Book of Common Prayer
The Lord rules as king![a]
97 The Lord rules as king!
Everyone on earth should be happy!
The people who live on the shore of the seas
should sing with joy!
2 Dark clouds are all round the Lord.
He rules with justice,
and he is fair to everyone.
3 Fire goes in front of him.
It burns up his enemies on every side.
4 His lightning lights up the whole world.
The earth sees it and it shakes with fear.
5 The mountains melt like butter
in front of the Lord,
when they see the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The sky itself tells us that he is righteous
People from every nation see his glory.
7 Everyone who worships idols should be ashamed.
They should not boast about useless idols!
All gods like that will fall down in front of the Lord.
8 When Zion's people hear about it,
they will be happy.
Yes, the people of Judah will be very happy!
They will be happy, Lord,
because you bring justice.
9 You, Lord, are the Most High God
who rules over all the earth.
You are much greater than any other god![b]
10 If you love the Lord,
then hate anything that is evil.
The Lord protects the lives of those who serve him.
He keeps them safe from the power of wicked people.
11 God's light shines on righteous people.
Good, honest people will be very happy.
12 All you righteous people,
be happy because of what the Lord has done.
Thank him because he is holy.
The Lord is holy![a]
99 The Lord rules as king!
People on earth should shake with fear!
The Lord sits on his throne as king
above the cherubs![b]
The earth itself should shake!
2 The Lord is a great king in Zion.
He rules with power
over all the world's nations.
3 So they should all praise your great name.
It is a name that brings fear!
The Lord is holy!
4 You are a strong king who loves justice.
You have made fair rules,
so that people in Israel do what is right.
5 Praise the Lord our God!
Worship him as king.
He is holy!
6 Moses and Aaron were two of his priests.[c]
Samuel was among those who prayed to him.
They prayed to the Lord
and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud.[d]
They obeyed his rules and his commands.
8 Yes, you answered them, Lord our God.
You forgave the sins of your people.
But when they did wrong things,
you punished them.[e]
9 Praise the Lord our God!
Go and worship him on his holy hill,
because the Lord our God is holy!
There is only one true God[a]
115 Lord, you are the one
who deserves that people praise you.
They should praise only you, not us!
Because you love us with a faithful love,
and you always do what you have promised.
2 Why should other nations say about us,
‘Where is their God?’
3 We know that our God is in heaven.
He does whatever he wants to do.
4 Those people's idols are made from silver and gold.
Yes, human hands make them!
5 Each idol has a mouth,
but it cannot speak!
It has eyes, but it cannot see!
6 It has ears, but it cannot hear!
It has a nose, but it cannot smell!
7 It has hands, but it cannot feel anything!
It has feet, but it cannot walk!
They cannot make a sound!
8 The people that make those idols
will become useless like them.
The same is true for everyone
who trusts their idols to help them.
9 People of Israel,
trust in the Lord.
He is the one who helps you
and keeps you safe.
10 Aaron's family,
trust in the Lord.[b]
He is the one who helps you
and keeps you safe.
11 Everyone who serves the Lord,
trust in the Lord.
He is the one who helps you
and keeps you safe.
12 The Lord will remember us,
and he will bless us.
He will bless Israel's people.
He will bless Aaron's family.
13 He will bless everybody who serves him,
whether they are important people or not.
14 I pray that the Lord will give you many children,
and your children too!
15 I pray that the Lord will bless you all.
He is the one who made the whole universe.
16 The heavens belong to the Lord,
but he has given the earth to us people.
17 Dead people cannot praise the Lord.
In their graves, they are unable to speak.
18 But we will praise the Lord,
now and for ever.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
40 The Israelites had lived in Egypt for 430 years. 41 It was on the last day of the 430 years that all the Lord's people left Egypt. They left in family groups, like an army. 42 The Lord carefully watched his people all that night, when he brought them out of Egypt. Because of that, all Israelites must watch carefully during this special night. They and their descendants must do this every year, to thank the Lord.
Rules for the Passover festival
43 Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ‘These are the rules for the Passover festival:
No foreign person may eat the Passover meal. 44 If you buy a foreign slave, you must first circumcise him. Then he may eat the food. 45 But if you pay him money for his work, he must not eat the food. A visitor also must not eat the food.
46 You must eat the meal in one house. You must not take any of the meat outside the house. You must not break any of the bones in the meat. 47 All the Israelites must enjoy the feast together.
