Book of Common Prayer
For the director of music. A psalm of David, the servant of the Lord. He sang the words of this song to the Lord. He sang them when the Lord saved him. He saved him from the power of all his enemies and of Saul. David said,
18 I love you, Lord.
You give me strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my place of safety. He is the God who saves me.
My God is my rock. I go to him for safety.
He is like a shield to me. He’s the power that saves me. He’s my place of safety.
3 I called out to the Lord. He is worthy of praise.
He saved me from my enemies.
4 The ropes of death were almost wrapped around me.
A destroying flood swept over me.
5 The ropes of the grave were tight around me.
Death set its trap in front of me.
6 When I was in trouble, I called out to the Lord.
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice.
My cry for help reached his ears.
7 The earth trembled and shook.
The base of the mountains rocked back and forth.
It trembled because the Lord was angry.
8 Smoke came out of his nose.
Flames of fire came out of his mouth.
Burning coals blazed out of it.
9 He opened the heavens and came down.
Dark clouds were under his feet.
10 He stood on the cherubim and flew.
The wings of the wind lifted him up.
11 He covered himself with darkness.
The dark rain clouds of the sky were like a tent around him.
12 Clouds came out of the brightness that was all around him.
They came with hailstones and flashes of lightning.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven.
The voice of the Most High God was heard.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered our enemies.
He sent great flashes of lightning and chased the enemies away.
15 The bottom of the sea could be seen.
The foundations of the earth were uncovered.
Lord, it happened when your anger blazed out.
It came like a blast of breath from your nose.
16 He reached down from heaven. He took hold of me.
He lifted me out of deep waters.
17 He saved me from my powerful enemies.
He set me free from those who were too strong for me.
18 They opposed me when I was in trouble.
But the Lord helped me.
19 He brought me out into a wide and safe place.
He saved me because he was pleased with me.
20 The Lord has been good to me because I do what is right.
He has rewarded me because I lead a pure life.
21 I have lived the way the Lord wanted me to.
I am not guilty of turning away from my God.
22 I keep all his laws in mind.
I haven’t turned away from his commands.
23 He knows that I am without blame.
He knows I’ve kept myself from sinning.
24 The Lord has rewarded me for doing what is right.
He has rewarded me because I haven’t done anything wrong.
25 Lord, to those who are faithful you show that you are faithful.
To those who are without blame you show that you are without blame.
26 To those who are pure you show that you are pure.
But to those whose paths are crooked you show that you are clever.
27 You save those who aren’t proud.
But you bring down those whose eyes are proud.
28 Lord, you keep the lamp of my life burning brightly.
You are my God. You bring light into my darkness.
29 With your help I can attack a troop of soldiers.
With the help of my God I can climb over a wall.
30 God’s way is perfect.
The Lord’s word doesn’t have any flaws.
He is like a shield
to all who go to him for safety.
31 Who is God except the Lord?
Who is the Rock except our God?
32 God gives me strength for the battle.
He keeps my way secure.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer.
He causes me to stand on the highest places.
34 He trains my hands to fight every battle.
My arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 Lord, you are like a shield that keeps me safe.
Your strong right hand keeps me going.
Your help has made me great.
36 You give me a wide path to walk on
so that I don’t twist my ankles.
37 I chased my enemies and caught them.
I didn’t turn back until they were destroyed.
38 I crushed them so that they couldn’t get up.
They fell under my feet.
39 Lord, you gave me strength to fight the battle.
You made my enemies humble in front of me.
40 You made them turn their backs and run away.
So I destroyed my enemies.
41 They cried out for help. But there was no one to save them.
They called out to the Lord. But he didn’t answer them.
42 I beat them as fine as dust blown by the wind.
I stomped on them like mud in the streets.
43 You saved me when my own people attacked me.
You made me the ruler over nations.
People I didn’t know serve me now.
44 People from other lands bow down to me in fear.
As soon as they hear me, they obey me.
45 All of them give up hope.
They come trembling out of their hiding places.
46 The Lord lives! Give praise to my Rock!
Give honor to God my Savior!
47 He is the God who pays back my enemies.
He brings the nations under my control.
48 He saves me from my enemies.
You have honored me more than them.
You have saved me from a man who wanted to hurt me.
