Book of Common Prayer
One of Asaph’s songs.
50 The Lord God Most Powerful has spoken.
He calls to everyone on earth, from where the sun rises to where it sets.
2 God appeared from Zion, the city of perfect beauty.[a]
3 Our God is coming and will not keep quiet.
Fire burns in front of him.
There is a great storm around him.
4 He tells the sky and the earth to be witnesses
as he judges his people.
5 He says, “My followers, gather around me.
Come, my worshipers, who made an agreement with me.”
6 God is the judge,
and the skies tell how fair he is. Selah
7 God says, “My people, listen to me!
People of Israel, I will show my evidence against you.
I am God, your God.
8 The problem I have with you is not your sacrifices
or the burnt offerings you bring to me everyday.
9 Why would I want more bulls from your barns
or goats from your pens?
10 I already own all the animals in the forest.
I own all the animals on a thousand hills.
11 I know every bird in the mountains.
Everything that moves in the fields is mine.
12 If I were hungry, I would not ask you for food.
I already own the world and everything in it.
13 I don’t eat the meat of bulls or drink the blood of goats.”
14 You made promises to God Most High, so give him what you promised.
Bring your sacrifices and thank offerings.
15 God says, “Call me when trouble comes.
I will help you, and you will honor me.”
16 But God says to the wicked,
“Stop quoting my laws!
Stop talking about my agreement!
17 You hate for me to tell you what to do.
You ignore what I say.
18 You see a thief and run to join him.
You jump into bed with those who commit adultery.
19 You say evil things and tell lies.
20 You sit around talking about people,
finding fault with your own brothers.
21 When you did these things, I said nothing.
So you thought that I[b] was just like you.
But I will not be quiet any longer.
I will correct you and make clear what I have against you.
22 You people who have forgotten God,
understand what I am telling you,
or I will tear you apart,
and no one will be able to save you!
23 Whoever gives a thank offering shows me honor.
And whoever decides to live right will see my power to save.”
To the director: To the tune “Don’t Destroy.” A miktam of David written when Saul sent people to watch David’s house to try to kill him.
59 God, save me from my enemies.
Protect me from those who stand against me.
2 Save me from those who do wrong.
Save me from those murderers.
3 Look, powerful men are waiting for me.
Lord, they are waiting to kill me,
even though I did not sin or commit a crime.
4 I have done nothing wrong, but they are rushing to attack me.
Come and see for yourself!
5 You are the Lord God All-Powerful, the God of Israel!
Get up and punish them.
Don’t show any mercy to those traitors. Selah
6 Those evil men are like dogs
that come into town in the evening,
growling and roaming the streets.
7 Listen to their threats and insults.
They say such cruel things,
and they don’t care who hears them.
8 Lord, laugh at them.
Make fun of them all.
9 God, my strength, I look to you for help.[a]
You are my place of safety, high in the mountains.
10 God loves me, and he will help me win.
He will help me defeat my enemies.
11 Don’t just kill them, or my people might forget.
My Lord and Protector, scatter and defeat them with your strength.
12 Those evil people curse and tell lies.
Punish them for what they said.
Let their pride trap them.
13 Destroy them in your anger.
Destroy them completely!
Then people all over the world will know
that God rules over the people of Jacob. Selah
14 Those evil men are like dogs
that come into town in the evening, growling and roaming the streets.
15 They roam around looking for food,
but even if they eat their fill, they still growl and complain.
16 But I will sing about your strength.
I will rejoice in your love every morning.
You have been my place of safety,
the place I can run to when troubles come.
17 I will sing praises to you, my source of strength.
You, God, are my place of safety.
You are the God who loves me!
To the director: To the tune “Lily of the Agreement.” A miktam of David for teaching. Written when David fought Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah, and Joab came back and defeated 12,000 Edomite soldiers at Salt Valley.
60 God, you were angry with us.
You rejected us and destroyed our defenses.
Please make us strong again.
2 You shook the earth and split it open.
It is falling apart like a broken wall.
Please put it back together.
3 You have given your people many troubles.
We are dizzy and fall down like drunks.
4 But you have provided a flag to show your faithful followers
where to gather to escape the enemy’s attack. Selah
5 Use your great power and give us victory!
Answer our prayer and save the people you love.
6 God has spoken in his Temple[b]:
“I will win the war and rejoice in victory!
I will divide this land among my people.
I will give them Shechem.
I will give them Succoth Valley.
7 Gilead and Manasseh will be mine.
Ephraim will be my helmet.
Judah will be my royal scepter.
8 Moab will be the bowl for washing my feet.
Edom will be the slave who carries my sandals.
I will defeat the Philistines and shout in victory!”
9-10 But, God, it seems that you have left us!
You do not go out with our army.
So who will lead me into the strong, protected city?
Who will lead me into battle against Edom?
11 Help us defeat the enemy!
No one on earth can rescue us.
12 Only God can make us strong.
Only God can defeat our enemies!
33 Rejoice in the Lord, good people!
It is only right for good people to praise him.
2 Play the lyre and praise the Lord.
Play the ten-stringed harp for him.
