Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 131
A song of David for those journeying to worship.
1 O Eternal One, my heart is not occupied with proud thoughts;
my eyes do not look down on others;
I don’t even begin to get involved in matters too big, matters of faith, state, business,
or the many things that defy my ability to understand them.
2 Of one thing I am certain: my soul has become calm, quiet, and contented in You.
Like a weaned child resting upon his mother, I am quiet.
My soul is like this weaned child.
3 O Israel, stake your trust completely in the Eternal—
from this very moment and into the vast future.
Psalm 132
A song for those journeying to worship.
1 Eternal One, don’t let the suffering of our father David be forgotten—
for his sake, remember!
2 Remember the pledge he made, how he poured out his heart to the Eternal,
the promise he made to the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 He said, “I will not go inside my house
or lie down in my bed;
4 I will not even rest my eyes—
I will not take comfort in sleep—
5 Until I find a dwelling place for You, the Eternal,
a holy residence dedicated to the Mighty One of Jacob.”
7 Let us journey to His dwelling place;
let us worship at His footstool.
8 Eternal One, arise and go to Your new home—
You and the ark of Your strength.
9 Let every priest join the march wearing righteousness,
and let songs of joy erupt from the hearts and mouths of Your godly ones.
10 For the well-being of Your anointed servant,
do not turn Your back on David.
11 The Eternal made His own promise, sworn in truth to David,
an oath which He cannot, will not break:
“I will continue your dynasty, David;
one of your descendants will sit on your throne.
12 If your children obey My covenant
and follow the statutes which I shall teach them,
And if they remain faithful, their children will also
sit upon your throne—forever.”
13 For the Eternal selected Zion;
He desired it as His holy place of residence.
14 “This is My sanctuary, My resting place, forever and ever;
I will remain here, for this is what I have desired.
15 I will bless Zion with an endless supply of all she needs;
I will satisfy the bellies of her hungry with bread.
16 I will clothe her priests with salvation,
and songs of joy will erupt from the hearts and mouths of her godly people.
17 “From there I will make the strength of David’s kingdom grow
and prepare a lamp for My anointed one.
18 I will clothe his enemies with a garment of shame;
but as for David’s son, his crown will shine brightly like the sun.”
Psalm 133
A song of David for those journeying to worship.
1 How good and pleasant it is
when brothers and sisters live together in peace!
2 It is like the finest oils poured on the head,
sweet-smelling oils flowing down to cover the beard,
Flowing down the beard of Aaron,
flowing down the collar of his robe.
3 It is like the gentle rain of Mount Hermon
that falls on the hills of Zion.
Yes, from this place, the Eternal spoke the command,
from there He gave His blessing—life forever.
Psalm 140
For the worship leader. A song of David.
1 Save me, O Eternal One, from the evil men who seek my life.
Shield me from this band of violent men.
2 Their hearts devise evil! They conspire against me;
they are constantly causing a storm of war.
3 These snakes have sharpened their tongues;
viper venom hides beneath their lips.[a]
[pause][b]
4 Keep me from the grip of these cruel men, O Eternal One.
Shield me from this band of violent men
whose only intention is to trip me up and undermine all I do.
5 Those arrogant people are trying to catch me;
they’ve laid their trap, hiding a net along my path;
their traps are set, and I am the prey.
[pause]
6 “Eternal One,” I said, “You are my one and only God.
Hear me, O Eternal, hear my humble cry for rescue.
7 O Lord, Eternal One, power of my deliverance,
You are my helmet in the day of battle.
8 So do not fulfill the desires of these evildoers, Eternal One;
do not advance their evil schemes, lest they brag about their successes.
[pause]
9 “As for the gang leader of those who surround me,
let their mischievous words cover them; smother them in trouble.
10 Let hot coals fall from heaven upon them
and cast them into the roaring fires.
May they sink into the muddy marsh from which there is no return.
11 Let no liar find a home anywhere in the land;
let evil hunt down the violent man and do him in quickly.”
