Book of Common Prayer
Book 1
(Psalms 1-41)
1 Great blessings belong to those
who don’t listen to evil advice,
who don’t live like sinners,
and who don’t join those who make fun of God.[a]
2 Instead, they love the Lord’s teachings
and think about them day and night.
3 So they grow strong,
like a tree planted by a stream—
a tree that produces fruit when it should
and has leaves that never fall.
Everything they do is successful.
4 But the wicked are not like that.
They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 When the time for judgment comes, the wicked will be found guilty.
Sinners have no place among those who do what is right.[b]
6 The Lord shows his people how to live,
but the wicked have lost their way.
2 Why are the nations so angry?
Why are the people making such foolish plans?
2 Their kings and leaders join together
to fight against the Lord and his chosen king.[c]
3 They say, “Let’s rebel against them.
Let’s break free from them!”
4 But the one who rules in heaven laughs at them.
The Lord makes fun of them.
5 He speaks to them in anger,
and it fills them with fear.
6 He says, “I have chosen this man to be king,
and he will rule on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7 Let me tell you about the Lord’s agreement:
He said to me, “Today I have become your father,[d]
and you are my son.
8 If you ask, I will give you the nations.
Everyone on earth will be yours.
9 You will rule over them with great power.
You will scatter your enemies like broken pieces of pottery!”
10 So, kings and rulers, be smart
and learn this lesson.
11 Serve the Lord with fear and trembling.
12 Show that you are loyal to his son,[e]
or the Lord will be angry and destroy you.
He is almost angry enough to do that now,
but those who go to him for protection will be blessed.
A song of David written during the time he was running from his son Absalom.
3 Lord, I have so many enemies.
So many people have turned against me.
2 They say to themselves, “God will not rescue him!” Selah
3 But you, Lord, protect me.
You bring me honor;
you give me hope.
4 I will pray to the Lord,
and he will answer me from his holy mountain. Selah
5 I can lie down to rest and know that I will wake up,
because the Lord covers and protects me.
6 So I will not be afraid of my enemies,
even if thousands of them surround me.
7 Lord, get up![f]
My God, come rescue me!
If you hit my enemies on the cheek,
you will break all their teeth.
8 Lord, the victory[g] is yours!
You are so good to your people. Selah
To the director: With stringed instruments. A song of David.
4 God, you showed that I was innocent.
You gave me relief from all my troubles.
So listen to me now when I call to you for help.
Be kind to me and hear my prayer.
2 Men,[h] how long will you try to dishonor me?
Do you enjoy wasting your time searching for new lies against me? Selah
3 You can be sure that anyone who serves the Lord faithfully is special to him.
The Lord listens when I pray to him.
4 Tremble with fear, and stop sinning.[i]
Think about this when you go to bed, and calm down. Selah
5 Give the right sacrifices to the Lord,
and put your trust in him!
6 Many people say, “I wish I could enjoy the good life.
Lord, give us some of those blessings.”[j]
7 But you have made me happier than they will ever be with all their wine and grain.
8 When I go to bed, I sleep in peace,
because, Lord, you keep me safe.
A song[a] of David that he sang to the Lord about Cush from the tribe of Benjamin.
7 Lord my God, I come to you for protection.
Save me from those who are chasing me.
2 If you don’t help me, I will be torn apart like an animal caught by a lion.
I will be carried away with no one to save me.
3 Lord my God, I have done nothing wrong.
4 I have done nothing to hurt a friend[b]
or to help his enemies.
5 If that is not the truth, then punish me.
Let an enemy chase me, catch me, and kill me.
Let him grind me into the dirt and put me in my grave. Selah
6 Lord, get up[c] and show your anger!
My enemy is angry, so stand and fight against him.
Get me the justice that you demand.
7 Gather the nations around you,
and take your place as judge.
8 Lord, judge the people.
Lord, judge me.
Prove that I am right and that I am innocent.
9 Stop those who do evil.
Support those who do good.
God, you are fair.
You know what people are thinking.
10 God helps people who want to do right,
so he will protect me.
11 God is a good judge.
He always condemns evil.
12-13 If the wicked will not change,
then God is ready to punish them.
He has prepared his deadly weapons.
His sword is sharp.
His bow is strung, drawn back,
and ready to shoot its flaming arrow.
14 The minds of the wicked are full of evil;
they are pregnant with wicked plans,
which give birth to lies.
15 They dig a pit to trap others,
but they are the ones who will fall into it.
16 The trouble they cause will come back on them.
They plan harm for others,
but they are the ones who will be hurt.
17 I praise the Lord because he is good.
I praise the name of the Lord Most High.
The First Man and the Garden of Eden
4 This is the story about the creation of the sky and the earth. This is what happened when the Lord God made the earth and the sky. 5 This was before there were plants on the earth. Nothing was growing in the fields because the Lord God had not yet made it rain on the earth, and there was no one to care for the plants.
