Book of Common Prayer
A song of David.
24 The earth and everything on it belong to the Lord.
The world and all its people belong to him.
2 He built the earth on the water.
He built it over the rivers.
3 Who can go up on the Lord’s mountain[a]?
Who can stand in his holy Temple?
4 Only those who have not done evil,
who have pure hearts,
who have not used my name[b] to hide their lies,
and who have not made false promises.
5 Good people ask the Lord to bless others.
They ask God, their Savior, to do good things.
6 They try to follow God.
They go to the God of Jacob for help. Selah
7 Gates, proudly lift your heads!
Open, ancient doors,
and the glorious King will come in.
8 Who is the glorious King?
He is the Lord, the powerful soldier.
He is the Lord, the war hero.
9 Gates, proudly lift your heads!
Open, ancient doors,
and the glorious King will come in.
10 Who is the glorious King?
The Lord All-Powerful is the glorious King. Selah
A song of David.
29 Praise the Lord, you heavenly angels[a]!
Praise the Lord’s glory and power.
2 Praise the Lord and honor his name!
Worship the Lord in all his holy beauty.
3 The Lord’s voice can be heard over the sea.
The voice of our glorious Lord God is like thunder over the great ocean.
4 The Lord’s voice is powerful.
It shows the Lord’s glory.
5 The Lord’s voice shatters great cedar trees.
The Lord breaks the great cedars of Lebanon.
6 He makes Lebanon shake like a young calf dancing.
Sirion[b] trembles like a young bull jumping up and down.
7 The Lord’s voice cuts the air with flashes of lightning.
8 The Lord’s voice shakes the desert.
The desert of Kadesh[c] trembles at the Lord’s voice.
9 The Lord’s voice frightens the deer.[d]
He destroys the forests.
In his temple everyone shouts, “Glory to God!”
10 The Lord ruled as king at the time of the flood,
and the Lord will rule as king forever.
11 May the Lord make his people strong.
May the Lord bless his people with peace.
To the director: With the gittith. A song of David.
8 Lord our Lord, your name is the most wonderful in all the earth!
It brings you praise everywhere in heaven.
2 From the mouths of children and babies come songs of praise to you.
They sing of your power to silence your enemies who were seeking revenge.
3 I look at the heavens you made with your hands.
I see the moon and the stars you created.
4 And I wonder, “Why are people so important to you?
Why do you even think about them?
Why do you care so much about humans[a]?
Why do you even notice them?”
5 But you made them almost like gods
and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You put them in charge of everything you made.
You put everything under their control.
7 People rule over the sheep and cattle and all the wild animals.
8 They rule over the birds in the sky
and the fish that swim in the sea.
9 Lord our Lord, your name is the most wonderful name in all the earth!
To the director: On the gittith. A song of praise from the Korah family.
84 Lord All-Powerful, the place where you live is so beautiful!
2 Lord, I cannot wait to enter your Temple.
I am so excited!
Every part of me cries out to be with the Living God.
3 Lord All-Powerful, my King, my God,
even the birds have found a home in your Temple.
They make their nests near your altar,
and there they have their babies.
4 Great blessings belong to those who live at your Temple!
They continue to praise you. Selah
5 Great blessings belong to those who depend on you for strength!
Their heart’s desire is to make the trip to your Temple.
6 They travel through Baca Valley,
which God has made into a place of springs.
Autumn rains form pools of water there.
7 The people travel from town to town[a]
on their way to Zion, where they will meet with God.
8 Lord God All-Powerful, listen to my prayer.
God of Jacob, listen to me. Selah
9 God, watch over the king, our protector.[b]
Be kind to him, the one you have chosen.
10 One day in your Temple is better
than a thousand days anywhere else.
Serving as a guard at the gate of my God’s house is better
than living in the homes of the wicked.
11 The Lord God is our protector and glorious king.[c]
He blesses us with kindness and honor.
The Lord freely gives every good thing
to those who do what is right.
12 Lord All-Powerful,
great blessings belong to those who trust in you!
16 You remember how we lived in the land of Egypt. And you remember how we traveled through the countries that were on our way here. 17 You saw their hated things—the idols they had made from wood, stone, silver, and gold. 18 Be sure that there is no man, woman, family or tribe here today who turns away from the Lord our God. No one should go and serve the gods of the other nations. People who do that are like a plant that grows bitter and poisonous fruit.