12 I am certain the Eternal supports the cause of the distressed;
the poor will receive the justice they deserve.
13 Indeed, the just-living will glorify Your name,
and honorable people will be at home in Your presence.
Psalm 142
A contemplative prayer[a] of David while he hid in a cave.
1 I call out loudly to the Eternal One;
I lift my voice to the Eternal begging for His favor.
2 I let everything that’s going wrong spill out of my mouth;
I spell out all my troubles to Him.
3 When my spirit buckled under the burdens I bear,
You knew my way.
They conspired to trip me up and trap me
on the path where I was walking.
4 Take a look around and see—to the right, to the left—
no one is there who cares for me.
There’s no way out of here;
no one cares about the state of my soul.
5 You are the One I called to, O Eternal One.
I said, “You’re the only safe place I know;
You’re all I’ve got in this world.
6 Oh, let me know that You hear my cry
because I’m languishing and desperate;
Rescue me from those who torment me
because there’s no way I can stand up to them;
they are much too strong for me.
7 Lift my captive soul from this dark prison
so I may render to You my gratitude;
Then Your righteous people will gather around me
because You will treat me with astounding goodness.”
25 Seven days and nights went by after the Eternal had struck the Nile and turned the water into blood.
8 Eternal One (to Moses): Go visit Pharaoh and give him My message: “The Eternal says to you, ‘Release My people, so that they may serve Me. 2 If you do not release them, I will send an infestation of frogs across your entire land. 3 The Nile will swarm with frogs. They will hop up from the river to assault your palace, make their way into your bedroom, and even crawl into your bed. The frogs will crowd into the houses of your servants and eventually of all your people. They will find their way into your ovens and kneading bowls. 4 Mark My words, these frogs will be all over you, your people, and all your servants.’”
5 Give this message to Aaron: “Take your staff in hand and raise it over the rivers, canals, and ponds, and call forth the frogs to invade Egypt.”
6 Aaron reached out with his staff over all the waters of Egypt, and countless frogs came forth and soon covered the land. They were everywhere. 7 The most talented magicians in Pharaoh’s Egypt were called to perform the same act with their incantations and they, too, called forth the frogs into Egypt.
Pharaoh’s magicians may be able to conjure up frogs, but they can’t make them leave.
8 Pharaoh sent for Moses and Aaron.
Pharaoh: Plead with the Eternal to remove the frogs from my land, from my house, and from the houses of my people. If He does this, I will release the people so that they can go sacrifice to the Eternal One.
Moses: 9 You may have the honor of naming the time when I plead for you, your servants, and your people and ask God to get rid of the frogs that are plaguing you and your houses. There will be no frogs left except in the Nile.
Pharaoh: 10 Tomorrow.
Moses: Then tomorrow it is—just as you have requested—so that you will know that there is no one like the Eternal our God. 11 The frogs will leave you, your houses, your servants, and all your people. After tomorrow, there will be no frogs anywhere except those in the Nile.
12 Moses and Aaron then left Pharaoh, and Moses pled with the Eternal about the frogs, which He had brought upon Pharaoh, that He would rid the land of them. 13 He did as Moses asked of Him, and all the frogs that had infested the houses, streets, and fields died. 14 The Egyptians gathered up all the dead frogs and made great piles of them, and the land took on a rotten stench. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that the infestation of frogs had ended, he was relieved; and he hardened his own heart and refused to listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Eternal had said.
Eternal One (to Moses): 16 Give this message to Aaron: “Raise your staff and strike the dust of the earth and the land of Egypt will be overrun with swarms of gnats.”
17 They did exactly as God had instructed. When Aaron reached out and struck the dust of the earth with his staff, swarms of gnats flew up from the dust and covered the people and animals. It seemed as if all the dust in the land of Egypt turned into gnats.
18 The most talented magicians in Pharaoh’s Egypt tried to perform this same act with their incantations, but none could do it. So the gnats continued to swarm all over the people and their animals.
Magicians (to Pharaoh): 19 This must be the finger of God.
