Book of Common Prayer
Asaph wrote this song for the music leader. He should use special music.
God judges people fairly
75 God, we thank you!
Yes, we thank you!
You are very near to us.
People everywhere say what great things you have done.
2 God says, ‘I choose the time when I will judge people,
and I will be a fair judge.
3 When the earth shakes and the people in it are afraid,
I will keep its foundations strong.’
Selah.
4 I say to people who are proud,
‘Do not be proud.’
I say to wicked people,
‘Do not boast about your power.
5 Do not boast against God.
Do not speak with such proud words.’
6 Who has the power to judge people?
Nobody from the east, or from the west,
or from the desert can be judge.
7 God is the one who judges people.
He decides who to bring down
and who to lift up.[a]
8 The Lord holds a cup of punishment in his hand.[b]
It is full of wine, with spices in it.
The Lord pours out his anger from this cup.
All the wicked people in the world will have to drink it.
They will drink all of it, so that none remains.
9 But as for me, I will always thank you, God.
I will sing to praise you,
the God of Jacob.
10 You say, ‘I will destroy the power of wicked people.
I will give strength to my righteous people.’
This psalm is a song that Asaph wrote for the music leader. Sing it with the music of stringed instruments.
God has great power
76 People in Judah know who God is.
He is famous in Israel.[c]
2 His home is in Salem.
Yes, he lives in Zion.[d]
3 There he destroyed all the weapons of our enemy,
their arrows, their shields,
and their swords.
He destroyed everything that they use to fight wars.
Selah.
4 God, you are the one who shines with glory!
You are greater than the greatest mountains.
5 You won against brave soldiers,
so that we robbed them of everything.
Now they are sleeping,
and they will never wake up!
They are completely helpless.
6 God of Jacob,
when your enemies heard your battle cry,
both the horses and their riders fell down dead.
7 Yes, everyone is afraid of you, our God!
When you are angry,
nobody can stand against you.
8 From heaven you said how you would judge people.
Everybody on earth became afraid.
They could not say anything!
9 This happened when you came to punish wicked people.
You came to rescue the weak and poor people in the land.
Selah.
10 Everybody will praise you,
even those who are angry against you.
You will show them how angry you really are.[e]
11 Make promises to the Lord your God,
and do what you have promised.
Everyone who serves God should bring gifts to him.
We must respect him with fear.
12 He makes proud rulers become humble.
All the kings of the world should be afraid of him.
This is a song that David wrote.
God takes care of his people[a]
23 The Lord takes care of me,
like a shepherd with his sheep.
I have everything that I need.
2 He takes me to green fields where I can rest.
He leads me to streams of water where I can drink.
3 He gives me new strength in my life.
He is my guide to the right paths.
He does this to give honour to his name.
4 I may walk through a valley that is as dark as death.
But I will not be afraid of any danger.
This is because you are with me, Lord.
Your stick and your shepherd's pole protect me from danger.
5 You prepare a big meal for me while my enemies watch.
You put olive oil on my head.
You bless me so much that my cup is completely full.
6 I am sure that you will always be good to me.
You will love me all the days of my life.
That will never change.
I will live in the Lord's house for as long as I live.
This is a song that David wrote.
I trust God to keep me safe
27 The Lord gives me light in my life
and he makes me safe.
So I am not afraid of anyone!
The Lord takes care of my life.
Nobody can make me afraid!
2 Evil men are ready to attack me.
They want to destroy my body.
But when my enemies attack me,
they trip and fall to the ground!
3 Even if a whole army comes to fight against me,
I will not be afraid.
Even if they attack me in war,
I will continue to trust God.
4 There is one thing that I have asked the Lord to do for me.
This is the one thing that I really want:
I want to live in the Lord's house
all the days of my life.
Then I will clearly see the Lord's beauty.
I will pray to him in his temple.
5 When danger is near,
the Lord will keep me safe.
He will take care of me in his home.
He will put me in a safe place,
on the top of a high rock.
6 My enemies may be all round me,
but I will win against them.
They will see how strong I am!
I will offer sacrifices to the Lord in his temple.
I will be so happy that I will shout aloud!
Yes, I will sing to praise the Lord.
7 Lord, hear me when I call to you for help.[a]
Be kind to me and answer me.
8 I have heard you say to me, ‘Come near to me.’
So I will come and pray to you, Lord.
9 Please do not turn away from me.
I am your servant,
so do not be angry with me.
You have always helped me in the past,
so do not push me away now.
You are the one who saves me, God,
so do not turn away from me.
10 Even if my father and my mother leave me,
the Lord will still take care of me.
11 Lord, please teach me to follow your way.
Lead me along a good, safe path,
because my enemies are waiting to attack me.
12 Do not give me to my enemies.
They say false things against me,
so that they can destroy me.
13 But I surely believe
that I will see how good the Lord is!
I will know his love while I still live in this world.
14 Wait for the Lord to help you!
Be strong and brave.
Yes, wait for the Lord to help you!
23 The Lord said to Moses, 24 ‘Tell Israel's people this. On the first day of the seventh month, they must rest. It is a special day. They must worship together with the sound of trumpets. 25 They must not work. They must burn an offering to the Lord.’
