Book of Common Prayer
The Word of God
119 ·Happy [Blessed] are those ·who live pure lives [L whose way is blameless],
who follow the Lord’s ·teachings [instructions; law].
2 Happy are those who keep his ·rules [decrees; testimonies],
who ·try to obey [L seek] him with their whole heart.
3 They don’t do what is wrong;
they follow his ways.
4 Lord, you ·gave [commanded] your ·orders [precepts]
to be obeyed completely.
5 ·I wish I [L O that my ways] were more ·loyal [steadfast; established; set]
in obeying your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements].
6 Then I would not be ashamed
·when I study [staring/gazing at] your commands.
7 When I learned that your ·laws [judgments] are fair,
I ·praised [thanked] you with an ·honest [upright] heart.
8 I will obey your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements],
so please don’t ever ·leave [abandon; forsake] me.
9 How can a young person ·live a pure life [L keep his way pure]?
By ·obeying [guarding; keeping] your word.
10 With all my heart I ·try to obey [seek] you.
Don’t let me ·break [stray from] your commands.
11 I have ·taken your words to heart [treasured/stored your words in my heart]
so I would not sin against you.
12 Lord, you ·should be praised [are blessed].
Teach me your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements].
13 My lips will ·tell about [recount]
all the ·laws you have spoken [L judgments of your mouth].
14 I enjoy ·living by your rules [the way of your decrees/testimonies]
as people enjoy great riches.
15 I ·think about [meditate on] your ·orders [precepts]
and ·study [look at] your ways.
16 I enjoy ·obeying your demands [your statutes/ordinances/requirements],
and I will not forget your word.
17 ·Do good [Grant this] to me, your servant, so I can live,
so I can ·obey [keep; guard] your word.
18 Open my eyes to see
the ·miracles [wonders] in your ·teachings [instructions; law].
19 I am a ·stranger [sojourner; alien resident] ·on earth [or in the land].
Do not hide your commands from me.
20 ·I wear myself out [My soul pines away] with ·desire [longing]
for your ·laws [judgments] all the time.
21 You ·scold [rebuke; reprimand] ·proud [arrogant] people;
those who ·ignore [wander from] your commands are cursed.
22 ·Don’t let me be insulted and hated [L Take away insult and contempt]
because I keep your ·rules [decrees; testimonies].
23 Even if princes sit around and speak against me,
I, your servant, will ·think [meditate] about your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements].
24 Your ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements] give me pleasure;
they ·give me good advice [L are my advisors/counselors].
A Prayer Against Liars
For the director of music. Upon the ·sheminith [L eighth; C a reference to an eight-stringed instrument or possibly the manner of singing]. A psalm of David.
12 Save me, Lord, because the ·good [faithful; godly; covenantal; loyal] people are all gone;
·no true believers are left on earth [L the faithful have vanished among humanity].
2 Everyone ·lies [L speaks falsehood] to his neighbors;
they ·say one thing and mean another [speak with flattering lips and with a double heart/L heart and heart].
3 The Lord will ·stop [L cut off] those flattering lips
and those bragging tongues.
4 They say, “Our tongues will ·help us win [prevail].
·We can say what we wish [L Our lips belong to us]; ·no one [L who…?] is our master.”
5 But the Lord says,
“I will now rise up,
because the ·poor [weak] are ·being hurt [destroyed; plundered; oppressed].
Because of the ·moans [groans; sighs] of the ·helpless [needy],
I will give them the ·help [victory] they ·want [long for].”
6 The Lord’s ·words [or promises] are ·pure [flawless],
like silver ·purified [refined] ·by fire [or in a furnace],
·purified [refined] seven times over [18:30; 119:140].
7 Lord, you will ·keep us safe [L guard/protect them];
you will always ·protect [guard] us from such ·people [a generation].
8 But the wicked ·are [L walk] all around us;
·everyone loves what is wrong [L what is vile is lifted up among the sons of man/humanity].
