Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer in Time of Sickness
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
41 ·Happy [Blessed] are those who ·think about [or care for] the poor [James 1:27].
·When trouble comes [L In the day of trouble/evil], the Lord will ·save [rescue; T deliver] them.
2 The Lord will ·protect [guard; keep] them and ·spare their life [keep them alive]
and will ·bless them [make them happy] in the land.
He will not ·let their enemies take them [L give their lives to their enemy; or give them over to the desire of their enemy].
3 The Lord will give them strength when they are ·sick [L on their sickbed],
and he will ·make them well again [L restore them from their bed of illness].
4 I said, “Lord, have ·mercy [compassion] on me.
Heal me, because I have sinned against you.”
5 My enemies are saying evil things about me.
They say, “When will he die and ·be forgotten [L his name/reputation perish]?”
6 Some people come to see me,
but ·they lie [L speak deceptive/vain things].
·They just come to get bad news [L Their hearts collect iniquities].
Then they go ·and gossip [L out and speak].
7 All ·my enemies [L those who hate me] whisper about me
and ·think [imagine] ·the worst [trouble; evil] about me.
8 They say, “·He has a terrible disease [or An evil spell has been cast on him].
He ·will never get out of bed again [L lies down and will not get up].”
9 ·My best and truest friend [L A man of peace in whom I trust/find support], who ate at my table,
has ·even turned against me [L lifted his heel against me; C an act of treachery; 55:12–14; Matt. 26:23; Mark 14:18; Luke 22:21; John 13:18].
10 Lord, have ·mercy [compassion] on me.
·Give me strength [L Raise me up] so I can pay them back.
11 Because my enemies do not ·defeat [triumph over; or make fun of] me,
I know you are ·pleased [delighted] with me.
12 Because I am ·innocent [blameless], you support me
and will ·let me be with you [L set me in your presence] forever.
13 ·Praise [Blessed be] the Lord, the God of Israel.
·He has always been [L …from everlasting to everlasting],
and he will always be.
Amen and amen [C verse 13 is a doxology that closes Book 1].
God Will Punish the Proud
For the director of music. A ·maskil [skillful psalm; meditation] of David. When Doeg the Edomite came to Saul and ·said [reported] to him, “David ·is in [L has come to/entered] Ahimelech’s house [1 Sam. 21:7; 22:7–23].”
52 Mighty warrior, why do you ·brag [boast] about the evil you do?
God’s ·love [loyalty] will continue ·forever [L everyday; all day].
2 You think up ·evil plans [L destruction].
Your tongue is like a sharp razor [Prov. 18:21],
making up ·lies [deception].
3 You love ·wrong [evil] more than ·right [good]
and ·lies [falsehood] more than speaking the truth. ·
4 You love words that ·bite [destroy; L swallow up]
and ·tongues that lie [deceptive tongues; James 3:1–12].
5 But God will ·ruin you [L break you down] forever.
He will grab you and ·throw [tear] you out of your tent;
he will ·tear you away [uproot you] from the land of the living. ·
6 Those who ·do right [are righteous] will see this and ·fear God [L fear; Prov. 1:7].
They will laugh at you and say,
7 “·Look what happened to [T Behold] the man
who did not ·depend on God [L make God his refuge]
but ·depended on [trusted/put his confidence in] ·his money [L the abundance of his wealth].
He grew strong by his ·evil [destructive] plans.”
8 But I am like ·an olive tree
growing [L a green olive tree] in God’s ·Temple [L house; 1:3; 92:12–13; Jer. 11:16].
I ·trust [have confidence in] God’s ·love [loyalty]
forever and ever.
9 God, I will ·thank [praise] you forever for what you have done.
With ·those who worship you [his loyal ones/saints], I will ·trust [put my confidence in] you because you are good.
A Prayer for Help
For the director of music. A ·maskil [skillful psalm; meditation] of the sons of Korah [C descendants of Kohath, son of Levi, who served as Temple musicians; 1 Chr. 6:22].
44 God, we have heard ·about you [L with our ears; 78:3].
Our ·ancestors [fathers] ·told [recited to] us
what you did in their days,
in days long ago.
2 With your ·power [L hand] you ·forced [dispossessed] the nations out of the land
and ·placed [L planted] our ancestors here.
You ·destroyed [troubled] ·those other nations [L the peoples],
but you ·made our ancestors grow strong [set them free].
3 It wasn’t their swords that ·took [possessed] the land.
It wasn’t their ·power [L arm] that gave them victory.
But it was your ·great power [L arm] and ·strength [L right hand].
·You were with them [L …and the light of your face] because you ·loved [delighted in] them.
4 My God, you are my King.
·Your commands led Jacob’s people to victory [or You command victory for Jacob; C Jacob is another name for Israel].
