Book of Common Prayer
In Praise of Jerusalem[a]
87 The Lord built his city on the sacred hill;[b]
2 more than any other place in Israel
he loves the city of Jerusalem.
3 Listen, city of God,
to the wonderful things he says about you:
4 “I will include Egypt and Babylonia
when I list the nations that obey me;
the people of Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia[c]
I will number among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”
5 Of Zion it will be said
that all nations belong there
and that the Almighty will make her strong.
6 The Lord will write a list of the peoples
and include them all as citizens of Jerusalem.
7 They dance and sing,
“In Zion is the source of all our blessings.”
BOOK FOUR(A)
Of God and Human Beings[a]
90 O Lord, you have always been our home.
2 Before you created the hills
or brought the world into being,
you were eternally God,
and will be God forever.
3 You tell us to return to what we were;
you change us back to dust.
4 (B)A thousand years to you are like one day;
they are like yesterday, already gone,
like a short hour in the night.
5 You carry us away like a flood;
we last no longer than a dream.
We are like weeds that sprout in the morning,
6 that grow and burst into bloom,
then dry up and die in the evening.
7 We are destroyed by your anger;
we are terrified by your fury.
8 You place our sins before you,
our secret sins where you can see them.
9 Our life is cut short by your anger;
it fades away like a whisper.
10 (C)Seventy years is all we have—
eighty years, if we are strong;
yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow;
life is soon over, and we are gone.
11 Who has felt the full power of your anger?
Who knows what fear your fury can bring?
12 Teach us how short our life is,
so that we may become wise.
13 How much longer will your anger last?
Have pity, O Lord, on your servants!
14 Fill us each morning with your constant love,
so that we may sing and be glad all our life.
15 Give us now as much happiness as the sadness you gave us
during all our years of misery.
16 Let us, your servants, see your mighty deeds;
let our descendants see your glorious might.
17 Lord our God, may your blessings be with us.
Give us success in all we do!
A Hymn of Thanksgiving
136 (A)Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good;
his love is eternal.
2 Give thanks to the greatest of all gods;
his love is eternal.
3 Give thanks to the mightiest of all lords;
his love is eternal.
4 He alone performs great miracles;
his love is eternal.
5 (B)By his wisdom he made the heavens;
his love is eternal;
6 (C)he built the earth on the deep waters;
his love is eternal.
7 (D)He made the sun and the moon;
his love is eternal;
8 the sun to rule over the day;
his love is eternal;
9 the moon and the stars to rule over the night;
his love is eternal.
10 (E)He killed the first-born sons of the Egyptians;
his love is eternal.
11 (F)He led the people of Israel out of Egypt;
his love is eternal;
12 with his strong hand, his powerful arm;
his love is eternal.
13 (G)He divided the Red Sea;
his love is eternal;
14 he led his people through it;
his love is eternal;
15 but he drowned the king of Egypt and his army;
his love is eternal.
16 He led his people through the desert;
his love is eternal.
17 He killed powerful kings;
his love is eternal;
18 he killed famous kings;
his love is eternal;
19 (H)Sihon, king of the Amorites;
his love is eternal;
20 (I)and Og, king of Bashan;
his love is eternal.
21 He gave their lands to his people;
his love is eternal;
22 he gave them to Israel, his servant;
his love is eternal.
23 He did not forget us when we were defeated;
his love is eternal;
24 he freed us from our enemies;
his love is eternal.
25 He gives food to every living creature;
his love is eternal.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven;
his love is eternal.
1 (A)This is the message which the Lord gave Hosea son of Beeri during the time that Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah were kings of Judah, and Jeroboam son of Jehoash was king of Israel.
Hosea's Wife and Children
2 When the Lord first spoke to Israel through Hosea, he said to Hosea, “Go and get married; your wife will be unfaithful, and your children will be just like her.[a] In the same way my people have left me and become unfaithful.”
