Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 82
A psalm of Asaph.
82 God takes his stand in the divine council;
he gives judgment among the gods:
2 “How long will you judge unjustly
by granting favor to the wicked? Selah
3 Give justice to the lowly and the orphan;
maintain the right of the poor and the destitute!
4 Rescue the lowly and the needy.
Deliver them from the power of the wicked!
5 They don’t know; they don’t understand;
they wander around in the dark.
All the earth’s foundations shake.
6 I hereby declare, “You are gods,
children of the Most High—all of you!
7 But you will die like mortals;
you will fall down like any prince.”
8 Rise up, God! Judge the earth
because you hold all nations in your possession!
Psalm 87
A psalm of the Korahites. A song.
87 God’s foundation is set on the holy mountains.
2 The Lord loves Zion’s gates
more than all of Jacob’s houses combined.
3 Glorious things are said about you,
the city of God! Selah
4 I count Rahab and Babel among those who know me;
also Philistia and Tyre, along with Cush—
each of these was born there.
5 And of Zion it is said:
“Each person was born in it,
but the one who will establish it is the Most High.”
6 The Lord makes a record as he registers the peoples:
“Each one was born there.” Selah
7 And while they dance, people sing:
“The source of my life comes from you.”
Your God rules
7 How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of a messenger
who proclaims peace,
who brings good news,
who proclaims salvation,
who says to Zion, “Your God rules!”
8 Listen! Your lookouts lift their voice;
they sing out together!
Right before their eyes they see the Lord returning to Zion.
9 Break into song together, you ruins of Jerusalem!
The Lord has comforted his people and has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared his holy arm in view of all the nations;
all the ends of the earth have seen our God’s victory.
11 Depart! Depart! Go out from there!
Unclean! Don’t touch!
Get out of that place; purify yourselves,
carriers of the Lord’s equipment!
12 You won’t go out in a rush,
nor will you run away,
because the one going before you is the Lord;
your rear guard is the God of Israel.
Jesus is the enthroned human being
5 God didn’t put the world that is coming (the world we are talking about) under the angels’ control. 6 Instead, someone declared somewhere,
What is humanity that you think about them?
Or what are the human beings that you care about them?
7 For a while you made them lower than angels.
You crowned the human beings with glory and honor.
8 You put everything under their control.[a]
When he puts everything under their control, he doesn’t leave anything out of control. But right now, we don’t see everything under their control yet. 9 However, we do see the one who was made lower in order than the angels for a little while—it’s Jesus! He’s the one who is now crowned with glory and honor because of the suffering of his death. He suffered death so that he could taste death for everyone through God’s grace.
Qualified to be a high priest
10 It was appropriate for God, for whom and through whom everything exists, to use experiences of suffering to make perfect the pioneer of salvation. This salvation belongs to many sons and daughters whom he’s leading to glory.
Psalm 110
Of David. A psalm.
110 What the Lord says to my master:
“Sit right beside me
until I make your enemies
a footstool for your feet!”
2 May the Lord make your mighty scepter
reach far from Zion!
Rule over your enemies!
3 Your people stand ready
on your day of battle.
“In holy grandeur, from the dawn’s womb, fight![a]
Your youthful strength is like the dew itself.”
4 The Lord has sworn a solemn pledge and won’t change his mind:
“You are a priest forever in line with Melchizedek.”[b]
5 My master, by your strong hand,
God has crushed kings on his day of wrath.[c]
6 God brings the nations to justice,
piling the dead bodies, crushing heads throughout the earth.
7 God drinks from a stream along the way,
then holds his head up high.[d]
Psalm 132
A pilgrimage song.
132 Lord, remember David—
all the ways he suffered
2 and how he swore to the Lord,
how he promised the strong one of Jacob:
3 “I won’t enter my house,
won’t get into my bed.
4 I won’t let my eyes close,
won’t let my eyelids sleep,
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for the strong one of Jacob.”
6 Yes, we heard about it in Ephrathah;
we found it[a] in the fields of Jaar.
7 Let’s enter God’s dwelling place;
let’s worship at the place God rests his feet!
8 Get up, Lord, go to your residence—
you and your powerful covenant chest!
9 Let your priests be dressed in righteousness;
let your faithful shout out with joy!
10 And for the sake of your servant David,
do not reject your anointed one.
11 The Lord swore to David
a true promise that God won’t take back:
“I will put one of your own children on your throne.
12 And if your children keep my covenant
and the laws that I will teach them,
then their children too will rule on your throne forever.”
13 Because the Lord chose Zion;
he wanted it for his home.
14 “This is my residence forever.
I will live here because I wanted it for myself.[b]
15 I will most certainly bless its food supply;
I will fill its needy full of food!
16 I will dress its priests in salvation,
and its faithful will shout out loud with joy!
17 It is there that I will make David’s strength thrive.[c]
I will prepare a lamp for my anointed one there.
18 I will dress his enemies in shame,
but the crown he wears will shine.”
9 The true light that shines on all people
was coming into the world.
10 The light was in the world,
and the world came into being through the light,
but the world didn’t recognize the light.
11 The light came to his own people,
and his own people didn’t welcome him.
12 But those who did welcome him,
those who believed in his name,
he authorized to become God’s children,
13 born not from blood
nor from human desire or passion,
but born from God.
14 The Word became flesh
and made his home among us.
We have seen his glory,
glory like that of a father’s only son,
full of grace and truth.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible