Book of Common Prayer
2 Why are the nations so angry?
Why are the people making such foolish plans?
2 Their kings and leaders join together
to fight against the Lord and his chosen king.[a]
3 They say, “Let’s rebel against them.
Let’s break free from them!”
4 But the one who rules in heaven laughs at them.
The Lord makes fun of them.
5 He speaks to them in anger,
and it fills them with fear.
6 He says, “I have chosen this man to be king,
and he will rule on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7 Let me tell you about the Lord’s agreement:
He said to me, “Today I have become your father,[b]
and you are my son.
8 If you ask, I will give you the nations.
Everyone on earth will be yours.
9 You will rule over them with great power.
You will scatter your enemies like broken pieces of pottery!”
10 So, kings and rulers, be smart
and learn this lesson.
11 Serve the Lord with fear and trembling.
12 Show that you are loyal to his son,[c]
or the Lord will be angry and destroy you.
He is almost angry enough to do that now,
but those who go to him for protection will be blessed.
To the director: A song of praise from the Korah family.
85 Lord, you have been so kind to your land.
You have brought success again to the people of Jacob.
2 You have forgiven the bad things your people did.
You have taken away the guilt of their sins! Selah
3 You stopped being angry with them.
Your terrible anger has gone away.
4 Our God and Savior, accept us again.
Don’t be angry with us anymore.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will your anger reach to our children and to their children?
6 Please, give us new life!
Make your people happy to be yours.
7 Lord, save us
and show us your love.
8 I heard what the Lord God said.
He said there would be peace for his people and his loyal followers.
So they must not go back to their foolish way of living.
9 He will soon save his faithful followers.
His glory will again live in our land.[a]
10 God’s love will come together with his faithful people.
Goodness and peace will greet them with a kiss.
11 People on earth will be loyal to God,
and God in heaven will be good to them.[b]
12 The Lord will give us many good things.
The ground will grow many good crops.
13 Goodness will go before the Lord
and prepare the way for him.
A praise song of David.
110 The Lord said to my lord,[a]
“Sit at my right side, while I put your enemies under your control.”
2 The Lord will cause your kingdom to grow, beginning at Zion,
until you rule the lands of your enemies!
3 Your people will gladly join you
when you gather your army together.
You will wear your special clothes
and meet together early in the morning.
Your young men will be all around you
like dew on the ground.[b]
4 The Lord has made a promise with an oath
and will not change his mind:
“You are a priest forever—
the kind of priest Melchizedek was.”
5 My Lord is at your right side.
He will defeat the other kings when he becomes angry.
6 He will judge the nations.
The ground will be covered with dead bodies.
He will punish the leaders of powerful nations all around the world.
7 The king will drink from a stream on the way.
Then he will lift his head and become strong![c]
A song for going up to the Temple.
132 Lord, remember how David suffered.
2 He made a promise to you, Lord,
an oath to the Mighty God of Jacob.
3 He said, “I will not go into my house
or lie down on my bed.
4 I will not sleep
or let my eyes rest,
5 until I find a home for the Lord,
a tent for the Mighty God of Jacob!”
6 We heard about this in Ephrathah.[a]
We found the Box of the Agreement at Kiriath Jearim.[b]
7 Now, let’s go to the Lord’s house.
Let’s worship at his throne.[c]
8 Lord, get up[d] and go to your resting place;
go with the Box that shows your power.
9 May your priests be clothed in victory
and your loyal followers be filled with joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
don’t reject your chosen king.[e]
11 The Lord made a promise to David, an oath of loyalty to him:
“I will always put one of your descendants on your throne.
12 If your descendants obey my agreement and the laws I teach them,
then the king will always be someone from your family.”
13 The Lord has chosen Zion to be the place for his Temple,
the place he wanted for his home.
14 He said, “This will always be my place of rest.
This is where I want to sit on my throne.
15 I will bless this city with plenty of food.
Even the poor will have enough to eat.
16 I will clothe the priests with salvation,
and my followers will be filled with joy.
17 This is where I will make David’s family strong.
I will never let the lamp of my chosen king stop burning.
18 I will cover his enemies with shame,
and on his head will be a shining crown.”
10 The Lord says,
“Zion, be happy, because I am coming,
and I will live in your city.
11 At that time people from many nations
will come to me.
They will become my people,
and I will live in your city.”
Then you will know it was the Lord All-Powerful
who sent me to tell you these things.
12 The Lord will again choose Jerusalem to be his special city.
Judah will be his share of the holy land.
13 Everyone, be quiet!
The Lord is coming out of his holy house.
Love Comes From God
7 Dear friends, we should love each other, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has become God’s child. And so everyone who loves knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love to us: He sent his only Son into the world to give us life through him. 10 True love is God’s love for us, not our love for God. He sent his Son as the way to take away our sins.
11 That is how much God loved us, dear friends! So we also must love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us. If we love each other, God’s love has reached its goal—it is made perfect in us.
13 We know that we live in God and God lives in us. We know this because he gave us his Spirit. 14 We have seen that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world, and this is what we tell people now. 15 Anyone who says, “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God,” is a person who lives in God, and God lives in that person. 16 So we know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love.
God is love. Everyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them.
The One Who Comes From Heaven
31 “The one who comes from above is greater than all others. The one who is from the earth belongs to the earth. He talks about things that are on the earth. But the one who comes from heaven is greater than all others. 32 He tells what he has seen and heard, but people don’t accept what he says. 33 Whoever accepts what he says has given proof that God speaks the truth. 34 God sent him, and he tells people what God says. God gives him the Spirit fully. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given him power over everything. 36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. But those who do not obey the Son will never have that life. They cannot get away from God’s anger.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International