6 So water[a] came up from the earth and spread over the ground. 7 Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and made a man.[b] He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nose, and the man became a living thing. 8 Then the Lord God planted a garden in the East,[c] in a place named Eden. He put the man he made in that garden. 9 Then the Lord God caused all the beautiful trees that were good for food to grow in the garden. In the middle of the garden, he put the tree of life and the tree that gives knowledge about good and evil.
10 A river flowed from Eden and watered the garden. The river then separated and became four smaller rivers. 11 The name of the first river was Pishon. This river flowed around the entire country of Havilah.[d] 12 (There is gold in that country, and that gold is pure. A kind of expensive perfume and onyx are also found there.) 13 The name of the second river was Gihon. This river flowed around the whole land of Cush.[e] 14 The name of the third river was Tigris. This river flowed east of Assyria. The fourth river was the Euphrates.
15 The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden to work the soil and take care of the garden. 16 The Lord God gave him this command: “You may eat from any tree in the garden. 17 But you must not eat from the tree that gives knowledge about good and evil. If you eat fruit from that tree, on that day you will certainly die!”
A Companion for Adam
18 Then the Lord God said, “I see that it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make the companion he needs, one just right for him.”
19 The Lord God used dust from the ground and made every animal in the fields and every bird in the air. He brought all these animals to the man, and the man gave them all a name. 20 The man gave names to all the tame animals, to all the birds in the air, and to all the wild animals. He saw many animals and birds, but he could not find a companion that was right for him. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to sleep very deeply. While he was asleep, God took one of the ribs from the man’s body. Then he closed the man’s skin where the rib had been. 22 The Lord God used the rib from the man to make a woman. Then he brought the woman to the man. 23 And the man said,
“Finally! One like me,
with bones from my bones
and a body from my body.
She was taken out of a man,
so I will call her ‘woman.’”
24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife. In this way two people become one.
25 The man and his wife were naked, but they were not ashamed.
God Has Spoken Through His Son
1 In the past God spoke to our people through the prophets. He spoke to them many times and in many different ways. 2 And now in these last days, God has spoken to us again through his Son. He made the whole world through his Son. And he has chosen his Son to have all things. 3 The Son shows the glory of God. He is a perfect copy of God’s nature, and he holds everything together by his powerful command. The Son made people clean from their sins. Then he sat down at the right side[a] of God, the Great One in heaven. 4 The Son became much greater than the angels, and God gave him a name that is much greater than any of their names.
5 God never said this to any of the angels:
“You are my Son.
Today I have become your Father.” (A)
God also never said about an angel,
“I will be his Father,
and he will be my son.” (B)
6 And then, when God presents his firstborn Son to the world,[b] he says,
“Let all God’s angels worship him.”[c]
7 This is what God said about the angels:
8 But this is what he said about his Son:
“God, your kingdom will last forever and ever.
You use your authority for justice.
9 You love what is right and hate what is wrong.
So God, your God, has chosen you,
giving you more honor and joy than anyone like you.” (D)
10 God also said,
“O Lord, in the beginning you made the earth,
and your hands made the sky.
11 These things will disappear, but you will stay.
They will all wear out like old clothes.
12 You will fold them up like a coat,
and they will be changed like clothes.
But you never change,
and your life will never end.” (E)
13 And God never said this to an angel:
14 All the angels are spirits who serve God and are sent to help those who will receive salvation.
Christ Comes to the World
1 Before the world began, the Word[a] was there. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was there with God in the beginning. 3 Everything was made through him, and nothing was made without him. 4 In him there was life, and that life was a light for the people of the world. 5 The light[b] shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not defeated[c] it.
6 There was a man named John, who was sent by God. 7 He came to tell people about the light. Through him all people could hear about the light and believe. 8 John was not the light. But he came to tell people about the light. 9 The true light was coming into the world. This is the true light that gives light to all people.
10 The Word was already in the world. The world was made through him, but the world did not know him. 11 He came to the world that was his own. And his own people did not accept him. 12 But some people did accept him. They believed in him, and he gave them the right to become children of God. 13 They became God’s children, but not in the way babies are usually born. It was not because of any human desire or plan. They were born from God himself.
14 The Word became a man and lived among us. We saw his divine greatness—the greatness that belongs to the only Son of the Father. The Word was full of grace and truth. 15 John told people about him. He said loudly, “This is the one I was talking about when I said, ‘The one who is coming after me is greater than I am, because he was living before I was even born.’”
16 Yes, the Word was full of grace and truth, and from him we all received one blessing after another.[d] 17 That is, the law was given to us through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18 No one has ever seen God. The only Son is the one who has shown us what God is like. He is himself God and is very close to the Father.[e]
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International