5 With your help we pushed ·back [down] our enemies.
In your name we trampled those who ·came [rose up] against us.
6 I don’t trust my bow to help me,
and my sword can’t ·save me [give me victory].
7 You ·saved us from [gave us victory over] our foes,
and you made ·our enemies [L those who hate us] ashamed.
8 We will praise God every day;
we will ·praise [give thanks to] your name forever. ·
9 But you have rejected us and ·shamed [humiliated] us.
You don’t ·march [L go out] with our armies anymore [Ex. 15:3; 2 Chr. 20:20–21].
10 You let our enemies push us back,
and those who hate us have ·taken our wealth [plundered us].
11 You ·gave us away [made us] like sheep ·to be eaten [for slaughter]
and have scattered us among the nations.
12 You sold your people for nothing
and made no profit on the sale.
13 You made us a ·joke [reproach] to our neighbors;
those around us ·laugh [ridicule] and make fun of us.
14 You made us a ·joke [byword; proverb] to the other nations;
people shake their heads.
15 I am always in disgrace,
and ·I am [L my face is] covered with shame.
16 My enemy is getting ·even [revenge]
with ·insults [taunts] and curses.
17 All these things have happened to us,
but we have not forgotten you
or ·failed to keep [been false to; betrayed] our ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with you [C perhaps a reference to the covenant with Moses; Ex. 19–24].
18 Our hearts haven’t turned ·away [back] from you,
and ·we haven’t stopped following you [L our steps have not departed from your way].
19 But you crushed us in this place where ·wild dogs [jackals] live [C desolate areas],
and you covered us with ·deep darkness [or the shadow of death; Nah. 1:8].
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or ·lifted [L spread] our hands in prayer to ·foreign [L strange] gods,
21 ·God would have known [L Would not God discover this…?],
because he knows ·what is in [L the secrets of] our hearts.
22 But for you we are ·in danger of death [L killed] all the time.
People think we are worth no more than sheep to be ·killed [slaughtered; Is. 53:7].
23 Wake up, Lord! Why are you sleeping?
Get up! Don’t reject us forever [Lam. 5:22].
24 Why do you hide your face from us?
Have you forgotten our ·pain [affliction] and ·troubles [oppression]?
25 We have ·been pushed down [sunk down] into the ·dirt [dust];
·we are flat on the ground [L our stomachs cleave to the earth].
26 ·Get [Rise] up and help us.
Because of your ·love [loyalty], ·save [redeem; ransom] us.
16 ·Make an agreement [or Preserve this prophecy; L Bind up this testimony].
Seal up the teaching ·while my followers are watching [or and entrust it to my followers/disciples; L among my followers/disciples].
17 I will ·wait for [patiently trust] the Lord [C for his help],
the Lord who is ·ashamed of [L hiding his face from] the ·family of Israel [L house of Jacob].
I will ·wait for [hope in; trust in] him.
18 ·I am here, and with me are [L Look/T Behold, I and] the children the Lord has given me. We are signs and ·proofs [symbols; warnings; omens] for the people of Israel from the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], who ·lives [dwells] on Mount Zion.
19 Some people say, “Ask the mediums and ·fortune-tellers [necromancers; spiritists], who ·whisper [or chirp] and mutter [C using incantations to call up spirits; 1 Sam. 28:8–11], what to do.” ·But I tell you that people should ask their God for help. Why should people who are still alive ask something from the dead? [or “Should not a nation consult their gods, asking the dead on behalf of the living?”; C in this interpretation the quotation continues to the end of the verse]. 20 ·You should follow the teachings and the agreement with the Lord [L (Look) to the law/instruction and to the testimony]. ·The mediums and fortune-tellers do not [L Those who do not; or If they do not] speak ·the word of the Lord [L according to this word], ·so their words are worth nothing [or they are spiritually blinded; L they have no dawn].
21 ·People will wander through the land [L They will pass through] ·troubled [or destitute] and hungry. When they become hungry, they will become angry and will look up and curse their king and their God. 22 They will look around them at their land and see only ·trouble [distress], darkness, and awful gloom. And they will be forced into the darkness.
A New Day Is Coming
9 ·But suddenly [or Nevertheless] there will be no more gloom for ·the land that suffered [or those who suffered/were distressed]. In the ·past [former time] God made the lands of Zebulun and Naphtali [C two northern tribes that bore the brunt of the Assyrian invasion] ·hang their heads in shame [humbled; humiliated], but ·in the future [later; afterwards] he ·will bring honor to [will glorify; L has honored/glorified; C the prophet sees the future as already fulfilled] the ·road along the Mediterranean Sea [L Way of the Sea], the land beyond the Jordan River [C probably Gilead in Transjordan], Galilee of the ·nations [Gentiles; C called this because it was overrun by foreigners]. [C Assyria created provinces from these three regions; though devastated in the invasion, they would be the first to see God’s salvation; Matt. 4:13–15.]
