Book of Common Prayer
To the Director: A song. A Psalm.
A Song of Praise
66 Shout praise to God all the earth!
2 Sing praise about the glory of his name.[a]
Make his praise glorious.
3 Say to God: “How awesome are your works!
Because of your great strength
your enemies cringe before you.”
4 The whole earth worships you.
They sing praise to you.
They sing praise to your name.
5 Come and see the awesome works of God
on behalf of human beings:
6 He turned the sea into dry land.
Israel[b] crossed the river on foot;
let us rejoice in him.
7 He rules by his power forever,
his eyes watching over the nations.
Do not let the rebellious exalt themselves.
8 Bless our God, people,
and let the sound of his praise be heard.
9 He gives us life
and does not permit our feet to slip.
10 For you, God, tested us,
to purify us like fine silver.
11 You have led us into a trap[c]
and set burdens on our backs.
12 You caused men to ride over us.[d]
You brought us through fire and water,
but you led us to abundance.
13 I will come to your house with burnt offerings.
I will fulfill my vows to you
14 that my lips uttered and that my mouth spoke
when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer to you burnt offerings of fat,
along with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams.
I will offer bulls along with goats.
16 Come and listen, all of you who fear God,
and I will tell you what he did for me.
17 I called aloud to him
and praised him with my tongue.
18 Were I to cherish iniquity in my heart,
the Lord would not listen to me.
19 Surely God has heard,
and he paid attention to my[e] prayers.
20 Blessed be God, who did not turn away my prayers
nor his gracious love from me.
To the Director of music: Accompanied by stringed instruments. A Psalm. A song.
A Call to Thanksgiving
67 May God show us favor and bless us;
may he truly show us his favor.[f]
2 Let your ways be known by all the nations of the earth,
along with your deliverance.
3 Let the people thank you, God.
Let all the people thank you.
4 Let the nations rejoice and sing for joy,
because you judge people with fairness
and you govern the people of the earth.
5 Let the people thank you, God;
let all the people thank you.
6 May the earth yield its produce.
May God, our God, bless us.
7 May God truly bless us
so that all the peoples[g] of the earth will fear him.
To the Director: A Davidic Psalm.
God’s Revelation in the Heavens
19 The heavens are declaring the glory of God,
and their expanse shows the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech,
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor are there words—
their voice is not heard—
4 yet their message[a] goes out into all the world,
and their words to the ends of the earth.
He has set up a tent for the sun in the heavens,[b]
5 which is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
or like a champion who rejoices at the beginning of a race.
6 Its circuit is from one end of the sky to the other,
and nothing is hidden from its heat.
God’s Revelation in the Law
7 The Law of the Lord is perfect,
restoring life.
The testimony of the Lord is steadfast,
making foolish people wise.
8 The precepts of the Lord are upright,
making the heart rejoice.
The commandment of the Lord is pure,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is clean,
standing forever.
The judgments of the Lord are true;
they are altogether righteous.
10 They are more desirable than gold,
even much fine gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
even the drippings from a honeycomb.
11 Moreover your servant is warned by them;
and there is great reward in keeping them.
12 Who can detect his own[c] mistake?
Cleanse me from hidden sin.
13 Preserve your servant from arrogant people;[d]
do not let them rule over me.
Then I will be upright[e]
and acquitted of great wickedness.
14 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart
be acceptable in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer.
To the Director: A song by the Sons of Korah, to the tune of[a] “The Maidens”.
God is the Refuge of His People
46 God is our refuge and strength,
a great help in times of distress.
2 Therefore we will not be frightened
when the earth roars,
when the mountains shake in the depths of the seas,
3 when its waters roar and rage,
when the mountains tremble despite their pride.[b]
4 Look! There is a river
whose streams make the city of God rejoice,
even the Holy Place of the Most High.
5 Since God is in her midst,
she will not be shaken.
God will help her
at the break of dawn.
6 The nations roared;
the kingdoms were shaken.
His voice boomed;
the earth melts.
7 The Lord of the heavenly armies is with us;
our refuge is the God of Jacob.
8 Come, observe the mighty works of the Lord,
who causes desolation in the earth.
9 He causes wars to cease all over[c] the earth,
he causes the bow to break, the spear to snap,
the chariots to ignite and burn.
10 Be in awe and know that I am God.
I will be exalted among the nations.
I will be exalted throughout the earth.
