Book of Common Prayer
50 The mighty God, the Lord, has summoned all mankind from east to west!
2 God’s glory-light shines from the beautiful Temple[a] on Mount Zion. 3 He comes with the noise of thunder,[b] surrounded by devastating fire; a great storm rages round about him. 4 He has come to judge his people. To heaven and earth he shouts, 5 “Gather together my own people who by their sacrifice upon my altar have promised to obey me.”[c] 6 God will judge them with complete fairness, for all heaven declares that he is just.
7 O my people, listen! For I am your God. Listen! Here are my charges against you: 8 I have no complaint about the sacrifices you bring to my altar, for you bring them regularly. 9 But it isn’t sacrificial bullocks and goats that I really want from you. 10-11 For all the animals of field and forest are mine! The cattle on a thousand hills! And all the birds upon the mountains! 12 If I were hungry, I would not mention it to you—for all the world is mine and everything in it. 13 No, I don’t need your sacrifices of flesh and blood. 14-15 What I want from you is your true thanks; I want your promises fulfilled. I want you to trust me in your times of trouble, so I can rescue you and you can give me glory.
16 But God says to evil men: Recite my laws no longer and stop claiming my promises, 17 for you have refused my discipline, disregarding my laws. 18 You see a thief and help him, and spend your time with evil and immoral men. 19 You curse and lie, and vile language streams from your mouths. 20 You slander your own brother. 21 I remained silent—you thought I didn’t care—but now your time of punishment has come, and I list all the above charges against you. 22 This is the last chance for all of you who have forgotten God, before I tear you apart—and no one can help you then.
23 But true praise is a worthy sacrifice; this really honors me. Those who walk my paths will receive salvation from the Lord.
59 Written by David at the time King Saul set guards at his home to capture and kill him. (1 Samuel 19:11)
O my God, save me from my enemies. Protect me from these who have come to destroy me. 2 Preserve me from these criminals, these murderers. 3 They lurk in ambush for my life. Strong men are out there waiting. And not, O Lord, because I’ve done them wrong. 4 Yet they prepare to kill me. Lord, waken! See what is happening! Help me! 5 (And O Jehovah, God of heaven’s armies, God of Israel, arise and punish the heathen nations surrounding us.) Do not spare these evil, treacherous men. 6 At evening they come to spy, slinking around like dogs that prowl the city. 7 I hear them shouting insults and cursing God, for “No one will hear us,” they think. 8 Lord, laugh at them! (And scoff at these surrounding nations too.)
9 O God my Strength! I will sing your praises, for you are my place of safety. 10 My God is changeless in his love for me, and he will come and help me. He will let me see my wish come true upon my enemies. 11 Don’t kill them—for my people soon forget such lessons—but stagger them with your power and bring them to their knees. Bring them to the dust, O Lord our shield. 12-13 They are proud, cursing liars. Angrily destroy them. Wipe them out. (And let the nations find out, too, that God rules in Israel and will reign throughout the world.) 14-15 Let these evil men slink back at evening and prowl the city all night before they are satisfied, howling like dogs and searching for food.
16 But as for me, I will sing each morning about your power and mercy. For you have been my high tower of refuge, a place of safety in the day of my distress. 17 O my Strength, to you I sing my praises; for you are my high tower of safety, my God of mercy.
60 Written by David at the time he was at war with Syria, with the outcome still uncertain; this was when Joab, captain of his forces, slaughtered twelve thousand men of Edom in Salt Valley.
O God, you have rejected us and broken our defenses; you have become angry and deserted us. Lord, restore us again to your favor. 2 You have caused this nation to tremble in fear; you have torn it apart. Lord, heal it now, for it is shaken to its depths. 3 You have been very hard on us and made us reel beneath your blows.
4-5 But you have given us a banner to rally to; all who love truth will rally to it;[a] then you can deliver your beloved people. Use your strong right arm to rescue us. 6-7 God has promised to help us. He has vowed it by his holiness! No wonder I exult! “Shechem, Succoth, Gilead, Manasseh—still are mine!” he says. “Judah shall continue to produce kings, and Ephraim great warriors. 8 Moab shall become my lowly servant, and Edom my slave. And I will shout in triumph over the Philistines.”
9-10 Who will bring me in triumph into Edom’s strong cities? God will! He who cast us off! He who abandoned us to our foes! 11 Yes, Lord, help us against our enemies, for man’s help is useless.
12 With God’s help we shall do mighty things, for he will trample down our foes.
8 O Lord our God, the majesty and glory of your name fills all the earth and overflows the heavens. 2 You have taught the little children to praise you perfectly. May their example shame and silence your enemies!
3 When I look up into the night skies and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you have made— 4 I cannot understand how you can bother with mere puny man, to pay any attention to him!
5 And yet you have made him only a little lower than the angels[a] and placed a crown of glory and honor upon his head.
6 You have put him in charge of everything you made; everything is put under his authority: 7 all sheep and oxen, and wild animals too, 8 the birds and fish, and all the life in the sea. 9 O Jehovah, our Lord, the majesty and glory of your name fills the earth.
