Book of Common Prayer
Worship God and obey him[a]
95 Come now! Let us sing together to worship the Lord!
We will shout aloud
to praise God, the strong Rock who makes us safe!
2 Let us come near to God
and thank him![b]
Let us sing songs to praise him,
because we are so happy!
3 Yes, the Lord is the great God.
He is the great king who rules over all gods.
4 The deepest places of the earth are in his hand.
The highest mountains belong to him.
5 The seas are his,
because he made them.
He also made the dry land,
with his own hands.
6 Come now! Let us bend down to worship him!
Let us bend our knees in front of the Lord.
He is the one who made us.
7 He is our God.
He takes care of us,
like a shepherd takes care of his sheep.[c]
As his sheep, he gives us what we need.
Today, you must listen to him
and obey him.
8 He says, ‘Do not refuse to obey me,
like my people did at Meribah.
They also did that one day at Massah,
in the desert.
9 Your ancestors tested me there,
to see if I would punish them.
But they had already seen the great things
that I had done for them!
10 So I was angry with those people
all the time for 40 years.
I said, “These people love to go the wrong way.
They refuse to follow my ways.”
11 I was very angry and I promised,
“They will never come into my place of rest.” ’[d]
This is the prayer of a man who is weak and in trouble. He tells the Lord that he is very sad.
A young man's prayer[a]
102 Lord, please hear my prayer!
Listen to me when I call to you for help.
2 Now that I am in trouble,
please do not turn away from me.
Listen carefully to me.
Now that I am calling to you for help,
please answer me quickly.
3 My life is quickly disappearing,
like smoke from a fire.
My bones hurt very much,
as if they were burning in an oven.[b]
4 I am very weak and upset,
like dry grass that will soon die.
I even forget to eat my food.
5 I cry aloud with pain,
so that I am just skin and bones.[c]
6 I am like a wild bird in the desert.
I am like an owl in the wilderness.
7 I am awake in the night,
like a bird that sits alone on the roof.
8 All day my enemies insult me.
They laugh at me
and they use my name as a curse.
9-10 Because you are so angry with me,
I eat ashes as my food.
My tears drop
into the water that I drink.
It seems that you have picked me up,
and then you have thrown me away.
11 My days are disappearing,
like a shadow in the evening.
Like dry grass,
I will soon die.
12 But you, Lord, rule for ever as king.
People will always remember you.
13 You will soon be kind to Zion again.
Now it is time to forgive her.
Yes, the time is now right for you to do that.
14 Her buildings have become broken stones and dust.
But your servants still love your city.
We are sad to see that it is broken down.
15 The nations will respect the Lord's name.
All the kings of the world
will praise your glory.
16 That will happen when the Lord builds Zion again
and he appears there in his glory.
17 He will answer the prayers
of poor people who have nothing.
He will not refuse to help them.
18 Write these things down
for people who live in future times to read.
Then they too will praise the Lord.
19 Tell them that the Lord looked down
from his home in heaven.
He saw what was happening on the earth.
20 He heard the prisoners call out in pain.
He saved the lives of prisoners
so they could go free before their enemies could kill them.
21 As a result, people will shout the Lord's name in Zion.
Yes, they will praise him in Jerusalem!
22 At that time, people from all nations
will meet together.
The kingdoms of the world
will come to serve the Lord.
23 But God has made me weak
before I have reached old age.
He has made my life short.
24 So I pray, ‘My God, please do not let me die now,
in the middle of my life.
The years of your life continue for ever!
25 Long ago, you built the world on a strong foundation.
You created the heavens with your own hands.
26 They will all disappear one day,
but you will remain.
They will become spoiled,
like old clothes.
Like clothes, you will remove them,
so that they disappear.
27 But you remain the same, Lord.
The years of your life will never finish.
28 As your servants,
our children will live here safely.
Their children too will be safe,
as they live near to you.’
God takes care of his people[a]
107 Thank the Lord because he is good.
His faithful love for his people continues for ever.
2 Everyone that the Lord has rescued
should tell others.
Tell them how he has rescued you
from the enemy's power.
3 He brought his people from foreign countries.
He brought them together from the east and the west,
from the north, and from the south.[b]
4 Some of them travelled through the wilderness
on a road that went nowhere.
They did not find any city to live in.