1 From ·Simon [L Simeon; C a version of Simon closer to the Hebrew name] Peter, a ·servant [slave] and apostle of Jesus Christ.
To ·you [L those] who have received a faith as ·valuable [precious; privileged] as ours, ·because our God and Savior Jesus Christ does what is right [or through the righteousness/justice of our God and Savior Jesus Christ].
2 [May] Grace and peace be ·given to you more and more [lavished upon you; multiplied to you], ·because you truly know [or as you grow in your knowledge; L through/in the knowledge of] God and Jesus our Lord.
God Has Given Us Blessings
3 ·Jesus has the power of God, by which he has given us [L His divine power has given us] everything we need ·to live and to serve God [or to live a godly life; L for life and godliness]. We have these things ·because we know [or as we better come to know; L through the knowledge of] ·Jesus, who called us [L the one who called us; C may refer to Jesus or God the Father] by his glory and ·goodness [virtue; moral excellence]. 4 Through these he gave us the very great and precious promises. [L …so that] With these gifts you can ·share in [partake of; participate in] ·God’s nature [L the divine nature; C which enables us to live forever], ·and the world will not ruin you with its evil desires [or having escaped the world’s decay that was caused by its evil desires].
5 ·Because you have these blessings [L For this very reason; C the reasons stated in vv. 3–4], ·do your best [make every effort; strive] to ·add these things to [or increase these things in] your lives: to your faith, add ·goodness [virtue; moral excellence]; and to your ·goodness [virtue; moral excellence], add knowledge; 6 and to your knowledge, add self-control; and to your self-control, add ·patience [or perseverance]; and to your ·patience [or perseverance], add ·service for God [devotion; piety; godliness]; 7 and to your ·service for God [devotion; piety; godliness], add ·kindness for your brothers and sisters in Christ [affection for fellow believers; L brotherly love/affection; C Greek: philadelphia]; and to ·this kindness [affection; L brotherly love/affection], add love [C Greek: agapē]. 8 If all these things are in you and are ·growing [increasing], they will ·help you to be useful and productive [L keep you from being ineffective/idle and unfruitful/unproductive] in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 ·But [or For] anyone who does not have these things ·cannot see clearly [is nearsighted]. He is blind [1 John 2:11; Rev. 3:17] ·and [or because he] has forgotten that he was made clean from his past sins.
10 [L Therefore] My brothers and sisters, ·try hard [make every effort; strive] to ·be certain that you really are called and chosen by God [L confirm your calling and election]. [L For] If you do all these things, you will never ·fall [stumble]. 11 ·And [For in this way] you will be given a very ·great [rich; lavish] ·welcome [entrance; arrival] into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Jesus Prays Alone(A)
39 Jesus left the city and went to the Mount of Olives, as he often did, and his ·followers [disciples] ·went with [followed] him. 40 When he reached the place, he said to them, “Pray for strength ·against temptation [or not to fail the test].”
41 Then Jesus went about a stone’s throw away from them. He kneeled down and prayed, 42 “Father, if you are willing, take away this ·cup of suffering [L cup; C suffering or punishment is metaphorically portrayed as something bitter to drink]. But do ·what you want [L your will], not ·what I want [L my will].” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared to him to strengthen him. 44 Being ·full of pain [in agony/anguish], Jesus prayed even harder. His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. 45 When he ·finished praying [L rose from prayer], he went to his ·followers [disciples] and found them asleep ·because of their sadness [exhausted from grief]. 46 Jesus said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray ·for strength against temptation [that you won’t give in to temptation; or that you won’t be tempted/tested].”
Jesus Is Arrested(B)
47 While Jesus was speaking, [L look; T behold] a crowd came up, and [L the man called] Judas, one of the twelve apostles, was leading them. He came close to Jesus so he could kiss him.
48 But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”
49 When those who were standing around him saw what was ·happening [about to happen], they said, “Lord, should we strike them with our swords?” 50 And one of them struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his right ear.
51 Jesus said, “Stop! No more of this.” Then he touched the servant’s ear and healed him.
52 Then Jesus said to those who had come to arrest him, the ·leading [T chief] priests, the officers of the temple guard, and the elders, “You came out here with swords and clubs as though I were a ·criminal [revolutionary; rebel; L robber; C a term used by the Romans of insurrectionists]. 53 I was with you every day in the Temple, and you didn’t ·arrest [L extend your hands against] me there. But this is your ·time [hour]—the time when darkness ·rules [has power/authority].”
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.