Book of Common Prayer
This psalm is a song for the music leader.
Praise God![a]
66 Everyone on earth, shout aloud to praise God,
because you are very happy.
2 Sing to praise his great name!
Praise him in the way that he deserves.
3 Say to God, ‘You do great things!
Your great power makes your enemies afraid.
They come to you and they bend down to the ground.
4 The whole world bends down to worship you.
Everyone sings to praise your name.’
Selah.
5 Come and see the great things that God has done.
He has done wonderful miracles for people!
6 He caused the Red Sea to become dry land.
Then his people walked across the Jordan River![b]
So we praise him for what he did there!
7 He has the power to rule for ever.
He watches everything that the nations do.
Wicked people should not be proud and turn against him.
Selah.
8 You people from every nation,
agree that our God is great!
Praise him with loud voices,
so that everyone can hear!
9 He keeps our lives safe.
He does not let us fall to the ground.
10 You have tested us, God.
You wanted to make us pure,
as they make silver pure in a hot fire.
11 You caused a trap to catch us,
so that we had much pain and trouble.
12 You gave people power to hurt us.
We went through dangerous fire and water.
But then you brought us into a safe, open place.[c]
13 I will bring burnt offerings to your Temple.
I will bring to you the gifts that I promised.
14 When I was in trouble, I made those promises.
I spoke them aloud.
15 I will offer to you gifts of fat animals,
to burn them as sacrifices.
I will also burn sheep as offerings,
and their smell will please you.
I will also offer to you bulls and goats.
Selah.
16 Come and listen,
all you people who serve God.
I will tell you about the things that God has done for me.
17 I called to him for help,
then I praised him aloud!
18 If I had kept wicked things in my mind,
the Lord would not have listened to me.
19 But God did hear me.
When I called to him,
he listened to my prayer.
20 So I praise God, as he deserves.[d]
He has not refused to listen to me.
He has continued to love me with his faithful love.
This psalm is a song for the music leader. He is to use stringed instruments.
All the nations should praise God[e]
67 God, please be kind to us and bless us.
Look at us with a smile on your face.
Selah.
2 Then people on the earth will know
what pleases you.
People from all nations will know
that you have the power to save them.
3 May people everywhere praise you, God.
Yes, may they all praise you!
4 May the nations be so happy
that they sing aloud with joy!
Because you are fair when you judge people,
and you are a guide for all the nations of the world.
Selah.
5 May people everywhere praise you, God.
Yes, may they all praise you!
6 The land has given us a harvest of food,
and God, our God, continues to bless us.
7 God, please bless us!
Then all people everywhere will respect you.
This is a song that David wrote for the music leader.
God teaches us about himself
19 The heavens show us how great God is.
The sky above shows his good work.
2 Each day speaks about God,
until the next day continues the story.
Every night tells us how great God is.
3 They do not use words to speak with.
Nobody hears their voice.
4 But their message goes round all the earth.
All the world can understand what they say.
God has made a home for the sun in the sky.
5 Each morning, the sun comes out,
like a happy man who has just married.
It comes out,
like a strong man who wants to run a race.
6 The sun rises at one end of the heavens.
It travels in a big circle to the other end.
Nothing can hide from its heat.[a]
7 The law of the Lord is perfect.
It makes us strong again.
We can trust what the Lord teaches us.
He helps ordinary people to be wise.
8 The Lord's rules are always right.
If we obey them, they make us really happy.
The Lord's commands are completely good.
They show us how to live in a good way.
9 It is right for us to respect the Lord.
That will always help us.
The laws of the Lord are true.
They are right and fair.
10 They are more valuable than gold,
even the best gold.
They are sweeter than the best honey.
11 Your laws warn us to do what is right.
If we obey them, they are a great help to us.[b]
12 Nobody realizes every time they do something wrong.
Please forgive me for the sins that I do not know about.
13 Lord, stop me doing things that I know are wrong.
Do not let those sins rule my life.
Then I will not be guilty.
I will not have turned against you in a bad way.
14 Lord, I want to make you happy.
I want my words and my thoughts to please you.
You are my strong Rock
and you are my Redeemer.[c]
The sons of Korah wrote this special song for the music leader.
The city of God[a]
46 God is a strong place for us,
where he will keep us safe.
He will always help us
when troubles come.
2 So even when the earth shakes,
we will not be afraid.
And when the mountains fall down
into the deep sea,
we will still not be afraid.
3 If the sea makes dangerous waves,
so that even the mountains shake,
we will never be afraid.
Selah.
4 There is a river that runs into the city of God,
and it brings God's blessing to the people there.
That is the holy place
where the Most High God lives.
5 God is in that city.
Nothing can ever destroy it.
When dawn comes, God will be there to help it.
6 Nations are shouting with anger!
Kingdoms shake and fall.
God calls in a loud voice,
and even the earth melts!
7 The Lord Almighty is there to help us.
The God of Jacob keeps us safe.
Selah.
8 Come and see the great things
that the Lord has done.
He has brought terrible things to the earth!
9 All over the world, he causes wars to finish.
He destroys the soldiers' bows and spears.
He burns their shields in a fire.
10 He says, ‘Be still and quiet!
Understand that I am God.
I rule as king over the nations.
All the world will say that I am great.’
11 The Lord Almighty is there to help us.
The God of Jacob keeps us safe.
Selah.
