Book of Common Prayer
A maskil from Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 I will sing forever about the Lord’s love.
I will sing about his faithfulness forever and ever!
2 I will say, “Your faithful love will last forever.
Your loyalty is like the sky—there is no end to it!”
3 You said, “I made an agreement with my chosen king.
I made this promise to my servant David:
4 ‘There will always be someone from your family to rule.
I will make your kingdom continue forever and ever.’” Selah
5 Lord, the heavens praise you for the amazing things you do.
The assembly of holy ones sings about your loyalty.
6 No one in heaven is equal to the Lord.
None of the “gods” can compare to the Lord.
7 When God’s holy ones—the angels around his throne—meet together,
they fear and respect him;
he is more awesome than all those around him.
8 Lord God All-Powerful, there is no one like you.
You are strong, Lord, and always faithful.
9 You rule the stormy sea.
You can calm its angry waves.
10 You defeated Rahab.
You scattered your enemies with your own powerful arm.
11 Everything in heaven and earth belongs to you.
You made the world and everything in it.
12 You created everything north and south.
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon sing praises to your name.
13 You have the power!
Your power is great!
Victory is yours!
14 Your kingdom is built on truth and justice.
Love and faithfulness are servants before your throne.
15 Lord, your loyal followers are happy.
They live in the light of your kindness.
16 Your name always makes them happy.
They praise your goodness.
17 You are their amazing strength.
Their power comes from you.
18 The king, our protector, belongs to the Lord,
who is the Holy One of Israel.
19 Lord, you once spoke in a vision to your followers:
“I have made a young soldier strong.
From among my people I chose him for an important position.
20 I have found my servant David
and anointed him as king with my special oil.
21 I will support him with my right hand,
and my arm will make him strong.
22 So no enemy will ever control him.
The wicked will never defeat him.
23 I will destroy his enemies before his eyes.
I will defeat those who hate him.
24 I will always love and support him.
I will always make him strong.
25 I will put him in charge of the sea.
He will control the rivers.
26 He will say to me, ‘You are my father.
You are my God, my Rock, my Savior.’
27 And I will make him my firstborn son.
He will be the great king on earth.
28 My love will protect him forever.
My agreement with him will never end.
29 I will make his family continue forever.
His kingdom will last as long as the skies.
30 If his descendants stop following my law
and stop obeying my commands,
31 if they break my laws
and ignore my commands,
32 I will punish them severely
for their sins and wrongs.
33 But I will never take my love from him.
I will never stop being loyal to him.
34 I will not break my agreement with David.
I will never change what I said.
35 By my holiness, I made a promise to him,
and I would not lie to David.
36 His family will continue forever.
His kingdom will last as long as the sun.
37 Like the moon, it will continue forever.
The sky is a witness to the agreement that can be trusted.” Selah
38 But now, Lord, you have become angry with your chosen king,[a]
and you have left him all alone.
39 You ended the agreement you made with your servant.
You threw the king’s crown into the dirt.
40 You pulled down the walls of his city.
You destroyed all his fortresses.
41 Everyone passing by steals from him.
His neighbors laugh at him.
42 You made all the king’s enemies happy
and let his enemies win the war.
43 You helped them defend themselves.
You did not help your king win the battle.
44 You did not let him win.
You threw his throne to the ground.
45 You cut his life short.
You shamed him. Selah
46 Lord, how long will this continue?
Will you ignore us forever?
Will your anger burn like a fire forever?
47 Remember how short my life is.
You created us to live a short life and then die.
48 Is there anyone alive who will never die?
Will anyone escape the grave? Selah
49 Lord, where is the love you showed in the past?
You promised David that you would be loyal to his family.
50-51 My Lord, please remember how people insulted your servant.
Lord, I had to listen to all the insults from your enemies.
They insulted your chosen king wherever he went.
52 Praise the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen!
Jephthah and Ephraim
12 The men from the tribe of Ephraim called all their soldiers together. Then they went across the river to the city of Zaphon. They said to Jephthah, “Why didn’t you call us to help you fight the Ammonites? We will burn your house down with you in it.”
2 Jephthah answered them, “The Ammonites have been giving us many problems. So my people and I fought against them. I called you, but you didn’t come to help us. 3 I saw that you would not help us, so I risked my own life. I went across the river to fight against the Ammonites. The Lord helped me defeat them. Now why have you come to fight against me today?”