84 How lovely is your Temple, O Lord of the armies of heaven.
2 I long, yes, faint with longing to be able to enter your courtyard and come near to the Living God. 3 Even the sparrows and swallows are welcome to come and nest among your altars and there have their young, O Lord of heaven’s armies, my King and my God! 4 How happy are those who can live in your Temple, singing your praises.
5 Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who want above all else to follow your steps. 6 When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of springs where pools of blessing and refreshment collect after rains! 7 They will grow constantly in strength, and each of them is invited to meet with the Lord in Zion.
8 O Jehovah, God of the heavenly armies, hear my prayer! Listen, God of Israel. 9 O God, our Defender and our Shield, have mercy on the one you have anointed as your king.[a]
10 A single day spent in your Temple is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a doorman of the Temple of my God than live in palaces[b] of wickedness. 11 For Jehovah God is our Light and our Protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from those who walk along his paths.[c]
12 O Lord of the armies of heaven, blessed are those who trust in you.
18 “Appoint judges and administrative officials for all the cities the Lord your God is giving you. They will administer justice in every part of the land. 19 Never twist justice to benefit a rich man, and never accept bribes. For bribes blind the eyes of the wisest and corrupt their decisions. 20 Justice must prevail.
“That is the only way you will be successful in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.
14 “When you arrive in the land the Lord your God will give you, and have conquered it, and begin to think, ‘We ought to have a king like the other nations around us’— 15 be sure that you select as king the man the Lord your God shall choose. He must be an Israelite, not a foreigner. 16 Be sure that he doesn’t build up a large stable of horses for himself, nor send his men to Egypt to raise horses for him there, for the Lord has told you, ‘Never return to Egypt again.’ 17 He must not have too many wives, lest his heart be turned away from the Lord, neither shall he be excessively rich.
18 “And when he has been crowned and sits upon his throne as king, then he must copy these laws from the book kept by the Levite-priests. 19 That copy of the laws shall be his constant companion. He must read from it every day of his life so that he will learn to respect the Lord his God by obeying all of his commands. 20 This regular reading of God’s laws will prevent him from feeling that he is better than his fellow citizens. It will also prevent him from turning away from God’s laws in the slightest respect and will ensure his having a long, good reign. His sons will then follow him upon the throne.
8 Now I want to tell you what God in his grace has done for the churches in Macedonia.
2 Though they have been going through much trouble and hard times, they have mixed their wonderful joy with their deep poverty, and the result has been an overflow of giving to others. 3 They gave not only what they could afford but far more; and I can testify that they did it because they wanted to and not because of nagging on my part. 4 They begged us to take the money so they could share in the joy of helping the Christians in Jerusalem. 5 Best of all, they went beyond our highest hopes, for their first action was to dedicate themselves to the Lord and to us, for whatever directions God might give to them through us. 6 They were so enthusiastic about it that we have urged Titus, who encouraged your giving in the first place, to visit you and encourage you to complete your share in this ministry of giving. 7 You people there are leaders in so many ways—you have so much faith, so many good preachers, so much learning, so much enthusiasm, so much love for us. Now I want you to be leaders also in the spirit of cheerful giving.
8 I am not giving you an order; I am not saying you must do it, but others are eager for it. This is one way to prove that your love is real, that it goes beyond mere words.
9 You know how full of love and kindness our Lord Jesus was: though he was so very rich, yet to help you he became so very poor, so that by being poor he could make you rich.
10 I want to suggest that you finish what you started to do a year ago, for you were not only the first to propose this idea, but the first to begin doing something about it. 11 Having started the ball rolling so enthusiastically, you should carry this project through to completion just as gladly, giving whatever you can out of whatever you have. Let your enthusiastic idea at the start be equalled by your realistic action now. 12 If you are really eager to give, then it isn’t important how much you have to give. God wants you to give what you have, not what you haven’t.
13 Of course, I don’t mean that those who receive your gifts should have an easy time of it at your expense, 14 but you should divide with them. Right now you have plenty and can help them; then at some other time they can share with you when you need it. In this way, each will have as much as he needs. 15 Do you remember what the Scriptures say about this? “He that gathered much had nothing left over, and he that gathered little had enough.” So you also should share with those in need.
16 I am thankful to God that he has given Titus the same real concern for you that I have.
18 One day Jesus told his disciples a story to illustrate their need for constant prayer and to show them that they must keep praying until the answer comes.
2 “There was a city judge,” he said, “a very godless man who had great contempt for everyone. 3 A widow of that city came to him frequently to appeal for justice against a man who had harmed her. 4-5 The judge ignored her for a while, but eventually she got on his nerves.
“‘I fear neither God nor man,’ he said to himself, ‘but this woman bothers me. I’m going to see that she gets justice, for she is wearing me out with her constant coming!’”
6 Then the Lord said, “If even an evil judge can be worn down like that, 7 don’t you think that God will surely give justice to his people who plead with him day and night? 8 Yes! He will answer them quickly! But the question is: When I, the Messiah,[a] return, how many will I find who have faith and are praying?”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.