If God can do this with a finger, what must His whole hand be able to accomplish?
But Pharaoh’s heart was as hard as stone, and he refused to pay any attention to Moses and Aaron, just as the Eternal One had said.
Apparently Paul is responding to repeated questions from the church in Corinth requiring him to justify his actions and explain his words. But instead of addressing each separately, Paul suggests a new course of action: let my record be based on the fruit in your lives. The Corinthians had experienced the promised effects of the new covenant—transformed hearts through the Spirit—as prophesied by Jeremiah (31) and Ezekiel (36–37). If the Corinthians agree the Spirit is working in them, then they have to agree that Paul’s ministry to them is productive.
How do we stand up to the same test? If our lives were judged based on the fruit of the seeds we have planted and nurtured in the lives of others, would we be proud or mortified?
7 Now consider this: if the ministry of death, which was chiseled in stone, came with so much glory that the Israelites could not bear to look at Moses’ face even as that glory was fading, 8 imagine the kind of greater glory that will accompany the ministry of the Spirit. 9 If glory ushered in the ministry that offers condemnation, how much more glory will attend the ministry that promises to restore and set the world right? 10 In fact, what seemed to have great glory will appear entirely inglorious in the light of the greater glory of the new covenant. 11 If something that fades away possesses glory, how much more intense is the glory of what remains?
12 In light of this hope that we have, we act with great confidence and speak with great courage. 13 We do not act like Moses who covered his face with a veil so the children of Israel would not stare as the glory of God faded from his face.[a] 14 Their minds became as hard as stones; for up to this day when they read the old covenant, the same veil continues to hide that glory; this veil is lifted only through the Anointed One. 15 Even today a veil covers their hearts when the words of Moses are read; 16 but in the moment when one turns toward the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 By “the Lord” what I mean is the Spirit, and in any heart where the Spirit of the Lord is present, there is liberty. 18 Now all of us, with our faces unveiled, reflect the glory of the Lord as if we are mirrors; and so we are being transformed, metamorphosed, into His same image from one radiance of glory to another, just as the Spirit of the Lord accomplishes it.
17 When He had traveled on, a young man came and knelt in the dust of the road in front of Jesus.
Young Man: Good Teacher! What must I do to gain life in the world to come?
Jesus: 18 You are calling Me good? Don’t you know that God and God alone is good? 19 Anyway, why ask Me that question? You know the Commandments of Moses: “Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not slander, do not defraud, and honor your father and mother.”[a]
Young Man: 20 Yes, Teacher, I have done all these since I was a child.
21 Then Jesus, looking at the young man, saw that he was sincere and responded out of His love for him.
Jesus: Son, there is still one thing you have not done. Go now. Sell everything you have and give the proceeds to the poor so that you will have treasure in heaven. After that, come, follow Me.
22 The young man went away sick at heart at these words because he was very wealthy, 23 and Jesus looked around to see if His disciples were understanding His teaching.
Jesus (to His disciples): Oh, it is hard for people with wealth to find their way into God’s kingdom!
Disciples (amazed): 24 What?
Jesus: You heard Me. How hard it is to enter the kingdom of God [for those who trust in their wealth]![b] 25 I think you’ll see camels squeezing through the eye of a needle before you’ll see the rich celebrating and dancing as they enter into the joy of God’s kingdom!
26 The disciples looked around at each other, whispering.
Disciples (aloud to Jesus): Then who can be liberated?
Jesus (smiling and shaking His head): 27 For human beings it is impossible, but not for God: God makes everything possible.
Peter: 28 Master, we have left behind everything we had to follow You.
Jesus: 29 That is true. And those who have left their houses, their lands, their parents, or their families for My sake, and for the sake of this good news 30 will receive all of this 100 times greater than they have in this time—houses and farms and brothers, sisters, mothers, and children, along with persecutions—and in the world to come, they will receive eternal life. 31 But many of those who are first in this world shall be last in the world to come, and the last, first.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.