3 Sing a new song[a] to him.
Play it well and sing it loud!
4 The Lord’s word is true,
and he is faithful in everything he does.
5 He loves goodness and justice.
The Lord’s faithful love fills the earth.
6 The Lord spoke the command, and the world was made.
The breath from his mouth created everything in the heavens.
7 He gathered together the water of the sea.
He put the ocean in its place.
8 Everyone on earth should fear and respect the Lord.
All the people in the world should fear him,
9 because when he speaks, things happen.
And if he says, “Stop!”—then it stops.[b]
10 The Lord can ruin every decision the nations make.
He can spoil all their plans.
11 But the Lord’s decisions are good forever.
His plans are good for generation after generation.
12 Great blessings belong to those who have the Lord as their God!
He chose them to be his own special people.
13 The Lord looked down from heaven
and saw all the people.
14 From his high throne he looked down
at all the people living on earth.
15 He created every person’s mind,
and he knows what each one is doing.
16 A king is not saved by the power of his army.
A soldier does not survive by his own great strength.
17 Horses don’t really bring victory in war.
Their strength cannot help you escape.
18 The Lord watches over his followers,
those who wait for him to show his faithful love.
19 He saves them from death.
He gives them strength when they are hungry.
20 So we will wait for the Lord.
He helps us and protects us.
21 He makes us happy.
We trust his holy name.
22 Lord, we worship you,
so show your great love for us.
18 That evil was like a small fire that started among the weeds and thorns and then spread to the larger bushes in the forest. Finally, it became a giant fire, and everything went up in smoke.
19 The Lord All-Powerful was angry, so the land was burned. The people were fuel for the fire. No one showed any compassion to anyone else. 20 People looked to the right and grabbed whatever they could, but they were still hungry. They grabbed whatever was on their left, but still they were not satisfied. So they turned on themselves and began to eat the bodies of their own children. 21 Manasseh fought against Ephraim, and Ephraim fought against Manasseh. Then both of them turned on Judah.
But the Lord is not finished punishing his people. He is still angry, and his arm is raised to continue punishing them.
10 Just look at those lawmakers who write evil laws and make life hard for the people. 2 They are not fair to the poor. They take away the rights of the poor and allow people to steal from widows and orphans.
3 Lawmakers, you will have to explain what you have done. What will you do then? Your destruction is coming from a faraway country. Where will you run for help? Your money and your riches will not help you. 4 You will have to bow down like a prisoner. You will fall down like a dead man, but that will not help you. God will still be angry and ready to punish you.
10 That punishment is for those who are always doing the evil that their sinful selves want to do. It is for those who hate the Lord’s authority.
These false teachers do whatever they want, and they are so proud of themselves. They are not afraid even to say bad things against the glorious ones.[a] 11 The angels are much stronger and more powerful than these beings. But even the angels don’t accuse them and say bad things about them to the Lord.
12 But these false teachers speak evil against what they don’t understand. They are like animals that do things without really thinking—like wild animals that are born to be caught and killed. And, like wild animals, they will be destroyed. 13 They have made many people suffer. So they themselves will suffer. That is their pay for what they have done.
They think it is fun to do evil where everyone can see them. They enjoy the evil things that please them. So they are like dirty spots and stains among you—they bring shame to you in the meals you eat together. 14 Every time they look at a woman, they want her. They are always sinning this way. And they lead weaker people into the trap of sin. They have taught themselves well to be greedy. They are under a curse.[b]
15 These false teachers left the right way and went the wrong way. They followed the same way that the prophet Balaam went. He was the son of Beor, who loved being paid for doing wrong. 16 But a donkey told him that he was doing wrong. A donkey cannot talk, of course, but that donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the prophet from acting so crazy.
John Prepares the Way for Jesus(A)
3 When it was the right time, John the Baptizer began telling people a message from God. This was out in the desert area of Judea. 2 John said, “Change your hearts and lives, because God’s kingdom is now very near.[a]” 3 John is the one Isaiah the prophet was talking about when he said,
“There is someone shouting in the desert:
‘Prepare the way for the Lord.
Make the road straight for him.’” (B)
4 John’s clothes were made from camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. For food, he ate locusts and wild honey. 5 People came to John from Jerusalem and the rest of Judea and from all the areas along the Jordan River. 6 They confessed the bad things they had done, and John baptized them in the Jordan.
7 Many Pharisees and Sadducees came to where John was baptizing people. When John saw them, he said, “You are all snakes! Who warned you to run from God’s judgment that is coming? 8 Change your hearts! And show by the way you live that you have changed. 9 I know what you are thinking. You want to say, ‘but Abraham is our father!’ That means nothing. I tell you, God could make children for Abraham from these rocks. 10 The ax is now ready to cut down the trees.[b] Every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I baptize you with water to show that you have changed your hearts and lives. But there is someone coming later who is able to do more than I can. I am not good enough to be the slave who takes off his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. 12 He will come ready to clean the grain.[c] He will separate the good grain from the straw, and he will put the good part into his barn. Then he will burn the useless part with a fire that cannot be stopped.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International