19 “Some people might hear these curses and comfort themselves by saying, ‘I will continue doing what I want. Nothing bad will happen to me.’ But that attitude will bring total disaster. 20-21 The Lord will not forgive them for that. No, the Lord will be angry and upset with them and punish them. The Lord will separate them from the tribes of Israel. He will completely destroy them. All the curses that are written in this book will happen to them. They are a part of the agreement that is written in this Book of Teachings.
22 “In the future, your descendants and foreigners from faraway countries will see how the land has been ruined. They will see the diseases that the Lord has brought to it. 23 All the land will be useless—destroyed by burning sulfur and covered with salt. The land will have nothing planted in it. Nothing will be growing—not even weeds. The land will be destroyed like Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, the cities the Lord destroyed when he was very angry.
24 “All the other nations will ask, ‘Why did the Lord do this to this land? Why was he so angry?’ 25 The answer will be, ‘This happened because the Israelites left the agreement of the Lord, the God of their ancestors. They stopped following the agreement he made with them when he brought them out of Egypt. 26 The Israelites started serving other gods—gods they never worshiped before. The Lord told his people not to worship those gods. 27 That is why the Lord became very angry with the people of this land. So he brought to them all the curses that are written in this book. 28 The Lord became very angry and upset with them. So he took them out of their land. He put them in another land, where they are today.’
29 “There are some things that the Lord our God has kept secret. Only he knows these things. But he told us about some things. And these teachings are for us and our descendants forever. And we must obey all the commands in that law.
The Woman Giving Birth and the Dragon
12 And then a great wonder appeared in heaven: There was a woman who was clothed with the sun, and the moon was under her feet. She had a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out with pain because she was about to give birth.
3 Then another wonder appeared in heaven: There was a giant red dragon there. The dragon had seven heads with a crown on each head. It also had ten horns. 4 Its tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and threw them down to the earth. It stood in front of the woman who was ready to give birth to the baby. It wanted to eat the woman’s baby as soon as it was born.
5 The woman gave birth to a son, who would rule all the nations with an iron rod. And her child was taken up to God and to his throne. 6 The woman ran away into the desert to a place that God had prepared for her. There she would be taken care of for 1260 days.
7 Then there was a war in heaven. Michael[a] and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, 8 but they were not strong enough. The dragon and its angels lost their place in heaven. 9 It was thrown down out of heaven. (This giant dragon is that old snake, the one called the devil or Satan, who leads the whole world into the wrong way.) The dragon and its angels were thrown to the earth.
10 Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say, “The victory and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Messiah have now come. These things have come, because the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown out. He is the one who accused them day and night before our God. 11 They defeated him by the blood sacrifice of the Lamb and by the message of God that they told people. They did not love their lives too much. They were not afraid of death. 12 So rejoice, you heavens and all who live there! But it will be terrible for the earth and sea, because the devil has gone down to you. He is filled with anger. He knows he doesn’t have much time.”
Jesus Heals Many People
29 Then Jesus went from there to the shore of Lake Galilee. He went up on a hill and sat down.
30 A large crowd of people came to him. They brought many other sick people and put them before him. There were people who could not walk, people who were blind, crippled, or deaf, and many others. Jesus healed them all. 31 People were amazed when they saw that those who could not speak were now able to speak. Crippled people were made strong. Those who could not walk were now able to walk. The blind were able to see. Everyone thanked the God of Israel for this.
Jesus Feeds More Than 4000(A)
32 Jesus called his followers to him and said, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been with me three days, and now they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. They might faint while going home.”
33 The followers asked Jesus, “Where can we get enough bread to feed all these people? We are a long way from any town.”
34 Jesus asked, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They answered, “We have seven loaves of bread and a few small fish.”
35 Jesus told the people to sit on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish. Then he gave thanks to God for the food. He broke the bread into pieces, which he gave to the followers, and they gave the food to the people. 37 All the people ate until they were full. After this, the followers filled seven baskets with the pieces of food that were not eaten. 38 There were about 4000 men there who ate. There were also some women and children. 39 After they all ate, Jesus told the people they could go home. He got into the boat and went to the area of Magadan.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International