Book of Common Prayer
2 What fools the nations are to rage[a] against the Lord! How strange that men should try to outwit God! 2 For a summit conference of the nations has been called to plot against the Lord and his Messiah, Christ the King.[b] 3 “Come, let us break his chains,” they say, “and free ourselves from all this slavery to God.”
4 But God in heaven merely laughs! He is amused by all their puny plans. 5 And then in fierce fury he rebukes them and fills them with fear.
6 For the Lord declares,[c] “This is the King of my choice, and I have enthroned him in Jerusalem, my holy city.”
7 His chosen one replies,[d] “I will reveal the everlasting purposes of God, for the Lord has said to me, ‘You are my Son. This is your Coronation Day. Today I am giving you your glory.’” 8 “Only ask and I will give you all the nations of the world. 9 Rule them with an iron rod; smash them like clay pots!”
10 O kings and rulers of the earth, listen while there is time. 11 Serve the Lord with reverent fear; rejoice with trembling. 12 Fall down before his Son and kiss his feet[e] before his anger is roused and you perish. I am warning you—his wrath will soon begin. But oh, the joys of those who put their trust in him!
24 The earth belongs to God! Everything in all the world is his! 2 He is the one who pushed the oceans back to let dry land appear.[a]
3 Who may climb the mountain of the Lord and enter where he lives? Who may stand before the Lord? 4 Only those with pure hands and hearts, who do not practice dishonesty and lying. 5 They will receive God’s own goodness[b] as their blessing from him, planted in their lives by God himself, their Savior. 6 These are the ones who are allowed to stand before the Lord and worship the God of Jacob.
7 Open up, O ancient gates, and let the King of Glory in. 8 Who is this King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, invincible in battle. 9 Yes, open wide the gates and let the King of Glory in.
10 Who is this King of Glory? The Commander of all of heaven’s armies!
12 And the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me into the mountain, and remain until I give you the laws and commandments I have written on tablets of stone, so that you can teach the people from them.” 13 So Moses and Joshua, his assistant, went up into the mountain of God.
14 He told the elders, “Stay here and wait for us until we come back; if there are any problems while I am gone, consult with Aaron and Hur.”
15 Then Moses went up the mountain and disappeared into the cloud at the top. 16 And the glory of the Lord rested upon Mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days; the seventh day he called to Moses from the cloud. 17 Those at the bottom of the mountain saw the awesome sight: the glory of the Lord on the mountaintop looked like a raging fire. 18 And Moses disappeared into the cloud-covered mountaintop, and was there for forty days and forty nights.
4 It is God himself, in his mercy, who has given us this wonderful work of telling his Good News to others,[a] and so we never give up. 2 We do not try to trick people into believing—we are not interested in fooling anyone. We never try to get anyone to believe that the Bible teaches what it doesn’t. All such shameful methods we forego. We stand in the presence of God as we speak and so we tell the truth, as all who know us will agree.
3 If the Good News we preach is hidden to anyone, it is hidden from the one who is on the road to eternal death. 4 Satan, who is the god of this evil world, has made him blind, unable to see the glorious light of the Gospel that is shining upon him or to understand the amazing message we preach about the glory of Christ, who is God.[b] 5 We don’t go around preaching about ourselves but about Christ Jesus as Lord. All we say of ourselves is that we are your slaves because of what Jesus has done for us. 6 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made us understand that it is the brightness of his glory that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.
72 O God, help the king to judge as you would, and help his son to walk in godliness. 2 Help him to give justice to your people, even to the poor. 3 May the mountains and hills flourish in prosperity because of his good reign. 4 Help him to defend the poor and needy and to crush their oppressors. 5 May the poor and needy revere you constantly, as long as sun and moon continue in the skies! Yes, forever!
6 May the reign of this son of mine[a] be as gentle and fruitful as the springtime rains upon the grass—like showers that water the earth! 7 May all good men flourish in his reign with abundance of peace to the end of time.
8 Let him reign from sea to sea and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth. 9 The desert nomads shall bow before him; his enemies shall fall face downward in the dust. 10 Kings along the Mediterranean coast—the kings of Tarshish and the islands—and those from Sheba and from Seba—all will bring their gifts. 11 Yes, kings from everywhere! All will bow before him! All will serve him!
12 He will take care of the helpless and poor when they cry to him; for they have no one else to defend them. 13 He feels pity for the weak and needy and will rescue them. 14 He will save them from oppression and from violence, for their lives are precious to him.
15 And he shall live; and to him will be given the gold of Sheba, and there will be constant praise for him.[b] His people will bless him all day long. 16 Bless us with abundant crops throughout the land, even on the highland plains; may there be fruit like that of Lebanon; may the cities be as full of people as the fields are of grass. 17 His name will be honored forever; it will continue as the sun; and all will be blessed in him; all nations will praise him.
18 Blessed be Jehovah God, the God of Israel, who only does wonderful things! 19 Blessed be his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen!
20 (This ends the psalms of David, son of Jesse.)
27 Now my soul is deeply troubled. Shall I pray, ‘Father, save me from what lies ahead’? But that is the very reason why I came! 28 Father, bring glory and honor to your name.”
Then a voice spoke from heaven saying, “I have already done this, and I will do it again.” 29 When the crowd heard the voice, some of them thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him.
30 Then Jesus told them, “The voice was for your benefit, not mine. 31 The time of judgment for the world has come—and the time when Satan,[a] the prince of this world, shall be cast out. 32 And when I am lifted up on the cross,[b] I will draw everyone to me.” 33 He said this to indicate how he was going to die.
34 “Die?” asked the crowd. “We understood that the Messiah would live forever and never die. Why are you saying he will die? What Messiah are you talking about?”
35 Jesus replied, “My light will shine out for you just a little while longer. Walk in it while you can, and go where you want to go before the darkness falls, for then it will be too late for you to find your way. 36 Make use of the Light while there is still time; then you will become light bearers.”[c]
After saying these things, Jesus went away and was hidden from them.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.