Moses and the burning bush
3 Moses worked as a shepherd and he took care of Jethro's sheep. Jethro was his wife's father and he was the priest of Midian.[a] Moses led the sheep to the far side of the desert. He came to Sinai, the mountain of God.
2 The angel of the Lord appeared to Moses there.[b] The angel looked like a fire that was burning in the middle of a bush. Moses looked at the bush. He saw that it was on fire, but the fire still did not destroy it. 3 Moses said to himself, ‘I will go nearer and see this strange thing. I want to see why the bush is not completely burned.’
4 The Lord saw that Moses came near to look at the bush. God spoke to Moses from inside the bush. He said, ‘Moses! Moses!’ Moses answered, ‘Here I am.’
5 God said to Moses, ‘Do not come nearer! Remove your shoes from your feet. The ground that you are standing on is holy.’ 6 Then God said, ‘I am the God that your father worshipped. I am also the God of your ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’ Then Moses covered his face. He was afraid to look at God.[c]
7 The Lord said, ‘I have certainly seen the troubles of my people in Egypt. I have heard them when they cry for help because of their cruel masters. I know that they are very sad. 8 So now I have come down to save them from the power of the Egyptians. I will bring them out from Egypt to go to another land. That will be a good land and a big land. The land will give them plenty of good food and drink, enough for everyone. These are the nations who live there now: the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites. 9 Yes, I have heard that my Israelite people are crying for help. I have seen that the Egyptians do bad things to hurt them. 10 So now you must go! I will send you to speak to Pharaoh. You will lead my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt.’
11 But Moses said to God, ‘I am not an important person. I cannot go to Pharaoh. I cannot lead the Israelites out of Egypt!’
12 God said to Moses, ‘Be sure of this: I will be with you. After you have led the people out of Egypt you will all worship me here, on this mountain. That will show you that I myself have sent you to do this.’[d]
A picture of two mountains
18 You have come near to God. But you have not come to a place that you can touch, like Sinai mountain.[a] That mountain burned with fire. But where the people stood, it was completely dark. They could not see at all. There was also a very strong wind and a storm. 19 There was the loud sound of a trumpet. There was a powerful voice that spoke to them. When the people heard that voice, they were very afraid. So they asked that the voice would not speak to them any more. 20 They were very afraid of what God had told them. God had said, ‘If even an animal touches the mountain, you must kill it with stones.’ 21 Even Moses was very afraid when he saw God's great power. He said, ‘I am full of fear!’
22 But as believers in Christ, you have not come to God in that way. You have come to Mount Zion.[b] You have come to the city of the true God who lives. You have come to the city of Jerusalem that is in heaven. There are many thousands of happy angels all together in that place. 23 All God's people meet together there. They are like his most important sons. They belong in heaven because God has written down their names. You have come to God himself, who will judge all people. You have come to the place where the spirits of God's people are. Those people have become right with God. God has now finished his work in them. 24 You have come to Jesus, who brought the new agreement from God to his people. In that agreement, the blood of Jesus' death makes us clean from our sins. It tells us that God has forgiven us. When Cain killed his brother Abel, Abel's blood brought God's punishment. So we see that Jesus' blood brought us something much better than that.[c]
25 So be careful! Always be ready to listen when God speaks. God used Moses as his servant on the earth to speak to Israel's people. When they refused to obey, God punished them. They could not get away. As for us, God speaks to us from heaven. So we will certainly not get away from God's punishment if we turn away from him. 26 At Sinai mountain many years ago, God's voice caused the earth to shake. But now God has promised this: ‘Once again I will cause the earth to shake. But this time I will also cause heaven to shake.’ 27 These words, ‘once again,’ show us that God will take away the things that he has made. All things on the earth that he causes to shake will finish. After that, everything that nobody can shake will continue to be there.[d]
28 But we are receiving a place where we will rule with God. We belong to God's kingdom, and nobody can ever shake that! So we should thank God. We should worship him in a way that makes him happy. He is great, and we should serve him well and respect him. 29 Remember that our God is like a fire. He destroys everything that is not good.
The 72 disciples return
17 Later, the 72 disciples that Jesus had sent out returned to him. They were very happy. ‘Master,’ they said, ‘even bad spirits obey us. When we use your name, they do what we say.’
18 Jesus replied, ‘I saw the Devil himself fall from heaven like lightning. 19 Listen! I have given power to you. You will even stand on dangerous snakes and insects and you will have authority over all the power of the Devil. Nothing will hurt you. 20 But do not be happy because you have authority over bad spirits. God has written your names in his book in heaven. That is why you should be happy.’
Jesus is very happy
21 At this moment, the Holy Spirit made Jesus very happy. He said, ‘Father, you rule over everything in heaven and on the earth! People that do not know many things now can understand your message. I thank you for this. But you have hidden these things from other people. Those people think that they understand everything. They think that they are wise. Yes, Father, this is how you wanted it to happen.’
22 Jesus then said, ‘My Father has given me authority over all things. Only the Father knows who I am, his Son. Only I know who the Father is, because I am his Son. I also choose to tell some people about him. Then they also know him.’
23 Then Jesus turned and he spoke only to his disciples. He said to them, ‘Be happy because of the things that you are now able to see and understand. 24 I tell you this: Many prophets and kings from a long time ago wanted to see these things. But they did not see the things that you are seeing. They wanted to hear the message that you are hearing. But they did not hear it.’
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