Book of Common Prayer
Book 1
(Psalms 1-41)
1 Great blessings belong to those
who don’t listen to evil advice,
who don’t live like sinners,
and who don’t join those who make fun of God.[a]
2 Instead, they love the Lord’s teachings
and think about them day and night.
3 So they grow strong,
like a tree planted by a stream—
a tree that produces fruit when it should
and has leaves that never fall.
Everything they do is successful.
4 But the wicked are not like that.
They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 When the time for judgment comes, the wicked will be found guilty.
Sinners have no place among those who do what is right.[b]
6 The Lord shows his people how to live,
but the wicked have lost their way.
2 Why are the nations so angry?
Why are the people making such foolish plans?
2 Their kings and leaders join together
to fight against the Lord and his chosen king.[c]
3 They say, “Let’s rebel against them.
Let’s break free from them!”
4 But the one who rules in heaven laughs at them.
The Lord makes fun of them.
5 He speaks to them in anger,
and it fills them with fear.
6 He says, “I have chosen this man to be king,
and he will rule on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7 Let me tell you about the Lord’s agreement:
He said to me, “Today I have become your father,[d]
and you are my son.
8 If you ask, I will give you the nations.
Everyone on earth will be yours.
9 You will rule over them with great power.
You will scatter your enemies like broken pieces of pottery!”
10 So, kings and rulers, be smart
and learn this lesson.
11 Serve the Lord with fear and trembling.
12 Show that you are loyal to his son,[e]
or the Lord will be angry and destroy you.
He is almost angry enough to do that now,
but those who go to him for protection will be blessed.
A song of David written during the time he was running from his son Absalom.
3 Lord, I have so many enemies.
So many people have turned against me.
2 They say to themselves, “God will not rescue him!” Selah
3 But you, Lord, protect me.
You bring me honor;
you give me hope.
4 I will pray to the Lord,
and he will answer me from his holy mountain. Selah
5 I can lie down to rest and know that I will wake up,
because the Lord covers and protects me.
6 So I will not be afraid of my enemies,
even if thousands of them surround me.
7 Lord, get up![f]
My God, come rescue me!
If you hit my enemies on the cheek,
you will break all their teeth.
8 Lord, the victory[g] is yours!
You are so good to your people. Selah
To the director: With stringed instruments. A song of David.
4 God, you showed that I was innocent.
You gave me relief from all my troubles.
So listen to me now when I call to you for help.
Be kind to me and hear my prayer.
2 Men,[h] how long will you try to dishonor me?
Do you enjoy wasting your time searching for new lies against me? Selah
3 You can be sure that anyone who serves the Lord faithfully is special to him.
The Lord listens when I pray to him.
4 Tremble with fear, and stop sinning.[i]
Think about this when you go to bed, and calm down. Selah
5 Give the right sacrifices to the Lord,
and put your trust in him!
6 Many people say, “I wish I could enjoy the good life.
Lord, give us some of those blessings.”[j]
7 But you have made me happier than they will ever be with all their wine and grain.
8 When I go to bed, I sleep in peace,
because, Lord, you keep me safe.
A song[a] of David that he sang to the Lord about Cush from the tribe of Benjamin.
7 Lord my God, I come to you for protection.
Save me from those who are chasing me.
2 If you don’t help me, I will be torn apart like an animal caught by a lion.
I will be carried away with no one to save me.
3 Lord my God, I have done nothing wrong.
4 I have done nothing to hurt a friend[b]
or to help his enemies.
5 If that is not the truth, then punish me.
Let an enemy chase me, catch me, and kill me.
Let him grind me into the dirt and put me in my grave. Selah
6 Lord, get up[c] and show your anger!
My enemy is angry, so stand and fight against him.
Get me the justice that you demand.
7 Gather the nations around you,
and take your place as judge.
8 Lord, judge the people.
Lord, judge me.
Prove that I am right and that I am innocent.
9 Stop those who do evil.
Support those who do good.
God, you are fair.
You know what people are thinking.
10 God helps people who want to do right,
so he will protect me.
11 God is a good judge.
He always condemns evil.
12-13 If the wicked will not change,
then God is ready to punish them.
He has prepared his deadly weapons.
His sword is sharp.
His bow is strung, drawn back,
and ready to shoot its flaming arrow.
14 The minds of the wicked are full of evil;
they are pregnant with wicked plans,
which give birth to lies.
15 They dig a pit to trap others,
but they are the ones who will fall into it.
16 The trouble they cause will come back on them.
They plan harm for others,
but they are the ones who will be hurt.
17 I praise the Lord because he is good.
I praise the name of the Lord Most High.
Micah Is Upset at the Evil People Do
7 I am upset because I am like fruit that has been gathered,
like grapes that have already been picked.
There are no grapes left to eat.
There are none of the early figs that I love.
2 By this I mean that all the faithful people are gone.
There are no good people left.
Everyone is planning to kill someone.
Everyone is trying to trap their brother.
3 People are good at doing bad things with both hands.
Officials ask for bribes.
Judges take money to change their decisions in court.
“Important leaders” do whatever they want to do.
4 Even the best of them is as crooked
as a tangled thornbush.