5 They were hungry and thirsty.
They were very weak and nearly dead.
6 Because of their trouble,
they called to the Lord for help.
He rescued them from their troubles.
7 He led them along a straight road,
to arrive at a city where they could live.
8 So God's people should thank the Lord
because of his faithful love.
They should thank him for the great things
that he does for people.
9 He gives drink to people who are thirsty.
He gives plenty of good things to hungry people.
10 Some people sat in a completely dark place.
Iron chains held them as prisoners,
and they were very sad.
11 They had refused to obey God's commands.
They did not accept the teaching of the Most High God.
12 Because of that, God caused them to become weak
from very hard work.
When they fell down,
nobody would help them to stand up.
13 Because of their trouble,
they called to the Lord for help.
He rescued them from their troubles.
14 He took them out of the completely dark place.
He broke away the chains that held them.
15 So they should thank the Lord
because of his faithful love.
They should thank him for the great things
that he does for people.
16 He broke bronze gates into pieces
and he cut through iron bars.[c]
17 Some people became fools
and they turned against God.
They had trouble and pain
because of their sins.
18 They did not want to eat any food,
so they nearly died.
19 Because of their trouble,
they called to the Lord for help.
He rescued them from their troubles.
20 He sent his word to them
and he made them well again.
He rescued them from the deep hole of death.
21 So they should thank the Lord
because of his faithful love.
They should thank him for the great things
that he does for people.
22 They should offer sacrifices to thank God.
They should sing aloud
to tell about what he has done.
23 Some people were traders
who travelled far across the sea in ships.
24 They saw the great things that the Lord did,
even in the middle of the deep seas.
25 He would command a storm to come,
so that the wind caused big waves to rise up.
26 The waves threw the ships up high in the air,
then dropped them deep down.
The danger made the sailors afraid,
and they thought that they would die.
27 Like drunk people, they could not stand or walk properly.
They did not know what to do!
28 Because of their trouble,
they called to the Lord for help.
He rescued them from their troubles.
29 He caused the storm to stop,
so that the waves became quiet.
30 The sailors were happy when it became quiet.
God led them safely to the port,
where they wanted to go.
31 So they should thank the Lord
because of his faithful love.
They should thank him for the great things
that he does for people.
32 They should praise the Lord
when they meet together.
They should praise him
at the meeting of their leaders.
The birth of Moses
2 At this time, there was an Israelite man who belonged to the family of Levi. He married a woman who was also a descendant of Levi. 2 The woman became pregnant and she gave birth to a son. She saw that he was a beautiful boy. So she hid him for three months. 3 Then she could not continue to hide him. So she took a basket that was made from river grass. She painted the basket with tar, to keep the water out of it. Then she put her baby in the basket. She put the basket among the reeds at the edge of the river.[a]
4 The baby's sister stood not very far away. She wanted to see what would happen to the baby.
5 Soon, Pharaoh's daughter came to wash herself in the river. Her servant girls were walking near the edge of the river. Pharaoh's daughter saw the basket among the river grasses. So she sent one of her servant girls to fetch it for her. 6 When she opened the basket, she saw the baby boy. He was crying. She was sorry for him and she said, ‘This is one of the Israelite children.’
7 Then the baby's sister said to Pharaoh's daughter, ‘Do you want me to fetch one of the Israelite mothers? She can take care of this baby and she can feed him for you.’ 8 Pharaoh's daughter said, ‘Yes, please do that.’
So the girl went and she fetched the baby's own mother. 9 Pharaoh's daughter said to the baby's mother, ‘Please take this baby to your house. You can take care of him for me. I will pay you to do this.’ So the woman took the baby home and she took care of him.
10 When the baby was older, his mother took him to Pharaoh's daughter. He now became her son. She gave him the name ‘Moses’. She said, ‘I will call him Moses because I pulled him out of the water.’[b]
Moses runs away to Midian
11 Many years later, Moses grew to become a man. At that time, he went out to visit his own people, the Israelites. He saw that they had to do very hard work without any rest. He saw an Egyptian man. He was attacking an Israelite man. The Egyptian was hitting someone from Moses' own country! 12 Moses looked in every direction. He saw that nobody was near. So Moses killed the Egyptian. He buried his body in the sand to hide it.
