Book of Common Prayer
The Lord is King![a]
93 The Lord rules as King!
He wears royal power as his clothes.
His strength is like a belt round his body.[b]
So the world is safe and strong.
Nothing can shake it from its place.
2 You, Lord, have always ruled as King,
since before the beginning of time.
3 The floods of water have risen up, Lord.
They have risen with a loud noise.
Their waves beat against the land.[c]
4 But the Lord rules as King
high above everything!
He rules over the powerful waves of the sea,
with all their great noise!
5 Lord, your rules remain strong and true.
Your house will always be holy,
because you are holy.
Sing a new song![a]
96 Sing a new song to praise the Lord!
All the world,
sing to praise the Lord!
2 Sing to praise the Lord's great name!
Every day, tell people the message
that he has rescued us.
3 Tell the other nations that he is very great.
Tell all of them
about the great things that he has done.
4 Yes, the Lord is great!
Everyone should praise him as he deserves.
People should respect him with fear,
more than all other gods.
5 All the other nations' gods are useless idols.
But the Lord made the heavens.
6 We see that he is a very great king.
His holy home is full of his power and his beauty.
7 You people of other nations,
recognize that the Lord is great and powerful.
8 Agree that the Lord's name is great.
Bring a gift to offer to him in his temple.
9 Worship the Lord,
who is beautiful and holy.
Everyone on earth must shake with fear in front of him.
10 Tell all the nations,
‘The Lord rules as King!’
He has fixed the world in its place,
so that nothing can shake it.
He will judge all the people of the world fairly.
11 The earth and the sky
should be happy!
The sea and everything in it
should shout aloud!
12 The fields and all their crops should shout with joy!
Then all the trees in the forests will also sing
because they are so happy!
13 They will sing to praise the Lord,
for he will come to judge the earth.
He is a fair judge.
He will judge all the people of the world with his truth.
David wrote this song when he made the Philistine king think that he was crazy. He wanted the king to send him away.[a]
God is great![b]
34 I will always praise the Lord.
All the time I will sing to praise him.
2 I will boast that the Lord is great!
I want weak people to hear that.
I want them to be happy!
3 Join with me to tell people that the Lord is great!
Together we will make his name famous.
4 I asked the Lord to help me,
and he answered me.
He saved me from everything that made me afraid.
5 People who trust the Lord to help them
will be very happy.
Their faces will be bright,
and they will not be ashamed.
6 I was weak and helpless,
so I called out to the Lord.
The Lord heard me.
He saved me from all my troubles.
7 The Lord's angel is very near
to people who respect and obey the Lord.
He keeps them safe from danger.
8 Taste and see that the Lord is good!
God blesses people who turn to him
to keep them safe.
9 All you people who belong to the Lord,
continue to obey him.
People who respect the Lord
will have the things that they need.
10 Even young lions may not have food,
so that they become hungry.
But people who trust the Lord for help
will receive every good thing that they need.
11 Children, come and listen to me!
I will teach you how to respect the Lord.
12 Do you want to live a good life?
Do you want your life to be long and happy?
13 If so, do not speak any evil words.
Do not tell lies to deceive people.
14 Do good things instead of evil things.
Try to bring peace into people's lives.
15 The Lord watches over righteous people.
He hears them when they call to him for help.
16 But the Lord turns against people who do evil things.
He causes everybody to forget that they ever lived.
17 The Lord hears his righteous people
when they call for help.
He saves them from all their troubles.
18 When people are upset,
the Lord is near to them.
He saves those who feel very weak and upset.
19 Righteous people may often have troubles,
but the Lord saves them from every danger.
20 The Lord keeps them safe.
Not even one of their bones is broken!
21 Evil things will return to kill wicked people.
Whoever hates God's own people
will receive punishment.
22 The Lord saves the lives of his servants.
Everyone who trusts the Lord to keep them safe
will not receive punishment as a guilty person.
The priests' blessing
22 The Lord said to Moses, 23 ‘Tell Aaron and his sons to use these words when they ask me to bless the Israelites.
24 They must say:
“I pray that the Lord will bless you.
