Book of Common Prayer
Asaph wrote this psalm.
God is our judge[a]
50 God, the great God, the Lord, is speaking.
He is calling everybody on the earth,
from where the sun rises in the east,
to where it goes down in the west.
2 God is shining out from Zion,
that most beautiful place.
3 Our God is coming,
and he does not come quietly!
A fire burns up everything that is in front of him.
There is a great storm all round him.
4 He calls to the skies above,
and to the earth below.
They must watch while he judges his people.
5 He says, ‘Bring my people to me.
They are the people who offered sacrifices to me,
to agree our covenant.’
6 The skies above show that God is righteous,
and God himself is the judge.
Selah.
7 He says, ‘Listen to me, my people,
and I will speak to you.
I have something to say against you, Israel.
I am God, your God.
8 You offer sacrifices and burnt offerings to me all the time
but that is not why I speak against you.
9 I do not need a bull from your farm,
or goats from your fields.
10 All the wild animals of the forest belong to me!
All the cows on a thousand hills belong to me!
11 I know every bird in the mountains,
as well as all the insects.
12 Even if I did become hungry,
I would not tell you.
All the world belongs to me,
and everything that is in it.
13 Do I eat the meat of bulls? No!
Do I drink the blood of goats? No!
14 Say “thank you” to me as your offering.
Do whatever you have promised to do for me,
the Most High God.
15 Pray to me when you are in trouble.
Then I will rescue you,
and you will praise me.’[b]
16 But God says this to the wicked people:
‘It is useless for you to speak about my commands,
or about my covenant.
17 For you hate my teaching,
and you refuse to accept my message.
18 If you see a robber,
you run to help him!
You become friends with adulterers.
19 You speak about evil things,
and you are always telling lies.
20 You say bad things about your own brother,
and you speak against your own family!
21 You did all these things,
and I said nothing.
So you thought that I was as bad as you are.
But now I am warning you!
I will tell you clearly
what you have done wrong.
22 So think carefully about this,
all you people who have turned away from me.
If not, I will tear you into pieces,
and nobody will be able to save you.
23 If anyone wants to praise me,
they should say “thank you” to me as their offering.
If anyone obeys my commands,
I will show them my power to save people.’
This is for the music leader, and he should use special music.
David wrote this prayer when King Saul sent men to catch David at his house and murder him.
A prayer[a]
59 My God, please save me from my enemies!
They are attacking me,
so please keep me safe from them.
2 Rescue me from those dangerous men,
who are doing evil things.
3 Look at them! They are waiting to kill me!
Cruel men are ready to attack me.
Lord, I have not done anything against them,
but they still want to kill me.
4 I have done nothing that is wrong,
but they are preparing to attack me.
Do something to help me!
Look at what they are doing!
5 For you are the Lord God Almighty,
the God that Israel serves.
Get up and punish all the foreign nations.
Do not forgive any wicked people
who have turned against us.
Selah.
6 Those bad people come back to the city every evening.
They go from place to place,
and they cry out like dogs.
7 They shout evil things,
and their words hurt like swords.
They think, ‘Nobody can hear what we say!’
8 But Lord, you laugh at them.
You laugh at all the foreign nations.
9 I will wait for you to help me,
because you are the one who gives me strength.
You, God, are the strong place
where I will be safe.
10 Yes God, you love me with a faithful love,
and you will come to help me.
God will let me see that he has won against my enemies.
11 Do not kill them yet,
or my people will soon forget.
Use your power to send them away without homes.
Then make them fall!
You are our Lord
who keeps us safe like a soldier's shield.
12 They speak bad words that are evil.
Let their own pride catch them in a trap,
because they curse people,
and they tell lies.
13 Because you are angry with them,
destroy them!
Destroy them completely,
so that they are no more.
Then everybody will know that God rules in Israel,
and he rules everywhere in the earth.
Selah.
14 Those bad people come back to the city every evening.
They go from place to place,
and they cry out like dogs.
15 They go from place to place
and they look for food to eat.
They will not rest until they are full.
16 But I will sing to praise you.
I will sing about your strength!
In the morning,
I will praise you for your faithful love.
Because you are the strong place where I can hide.
When I am in trouble,
you keep me safe.
17 You are the one who gives me strength.
I will sing songs to praise you.
You, God, are my strong, safe place.
You are the God who loves me with a faithful love.
This is for the music leader, and he should use special music.
David wrote this prayer to teach people. He wrote it when he fought wars in north Syria. After the battle, Joab's army killed 12,000 of Edom's people in Salt Valley.
God, please help us![b]
60 God, you have turned against us,
and you have broken down our strong walls.[c]
You are angry with us,
but please make us strong again!
2 You made the ground shake
and you tore it open.
Now mend the holes,
or everything will fall down.
3 You have given your people a time of difficult trouble.
You have given us strong wine to drink,
that has made us fall like drunk people.[d]
4 But you have lifted up a flag
for the people who serve you.
They can meet together there,
to be safe in the battle.
Selah.
5 Use your power to rescue us!
Answer our prayers!
Then the people that you love will be safe.
6 God has spoken from his holy place![e]
He has promised:
‘I will show my power!
I will make Shechem into separate pieces.
I will measure Succoth Valley.
7 Gilead belongs to me,
and so does Manasseh.
Ephraim is like my helmet for war.
Judah has the authority of my royal sceptre.[f]
8 But Moab is the place where I wash my hands.
Edom is my servant.
I can throw my shoes at him!
I will shout loudly,
because I have won against the Philistines.’[g]
9 Who will lead me into the strong city?
Who will take me to fight and win against Edom?[h]
10 God, have you really turned against us?
Will you not lead our armies into battle?
