Book of Common Prayer
MEM
97 I love your Law very much.
I think about it all the time.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies.
They are always in my thoughts.
99 I understand more than all my teachers,
because I think about your rules.
100 I understand more than people who are old,
because I respect your teaching.
101 I do not follow evil ways,
so that I can obey your word.
102 I do not turn away from your rules,
because you are my teacher.
103 Your words are very good.
They taste sweeter than honey in my mouth!
104 Your teaching helps me to understand things,
so I hate anything that is false.
NUN
105 Your word is like a lamp that shines as my guide.
It shows me the right way to live.
106 I have made a strong promise
that I will always obey your righteous rules.
107 I have a lot of trouble and pain.
Lord, please keep me safe,
as you have promised to do.
108 Lord, please accept the praise
that I choose to offer to you.
Teach me your rules.
109 My life is always in danger,
but I never forget your Law.
110 Wicked people try to catch me in a trap,
but I do not turn away from your teaching.
111 Your laws will always be with me.
They make me happy deep inside.
112 I have decided to obey your commands always,
until the end of my life.
SAMEKH
113 I hate hypocrites,
but I love your Law.
114 You are the safe place where I can hide.
You keep me safe like a soldier's shield.
I know that I can trust your word.
115 Go away from me, you evil people!
I will obey my God's commands.
116 Help me to be strong, Lord,
as your word promises.
Do not let me be ashamed because of my hope.
117 Please help me so that I will be safe.
Then I will always obey your commands.
118 You refuse people who turn away from your laws.
You do not accept them,
because they speak lies to deceive people.
119 The wicked people in the world are like rubbish to you.
So I choose to obey your rules.
120 I respect your great strength,
so that my body shakes with fear.
I am afraid of the laws by which you judge people.
Asaph wrote this song for the music leader. Use special music.
God gives us strength[a]
81 Sing with joy to praise God!
He is the one who makes us strong!
Shout aloud to the God of Jacob.[b]
2 Start the music! Beat your tambourines!
Make beautiful music on your harps and lyres.
3 Start the New Moon Festival
with the sound of the trumpet.
Also do it on the day of the Full Moon.[c]
4 This is a rule for Israel's people.
The God of Jacob commanded us to do it.
5 When God punished the land of Egypt,
he gave this rule to Joseph's family.
I heard a voice that I did not know.
6 It said: ‘I took the heavy load off your back.
You no longer had to carry those heavy baskets.
7 When you had trouble, you called to me for help
and I made you safe.
I answered your prayers
from the middle of the dark storm.
I tested you at Meribah,
when you had no water in the wilderness.
Selah.
8 I said, “My people, listen to me!
I warn you now.
Listen carefully to me, Israel's people!
9 There must not be any strange god among you.
You must never worship a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord, your God.
I brought you out of the land of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide,
and I will fill it with many good things.”[d]
11 But my people refused to listen to me.
My people, Israel, did not obey me.
12 So I let them follow their own proud ideas.
They could do whatever they wanted to do.
13 But my people should listen to me!
Yes, Israel should obey my commands!
14 Then I would quickly win against their enemies.
I would attack them all.’
15 (Then people who hate the Lord
would fall down with fear in front of him.
They would be ashamed for ever.)
16 ‘But I would feed you, my people, with the best wheat.
I would give you plenty of honey from the rock,
for you to eat and be full.’
This is a psalm that Asaph wrote.
God and the gods[e]
82 God calls the powerful rulers to meet in heaven.
He sits on his throne to judge them.
2 He asks them, ‘How long will you continue to judge people
in a way that is not fair?
How long will you say that wicked people are right?
Selah.
3 You must help poor people and those with no family
to receive justice.
Help those who have pain and trouble
to receive the help that they need.
4 Rescue weak and helpless people,
so that evil people cannot hurt them.
5 The powerful leaders know nothing
and they understand nothing.
They walk about in a dark place.
At the same time the foundation of the earth shakes![f]
6 I said, “You are gods.
You are all sons of the Most High God.
7 But you will die, as all people die.
You will come to an end, like all other rulers.” ’[g]
8 God, now do something!
Judge all the nations of the earth.
For they all belong to you.
Another miracle that Elisha did
6 One day, the group of prophets said to Elisha, ‘The place where we meet with you is too small for us. 2 We must go to the Jordan River to cut down some trees. Each one of us can bring back some wood to build a new place for us to meet in.’ Elisha agreed and he told them to go.
3 One of the prophets said, ‘Please come with us, sir.’ Elisha replied, ‘I will come with you.’ 4 So he went with them. They arrived at the Jordan River. They started to cut down some trees. 5 While one of them was cutting down a tree, his iron axe fell into the water. He shouted, ‘Oh! My master! The axe did not belong to me!’ 6 Elisha asked him, ‘Where did it fall in the water?’ He showed Elisha the place. Then Elisha cut a branch from a tree. He threw it in the water at that place. It caused the iron axe to come to the top of the water. 7 Elisha told the prophet, ‘Lift it out of the water.’ So the man took hold of it with his hand.
Elisha stops the Syrian army
8 There was a war between the king of Syria and Israel. The king of Syria talked with his officers. He said to them, ‘I will attack Israel at a certain place.’ 9 But Elisha, the man of God, sent a message to the king of Israel. He said, ‘Do not travel through that place. The Syrian army is going there to attack us.’ 10 So the king of Israel warned the people in that place to be careful. Several times Elisha told the king where the Syrian army would attack so that the king would be careful.
