Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Victory[a]
20 May the Lord answer you when you are in trouble!
May the God of Jacob protect you!
2 May he send you help from his Temple
and give you aid from Mount Zion.
3 May he accept all your offerings
and be pleased with all your sacrifices.
4 May he give you what you desire
and make all your plans succeed.
5 Then we will shout for joy over your victory
and celebrate your triumph by praising our God.
May the Lord answer all your requests.
6 Now I know that the Lord gives victory to his chosen king;
he answers him from his holy heaven
and by his power gives him great victories.
7 Some trust in their war chariots
and others in their horses,
but we trust in the power of the Lord our God.
8 Such people will stumble and fall,
but we will rise and stand firm.
9 Give victory to the king, O Lord;
answer[b] us when we call.
Praise for Victory[c]
21 The king is glad, O Lord, because you gave him strength;
he rejoices because you made him victorious.
2 You have given him his heart's desire;
you have answered his request.
3 You came to him with great blessings
and set a crown of gold on his head.
4 He asked for life, and you gave it,
a long and lasting life.
5 His glory is great because of your help;
you have given him fame and majesty.
6 Your blessings are with him forever,
and your presence fills him with joy.
7 The king trusts in the Lord Almighty;
and because of the Lord's constant love
he will always be secure.
8 The king will capture all his enemies;
he will capture everyone who hates him.
9 He will destroy them like a blazing fire
when he appears.
The Lord will devour them in his anger,
and fire will consume them.
10 None of their descendants will survive;
the king will kill them all.
11 They make their plans, and plot against him,
but they will not succeed.
12 He will shoot his arrows at them
and make them turn and run.
13 We praise you, Lord, for your great strength!
We will sing and praise your power.
The Lord Our Shepherd[a]
23 The Lord is my shepherd;
I have everything I need.
2 (A)He lets me rest in fields of green grass
and leads me to quiet pools of fresh water.
3 He gives me new strength.
He guides me in the right paths,
as he has promised.
4 Even if I go through the deepest darkness,
I will not be afraid, Lord,
for you are with me.
Your shepherd's rod and staff protect me.
5 You prepare a banquet for me,
where all my enemies can see me;
you welcome me as an honored guest
and fill my cup to the brim.
6 I know that your goodness and love will be with me all my life;
and your house will be my home as long as I live.
A Prayer of Praise[a]
27 The Lord is my light and my salvation;
I will fear no one.
The Lord protects me from all danger;
I will never be afraid.
2 When evil people attack me and try to kill me,
they stumble and fall.
3 Even if a whole army surrounds me,
I will not be afraid;
even if enemies attack me,
I will still trust God.[b]
4 I have asked the Lord for one thing;
one thing only do I want:
to live in the Lord's house all my life,
to marvel there at his goodness,
and to ask for his guidance.
5 In times of trouble he will shelter me;
he will keep me safe in his Temple
and make me secure on a high rock.
6 So I will triumph over my enemies around me.
With shouts of joy I will offer sacrifices in his Temple;
I will sing, I will praise the Lord.
7 Hear me, Lord, when I call to you!
Be merciful and answer me!
8 When you said, “Come worship me,”
I answered, “I will come, Lord.”
9 Don't hide yourself from me!
Don't be angry with me;
don't turn your servant away.
You have been my help;
don't leave me, don't abandon me,
O God, my savior.
10 My father and mother may abandon me,
but the Lord will take care of me.
11 Teach me, Lord, what you want me to do,
and lead me along a safe path,
because I have many enemies.
12 Don't abandon me to my enemies,
who attack me with lies and threats.
13 I know that I will live to see
the Lord's goodness in this present life.
14 Trust in the Lord.
Have faith, do not despair.
Trust in the Lord.
A Hymn of Praise
25 Lord, you are my God;
I will honor you and praise your name.
You have done amazing things;
you have faithfully carried out
the plans you made long ago.
2 You have turned cities into ruins
and destroyed their fortifications.
The palaces which our enemies built
are gone forever.
3 The people of powerful nations will praise you;
you will be feared in the cities of cruel nations.
4 The poor and the helpless have fled to you
and have been safe in times of trouble.
You give them shelter from storms
and shade from the burning heat.
Cruel enemies attack like a winter storm,[a]
5 like drought in a dry land.
But you, Lord, have silenced our enemies;
you silence the shouts of cruel people,
as a cloud cools a hot day.
God Prepares a Banquet
6 Here on Mount Zion the Lord Almighty will prepare a banquet for all the nations of the world—a banquet of the richest food and the finest wine. 7 Here he will suddenly remove the cloud of sorrow that has been hanging over all the nations. 8 (A)The Sovereign Lord will destroy death forever! He will wipe away the tears from everyone's eyes and take away the disgrace his people have suffered throughout the world. The Lord himself has spoken.
9 When it happens, everyone will say, “He is our God! We have put our trust in him, and he has rescued us. He is the Lord! We have put our trust in him, and now we are happy and joyful because he has saved us.”
A Vision of Christ
9 I am John, your brother, and as a follower of Jesus I am your partner in patiently enduring the suffering that comes to those who belong to his Kingdom. I was put on the island of Patmos because I had proclaimed God's word and the truth that Jesus revealed. 10 On the Lord's day the Spirit took control of me, and I heard a loud voice, that sounded like a trumpet, speaking behind me. 11 It said, “Write down what you see, and send the book to the churches in these seven cities: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12 I turned around to see who was talking to me, and I saw seven gold lampstands, 13 (A)and among them there was what looked like a human being, wearing a robe that reached to his feet, and a gold band around his chest. 14 (B)His hair was white as wool, or as snow, and his eyes blazed like fire; 15 (C)his feet shone like brass that has been refined and polished, and his voice sounded like a roaring waterfall. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came out of his mouth. His face was as bright as the midday sun. 17 (D)When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead man. He placed his right hand on me and said, “Don't be afraid! I am the first and the last. 18 I am the living one! I was dead, but now I am alive forever and ever. I have authority over death and the world of the dead. 19 Write, then, the things you see, both the things that are now and the things that will happen afterward. 20 Here is the secret meaning of the seven stars that you see in my right hand, and of the seven gold lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
53 [a] from Galilee.”
The Woman Caught in Adultery
8 Then everyone went home, but Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. 2 Early the next morning he went back to the Temple. All the people gathered around him, and he sat down and began to teach them. 3 The teachers of the Law and the Pharisees brought in a woman who had been caught committing adultery, and they made her stand before them all. 4 “Teacher,” they said to Jesus, “this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. 5 (A)In our Law Moses commanded that such a woman must be stoned to death. Now, what do you say?” 6 They said this to trap Jesus, so that they could accuse him. But he bent over and wrote on the ground with his finger. 7 (B)As they stood there asking him questions, he straightened up and said to them, “Whichever one of you has committed no sin may throw the first stone at her.” 8 Then he bent over again and wrote on the ground. 9 When they heard this, they all left, one by one, the older ones first. Jesus was left alone, with the woman still standing there. 10 He straightened up and said to her, “Where are they? Is there no one left to condemn you?”
11 “No one, sir,” she answered.
“Well, then,” Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go, but do not sin again.”][b]
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.