11 The Lord of the heavenly armies is with us;
the God of Jacob is our refuge.
26 Then the Lord told Moses and Aaron, 27 “How long will this wicked assembly keep complaining about me? I’ve heard the complaints of the Israelis that they’ve been murmuring against me. 28 So tell them that as long as I live—consider this to be an oracle from the Lord—as certainly as you’ve spoken right into my ears, that’s how I’m going to treat you. 29 Your corpses will fall in this wilderness—every single one of you who has been counted among you, according to your number from 20 years and above, who complained against me. 30 You will certainly never enter the land about which I made an oath with my uplifted hand to settle you in it, except for Jephunneh’s son Caleb and Nun’s son Joshua. 31 However, I’ll bring your little ones—the ones whom you claimed would become war victims—into the land so that they’ll know by experience the land that you’ve rejected.
32 “Now as for you, your corpses will fall in this wilderness 33 and your children will wander throughout the wilderness for 40 years. They’ll bear the consequences of your idolatries[a] until your bodies are entirely consumed in the wilderness. 34 Just as you explored the land for 40 days, you’ll bear the consequences of your iniquities for 40 years—one year for each day—as you experience my hostility. 35 I, the Lord, have spoken. I will indeed do this to this evil congregation, who gathered together against me. They’ll be eliminated in this wilderness and will surely die.”
God Kills the Unbelieving Explorers
36 After this, the men whom Moses sent out to explore the land, who returned and made the whole congregation complain against him by bringing an evil report concerning the land, 37 and who produced an evil report about the land, died of pestilence in the Lord’s presence. 38 However, Nun’s son Joshua and Jephunneh’s son Caleb, who had explored the land, remained alive.
Rebellion against God’s Punishment
39 After Moses had told all of this to the Israelis, the people deeply mourned. 40 So they got up early the next morning and traveled to the top of the mountain, telling themselves, “Look, we’re here and we’re going to go up to the place that the Lord had spoken about, even though we’ve sinned.”
41 But Moses asked them, “Why do you continue to sin against what the Lord said? Don’t you know that you can never succeed? 42 Don’t go up, since you know that the Lord is no longer with you.[b] You’ll be attacked right in front of your own enemies. 43 The Amalekites and Canaanites are there waiting for you. You’ll die[c] violently,[d] since you’ve turned your back and have stopped following the Lord. The Lord won’t be with you.”
44 But they presumed to go up to the top of the mountain, even though the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and Moses didn’t leave the camp. 45 The Amalekites came down, accompanied by some Canaanites who lived in the mountains. They attacked and defeated them even while the Israelis were retreating[e] to Hormah.
Controversy about the Law
15 Then some men came down from Judea and started to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the Law of Moses, you can’t be saved.” 2 Paul and Barnabas had quite a dispute and argument with them. So Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to confer with the apostles and elders about this question. 3 They were sent on their way by the church, and as they were going through Phoenicia and Samaria they told of the conversion of the gentiles and brought great joy to all the brothers. 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church, the apostles, and the elders, and they reported everything that God had done through them. 5 But some believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The gentiles[a] must be circumcised and ordered to keep the Law of Moses.”
6 So the apostles and the elders met to look into this claim. 7 After a lengthy debate, Peter stood up and told them, “Brothers, you know that in the early days, God chose me to be the one among you through whom the gentiles would hear the message of the gospel and believe. 8 God, who knows everyone’s heart, showed them he approved by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. 9 He made no distinction between them and us, because of their faith-cleansed hearts. 10 So why do you test God by putting on the disciples’ neck a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we could carry? 11 We certainly believe that it is through the grace of the Lord Jesus, the Messiah,[b] that we are saved, just as they are.”
12 The whole crowd was silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul tell about all the signs and wonders that God had done through them among the gentiles.
Not Peace, but Division(A)
49 “I’ve come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already ablaze! 50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and what stress I am under until it’s completed! 51 Do you think that I came to bring peace on earth? Not at all, I tell you, but rather division! 52 From now on, five people in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three. 53 They will be divided father against son, son against father, mother against daughter, daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law.”
Interpreting the Time(B)
54 Then Jesus[a] told the crowds, “When you see a cloud coming in from the west, you immediately say, ‘There’s going to be a storm,’ and that’s what happens. 55 When you see a south wind blowing, you say, ‘It’s going to be hot,’ and so it is. 56 You hypocrites! You know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky, yet you don’t know how to interpret the present time?”
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