Book of Common Prayer
118 Oh, thank the Lord, for he’s so good! His loving-kindness is forever.
2 Let the congregation of Israel praise him with these same words: “His loving-kindness is forever.” 3 And let the priests of Aaron chant, “His loving-kindness is forever.” 4 Let the Gentile converts chant, “His loving-kindness is forever.”
5 In my distress I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me and rescued me. 6 He is for me! How can I be afraid? What can mere man do to me? 7 The Lord is on my side; he will help me. Let those who hate me beware.
8 It is better to trust the Lord than to put confidence in men. 9 It is better to take refuge in him than in the mightiest king!
10 Though all the nations of the world attack me, I will march out behind his banner and destroy them. 11 Yes, they surround and attack me; but with his flag flying above me I will cut them off. 12 They swarm around me like bees; they blaze against me like a roaring flame. Yet beneath his flag I shall destroy them. 13 You did your best to kill me, O my enemy, but the Lord helped me. 14 He is my strength and song in the heat of battle, and now he has given me the victory. 15-16 Songs of joy at the news of our rescue are sung in the homes of the godly. The strong arm of the Lord has done glorious things! 17 I shall not die but live to tell of all his deeds. 18 The Lord has punished me but not handed me over to death.
19 Open the gates of the Temple[a]—I will go in and give him my thanks. 20 Those gates are the way into the presence of the Lord, and the godly enter there. 21 O Lord, thank you so much for answering my prayer and saving me.
22 The stone rejected by the builders has now become the capstone of the arch![b] 23 This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous to see! 24 This is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. 25 O Lord, please help us. Save us. Give us success. 26 Blessed is the one who is coming, the one sent by the Lord.[c] We bless you from the Temple.
27-28 Jehovah God is our light. I present to him my sacrifice upon the altar, for you are my God, and I shall give you this thanks and this praise. 29 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is so good! For his loving-kindness is forever.
145 1-2 I will praise you, my God and King, and bless your name each day and forever.
3 Great is Jehovah! Greatly praise him! His greatness is beyond discovery! 4 Let each generation tell its children what glorious things he does. 5 I will meditate about your glory, splendor, majesty, and miracles. 6 Your awe-inspiring deeds shall be on every tongue; I will proclaim your greatness. 7 Everyone will tell about how good you are and sing about your righteousness.
8 Jehovah is kind and merciful, slow to get angry, full of love. 9 He is good to everyone, and his compassion is intertwined with everything he does. 10 All living things shall thank you, Lord, and your people will bless you. 11 They will talk together about the glory of your kingdom and mention examples of your power. 12 They will tell about your miracles and about the majesty and glory of your reign. 13 For your kingdom never ends. You rule generation after generation.
14 The Lord lifts the fallen and those bent beneath their loads. 15 The eyes of all mankind look up to you for help; you give them their food as they need it. 16 You constantly satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing.
17 The Lord is fair in everything he does and full of kindness. 18 He is close to all who call on him sincerely. 19 He fulfills the desires of those who reverence and trust him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them. 20 He protects all those who love him, but destroys the wicked.
21 I will praise the Lord and call on all men everywhere to bless his holy name forever and forever.
20 Wisdom shouts in the streets for a hearing. 21 She calls out to the crowds along Main Street, and to the judges in their courts, and to everyone in all the land: 22 “You simpletons!” she cries. “How long will you go on being fools? How long will you scoff at wisdom and fight the facts? 23 Come here and listen to me! I’ll pour out the spirit of wisdom upon you and make you wise. 24 I have called you so often, but still you won’t come. I have pleaded, but all in vain. 25 For you have spurned my counsel and reproof. 26 Some day you’ll be in trouble, and I’ll laugh! Mock me, will you?—I’ll mock you! 27 When a storm of terror surrounds you, and when you are engulfed by anguish and distress, 28 then I will not answer your cry for help. It will be too late though you search for me ever so anxiously.
29 “For you closed your eyes to the facts and did not choose to reverence and trust the Lord, 30 and you turned your back on me, spurning my advice. 31 That is why you must eat the bitter fruit of having your own way and experience the full terrors of the pathway you have chosen. 32 For you turned away from me—to death; your own complacency will kill you. Fools! 33 But all who listen to me shall live in peace and safety, unafraid.”
11 It is because of this solemn fear of the Lord, which is ever present in our minds, that we work so hard to win others. God knows our hearts, that they are pure in this matter, and I hope that, deep within, you really know it too.
12 Are we trying to pat ourselves on the back again? No, I am giving you some good ammunition! You can use this on those preachers of yours who brag about how well they look and preach but don’t have true and honest hearts. You can boast about us that we, at least, are well intentioned and honest.
13-14 Are we insane to say such things about ourselves?[a] If so, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Whatever we do, it is certainly not for our own profit but because Christ’s love controls us now. Since we believe that Christ died for all of us, we should also believe that we have died to the old life we used to live. 15 He died for all so that all who live—having received eternal life from him—might live no longer for themselves, to please themselves, but to spend their lives pleasing Christ who died and rose again for them. 16 So stop evaluating Christians by what the world thinks about them or by what they seem to be like on the outside. Once I mistakenly thought of Christ that way, merely as a human being like myself. How differently I feel now! 17 When someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a brand new person inside. He is not the same anymore. A new life has begun!
18 All these new things are from God who brought us back to himself through what Christ Jesus did. And God has given us the privilege of urging everyone to come into his favor and be reconciled to him. 19 For God was in Christ, restoring the world to himself, no longer counting men’s sins against them but blotting them out. This is the wonderful message he has given us to tell others. 20 We are Christ’s ambassadors. God is using us to speak to you: we beg you, as though Christ himself were here pleading with you, receive the love he offers you—be reconciled to God. 21 For God took the sinless Christ and poured into him our sins. Then, in exchange, he poured God’s goodness into us![b]
35 Then James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came over and spoke to him in a low voice.[a] “Master,” they said, “we want you to do us a favor.”
36 “What is it?” he asked.
37 “We want to sit on the thrones next to yours in your Kingdom,” they said, “one at your right and the other at your left!”
38 But Jesus answered, “You don’t know what you are asking! Are you able to drink from the bitter cup of sorrow I must drink from? Or to be baptized with the baptism of suffering I must be baptized with?”
39 “Oh, yes,” they said, “we are!”
And Jesus said, “You shall indeed drink from my cup and be baptized with my baptism, 40 but I do not have the right to place you on thrones next to mine. Those appointments have already been made.”
41 When the other disciples discovered what James and John had asked, they were very indignant. 42 So Jesus called them to him and said, “As you know, the kings and great men of the earth lord it over the people; 43 but among you it is different. Whoever wants to be great among you must be your servant. 44 And whoever wants to be greatest of all must be the slave of all. 45 For even I, the Messiah,[b] am not here to be served, but to help others, and to give my life as a ransom for many.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.