The Day of Punishment Is Coming
Your prophets said this day would come,
and the day of your watchmen[a] has come.
Now you will be punished.
Now you will be confused!
5 Don’t trust your neighbor
or trust a friend!
Don’t even speak freely
with your wife.
6 Your enemies will be the people in your own house.
A son will not honor his father.
A daughter will turn against her mother.
A daughter-in-law will turn against her mother-in-law.
The Lord Is the Savior
7 So I will look to the Lord for help.
I will wait for God to save me.
My God will hear me.
Paul Before King Agrippa
26 Agrippa said to Paul, “You may now speak to defend yourself.” Paul raised his hand to get their attention and began to speak. 2 He said, “King Agrippa, I feel fortunate that I can stand here before you today and answer all the charges these Jews have made against me. 3 I am very happy to talk to you, because you know so much about all the Jewish customs and the things the Jews argue about. Please listen to me patiently.
4 “All the Jews know about my whole life. They know the way I lived from the beginning in my own country and later in Jerusalem. 5 These Jews have known me for a long time. If they want to, they can tell you that I was a good Pharisee. And the Pharisees obey the laws of the Jewish religion more carefully than any other group. 6 Now I am on trial because I hope for the promise that God made to our fathers. 7 This is the promise that all the twelve tribes of our people hope to receive. For this hope the Jews serve God day and night. My king, the Jews have accused me because I hope for this same promise. 8 Why do you people think it is impossible for God to raise people from death?
9 “I used to think that I should do everything I could against Jesus from Nazareth. 10 And that’s what I did, beginning in Jerusalem. The leading priests gave me the authority to put many of God’s people in jail. And when they were being killed, I agreed that it was a good thing. 11 I visited all the synagogues and punished them, trying to make them curse[a] Jesus. My anger against these people was so strong that I went to other cities to find them and punish them.
Paul Tells About Seeing Jesus
12 “One time the leading priests gave me permission and the authority to go to the city of Damascus. 13 On the way there, at noon, I saw a light from heaven, brighter than the sun. It shined all around me and those traveling with me. 14 We all fell to the ground. Then I heard a voice talking to me in Aramaic. The voice said, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are only hurting yourself by fighting me.’
15 “I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’
“The Lord said, ‘I am Jesus. I am the one you are persecuting. 16 Stand up! I have chosen you to be my servant. You will tell people about me—what you have seen today and what I will show you. This is why I have come to you. 17 I will keep you safe from your own people and from the non-Jewish people, the ones I am sending you to. 18 You will make them able to understand the truth. They will turn away from darkness to the light. They will turn away from the power of Satan, and they will turn to God. Then their sins can be forgiven, and they can be given a place among God’s people—those who have been made holy by believing in me.’”
Paul Tells About His Work
19 Paul continued speaking: “King Agrippa, after I had this vision from heaven, I obeyed it. 20 I began telling people to change their hearts and lives and turn back to God. And I told them to do what would show that they had really changed. I went first to people in Damascus. Then I went to Jerusalem and to every part of Judea and told the people there. I also went to the non-Jewish people.
21 “This is why the Jews grabbed me and were trying to kill me at the Temple. 22 But God helped me, and he is still helping me today. With God’s help I am standing here today and telling all people what I have seen. But I am saying nothing new. I am saying only what Moses and the prophets said would happen. 23 They said that the Messiah would die and be the first to rise from death. They said that he would bring the light of God’s saving truth[b] to the Jewish people and to the non-Jewish people.”
Jesus Frees a Man From Evil Spirits(A)
26 Jesus and his followers sailed on across the lake. They sailed to the area where the Gerasene people live, across from Galilee. 27 When Jesus got out of the boat, a man from that town came to him. This man had demons inside him. For a long time he had worn no clothes. He did not live in a house but in the caves where the dead are buried.
28-29 The demon inside the man had often seized him, and he had been put in jail with his hands and feet in chains. But he would always break the chains. The demon inside him would force him to go out to the places where no one lived. Jesus commanded the evil spirit to come out of the man. When the man saw Jesus, he fell down before him, shouting loudly, “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Please, don’t punish me!”
30 Jesus asked him, “What is your name?”
The man answered, “Legion.”[a] (He said his name was “Legion” because many demons had gone into him.) 31 The demons begged Jesus not to send them into the bottomless pit.[b] 32 On that hill there was a big herd of pigs eating. The demons begged Jesus to allow them to go into the pigs. So he allowed them to do this. 33 Then the demons came out of the man and went into the pigs. The herd of pigs ran down the hill into the lake, and all were drowned.
34 The men who were caring for the pigs ran away and told the story in the fields and in the town. 35 People went out to see what had happened. They came to Jesus and found the man sitting there at the feet of Jesus. The man had clothes on and was in his right mind again; the demons were gone. This made the people afraid. 36 The men who saw these things happen told the others all about how Jesus made the man well. 37 All those who lived in the area around Gerasa asked Jesus to go away because they were afraid.
So Jesus got into the boat to go back to Galilee. 38 The man he had healed begged to go with him. But Jesus sent him away, saying, 39 “Go back home and tell people what God did for you.”
So the man went all over town telling what Jesus had done for him.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International