13 The next day, Moses went out again to visit his people. He saw that two Israelite men were fighting each other. Moses said to the guilty man, ‘Why are you attacking your friend, who is an Israelite like you?’[c]
14 The man answered, ‘You do not have authority over us! You cannot judge us! Do you want to kill me, as you killed that Egyptian man?’ Then Moses was afraid. He said to himself, ‘People must know what I have done!’
15 Pharaoh heard about what had happened. He wanted to kill Moses. So Moses ran away from Pharaoh. He went from Egypt to the country called Midian and he lived there.[d]
One day, Moses sat down by a well which was near where he lived.
16 There was a priest in Midian who had seven daughters. Those seven young women came to get water out of the well. They used the water to fill the places where the animals drink. Then their father's sheep and goats could drink there. 17 But some shepherds then arrived at the well. They made the girls go away. So Moses stood up and he went to help the young women. He gave water to their animals.[e]
18 Then the girls went back home to Reuel, their father. He asked them, ‘Why have you come home so soon today?’ 19 They answered, ‘An Egyptian man saved us from the shepherds. He even took water from the well and he gave it to our animals.’ 20 Reuel said to his daughters, ‘So where is the man? You should not have left him there. Ask him to come here so that he can eat a meal with us.’
21 Moses agreed to stay with Reuel. Reuel gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses as his wife. 22 Later, Zipporah gave birth to a son for Moses. Moses gave the boy the name ‘Gershom’. He called him that because he said, ‘I am living as a stranger in a foreign country.’[f]
27 All of you together are Christ's body. And each of you is a part of that body. 28 Like the parts of a body, God has put people in different places in his church. First, there are apostles. Second, there are people who speak messages from God. Third, there are teachers. After that, there are people who do miracles. There are people who have gifts to make sick people well. There are people who help others in special ways. There are people who can lead others. And there are people who can speak different kinds of languages.
29 Not everyone in the church is an apostle. Not everyone speaks messages from God. Not everyone is a teacher. Not everyone can do miracles. 30 Not everyone has the gifts to make sick people well. Not everyone can speak in different kinds of languages. Nor can everyone explain what messages in those languages mean. You know that. 31 But it is good if you really want the more valuable gifts from God.
Now I will show you a way that is better than anything else.
Love is most important
13 I may be able to speak many different languages that people or angels speak. But that is worth nothing if I do not love other people. I would only be making a loud noise, like someone who hits a piece of metal. 2 I may be able to speak messages from God. I may understand all God's secret things, and know all the facts. I may have great faith so that I trust God enough to move mountains. But I am nothing if I do not love others. 3 I may give all my things to help poor people. I may let other people take my body to burn it.[a] But that would not help me if I do not love others.
2 Six days after that, Jesus asked Peter, James and John to go with him. Jesus led them up a high mountain, where they were alone together. Peter, James and John saw Jesus change in front of them. 3 His clothes became very white; they were shining. They were a brighter white than anyone on earth could wash them. 4 Then Elijah and Moses appeared in front of the three disciples. Elijah and Moses were talking with Jesus.[a][b]
5 So Peter said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, it is good that we are here. Please let us build three huts. One hut will be for you. One hut will be for Moses. And one hut will be for Elijah.’ 6 Peter did not really know what to say. That was because the three disciples were very afraid.[c]
7 Then a cloud appeared and it covered them all. A voice spoke from the cloud and it said, ‘This is my Son, and I love him. Listen to him.’
8 At that moment, the three disciples looked around. They saw that nobody else was there now. Only Jesus was there with them.
9 While they were walking down the mountain, Jesus said to the three disciples, ‘You must not tell anyone now about the things that you have just seen. One day the Son of Man will become alive again after his death. Then you can tell people about these things.’ 10 The three disciples kept these words secret. But they talked together about the words, ‘become alive again after his death’. They asked each other, ‘What does this mean?’
11 Then the three disciples asked Jesus, ‘Why do the teachers of God's Law say that God's prophet Elijah must return first, before the Messiah comes?’
12 Jesus said to them, ‘Elijah does come first. He makes everything ready. But what is written in the Bible about the Son of Man? It says that people will cause him to suffer a lot. They will think that he is nothing.[d] 13 But I tell you that Elijah has already come.[e] People did to him everything that they wanted to do. The Bible already showed that those things would happen to him.’
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