A Prayer for God to Be Near
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
13 How long will you forget me, Lord? Forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I ·worry [or bear pain; L hold counsels]
and ·feel sad [hold sorrow] in my heart all day?
How long will my enemy ·win [rise up] over me?
3 Lord, look at me.
Answer me, my God;
·tell me [L light up my eyes], or I will ·die [L sleep the sleep of death].
4 Otherwise my enemy will say, “I have ·won [finished him off]!”
·Those against me [My foes] will rejoice that I’ve been ·defeated [shaken; moved].
5 I ·trust [have confidence] in your ·love [loyalty; covenant love].
My heart ·is happy [rejoices] because ·you saved me [of your victory/salvation].
6 I sing to the Lord
because he has ·taken care of [been good to] me.
The Unbelieving Fool
For the director of music. Of David.
14 Fools say ·to themselves [L in their hearts],
“There is no God [C Psalm 53 largely parallels this psalm].”
·Fools are evil [L They are corrupt] and do ·terrible [detestable] things [Deut. 32:5];
there is no one who does anything good.
2 The Lord looked down from heaven on all people
to see if anyone ·understood [L was wise/insightful],
if anyone was ·looking to God for help [seeking God].
3 But all have ·turned [wandered] away.
Together, everyone has become ·evil [perverse].
There is no one who does anything good,
not even one [Rom. 3:10–12].
4 Don’t ·the wicked [L those who do evil] ·understand [know]?
They ·destroy [consume; L eat] my people as if they were ·eating [consuming] bread.
They do not ·ask the Lord for help [call on the Lord].
5 But the wicked are ·filled [terrified] with terror,
because God is with ·those who do what is right [the company of the righteous].
6 The wicked ·upset [confuse; frustrate] the plans of the poor,
but the Lord ·will protect them [is their refuge].
7 I pray that ·victory [salvation] will come to Israel from Mount Zion [C the location of the Temple]!
May the Lord ·bring them back [restore the fortunes of his people; C perhaps at the end of the exile].
Then the people of Jacob will rejoice,
and the people of Israel will be glad.
The Message About Jerusalem
2 Isaiah son of Amoz saw this ·message [vision; word] about Judah and Jerusalem:
2 [L It shall be] In the ·last [final; latter] days
the mountain ·on which the Lord’s Temple stands [L of the house of the Lord; C Mount Zion]
will ·become [be established as; endure as] the ·most important [chief; or highest] of all mountains.
It will be ·raised [exalted] above the hills,
and ·people from all nations [L all nations] will come streaming to it.
3 Many ·nations [peoples] will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the ·Temple [L house] of the God of Jacob.
·Then [or So that] he will teach us his ·ways [standards; path],
and we will ·obey his teachings [L walk in his paths].”
·His teachings [The Law; Instruction; L Torah] will go out from Jerusalem;
the ·message [word] of the Lord will go out from Jerusalem.
4 He will ·settle arguments among [judge/mediate between] the ·nations [peoples]
and will ·make decisions [settle disputes] for many ·peoples [nations].
Then they will ·make [beat; hammer] their swords into ·plows [T plowshares; C the metal tip of the plow]
and their spears into ·hooks for trimming trees [pruning hooks].
Nations will no longer ·fight [L raise the sword against] other nations,
nor will they train for war anymore [Mic. 4:1–3].
5 Come, ·family [descendants; L house] of Jacob,
and let us ·follow the way [L walk in the light] of the Lord.
A Terrible Day Is Coming
6 Lord, you have ·left [abandoned; rejected] your people,
the ·family [descendants; L house] of Jacob,
because they have become filled ·with wrong ideas from people in the East [or with superstitions from the East; L from the East].
They ·try to tell the future [consult soothsayers; practice divination] like the Philistines [Lev. 19:26; Deut. 18:9–14],
and ·they have completely accepted those foreign ideas [or they clasp hands/make alliances with foreigners; or the children of foreigners are everywhere].
7 Their land has been filled with silver and gold;
there ·are a great many [L is no end/limit to their] treasures there.
