Book of Common Prayer
93 The Lord is King.
The Lord wears majesty and strength like clothes.
He is ready, so the whole world is safe.
It will not be shaken.
2 Your kingdom has continued forever.
You have lived forever!
3 Lord, the ocean roars.
The mighty ocean sounds like thunder
as the waves crash on the shore.
4 The crashing waves of the sea are loud and powerful,
but the Lord above is even more powerful.
5 Lord, your laws will continue forever.[a]
Your holy Temple will stand for a long time.
96 Sing a new song[a] to the Lord!
Let the whole world sing to the Lord!
2 Sing to the Lord and praise his name!
Tell the good news every day about how he saves us!
3 Tell all the nations how wonderful he is!
Tell people everywhere about the amazing things he does.
4 The Lord is great and worthy of praise.
He is more awesome than any of the “gods.”
5 All the “gods” in other nations are nothing but statues,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 He lives in the presence of glory and honor.
His Temple is a place of power and beauty.
7 Praise the Lord, all people of every nation;
praise the Lord’s glory and power.
8 Give the Lord praise worthy of his glory!
Come, bring your offerings into his courtyard.
9 Worship the Lord in all his holy beauty.
Everyone on earth should tremble before him.
10 Tell the nations that the Lord is King!
The world stands firm and cannot be moved.
He will judge all people fairly.
11 Let the heavens rejoice and the earth be happy!
Let the sea and everything in it shout for joy!
12 Let the fields and everything in them be happy!
Let the trees in the forest sing for joy
13 when they see the Lord coming!
He is coming to rule[b] the world.
He will rule all the nations of the world
with justice and fairness.
[a] A song of David when he pretended to be crazy so that Abimelech would send him away, which he did.
34 I will praise the Lord at all times.
I will never stop singing his praises.
2 Humble people, listen and be happy,
while I brag about the Lord.
3 Praise the Lord with me.
Let us honor his name.
4 I went to the Lord for help, and he listened.
He saved me from all that I fear.
5 If you look to him for help,
he will put a smile on your face.
You will have no need to be ashamed.
6 As a poor, helpless man I prayed to the Lord,
and he heard me.
He saved me from all my troubles.
7 The Lord’s angel builds a camp around his followers,
and he protects them.
8 Give the Lord a chance to show you[b] how good he is.
Great blessings belong to those who depend on him!
9 The Lord’s holy people should fear and respect him.
Those who respect him will always have what they need.
10 Even strong lions get weak and hungry,
but those who go to the Lord for help will have every good thing.
11 Children, come and listen to me;
I will teach you to respect the Lord.
12 Do you want to enjoy life?
Do you want to have many happy days?
13 Then avoid saying anything hurtful,
and never let a lie come out of your mouth.
14 Stop doing anything evil, and do good.
Look for peace, and do all you can to help people live peacefully.
15 The Lord watches over those who do what is right,
and he hears their prayers.
16 But the Lord is against those who do evil,
so they are forgotten soon after they die.
17 Pray to the Lord, and he will hear you.
He will save you from all your troubles.
18 The Lord is close to those who have suffered disappointment.
He saves those who are discouraged.
19 Good people might have many problems,
but the Lord will take them all away.
20 He will protect them completely.
Not one of their bones will be broken.
21 But troubles will kill the wicked.
The enemies of those who live right will all be punished.
22 The Lord saves his servants.
All who go to him for protection will escape punishment.
A Time of Rest for the Land
25 The Lord spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai. He said, 2 “Tell the Israelites: When you enter the land that I am giving to you, you must let the land have a special time of rest. This will be a special time of rest to honor the Lord. 3 You will plant seed in your field for six years. You will trim your vineyards for six years and bring in its fruits. 4 But during the seventh year, you will let the land rest. This will be a special time of rest to honor the Lord. You must not plant seed in your field or trim your vineyards. 5 You must not cut the crops that grow by themselves after your harvest. You must not gather the grapes from your vines that are not trimmed. The land will have a year of rest.
6 “The land will have a year of rest, but you will still have enough food. There will be enough food for your men and women servants. There will be food for your hired workers and for the foreigners living in your country. 7 And there will be enough food for your cattle and other animals to eat.
Jubilee—the Year of Release
8 “You will also count seven groups of seven years. This will be 49 years. During that time there will be seven years of rest for the land. 9 On the Day of Atonement, you must blow a ram’s horn. That will be on the tenth day of the seventh month. You must blow the ram’s horn through the whole country. 10 You will make the 50th year a special year. You will announce freedom for everyone living in your country. This time will be called ‘Jubilee.’ Each of you will go back to your own property.[a] And each of you will go back to your own family. 11 The 50th year will be a special celebration[b] for you. Don’t plant seeds, don’t harvest the crops that grow by themselves, and don’t gather grapes from the vines that are not trimmed. 12 That year is Jubilee. It will be a holy time for you. You will eat the crops that come from the field. 13 In the year of Jubilee, you will go back to your own property.
14 “Don’t cheat your neighbors when you sell your land to them. Don’t cheat one another when you buy or sell land. 15 If you want to buy your neighbor’s land, count the number of years since the last Jubilee, and use that number to decide the right price. You are only buying the rights for harvesting crops until the next Jubilee. 16 If there are many years before the next Jubilee, the price will be high. If the years are few, the price will be lower. So your neighbor is really only selling a number of crops to you. At the next Jubilee, the land will again belong to that family. 17 You must not cheat each other. You must honor your God. I am the Lord your God.
Faith and Wisdom
2 My brothers and sisters, you will have many kinds of trouble. But this gives you a reason to be very happy. 3 You know that when your faith is tested, you learn to be patient in suffering. 4 If you let that patience work in you, the end result will be good. You will be mature and complete. You will be all that God wants you to be.
5 Do any of you need wisdom? Ask God for it. He is generous and enjoys giving to everyone. So he will give you wisdom. 6 But when you ask God, you must believe. Don’t doubt him. Whoever doubts is like a wave in the sea that is blown up and down by the wind. 7-8 People like that are thinking two different things at the same time. They can never decide what to do. So they should not think they will receive anything from the Lord.
16 My dear brothers and sisters, don’t be fooled about this. 17 Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from him. These good gifts come down from the Father who made all the lights in the sky. But God never changes like the shadows from those lights. He is always the same. 18 God decided to give us life through the true message he sent to us. He wanted us to be the most important of all that he created.
Jesus Warns Against Selfishness
13 One of the men in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, our father just died and left some things for us. Tell my brother to share them with me.”
14 But Jesus said to him, “Who said I should be your judge or decide how to divide your father’s things between you two?” 15 Then Jesus said to them, “Be careful and guard against all kinds of greed. People do not get life from the many things they own.”
16 Then Jesus used this story: “There was a rich man who had some land. His land grew a very good crop of food. 17 He thought to himself, ‘What will I do? I have no place to keep all my crops.’
18 “Then he said, ‘I know what I will do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger barns! I will put all my wheat and good things together in my new barns. 19 Then I can say to myself, I have many good things stored. I have saved enough for many years. Rest, eat, drink, and enjoy life!’
20 “But God said to that man, ‘Foolish man! Tonight you will die. So what about the things you prepared for yourself? Who will get those things now?’
21 “This is how it will be for anyone who saves things only for himself. To God that person is not rich.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International