49 Lord, I will praise you among the nations.
I will sing the praises of your name.
50 The Lord helps his king win great battles.
He shows his faithful love to his anointed king.
He shows it to David and to his family forever.
12 The Lord who rules over all has set apart a day when he will judge.
He has set it apart for all those who are proud and think they are important.
He has set it apart for all those who brag about themselves.
All of them will be brought low.
13 The Lord has set that day apart for all the cedar trees in Lebanon.
They are very tall.
He has set that day apart for all the oak trees in Bashan.
14 He has set it apart for all the towering mountains.
He has set it apart for all the high hills.
15 He has set it apart for every high tower
and every strong wall.
16 He has set it apart for every trading ship
and every beautiful boat.
17 Anyone who brags will be brought low.
Anyone who is proud will be made humble.
The Lord alone will be honored at that time.
18 And the statues of gods will totally disappear.
19 People will run and hide in caves in the rocks.
They will go into holes in the ground.
They will run away from the terrifying presence of the Lord.
They will run when he comes in glory and majesty.
When he comes, he will shake the earth.
20 People had made some statues of gods out of silver.
They had made others out of gold.
Then they worshiped them.
But when the Lord comes,
they will throw the statues away to the moles and bats.
21 Those people will run and hide in caves in the rocks.
They will go into holes in the cliffs.
They will run away from the terrifying presence of the Lord.
They will run when he comes in glory and majesty.
When he comes, he will shake the earth.
22 Stop trusting in mere human beings, who can’t help you.
They only live for a little while.
What good are they?
3 We couldn’t wait any longer. So we thought it was best to be left by ourselves in Athens. 2 We sent our brother Timothy to give you strength and hope in your faith. He works together with us in God’s service to spread the good news about Christ. 3 We sent him so that no one would be upset by times of testing. You know very well that we have to go through times of testing. 4 In fact, when we were with you, here is what we kept telling you. We were telling you that our enemies would make us suffer. As you know very well, it has turned out that way. 5 That’s the reason I sent someone to find out about your faith. I couldn’t wait any longer. I was afraid that Satan had tempted you in some way. Then our work among you would have been useless.
Timothy Brings a Good Report
6 But Timothy has come to us from you just now. He has brought good news about your faith and love. He has told us that you always have happy memories of us. He has also said that you desire to see us, just as we desire to see you. 7 Brothers and sisters, in all our trouble and suffering your faith encouraged us. 8 Now we really live, because you are standing firm in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you? We thank God because of all the joy we have in his presence. We have this joy because of you. 10 Night and day we pray very hard that we will see you again. We want to give you what is missing in your faith.
11 Now may a way be opened up for us to come to you. May our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus do this. 12 May the Lord make your love grow. May it be like a rising flood. May your love for one another increase. May it also increase for everyone else. May it be just like our love for you. 13 May the Lord give you strength in your hearts. Then you will be holy and without blame in the sight of our God and Father. May that be true when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.
Marriage When the Dead Rise
27 The Sadducees do not believe that people rise from the dead. Some of them came to Jesus with a question. 28 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us about a man’s brother who dies. Suppose the brother leaves a wife but has no children. Then the man must marry the widow. He must provide children to carry on his dead brother’s name. 29 There were seven brothers. The first one married a woman. He died without leaving any children. 30 The second one married her. 31 And then the third one married her. One after another, the seven brothers married her. They all died. None left any children. 32 Finally, the woman died too. 33 Now then, when the dead rise, whose wife will she be? All seven brothers were married to her.”
34 Jesus replied, “People in this world get married. And their parents give them to be married. 35 But it will not be like that when the dead rise. Those who are considered worthy to take part in the world to come won’t get married. And their parents won’t give them to be married. 36 They can’t die anymore. They are like the angels. They are God’s children. They will be given a new form of life when the dead rise. 37 Remember the story of Moses and the burning bush. Even Moses showed that the dead rise. The Lord said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham. I am the God of Isaac. And I am the God of Jacob.’ (Exodus 3:6) 38 He is not the God of the dead. He is the God of the living. In his eyes, everyone is alive.”
39 Some of the teachers of the law replied, “You have spoken well, teacher!” 40 And no one dared to ask him any more questions.
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