Book of Common Prayer
(A)Longing for God[a]
63 O God, you are my God,
and I long for you.
My whole being desires you;
like a dry, worn-out, and waterless land,
my soul is thirsty for you.
2 Let me see you in the sanctuary;
let me see how mighty and glorious you are.
3 Your constant love is better than life itself,
and so I will praise you.
4 I will give you thanks as long as I live;
I will raise my hands to you in prayer.
5 My soul will feast and be satisfied,
and I will sing glad songs of praise to you.
6 As I lie in bed, I remember you;
all night long I think of you,
7 because you have always been my help.
In the shadow of your wings I sing for joy.
8 I cling to you,
and your hand keeps me safe.
9 Those who are trying to kill me
will go down into the world of the dead.
10 They will be killed in battle,
and their bodies eaten by wolves.
11 Because God gives him victory,
the king will rejoice.
Those who make promises in God's name will praise him,
but the mouths of liars will be shut.
God the Ruler of the World[a]
98 Sing a new song to the Lord;
he has done wonderful things!
By his own power and holy strength
he has won the victory.
2 The Lord announced his victory;
he made his saving power known to the nations.
3 He kept his promise to the people of Israel
with loyalty and constant love for them.
All people everywhere have seen the victory of our God.
4 Sing for joy to the Lord, all the earth;
praise him with songs and shouts of joy!
5 Sing praises to the Lord!
Play music on the harps!
6 Blow trumpets and horns,
and shout for joy to the Lord, our king.
7 Roar, sea, and every creature in you;
sing, earth, and all who live on you!
8 Clap your hands, you rivers;
you hills, sing together with joy before the Lord,
9 because he comes to rule the earth.
He will rule the peoples of the world
with justice and fairness.
The Love of God[a]
103 Praise the Lord, my soul!
All my being, praise his holy name!
2 Praise the Lord, my soul,
and do not forget how kind he is.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He keeps me from the grave
and blesses me with love and mercy.
5 He fills my life[b] with good things,
so that I stay young and strong like an eagle.
6 The Lord judges in favor of the oppressed
and gives them their rights.
7 He revealed his plans to Moses
and let the people of Israel see his mighty deeds.
8 (A)The Lord is merciful and loving,
slow to become angry and full of constant love.
9 He does not keep on rebuking;
he is not angry forever.
10 He does not punish us as we deserve
or repay us according to our sins and wrongs.
11 As high as the sky is above the earth,
so great is his love for those who honor him.
12 As far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our sins from us.
13 As a father is kind to his children,
so the Lord is kind to those who honor him.
14 He knows what we are made of;
he remembers that we are dust.
15 As for us, our life is like grass.
We grow and flourish like a wild flower;
16 then the wind blows on it, and it is gone—
no one sees it again.
17 But for those who honor the Lord, his love lasts forever,
and his goodness endures for all generations
18 of those who are true to his covenant
and who faithfully obey his commands.
19 The Lord placed his throne in heaven;
he is king over all.
20 Praise the Lord, you strong and mighty angels,
who obey his commands,
who listen to what he says.
21 Praise the Lord, all you heavenly powers,
you servants of his, who do his will!
22 Praise the Lord, all his creatures
in all the places he rules.
Praise the Lord, my soul!
Self-examination
19 Know what you are talking about before you speak, and give attention to your health before you get sick. 20 Examine your conscience before the Lord judges you; then when that time comes, he will forgive you. 21 Humble yourself before you are punished with sickness. When you have sinned, show repentance. 22 If you make a promise to the Lord, keep it as soon as you can. Don't wait until you are about to die to set things straight. 23 But before you make such a promise, be prepared to keep it. Don't try to test the Lord's patience. 24 Think! Do you want him to be angry with you on the day you die? When you face his judgment, do you want him to turn his back on you? 25 When you have all you want, think what it is like to be hungry, what it is to be poor. 26 Things can change in a single day; the Lord can act very quickly. 27 If you are wise, you will be careful in everything you do. When sin is all around you, be especially careful that you do not become guilty. 28 Every intelligent person can recognize wisdom and will honor anyone who shows it. 29 If you appreciate wisdom when you hear it, you will become wise yourself, and your words will be a source of wisdom for others.
Self-control
30 Don't be controlled by your lust; keep your passions in check. 31 If you allow yourself to satisfy your every desire, you will be a joke to your enemies. 32 Don't indulge in luxurious living; the expense of it will ruin you. 33 Don't make yourself a beggar by borrowing for expensive banquets when you don't have enough money of your own.
15 I speak to you as sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. 16 (A)The cup we use in the Lord's Supper and for which we give thanks to God: when we drink from it, we are sharing in the blood of Christ. And the bread we break: when we eat it, we are sharing in the body of Christ. 17 Because there is the one loaf of bread, all of us, though many, are one body, for we all share the same loaf.
18 (B)Consider the people of Israel; those who eat what is offered in sacrifice share in the altar's service to God. 19 Do I imply, then, that an idol or the food offered to it really amounts to anything? 20 (C)No! What I am saying is that what is sacrificed on pagan altars is offered to demons, not to God. And I do not want you to be partners with demons. 21 You cannot drink from the Lord's cup and also from the cup of demons; you cannot eat at the Lord's table and also at the table of demons. 22 (D)Or do we want to make the Lord jealous? Do we think that we are stronger than he?
23 (E)“We are allowed to do anything,” so they say. That is true, but not everything is good. “We are allowed to do anything”—but not everything is helpful. 24 None of you should be looking out for your own interests, but for the interests of others.
When Someone Sins
15 (A)“If your brother sins against you,[a] go to him and show him his fault. But do it privately, just between yourselves. If he listens to you, you have won your brother back. 16 (B)But if he will not listen to you, take one or two other persons with you, so that ‘every accusation may be upheld by the testimony of two or more witnesses,’ as the scripture says. 17 And if he will not listen to them, then tell the whole thing to the church. Finally, if he will not listen to the church, treat him as though he were a pagan or a tax collector.
Prohibiting and Permitting
18 (C)“And so I tell all of you: what you prohibit on earth will be prohibited in heaven, and what you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.
19 “And I tell you more: whenever two of you on earth agree about anything you pray for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, I am there with them.”
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.