Book of Common Prayer
For the director of music. A psalm of David to be played on stringed instruments.
61 God, hear my cry for help.
Listen to my prayer.
2 From a place far away I call out to you.
I call out as my heart gets weaker.
Lead me to the safety of a rock that is high above me.
3 You have always kept me safe from my enemies.
You are like a strong tower to me.
4 I long to live in your holy tent forever.
There I find safety in the shadow of your wings.
5 God, you have heard my promises.
You have given me what belongs to those who worship you.
6 Add many days to the king’s life.
Let him live on and on for many years.
7 May he always enjoy your blessing as he rules.
Let your love and truth keep him safe.
8 Then I will always sing praise to you.
I will keep my promises day after day.
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
62 It is surely true that I find my rest in God.
He is the God who saves me.
2 It is surely true that he is my rock. He is the God who saves me.
He is like a fort to me. I will always be secure.
3 How long will you enemies attack me?
Will all of you throw me down?
I’m like a leaning wall.
I’m like a fence about to fall.
4 Surely my enemies only want to pull me down
from my place of honor.
They take delight in telling lies.
They bless me with what they say.
But in their hearts they ask for bad things to happen to me.
5 Yes, I must find my rest in God.
He is the God who gives me hope.
6 It is surely true that he is my rock and the God who saves me.
He is like a fort to me, so I will always be secure.
7 I depend on God to save me and to honor me.
He is my mighty rock and my place of safety.
8 Trust in him at all times, you people.
Tell him all your troubles.
God is our place of safety.
9 Surely ordinary people are only a breath.
Important people are not what they seem to be.
If they were weighed on a scale, they wouldn’t amount to anything.
Together they are only a breath.
10 Don’t trust in money you have taken from others.
Don’t put false hope in things you have stolen.
Even if your riches grow,
don’t put your trust in them.
11 God, I have heard you say two things.
One is that power belongs to you, God.
12 The other is that your love, Lord, never ends.
You will reward everyone
in keeping with what they have done.
For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song.
68 May God rise up and scatter his enemies.
May they turn and run away from him.
2 May you, God, blow them away like smoke.
As fire melts wax,
so may God destroy sinful people.
3 But may those who do what is right be glad
and filled with joy when they are with him.
May they be happy and joyful.
4 Sing to God, sing praise to his name.
Lift up a song to the God who rides on the clouds.
Be glad when you are with him.
His name is the Lord.
5 God is in his holy temple.
He is a father to children whose fathers have died.
He takes care of women whose husbands have died.
6 God gives lonely people a family.
He sets prisoners free, and they go out singing.
But those who refuse to obey him
live in a land that is baked by the sun.
7 God, you led your people out.
You marched through the desert.
8 The ground shook
when you, the God of Sinai, appeared.
The heavens poured down rain
when you, the God of Israel, appeared.
9 God, you gave us plenty of rain.
You renewed your worn-out land.
10 God, your people made their homes in it.
From all your riches, you provided for those who were poor.
11 The Lord gives the message.
The women who make it known are a huge group.
12 They said, “Kings and armies are running away.
The women at home are dividing up
the things the army took from their enemies.
13 Even while the soldiers sleep near the sheep pens,
God wins the battle for them.
He gives the enemy’s silver and gold
to Israel, his dove.”
14 The Mighty One has scattered the kings around the land.
It was like snow falling on Mount Zalmon.
15 Mount Bashan is a majestic mountain.
Mount Bashan is a very rocky mountain.
16 Why are you jealous of Mount Zion, you rocky mountain?
That’s where God chooses to rule.
That’s where the Lord himself will live forever.
17 God has come with tens of thousands of his chariots.
He has come with thousands and thousands of them.
The Lord has come from Mount Sinai.
He has entered his holy place.
18 When he went up to his place on high,
he took many prisoners.
He received gifts from people,
even from those who refused to obey him.
The Lord God went up to live on Mount Zion.
19 Give praise to the Lord. Give praise to God our Savior.
He carries our heavy loads day after day.
20 Our God is a God who saves.
He is the King and the Lord. He saves us from death.
21 God will certainly smash the heads of his enemies.
He will break the hairy heads of those who keep on sinning.
22 The Lord says, “I will bring your enemies from Bashan.
I will bring them up from the bottom of the sea.
23 Then your feet can wade in their blood.
The tongues of your dogs can lick up all the blood they want.”
24 God, those who worship you come marching into view.
My God and King, those who follow you have entered the sacred tent.
25 The singers are walking in front.
Next come the musicians.
Young women playing tambourines are with them.
26 The leaders sing, “Praise God among all those who worship him.
Praise the Lord in the community of Israel.”
