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!
114 The people of Israel escaped from Egypt.
Yes, Jacob’s descendants left that foreign country.
2 Then Judah became God’s special people,
and Israel became his kingdom.
3 The Red Sea saw this and ran away.
The Jordan River turned and ran.
4 The mountains danced like rams.
The hills danced like lambs.
5 Red Sea, why did you run away?
Jordan River, why did you turn and run away?
6 Mountains, why did you dance like rams?
Hills, why did you dance like lambs?
7 The earth shook in front of the Lord,
the God of Jacob.
8 He is the one who caused water to flow from a rock.
He made a spring of water flow from that hard rock.
115 Lord, you should receive the honor, not us.
The honor belongs to you
because of your faithful love and loyalty.
2 Why should the nations wonder
where our God is?
3 Our God is in heaven,
and he does whatever he wants.
4 The “gods” of those nations are only statues
that some human made from gold and silver.
5 Those statues have mouths, but cannot talk.
They have eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears, but cannot hear.
They have noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but cannot feel.
They have feet, but cannot walk.
No sounds come from their throats.
8 The people who make and trust in those statues
will become like them!
9 People of Israel, trust in the Lord!
He is your strength and shield.
10 Aaron’s family, trust in the Lord!
He is your strength and shield.
11 Followers of the Lord, trust in the Lord!
He is your strength and shield.
12 The Lord remembers us.
He will bless us.
He will bless Israel.
He will bless Aaron’s family.
13 The Lord will bless his followers,
great and small.
14 May the Lord give more and more to you
and to your children.
15 May you receive blessings from the Lord,[a]
who made heaven and earth.
16 Heaven belongs to the Lord,
but he gave the earth to people.
17 The dead don’t praise him.
Those in the grave don’t praise the Lord.
18 But we will praise the Lord
now and forever!
Praise the Lord!
8 Be sure you are not led away by the teaching of those who have nothing worth saying and only plan to deceive you. That teaching is not from Christ. It is only human tradition and comes from the powers that influence[a] this world. 9 I say this because all of God lives in Christ fully, even in his life on earth. 10 And because you belong to Christ you are complete, having everything you need. Christ is ruler over every other power and authority.
11 In Christ you had a different kind of circumcision, one that was not done by human hands. That is, you were made free from the power of your sinful self. That is the kind of circumcision Christ does. 12 When you were baptized, you were buried with Christ, and you were raised up with him because of your faith in God’s power. God’s power was shown when he raised Christ from death.
13 You were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self. But God gave you new life together with Christ. He forgave all our sins. 14 Because we broke God’s laws, we owed a debt—a debt that listed all the rules we failed to follow. But God forgave us of that debt. He took it away and nailed it to the cross. 15 He defeated the rulers and powers of the spiritual world. With the cross he won the victory over them and led them away, as defeated and powerless prisoners for the whole world to see.
Don’t Follow Rules That People Make
16 So don’t let anyone make rules for you about eating and drinking or about Jewish customs (festivals, New Moon celebrations, or Sabbath days). 17 In the past these things were like a shadow that showed what was coming. But the new things that were coming are found in Christ. 18 Some people enjoy acting as if they are humble and love to worship angels.[b] They always talk about the visions they have seen. Don’t listen to them when they say you are wrong because you don’t do these things. It is so foolish for them to feel such pride, because it is all based on their own human ideas. 19 They don’t keep themselves under the control of the head. Christ is the head, and the whole body depends on him. Because of Christ all the parts of the body care for each other and help each other. So the body is made stronger and held together as God causes it to grow.
20 You died with Christ and were made free from the powers that influence this world. So why do you act as if you still belong to the world? I mean, why do you follow rules like these: 21 “Don’t eat this,” “Don’t taste that,” “Don’t touch that”? 22 These rules are talking about earthly things that are gone after they are used. They are only human commands and teachings. 23 These rules may seem to be wise as part of a made-up religion in which people pretend to be humble and punish their bodies. But they don’t help people stop doing the evil that the sinful self wants to do.
39 Jesus told them this story: “Can a blind man lead another blind man? No. Both of them will fall into a ditch. 40 Students are not better than their teacher. But when they have been fully taught, they will be like their teacher.
41 “Why do you notice the small piece of dust that is in your friend’s eye, but you don’t see the big piece of wood that is in your own eye? 42 You say to your friend, ‘Let me get that little piece of dust out of your eye.’ Why do you say this? Can’t you see that big piece of wood in your own eye? You are a hypocrite. First, take the wood out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly to get the dust out of your friend’s eye.
Only Good Trees Produce Good Fruit(A)
43 “A good tree does not produce bad fruit. And a bad tree does not produce good fruit. 44 Every tree is known by the kind of fruit it produces. You won’t find figs on thorny weeds. And you can’t pick grapes from thornbushes! 45 Good people have good things saved in their hearts. That’s why they say good things. But those who are evil have hearts full of evil, and that’s why they say things that are evil. What people say with their mouths comes from what fills their hearts.
Two Kinds of People(B)
46 “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ but you don’t do what I say? 47 The people who come to me, who listen to my teachings and obey them—I will show you what they are like: 48 They are like a man building a house. He digs deep and builds his house on rock. The floods come, and the water crashes against the house. But the flood cannot move the house, because it was built well.
49 “But the people who hear my words and do not obey are like a man who builds a house without preparing a foundation. When the floods come, the house falls down easily and is completely destroyed.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International