I pray that he will keep you safe.
25 I pray that the Lord will smile at you.
And I pray that he will be very kind to you.
26 I pray that the Lord will be pleased with you.
And I pray that he will give you peace in your minds.”
27 Aaron and his sons must use my name to bless the Israelites. If they do that, I will certainly bless them.’
The believers in Antioch send Saul and Barnabas to Cyprus
13 There were some prophets among the group of believers in Antioch. They taught the other believers more about Jesus. Barnabas and Simeon were two of these men. (People also called Simeon ‘Niger’.)[a] There was Lucius who had lived in Cyrene. There was also Manaen who had lived together with the ruler Herod when they were children. And there was Saul.
2 One day, the believers were meeting together. They were praising the Lord God and they were praying. They also fasted for a time. During that time, the Holy Spirit said to them, ‘I have chosen Barnabas and Saul to do a special work for me. Let them go now and do it.’
3 The believers continued to pray and to fast. Then the leaders put their hands on Barnabas and Saul and they prayed for them. They sent them away to start this new work.
What happened in Cyprus
4 The Holy Spirit sent Barnabas and Saul away from Antioch. They travelled to the town of Seleucia, which is near the coast. From there they travelled on a ship to an island called Cyprus. 5 They arrived at a town called Salamis. There they went into the Jewish meeting places and they told the people God's message about Jesus. John Mark went with Barnabas and Saul to help them with their work.
6 They travelled across the whole island and they arrived at a town called Paphos. There they met a man called Bar-Jesus.[b] He was a Jew. He used magic to do surprising things. He said that he was a prophet from God. But his messages were not true.
7 The ruler of Cyprus was called Sergius Paulus. Bar-Jesus was his friend. Sergius Paulus understood things well. So he asked Barnabas and Saul to come to him. He wanted them to tell him God's message. 8 Bar-Jesus was also called Elymas. That was his name in the Greek language. He did not like what Barnabas and Saul were saying. He did not want Sergius Paulus to believe in Jesus. So he tried to stop him. 9 Then God filled Saul with the power of his Holy Spirit. (Saul was also now called Paul.[c] ) Paul looked straight at Elymas and he said, 10 ‘You are a servant of the Devil! You are against everything that is right. Your mind is full of lies and other bad things. You try to change the true message of the Lord and make it into lies. You must stop doing that! 11 The Lord will now punish you. You will become blind for a time. You will not even see the light of the sun.’
When Paul said that, immediately something like a dark cloud covered Elymas's eyes. He could not find his own way. He needed someone to lead him by the hand. 12 Sergius Paulus saw what had happened to Elymas. He was very surprised about the things that Barnabas and Paul taught him about the Lord Jesus. And so he believed in Jesus.
Be a good servant
41 Peter asked Jesus, ‘Master, are you only telling this story to us, your disciples? Or is this story for everyone to hear?’
42 Jesus replied, ‘Be a wise servant. Be someone that the master can trust. The master will choose a man like that. He will say to him, “I want you to rule my house and the other servants. Give them the food that they need at the right time.” 43 That servant will be very happy when his master comes home. His master will see that he has done everything well. 44 Let me tell you what will happen. The master will give that servant authority to rule over everything in his house. 45 But another servant might say to himself, “My master is very late. He will not come yet.” Then he begins to hit the other servants, both the men and the women. He eats too much, and he drinks too much. He even becomes drunk. 46 Then the master of that servant will come home and he will surprise the servant. He did not think that his master would come home on that day or at that time. Then the master will punish that servant a lot. He will put the servant with those people that do not obey him.
47 A servant may know what his master wants him to do. Then he should prepare himself and do that. If he does not, his master will punish him very much. He will hit him a lot. 48 But another servant perhaps does not know what his master wants him to do. So he does wrong things. The master will punish him because he did those wrong things. But he will not hit him as much. If God gives a lot to somebody, he will want a lot back in return. And God will want much more from the person to whom he has given authority over much more.
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