27 The little tribe of Benjamin leads the worshipers.
Next comes the great crowd of Judah’s princes.
Then come the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
28 God, show us your power.
Show us your strength.
God, do as you have done before.
29 Do it from your temple at Jerusalem,
where kings will bring you gifts.
30 Give a strong warning to Egypt, that beast among the tall grass.
It is like a herd of bulls among the calves.
May that beast bow down before you with gifts of silver.
Scatter the nations who like to make war.
31 Messengers will come from Egypt.
The people of Cush will be quick to bring gifts to you.
32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth.
Sing praise to the Lord.
33 He rides across the highest places in heaven.
He rides across the ancient skies above.
He thunders with his mighty voice.
34 Tell how powerful God is.
He rules as king over Israel.
The skies show how powerful he is.
35 How wonderful is God in his holy place!
The God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.
Give praise to God!
20 “Aaron will finish making the Most Holy Room pure and ‘clean.’ He will finish making the tent of meeting and the altar pure. Then he will bring out the live goat. 21 He must place both of his hands on its head. While he does that, he must tell me about all the sins the Israelites have committed. He must tell me about all their evil acts and the times they did not obey me. In that way he puts their sins on the goat’s head. Then he will send the goat away into the desert. The goat will be led away by a man appointed to do it. 22 The goat will carry all their sins on itself to a place where there are no people. And the man will set the goat free in the desert.
23 “Then Aaron must go into the tent of meeting. He must take off the linen clothes he put on before he entered the Most Holy Room. He must leave them there. 24 He must take a bath in the holy area. And he must put on his regular clothes. Then he will come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself. He will also sacrifice the burnt offering for the people. That will pay for his own sin and the people’s sin. 25 He will also burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.
26 “The man who sets free the goat that carries the people’s sins away must wash his clothes. He must take a bath. After that, he can come back into the camp. 27 The bull and the goat for the sin offerings must be taken outside the camp. Their blood was brought into the Most Holy Room. It paid for sin. The hides, meat and guts of the animals must be burned up. 28 The man who burns them must wash his clothes. He must take a bath. After that, he can come back into the camp.
29 “Here is a law for you that will last for all time to come. On the tenth day of the seventh month you must not eat anything. You must not do any work. It does not matter whether you are Israelites or outsiders. 30 On that day your sin will be paid for. You will be made pure and clean. You will be clean from all your sins in my sight. 31 That day is a sabbath for you. You must rest on it. You must not eat anything on that day. This is a law that will last for all time to come. 32 The high priest must pay for sin. He must make everything pure and clean. He has been anointed and prepared to become the next high priest after his father. He must put on the sacred clothes that are made out of linen. 33 He must make the Most Holy Room, the tent of meeting and the altar pure. And he must pay for the sin of the priests and all the members of the community.
34 “Here is a law for you that will last for all time to come. Once a year you must pay for all the sin of the Israelites.”
So it was done, just as the Lord commanded Moses.
The Day of the Lord Is Coming
5 Brothers and sisters, we don’t have to write to you about times and dates. 2 You know very well how the day of the Lord will come. It will come like a thief in the night. 3 People will be saying that everything is peaceful and safe. Then suddenly they will be destroyed. It will happen like birth pains coming on a pregnant woman. None of the people will escape.
4 Brothers and sisters, you are not in darkness. So that day should not surprise you as a thief would. 5 All of you are children of the light. You are children of the day. We don’t belong to the night. We don’t belong to the darkness. 6 So let us not be like the others. They are asleep. Instead, let us be wide awake and in full control of ourselves. 7 Those who sleep, sleep at night. Those who get drunk, get drunk at night. 8 But we belong to the day. So let us control ourselves. Let us put on our chest the armor of faith and love. Let us put on the hope of salvation like a helmet. 9 God didn’t choose us to receive his anger. He chose us to receive salvation because of what our Lord Jesus Christ has done. 10 Jesus died for us. Some will be alive when he comes. Others will be dead. Either way, we will live together with him. 11 So encourage one another with the hope you have. Build each other up. In fact, that’s what you are doing.
7 When you pray, do not keep talking on and on. That is what ungodly people do. They think they will be heard because they talk a lot. 8 Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need even before you ask him.
9 “This is how you should pray.
“ ‘Our Father in heaven,
may your name be honored.
10 May your kingdom come.
May what you want to happen be done
on earth as it is done in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our sins,
just as we also have forgiven those who sin against us.
13 Keep us from sinning when we are tempted.
Save us from the evil one.’
14 Forgive other people when they sin against you. If you do, your Father who is in heaven will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive the sins of other people, your Father will not forgive your sins.
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