Their land has been filled with horses;
there ·are many [L is no end/limit to their] chariots there [C Israel was to rely on God, not on horses and chariots; Deut. 17:16–17].
8 Their land is full of idols.
The people worship ·these idols they made with [L the work of] their own hands
and shaped with their own fingers [Rom. 1:23].
9 People will ·be humbled [be brought low; or bow down to worship]
and will bow low ·with shame [or in worship].
God, do not ·forgive [spare; L lift] them.
10 Go into the ·caves of the cliffs [L rocks];
·dig holes and hide in the ground [L hide in the dust/ground]
from the ·anger [terror; terrible presence] of the Lord
and from ·his great power [the majesty/glory/splendor of his majesty]!
11 ·Proud people [L The eyes of the proud] will be ·made humble [brought down],
and ·they [human arrogance/loftiness] will ·bow low with shame [be humbled].
·At that time [L In that day] only the Lord will still be ·praised [exalted].
13 ·Also [L For this reason], we always thank God because when you ·heard his message [received the message you heard] from us, you accepted it not as ·merely human words [a human message], but for what it truly is—·the word of [a message from] God, which ·works in [transforms] you who believe. 14 [L For] Brothers and sisters, ·your experiences have been like those [or you became imitators] of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea [C the original church in Jerusalem and others nearby]. You suffered the same things from the people of your own country, as they suffered from the Jews 15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets and ·forced us to leave that country [drove us out; or persecuted us]. They do not please God and are ·against [hostile/opposed to] all people. 16 ·They try [or …because they try; or …by trying] to stop us from ·teaching [speaking/preaching to] the Gentiles so they may be saved. By doing this, they are ·increasing [filling/heaping up] their sins to the limit. The ·anger [wrath] of God ·has come to [or has drawn near to; or will overtake] them ·at last [or completely; or until the end (of the age)].
Paul Wants to Visit Them Again
17 Brothers and sisters, though we were ·separated [torn away; orphaned] from you for a short time, ·our thoughts were still with you [physically, not spiritually…; L in face, not in heart…]. We wanted very much to see you and tried hard to do so. 18 We wanted to come to you. I, Paul, tried to come ·more than once [again and again; L both once and twice], but Satan ·stopped [hindered; prevented] us. 19 ·You are [L For who is…?] our hope, our joy, and the crown we will ·take pride in [boast about] when our Lord Jesus Christ comes. 20 Truly you are our glory and our joy.
19 The ·teachers of the law [scribes] and the ·leading [T chief] priests ·wanted [tried/sought] to ·arrest [seize; L lay hands on] Jesus at once, because they knew the ·story [parable] was ·about [told against] them. But they were afraid of what the people would do.
Is It Right to Pay Taxes or Not?(A)
20 So they watched Jesus and sent some spies who acted as if they were ·sincere [honest; righteous]. They wanted to trap Jesus in saying something wrong so they could hand him over to the ·authority [jurisdiction; rule] and ·power [authority] of the governor. 21 So the spies asked Jesus, “Teacher, we know that what you say and teach is ·true [right; correct]. You ·pay no attention to who people are [play no favorites; are impartial; aren’t swayed by appearances], and you always teach ·the truth [with sincerity/honesty] about God’s way. 22 Tell us, is it ·right [permissible; lawful] for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?” [C Saying yes would anger Jews who hated Roman rule; saying no could result in being charged with insurrection.]
23 But Jesus, knowing ·they were trying to trick him [L their craftiness/duplicity], said, 24 “Show me a ·coin [L denarius]. Whose ·image [likeness; portrait] and ·name [inscription; title] are on it?”
They said, “Caesar’s.” [C Ironically, the religious leaders carry coins bearing the idolatrous image of Caesar.]
25 Jesus said to them, “Then ·give [give back; T render] to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and ·give [give back; T render] to God the things that are God’s.”
26 So they were not able to ·trap [catch] Jesus in anything he said in the presence of the people. And being amazed at his answer, they ·became silent [kept quiet].
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