The Day of Atonement
26 The Lord said to Moses, 27 ‘The tenth day of the seventh month is the Day of Atonement. On that day, the people must come together. They must not eat any food. They must make an offering of food to the Lord. 28 They must not do any work. It is a holy day. On this special day, the leader of the priests must come near to the Lord. He will make atonement for the sins of the people. 29 You must punish any person who eats any food on that day. Send them away from my people. 30 I will kill any person who works on that day. 31 Nobody must work on that day. This rule is for now and for all time to come. You must obey it in any place where you are living. 32 It is a Sabbath rest for all the people. They must not eat any food. They must rest from the evening of the ninth day until the evening of the tenth day.’
The Feast of Huts[a]
33 The Lord said to Moses, 34 ‘Tell Israel's people that the Feast of Huts will start on the 15th day of the seventh month. The feast will continue for seven days, as people worship the Lord. 35 The first day is a special day. The people must not do any work. 36 For seven days each person must give a gift to the Lord. The eighth day is holy. The people must come together and they must give a burnt offering to the Lord. This is the last day of the feast. The people must not do any work on that day.
37 These are the rules for the special days of the Lord. You must tell people that they must bring offerings to the Lord on these days. They will bring gifts for burnt offerings each day. They must bring offerings of grain, animals and wine. 38 These are not the usual Sabbath gifts to the Lord. They are not gifts to give thanks or for promises to the Lord. But they are extra gifts for special days.
39 When the people have picked the grain, they can enjoy seven feast days to the Lord. The special days will begin on the 15th day of the seventh month. On the first day and on the eighth day they can rest. 40 On the first day, they must take fruit and leaves from the trees. Then for seven days they must praise the Lord. 41 They must do this to worship the Lord for seven days of each year. They must obey this rule in the seventh month now, and for all the years to come. 42 All Israel's people must live in huts for seven days. 43 Your descendants in the future will know that God brought Israel's people out of Egypt. They will know that he caused them to live in huts as they travelled through the wilderness. I am the Lord, your God.’
44 Moses told the people all that the Lord had told him.
Paul asks the Christians to pray for him and for his friends
3 Now, friends, we ask you to pray for us. Pray that more and more people will soon hear the Lord's message. Pray that people will receive the message well and accept it as true. That is how you received it. 2 Pray also that God will not let bad people cause trouble for us. Not everyone believes the message about our Lord. 3 But the Lord always does what he has promised. So he will help you to be strong inside yourselves. He will keep you safe when Satan attacks you.
4 Because you belong to the Lord, he makes us sure about you. We know that you are doing the things that we tell you to do. And we know that you will continue to do those things. 5 We pray that the Lord will lead you in your thoughts. Then you will understand God's love better and better. And you will be patient and strong, as Christ is.
Believers must not refuse to work
6 Our friends, you must stay away from every believer who is living in a lazy way. We tell you this with the authority that the Lord Jesus Christ gives to us. Lazy people like that are not living in the way that we taught you. 7 You yourselves know that you ought to copy our example. You know that we were not lazy when we lived among you. 8 We always paid for the food that anyone gave to us. We worked hard all the time, during the day and at night. We did that so that we would not make trouble for any of you. 9 We could have told you to give us what we needed. We have authority to do that. But we wanted to show you how to live properly. Then you could copy our example. 10 Even when we were there with you, we told you this rule: ‘If anyone refuses to work, you should not give food to him.’[a]
11 We say this because someone has told us news about you. They have told us that some people among you are living in a lazy way.[b] Those people do not work at their own jobs. Instead, they cause trouble to other people who are working. 12 We have something to say to people who are lazy like that. We warn them with the authority that the Lord Jesus Christ gives to us. They must stop causing trouble. They must work properly, so that they get their own food to eat.
13 But you must never stop doing what is right, our Christian friends, even when it causes trouble for you. 14 Maybe someone among you will not obey the message that we have written in this letter. Make sure that everyone knows about someone like that. Do not be friends with him, so that he may become ashamed. 15 But remember that he is a believer, as you are. So warn him carefully.
Paul finishes his letter
16 The Lord helps us to have peace in our minds. I pray that the Lord himself will give that peace to you at all times, whatever happens. I pray that the Lord will be with all of you.
17 I, Paul, am writing these words at the end of my letter with my own hand. I say ‘hello’ to you. That is how I write in every letter that comes from me.
18 I pray that our Lord Jesus Christ will continue to be very kind to all of you.
Jesus teaches people how to get true life
13 ‘Go in through the narrow gate to get true life with God. There is a wide gate that is easy to go through. The wide path is easy to travel on. Many people find that wide gate, but it is the way to hell. 14 It is difficult to go through the small gate. And it is difficult to walk on the narrow road. But when you do go that way, you will get true life. Not many people find that narrow gate.’[a]
Jesus tells a story about a tree and its fruit
15 ‘Some people say that they are prophets from God. But their words are false. They seem to be like sheep that are not dangerous. But they are really like hungry wild dogs. What they teach will hurt you.
16 You will know these people by the way that they live. The things that they do are like their fruit. Grapes do not grow on thorn bushes. Figs do not grow on weeds.[b] 17 Good fruit grows on a tree that is good. Bad fruit grows on a tree that is not good. 18 A good tree cannot make bad fruit. A bad tree cannot make good fruit. 19 A farmer will cut down any tree that does not make good fruit. He will burn it on a fire. 20 In the same way, look at the way people live. Then you will know what they are really like.
21 Some people say to me, “Master, Master!” But not all of them will come into the kingdom of heaven. Only the people who obey God, my Father in heaven, will come in. They do what he wants them to do.
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