3 So Hosea married a woman named Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim. After the birth of their first child, a son, 4 (B)the Lord said to Hosea, “Name him ‘Jezreel,’ because it will not be long before I punish the king of Israel for the murders that his ancestor Jehu committed at Jezreel.[b] I am going to put an end to Jehu's dynasty.[c] 5 And in Jezreel Valley I will at that time destroy Israel's military power.”
6 Gomer had a second child—this time it was a daughter. The Lord said to Hosea, “Name her ‘Unloved,’ because I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them. 7 But to the people of Judah I will show love. I, the Lord their God, will save them, but I will not do it by war—with swords or bows and arrows or with horses and horsemen.”
8 After Gomer had weaned her daughter, she became pregnant again and had another son. 9 The Lord said to Hosea, “Name him ‘Not-My-People,’ because the people of Israel are not my people, and I am not their God.”
Israel Is to Be Restored
10 (C)The people of Israel will become like the sand of the sea, more than can be counted or measured. Now God says to them, “You are not my people,” but the day is coming when he will say to them, “You are the children of the living God!” 11 The people of Judah and the people of Israel will be reunited. They will choose for themselves a single leader, and once again they will grow and prosper in their land. Yes, the day of Jezreel[d] will be a great day!
2 So call your fellow Israelites “God's People” and “Loved-by-the-Lord.”
To Macedonia and Achaia
20 After the uproar died down, Paul called together the believers and with words of encouragement said good-bye to them. Then he left and went on to Macedonia. 2 He went through those regions and encouraged the people with many messages. Then he came to Achaia, 3 where he stayed three months. He was getting ready to go to Syria when he discovered that there were Jews plotting against him; so he decided to go back through Macedonia. 4 Sopater son of Pyrrhus, from Berea, went with him; so did Aristarchus and Secundus, from Thessalonica; Gaius, from Derbe; Tychicus and Trophimus, from the province of Asia; and Timothy. 5 They went ahead and waited for us in Troas. 6 We sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and five days later we joined them in Troas, where we spent a week.
Paul's Last Visit to Troas
7 On Saturday[a] evening we gathered together for the fellowship meal. Paul spoke to the people and kept on speaking until midnight, since he was going to leave the next day. 8 Many lamps were burning in the upstairs room where we were meeting. 9 A young man named Eutychus was sitting in the window, and as Paul kept on talking, Eutychus got sleepier and sleepier, until he finally went sound asleep and fell from the third story to the ground. When they picked him up, he was dead. 10 But Paul went down and threw himself on him and hugged him. “Don't worry,” he said, “he is still alive!” 11 Then he went back upstairs, broke bread, and ate. After talking with them for a long time, even until sunrise, Paul left. 12 They took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.
From Troas to Miletus
13 We went on ahead to the ship and sailed off to Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had told us to do this, because he was going there by land. 14 When he met us in Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. 15 We sailed from there and arrived off Chios the next day. A day later we came to Samos, and the following day we reached Miletus. 16 Paul had decided to sail on by Ephesus, so as not to lose any time in the province of Asia. He was in a hurry to arrive in Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost, if at all possible.
Jesus Heals Many People(A)
38 Jesus left the synagogue and went to Simon's home. Simon's mother-in-law was sick with a high fever, and they spoke to Jesus about her. 39 He went and stood at her bedside and ordered the fever to leave her. The fever left her, and she got up at once and began to wait on them.
40 After sunset all who had friends who were sick with various diseases brought them to Jesus; he placed his hands on every one of them and healed them all. 41 Demons also went out from many people, screaming, “You are the Son of God!”
Jesus gave the demons an order and would not let them speak, because they knew he was the Messiah.
Jesus Preaches in the Synagogues(B)
42 At daybreak Jesus left the town and went off to a lonely place. The people started looking for him, and when they found him, they tried to keep him from leaving. 43 But he said to them, “I must preach the Good News about the Kingdom of God in other towns also, because that is what God sent me to do.”
44 So he preached in the synagogues throughout the country.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.