11 Help us to fight against our enemies,
because help from men is useless!
12 With God's help, we will win!
He will beat down our enemies for us.
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.
3 Some Hivite people who lived in Gibeon heard how Joshua had won against Jericho and Ai. 4 So they had a clever idea. Some men took old bags of food and broken bags of wine that had holes in them. They put these things on their donkeys. 5 They wore old shoes on their feet, and they dressed themselves in old clothes. They took some bread that was old and dry. 6 They arrived at the tents of the Israelites in Gilgal. They said to Joshua and to the men of Israel, ‘We have come from a land that is very far away. Please let us make an agreement that we will not fight each other.’
7 But the men of Israel said to the Hivites, ‘Perhaps you live near to us. So we could not make a promise not to fight against you.’
8 The Hivites said to Joshua, ‘If you agree, we will become your servants.’
Joshua asked them, ‘Who are you? Where do you come from?’
9 They answered, ‘We, your servants, have come from a country that is very far away. We heard about the Lord, who is your God. We have heard about all the things that he did in Egypt. 10 We also heard what he did to the two kings of the Amorites. They ruled cities east of the Jordan: Sihon, king of Heshbon, and Og, king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth. 11 Our leaders and all our people told us to come to meet you. Our leaders said, “Take food and drink for your journey. Go to meet them, and say to them, ‘We want to be your servants. Please promise not to fight against us.’ ” 12 We have come a very long way. This bread was warm when we put it in our bags on the day that we left home. But see how hard and dry it has become. 13 These bags of wine were new, but see how old and spoiled they are now. Our clothes and our shoes have become old as we made our long journey.’
14 The Israelite men tasted some of the Gibeonites' food, but they did not ask the Lord what they should do. 15 So Joshua agreed that they would not kill the people of Gibeon. The Israelite leaders also said that they would obey this agreement.
16 Three days after they made this agreement, the Israelites discovered that the Gibeonites lived near to them. 17 So the Israelites left Gilgal to find the cities where the Hivites lived. After three days they arrived at their cities: Gibeon, Kephirah, Beeroth and Kiriath-Jearim. 18 The Israelites did not attack them, because of the promise that their leaders had made. They had made a strong promise in the name of the Lord God of Israel that they would not kill the Gibeonites.
The Israelite people were angry with their leaders, because of the agreement. 19 But all the leaders said to them, ‘We have made a strong promise to the Lord, Israel's God. So now we cannot hurt the Gibeonites. 20 But this is what we will do. We will let them live, because we made a strong promise to do that. Then God will not punish us. 21 We will let them live, but they will become our servants. They will cut wood and they will fetch water for all the Israelite people.’ That is what the Israelite leaders decided to do.
15 Some of us trust God with strong faith. We must help those believers whose faith is weaker. We must be patient with them. We should not just do things that will make us happy ourselves. 2 Instead, each of us should do things that will make other believers happy. We should help them to trust God more strongly. 3 Even Christ did not just do things that would make himself happy. It is written in the Bible that he said this: ‘People have insulted you, God. In that way they have also insulted me.’[a]
4 Everything that people wrote in the Bible in past times is there to teach us something. Those words help us to be patient and strong. As a result, we can trust God to do what he has promised.
5 It is God himself who helps us to be patient and strong. So I pray that he will help you to agree with each other and to be friends. That is how Christ Jesus wants you to live. 6 As a result, all of you will praise God together with the same thoughts. You will all agree that God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, is very great.
Christ saves both Jews and Gentiles
7 Christ has accepted you, so you must accept each other. In that way you will be praising God. 8 Remember this: Christ became a servant of the Jews so that they could understand God's true message. He showed them that God has now done what he promised to their ancestors.[b] 9 The Gentiles also praise God because he has been kind to them. This is written in the Bible:
‘I will tell the Gentiles about you, God.
I will praise you with songs, to show how great you are.’[c]
10 It says also in the Bible:
‘Be very happy, you Gentiles!
Praise God together with his people.’[d]
11 It also says this:
‘Say how great the Lord is, all you Gentiles.
All people, from every country, should say how great he is.’[e]
12 God's prophet Isaiah says this:
‘The root of Jesse will arrive.
He will come to rule the Gentiles.
The Gentiles will trust him to save them.’[f]
13 God is the one who causes us to hope for good things. I pray that God will bless you very much. I pray that he will cause you to be happy and to have peace in your minds. He will do this because you believe in him. As a result, God's Holy Spirit will make you strong with his power, so that you hope even more certainly.
Peter says three times that he does not know Jesus
69 While all these things were happening, Peter was sitting outside in the yard. One of the girls who worked there went to him and she said, ‘You were also a friend of Jesus, the man from Galilee.’
70 Peter said in front of everyone who was there, ‘That is not true. I do not know what you are talking about.’
71 Peter then went out to the gate, and another servant girl saw him. This girl said to the people who were standing there, ‘This man was a friend of Jesus, the man from Nazareth.’
72 Peter answered again very strongly. He said, ‘I promise you, I really do not know that man!’
73 After a little time, other people who were standing at the gate spoke to Peter. They said, ‘We are sure that you too are one of that man's friends. We know this because you speak like people who live in Galilee.’
74 Peter said to them very strongly, ‘I tell you that I do not know that man. God will surely punish me if this is not true!’
Immediately after Peter said this, the cockerel sang. 75 Then Peter remembered that Jesus had said to him, ‘Tonight you will say three times that you do not know me. You will do it before the cockerel sings.’ So Peter went out of the yard. He began to weep a lot because he was very upset.
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