4 Then Jephthah called the men of Gilead together. They fought against the men from the tribe of Ephraim because they had insulted the men of Gilead. They had said, “You men of Gilead are nothing but survivors of the men of Ephraim. Part of you belongs to Ephraim, and part of you belongs to Manasseh.” The men of Gilead defeated the men of Ephraim.
5 The men of Gilead captured the places where people cross the Jordan River. Those places led to the country of Ephraim. Any time a survivor from Ephraim came to the river and said, “Let me cross,” the men of Gilead would ask him, “Are you from Ephraim?” If he said, “No,” 6 they would say, “Say the word ‘Shibboleth.’” The men of Ephraim could not say that word correctly. They pronounced the word “Sibboleth.” So if the man said, “Sibboleth,” then the men of Gilead knew he was from Ephraim. So they would kill him at the crossing place. They killed 42,000 men from Ephraim.
7 Jephthah was a judge for the Israelites for six years. Then Jephthah from Gilead died and was buried in his town in Gilead.
Proofs From God
12 The apostles were given the power to do many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. They were together in Solomon’s Porch, and they all had the same purpose. 13 None of the other people dared to stand with the apostles, but everyone was saying wonderful things about them. 14 More and more people believed in the Lord, and many men and women were added to the group of believers. 15 So the people brought those who were sick into the streets and put them on little beds and mats. They were hoping that Peter’s shadow might fall on them as he walked by. 16 People came from all the towns around Jerusalem. They brought those who were sick or troubled by evil spirits. All of them were healed.
The Apostles Are Arrested
17 The high priest and all his friends, a group called the Sadducees, became very jealous. 18 They grabbed the apostles and put them in jail. 19 But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail. The angel led the apostles outside and said, 20 “Go and stand in the Temple area. Tell the people everything about this new life.” 21 When the apostles heard this, they did what they were told. They went into the Temple area about sunrise and began to teach the people.
The high priest and his friends came together and called a meeting of the high council and all the older Jewish leaders. They sent some men to the jail to bring the apostles to them. 22 When the men went to the jail, they could not find the apostles there. So they went back and told the Jewish leaders about this. 23 They said, “The jail was closed and locked. The guards were standing at the doors. But when we opened the doors, the jail was empty!” 24 The captain of the Temple guards and the leading priests heard this. They were confused and wondered what it all meant.
25 Then another man came and told them, “Listen! The men you put in jail are standing in the Temple area teaching the people.” 26 The captain and his men went out and brought the apostles back. But the soldiers did not use force, because they were afraid of the people. They were afraid the people would stone them to death.
Jesus and Nicodemus
3 There was a man named Nicodemus, one of the Pharisees. He was an important Jewish leader. 2 One night he came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we know that you are a teacher sent from God. No one can do these miraculous signs that you do unless they have God’s help.”
3 Jesus answered, “I assure you, everyone must be born again. Anyone who is not born again cannot be in God’s kingdom.”
4 Nicodemus said, “How can a man who is already old be born again? Can he go back into his mother’s womb and be born a second time?”
5 Jesus answered, “Believe me when I say that everyone must be born from water and the Spirit. Anyone who is not born from water and the Spirit cannot enter God’s kingdom. 6 The only life people get from their human parents is physical. But the new life that the Spirit gives a person is spiritual. 7 Don’t be surprised that I told you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows wherever it wants to. You hear it, but you don’t know where it is coming from or where it is going. It is the same with everyone who is born from the Spirit.”
9 Nicodemus asked, “How is all this possible?”
10 Jesus said, “You are an important teacher of Israel, and you still don’t understand these things? 11 The truth is, we talk about what we know. We tell about what we have seen. But you people don’t accept what we tell you. 12 I have told you about things here on earth, but you do not believe me. So I’m sure you will not believe me if I tell you about heavenly things! 13 The only one who has ever gone up to heaven is the one who came down from heaven—the Son of Man.
14 “Moses lifted up the snake in the desert.[a] It is the same with the Son of Man. He must be lifted up too. 15 Then everyone who believes in him can have eternal life.”[b]
16 Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world. He did not send him to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him. 18 People who believe in God’s Son are not judged guilty. But people who do not believe are already judged, because they have not believed in God’s only Son. 19 They are judged by this fact: The light[c] has come into the world. But they did not want light. They wanted darkness, because they were doing evil things. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the light. They will not come to the light, because the light will show all the bad things they have done. 21 But anyone who follows the true way comes to the light. Then the light will show that whatever they have done was done through God.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International