11 This made the king of Syria very angry. He asked his officers to come to him. He said to them, ‘One of you is helping the king of Israel. Who is it?’ 12 One of his officers said, ‘None of us is helping him, my master the king. There is a prophet who lives in Israel. His name is Elisha. He tells the king of Israel every word that you speak secretly, even what you say in your bedroom!’ 13 The king of Syria said, ‘Go and find the place where he is. Then I will send some men there to catch him.’
A report came back to the king of Syria, ‘Elisha is in Dothan.’ 14 So the king sent a big army of soldiers there, with horses and chariots. They arrived during the night and they made their camp all around the city.
15 The servant of Elisha, the man of God, got up early the next morning. He went out and he saw an army with horses and chariots all around the city. He said to Elisha, ‘Oh! My master! What can we do?’ 16 Elisha replied, ‘Do not be afraid. There are more men to fight for us than there are for them.’ 17 Then Elisha prayed, ‘Lord, please open my servant's eyes so that he can see clearly.’ The Lord opened the servant's eyes. Now he could see lots of horses and chariots that burned with fire. They were on the hill all around Elisha.
18 When the enemy soldiers came towards Elisha, he prayed, ‘Lord, please make these people become blind.’ The Lord did what Elisha had asked. He made the enemy soldiers become blind. 19 Elisha said to them, ‘You are on the wrong road. You have come to the wrong city. Follow me! I will lead you to the man that you are looking for.’ Elisha led them to Samaria.
20 After they had gone into the city of Samaria, Elisha prayed again, ‘Lord, please open the eyes of these men so that they can see again.’ The Lord opened their eyes. Now they could see that they were in the middle of Samaria! 21 When the king of Israel saw the Syrian army in his city, he asked Elisha, ‘My master, what should I do? Should I kill them?’ 22 Elisha answered, ‘You must not kill them. That would not be right. You did not win a fight against them with your weapons. Give them some food and water. Then they can eat and drink before they go back to their master.’
23 So the king of Israel made a big feast for them. They had a lot of food and drink. Then he sent them back to their master, the king of Syria. After this happened, no more groups of Syrian soldiers came to attack Israel.
9 I already wrote a letter to you. I told you that you must not be friends with people who have sex in wrong ways. 10 But I was not talking about people who do not know God. Those people have sex in wrong ways. They want many things to please themselves. They deceive people and they rob them. They worship idols. You could not keep away from all people like that, unless you left this world!
11 Now I am telling you this: I was talking about people who say that they are believers. If they say that, but they have sex in a wrong way, do not be friends with them. It is the same if they want many things for themselves. They may worship idols. They may insult people. They may often get drunk. They may deceive people and rob them. If one of your own group does things like that, do not even agree to eat a meal with them. 12-13 It is not right for me to decide about people who do not belong to the church group. God will judge those people. But you should decide what is right for the people who do belong to your group. Do what the Bible says:
‘Send the bad person away from among yourselves.’[a]
Quarrels between Christians
6 Perhaps one of you has a quarrel with another Christian. Who should decide which of you is right? You should never ask people who do not know God to decide. No! Instead, you should go to God's people. They should decide. 2 It is God's people who will judge all the people in the world one day. You surely know that. Since that is true, you should be able to decide about small quarrels between yourselves. 3 You know that we will judge the angels one day. So we must be able to decide about ordinary things here on earth.
4 If you want to decide an ordinary matter like that, what do you do? Sometimes you go to a judge who does not believe in God. You should never do that! The church does not respect people like that. 5 I say this so that you will feel ashamed. There is surely a wise person in your group who could decide quarrels between yourselves. 6 But instead, some believers among you accuse other believers in front of judges. And those judges are not believers!
7 When you accuse each other like that, it shows that you have already failed. It would be better to accept it when other people hurt you. Even if people rob you, it would be better to accept it. 8 Instead, you yourselves hurt other people, and you even rob them. And those other people are believers like you!
Jesus teaches how to love people
38 Jesus then said, ‘You also know that God's Law says: “If somebody destroys your eye, then you should destroy that person's eye. If somebody destroys your tooth, then you should destroy that person's tooth.” 39 But what I tell you is this. If somebody does something bad to you, do not do anything against him.[a] Somebody may slap you on one side of your face. Then you should also let him slap the other side of your face.
40 Maybe somebody wants to take you to the judge. He says that you should give him your shirt. Give the man your shirt, and give him your coat too. 41 Or a soldier may tell you, “Carry my luggage for one kilometre.” You should do that. Even agree to carry it for two kilometres. 42 When people ask you for something, you should give it to them. If they ask you to lend them something, then you should not refuse.
43 You have heard people say, “Love the people who are your friends. But hate those who want to hurt you.” 44 What I tell you is this: You should love the people who want to hurt you. If people want to give you pain, pray for them. Pray that God would help them. 45 If you live like this, you will show that you really are children of your Father above. God is kind to everyone. He causes the sun to shine on everyone, both good people and bad people. He also causes the rain to fall on everyone, people who obey him and people who do not obey him. 46 Do you only love people who love you? God will not give you good things just for doing that. Even the men who take taxes love their friends![b]
47 If you are only kind to your friends, then you are not doing anything special. Even people who do not believe in God do that. 48 So you must be good in every way, as your Father above is good in every way.’
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