Book of Common Prayer
One of Asaph’s songs of praise.
83 God, don’t keep quiet!
Don’t close your ears!
Please say something, God.
2 Your enemies are getting ready to do something.
Those who hate you will soon attack.
3 They are making secret plans against your people.
Your enemies are discussing plans against the people you love.
4 They say, “Come, let us destroy them completely.
Then no one will ever again remember the name Israel.”
5 God, they have all joined together.
They have united against you.
6-7 Their army includes the Edomites, Ishmaelites, Moabites, and Hagar’s descendants,
the people of Byblos, Ammon, and Amalek,
the Philistines, and the people of Tyre.
8 Even the Assyrians have joined them.
They have made Lot’s descendants very powerful. Selah
9 God, defeat them just as you defeated Midian.
Do what you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.
10 You destroyed the enemy at Endor,
and their bodies rotted on the ground.
11 Punish their leaders as you did Oreb and Zeeb.
Do what you did to Zebah and Zalmunna.
12 They said, “Let’s make this land our own—
these fields of grass that belong to God!”
13 Make them like weeds blown by the wind.
Scatter them the way wind scatters straw.
14 Be like a fire that destroys a forest
or like a flame that sets the hills on fire.
15 Chase them away with your blasts of wind;
frighten them with your storms.
16 Lord, cover them with shame
until they come to you for help.
17 May they be forever ashamed and afraid.
Disgrace and defeat them.
18 Then they will know that your name is Yahweh—
that you alone are the Lord.
They will know that you are God Most High,
ruler over all the earth!
Book 2
(Psalms 42-72)
To the director: A maskil from the Korah family.
42 Like a deer drinking from a stream,
I reach out to you, my God.[a]
2 My soul thirsts for the living God.
When can I go to meet with him?
3 Instead of food, I have only tears day and night,
as my enemies laugh at me and say, “Where is your God?”
4 My heart breaks as I remember the pleasant times in the past,
when I walked with the crowds as I led them up to God’s Temple.
I remember the happy songs of praise
as they celebrated the festival.
5-6 Why am I so sad?
Why am I so upset?
I tell myself, “Wait for God’s help!
You will again be able to praise him,
your God, the one who will save you.”
In my sadness I say, “I will remember you from here on this small hill,[b]
where Mount Hermon and the Jordan River meet.”
7 I hear the roar of the water coming from deep within the earth.
It shouts to the water below as it tumbles down the waterfall.
God, your waves come one after another,
crashing all around and over me.[c]
8 By day the Lord shows his faithful love,
and at night I have a song for him—a prayer for the God of my life.[d]
9 I say to God, my Rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I suffer this sadness that my enemies have brought me?”
10 Their constant insults are killing me.
They never stop asking, “Where is your God?”
11 Why am I so sad?
Why am I so upset?
I tell myself, “Wait for God’s help!
You will again be able to praise him,
your God, the one who will save you.”
43 Defend me, God.
Argue my case against those people who don’t know you.
Protect me from those evil liars.
2 God, you are my place of safety.
Why have you turned me away?
Why must I suffer this sadness
that my enemies have brought me?
3 Send your light and your truth to guide me,
to lead me to your holy mountain, to your home.
4 I want to go to God’s altar,
to the God who makes me so very happy.
God, my God, I want to play my harp
and sing praises to you!
5 Why am I so sad?
Why am I so upset?
I tell myself, “Wait for God’s help!
You will again have a chance to praise him,
your God, the one who will save you.”
To the director: A song of praise from the Korah family.
85 Lord, you have been so kind to your land.
You have brought success again to the people of Jacob.
2 You have forgiven the bad things your people did.
You have taken away the guilt of their sins! Selah
3 You stopped being angry with them.
Your terrible anger has gone away.
4 Our God and Savior, accept us again.
Don’t be angry with us anymore.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will your anger reach to our children and to their children?
6 Please, give us new life!
Make your people happy to be yours.
7 Lord, save us
and show us your love.
8 I heard what the Lord God said.
He said there would be peace for his people and his loyal followers.
So they must not go back to their foolish way of living.
9 He will soon save his faithful followers.
His glory will again live in our land.[a]
10 God’s love will come together with his faithful people.
Goodness and peace will greet them with a kiss.
11 People on earth will be loyal to God,
and God in heaven will be good to them.[b]
12 The Lord will give us many good things.
The ground will grow many good crops.
13 Goodness will go before the Lord
and prepare the way for him.
A prayer of David.
86 I am a poor, helpless man.
Lord, please listen to me and answer my prayer!
2 I am your follower, so please protect me.
I am your servant, and you are my God.
I trust in you, so save me.
3 My Lord, be kind to me.
I have been praying to you all day.
4 My Lord, I put my life in your hands.
I am your servant, so make me happy.
5 My Lord, you are good and merciful.
You love all those who call to you for help.
6 Lord, hear my prayer.
Listen to my cry for mercy.
7 I am praying to you in my time of trouble.
I know you will answer me.
8 My Lord, there is no God like you.
No one can do what you have done.
9 My Lord, you made everyone.
I wish they all would come worship you and honor your name.
10 You are great and do amazing things.
You and you alone are God.
11 Lord, teach me your ways,
and I will live and obey your truths.
Help me make worshiping your name
the most important thing in my life.
12 My Lord God, I praise you with all my heart.
I will honor your name forever!
13 You have such great love for me.
You save me from the place of death.
14 Proud people are attacking me, God.
A gang of cruel men is trying to kill me.
They don’t respect you.
15 My Lord, you are a kind and merciful God.
You are patient, loyal, and full of love.
16 Show that you hear me and be kind to me.
I am your servant, so give me strength.
I am your slave, as my mother was, so save me!