48 There may be a foreign person who lives among you. He may want to join you to eat the Lord's Passover meal. But he must first be circumcised as well as all the men in his house. Then he can join with you and eat the Passover meal. He will be like a man who has been born in Israel. But no male person without circumcision can join the Passover feast. 49 Both the people who were born as Israelites and the foreign people who live among you must obey this rule.’
50 All the Israelites did everything that the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 On that same day, the Lord brought the Israelites out of Egypt, in family groups, like an army.
29 Think about this. Some of you have let people baptize you on behalf of believers who have already died. But if dead people do not rise up to a new life, there is no reason to baptize anyone on their behalf.[a]
30 Also, think about us! All the time we are in great danger. 31 Yes, every day I come near to death! Why do I tell you this? It is because I am proud of you. I am proud because we all belong to Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 At Ephesus city, people attacked me like wild animals and I fought against them.[b] But that would be worth nothing to me if dead people do not rise to a new life. If dead people do not live again, then we could say:
‘Tomorrow we will probably die.
So we should just eat and drink as much as we like.’[c]
33 Do not let anyone deceive you. Remember this:
‘If you become a friend of bad people, you also will live in a bad way.’
34 So start thinking properly! Stop doing wrong things! Some of you do not really know God. I am saying this to make you feel ashamed.
New bodies
35 One of you may ask, ‘How does God raise dead people, to make them alive again? What kind of body will they have?’ 36 Do not think like a fool! When you plant a seed in the ground, it has to die first. Then it can become alive again and grow into a new plant. 37 You put just a seed into the ground. It might be wheat or it might be another kind of seed. You do not put into the ground the whole plant that the seed will become. 38 But God makes that seed become a plant. Each plant has its own special body that God has chosen for it.
39 Also, things that are alive do not have the same kind of body. People have one kind of body. Animals have a different kind of body. Birds and fish also have a different kind of body. 40 Also, there are things up in the sky that are different from the things here on the earth. They have different bodies. Also, the things in the sky are beautiful in a different way from the things on the earth. 41 The sun is beautiful in a special way. The moon is also beautiful in a special way, but it is different from the sun. The stars are beautiful too, and each star is beautiful in its own special way.
Jesus becomes alive again
28 After the day of rest had finished, Mary from Magdala and Mary the mother of James got up early. It was dawn on the first day of the week. They went to the hole in the rock where Joseph had put the dead body of Jesus.
2 At that moment, the ground moved about very strongly. One of the Lord God's angels came from heaven. He went to the rock. He rolled the big stone away from the hole and then he sat on top of it. 3 He shone brightly like lightning. His clothes were very white like snow. 4 The soldiers who were carefully watching that place were very frightened. They suddenly fell down on the ground. Like dead men, they could not move.
5 Then the angel said to the women, ‘Do not be afraid. I know that you are looking for Jesus. The soldiers killed him on a cross. 6 But he is not here. He has become alive again. That is what he said would happen. Come here. You can see the place where he was lying. 7 Then you must go quickly to his disciples. Tell them, “Jesus is alive again, and he is going to Galilee. You must also go there and you will see him.” That is the message that I have brought for you.’
8 So the women went away quickly from the hole in the rock. They were very frightened, but they were also very happy. They ran to tell the disciples the angel's message. 9 At that moment, Jesus met the two women and he said, ‘Hello.’ They went near to him. They held on to his feet and they worshipped him. 10 Then Jesus said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. Go and tell my disciples to go to Galilee. They will see me there.’
The soldiers tell the leaders of the priests what happened
11 The women went to tell the disciples Jesus' message. At the same time, some of the soldiers who had watched the rock also went into the city. The soldiers told the leaders of the priests everything that had happened at the rock. 12 The leaders of the priests and the important Jews met together. They decided what they should do now. They gave the soldiers a lot of money as a bribe. 13 They said to the soldiers, ‘When people ask you, you must say this: “Jesus' disciples came to the rock in the night and they took his body away. We were asleep when they did this.” 14 If the Roman ruler Pilate hears about this, we will explain things to him. Do not be afraid. He will not punish you.’
15 The soldiers took the money. They told people what the Jewish leaders told them to say. Many Jews heard the soldiers' story. Even today they still believe that it happened like that.
Jesus appears to his apostles
16 After this, the 11 disciples went to Galilee. They went to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.
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