, to be one group. He has destroyed the things that made them separate. As a result, they are no longer enemies. 15 When his body died on the cross, Christ took away the power of the Jewish laws and rules. In that way, he made the two groups join together as one new group of people. As a result, he caused them to have peace. 16 As a single group, Christ brought Jews and Gentiles back to God. He stopped them from hating each other. He did this by his death on the cross.
17 When Christ came, he told people God's good news about peace. He told that message to you Gentiles, who were far away from God. He also told it to us Jews, who were near to God.[a] 18 Now we all have received the same Holy Spirit, because of what Christ has done for us. As a result, we can all come near to God the Father.
19 So now, you Gentiles are not strangers among God's people any more. You belong to the group of God's people that he rules. You belong to God's family, as all God's people do. 20 You are like a house that God is building for himself. God's apostles and his prophets are like the foundation under the house. Jesus Christ is like the most important stone in the house. 21 He makes the whole building stand together strongly. In that way, all God's people together become like a special house that belongs to the Lord. 22 Because you belong to Christ, God is building you all together to become his house. That is where God lives by his Spirit.
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