17 Lord, show me a sign that you care for me.
My enemies will see it and be disappointed,
because you helped and comforted me.
God Assures Israel
46 So Israel began his trip to Egypt. First he went to Beersheba. There he worshiped God, the God of his father Isaac. He offered sacrifices. 2 During the night God spoke to Israel in a dream and said, “Jacob, Jacob.”
Israel answered, “Here I am.”
3 Then God said, “I am God, the God of your father. Don’t be afraid to go to Egypt. In Egypt I will make you a great nation. 4 I will go to Egypt with you, and I will bring you out of Egypt again. You will die there, but Joseph will be with you. His own hands will close your eyes when you die.”
Israel Goes to Egypt
5 Then Jacob left Beersheba and traveled to Egypt. His sons, the sons of Israel, brought their father, their wives, and all their children to Egypt. They traveled in the wagons the Pharaoh had sent. 6 They also had their cattle and everything they owned in the land of Canaan. So Israel went to Egypt with all his children and his family. 7 With him were his sons and his grandsons, his daughters and his granddaughters. All of his family went with him.
Israel Arrives in Egypt
28 Jacob sent Judah ahead to speak to Joseph. Judah went to Joseph in the land of Goshen. Then Jacob and his people followed into the land. 29 Joseph learned that his father was coming. So he prepared his chariot and went out to meet his father, Israel, in Goshen. When Joseph saw his father, he hugged his neck and cried for a long time.
30 Then Israel said to Joseph, “Now I can die in peace. I have seen your face, and I know that you are still alive.”
31 Joseph said to his brothers and to the rest of his father’s family, “I will go and tell Pharaoh that you are here. I will say to Pharaoh, ‘My brothers and the rest of my father’s family have left the land of Canaan and have come here to me. 32 They are a family of shepherds. They have always kept sheep and cattle. They have brought all their animals and everything they own with them.’ 33 When Pharaoh calls you, he will ask, ‘What work do you do?’ 34 You tell him, ‘We are shepherds. All our lives we have been shepherds, and our ancestors were shepherds before us.’ Then Pharaoh will allow you to live in the land of Goshen. Egyptians don’t like shepherds, so it is better that you stay in Goshen.”
Rights That Paul Has Not Used
9 I am a free man. I am an apostle. I have seen Jesus our Lord. You people are an example of my work in the Lord. 2 Others may not accept me as an apostle, but surely you do. You are proof that I am an apostle in the Lord.
3 Some people want to judge me. So this is the answer I give them: 4 We have the right to eat and drink, don’t we? 5 We have the right to bring a believing wife with us when we travel, don’t we? The other apostles and the Lord’s brothers and Peter all do this. 6 And are Barnabas and I the only ones who must work to earn our living? 7 No soldier ever serves in the army and pays his own salary. No one ever plants a vineyard without eating some of the grapes himself. No one takes care of a flock of sheep without drinking some of the milk himself.
8 These aren’t just my own thoughts. God’s law says the same thing. 9 Yes, it is written in the Law of Moses: “When a work animal is being used to separate grain, don’t keep it from eating the grain.”[a] When God said this, was he thinking only about work animals? No. 10 He was really talking about us. Yes, that was written for us. The one who plows and the one who separates the grain should both expect to get some of the grain for their work. 11 We planted spiritual seed among you, so we should be able to harvest from you some things for this life. Surely that is not asking too much. 12 Others have this right to get things from you. So surely we have this right too. But we don’t use this right. No, we endure everything ourselves so that we will not stop anyone from obeying the Good News of Christ. 13 Surely you know that those who work at the Temple get their food from the Temple. And those who serve at the altar get part of what is offered at the altar. 14 It is the same with those who have the work of telling the Good News. The Lord has commanded that those who tell the Good News should get their living from this work.
15 But I have not used any of these rights, and I am not trying to get anything from you. That is not my purpose for writing this. I would rather die than to have someone take away what for me is a great source of pride.
Jesus Feeds More Than 5000(A)
30 The apostles Jesus had sent out came back to him. They gathered around him and told him about all they had done and taught. 31 Jesus and his followers were in a very busy place. There were so many people that he and his followers did not even have time to eat. He said to them, “Come with me. We will go to a quiet place to be alone. There we will get some rest.”
32 So Jesus and his followers went away alone. They went in a boat to a place where no one lived. 33 But many people saw them leave and knew who they were. So people from every town ran to the place where they were going and got there before Jesus. 34 As Jesus stepped out of the boat, he saw a large crowd waiting. He felt sorry for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd to care for them. So he taught the people many things.
35 It was now very late in the day. Jesus’ followers came to him and said, “No one lives around here, and it is already very late. 36 So send the people away. They need to go to the farms and towns around here to buy some food to eat.”
37 But Jesus answered, “You give them some food to eat.”
They said to Jesus, “We can’t buy enough bread to feed all these people. We would all have to work a month to earn enough to buy that much bread!”
38 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have now? Go and see.”
They counted their loaves of bread. They came to Jesus and said, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus said to them, “Tell everyone to sit in groups on the green grass.” 40 So all the people sat in groups. There were about 50 or 100 people in each group.
41 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish. He looked up to the sky and thanked God for the food. Then he broke the bread into pieces, which he gave to his followers to distribute to the people. Then he divided the two fish among everyone there.
42 They all ate until they were full. 43 After they finished eating, the followers filled twelve baskets with the pieces of bread and fish that were left. 44 There were about 5000 men there who ate.
Jesus Walks on Water(B)
45 Then Jesus told the followers to get into the boat. He told them to go to the other side of the lake to Bethsaida. He said he would come later. He stayed there to tell everyone they could go home. 46 After he said goodbye to them, he went up into the hills to pray.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International