Book of Common Prayer
To the director: A song of praise.
66 Everything on earth, shout with joy to God!
2 Praise his glorious name!
Honor him with songs of praise!
3 Tell God, “Your works are wonderful!
Your great power makes your enemies bow down in fear before you.
4 Let the whole world worship you.
Let everyone sing praises to your name.” Selah
5 Look at what God has done!
These things amaze us.
6 He changed the sea to dry land,[a]
and his people went across the water[b] on foot.
So let’s celebrate because of what he has done!
7 He rules the world with his great power.
He watches people everywhere.
No one can rebel against him. Selah
8 People, praise our God.
Sing loud songs of praise to him.
9 He continues to give us life,
and he keeps us from falling.
10 God, you have tested us, as people test silver with fire.
11 You let us be trapped.
You put heavy burdens on us.
12 You let our enemies run over us.
We went through fire and water,
but you brought us to a safe place.
13-14 So I bring sacrifices to your Temple.
When I was in trouble, I asked for help
and made promises to you.
Now I am giving you what I promised.
15 I bring my best sheep as burnt offerings.
I offer the smoke from them up to you.
I give you sacrifices of bulls and goats. Selah
16 All you people who worship God,
come and I will tell you what he has done for me.
17-18 I cried out to him for help,
and I praised him.
If I had been hiding sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened to me.
19 But God did listen to me;
he heard my prayer.
20 Praise God!
He did not turn away from me—he listened to my prayer.
He continues to show his love to me!
To the director: With instruments. A song of praise.
67 God, show mercy to us and bless us.
Please accept us! Selah
2 Let everyone on earth learn about you.
Let every nation see how you save people.
3 May people praise you, God!
May all people praise you.
4 May all nations rejoice and be happy
because you judge people fairly.
You rule over every nation.
5 May the people praise you, God!
May all people praise you.
6 God, our God, bless us.
Let our land give us a great harvest.
7 May God bless us,
and may all people on earth fear and respect him.
To the director: A song of David.
19 The heavens tell about the glory of God.
The skies announce what his hands have made.
2 Each new day tells more of the story,
and each night reveals more and more about God’s power.[a]
3 You cannot hear them say anything.
They don’t make any sound we can hear.
4 But their message goes throughout the world.
Their teaching reaches the ends of the earth.
The sun’s tent is set up in the heavens.
5 It comes out like a happy bridegroom from his bedroom.
It begins its path across the sky
like an athlete eager to run a race.
6 It starts at one end of the sky
and runs all the way to the other end.
Nothing can hide from its heat.
7 The Lord’s teachings are perfect.
They give strength to his people.
The Lord’s rules can be trusted.
They help even the foolish become wise.
8 The Lord’s laws are right.
They make people happy.
The Lord’s commands are good.
They show people the right way to live.
9 Learning respect for the Lord is good.
It will last forever.
The Lord’s judgments are right.
They are completely fair.
10 His teachings are worth more than pure gold.
They are sweeter than the best honey dripping from the honeycomb.
11 His teachings warn his servants,
and good things come to those who obey them.
12 People cannot see their own mistakes,
so don’t let me commit secret sins.
13 Don’t let me do what I know is wrong.
Don’t let sin control me.
If you help me, I can be pure
and free from sin.
14 May my words and thoughts please you.
Lord, you are my Rock—the one who rescues me.
To the director: A song from the Korah family. Use the alamoth.[a] A song.
46 God is our protection and source of strength.
He is always ready to help us in times of trouble.
2 So we are not afraid when the earth quakes
and the mountains fall into the sea.
3 We are not afraid when the seas become rough and dark
and the mountains tremble. Selah
4 There is a river whose streams bring happiness to God’s city,
to the holy city of God Most High.
5 God is in that city, so it will never be destroyed.
He is there to help even before sunrise.
6 Nations will shake with fear and kingdoms will fall
when God shouts and makes the earth move.
7 The Lord All-Powerful is with us.
The God of Jacob is our place of safety. Selah
8 Look at the powerful things the Lord has done.
See the awesome things he has done on earth.
9 He stops wars all over the world.
He breaks the soldiers’ bows, shatters their spears, and burns their shields.[b]
10 God says, “Stop fighting and know that I am God!
I am the one who defeats the nations;
I am the one who controls the world.”
11 The Lord All-Powerful is with us.
The God of Jacob is our place of safety. Selah
The Lord Punishes the People
26 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 27 “How long will these evil people continue to complain against me? I have heard their complaints and their griping. 28 So tell them, ‘The Lord says that he will surely do all those things to you that you complained about. This is what will happen to you: 29 You will die in this desert. Every person who is 20 years old or older and was counted as one of my people will die. You complained against me. 30 So none of you will ever enter and live in the land that I promised to give you. Only Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun will enter that land. 31 You were afraid and complained that your enemies in that new land would take your children away from you. But I tell you that I will bring them into the land. They will enjoy what you refused to accept. 32 As for you people, you will die in this desert.
33 “‘Your children will wander around like shepherds here in the desert for 40 years. They will suffer because you were not faithful to me. They must suffer until all of you lie dead in the desert. 34 For 40 years you will suffer for your sins. (That is one year for each of the 40 days that the men explored the land.) You will know that it is a terrible thing for me to be against you.’
35 “I am the Lord, and I have spoken. And I promise that I will do these things to all these evil people. They have come together against me. So they will all die here in this desert.”
36 The men Moses sent to explore the new land were the ones who came back complaining about him to all the Israelites. They said that the people were not strong enough to enter that land. 37 The men were responsible for spreading the trouble among the Israelites. So the Lord caused a sickness to kill all those men. 38 But Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh were among the men who were sent out to explore the land. They are the only ones who did not get the sickness that caused the others to die.
The People Try to Go Into Canaan
39 When Moses told the Israelites this, they were very sad. 40 Early the next morning the people started to go up to the high hill country. They said, “We have sinned. We are sorry that we did not trust the Lord. We will go to the place that the Lord promised.”
41 But Moses said, “Why are you not obeying the Lord’s command? You will not be successful! 42 Don’t go into that land. The Lord is not with you, so your enemies will easily defeat you. 43 The Amalekites and Canaanites will fight against you there. You have turned away from the Lord, so he will not be with you when you fight them. And you will all be killed in battle.”
44 But the people did not believe Moses. They went toward the high hill country. But Moses and the Box of the Lord’s Agreement did not go with the people. 45 The Amalekites and the Canaanites living in the hill country came down and attacked the Israelites and easily defeated them and chased them all the way to Hormah.
The Meeting at Jerusalem
15 Then some men came to Antioch from Judea and began teaching the non-Jewish believers: “You cannot be saved if you are not circumcised as Moses taught us.” 2 Paul and Barnabas were against this teaching and argued with these men about it. So the group decided to send Paul, Barnabas, and some others to Jerusalem to talk more about this with the apostles and elders.
3 The church helped them get ready to leave on their trip. The men went through the countries of Phoenicia and Samaria, where they told all about how the non-Jewish people had turned to the true God. This made all the believers very happy. 4 When the men arrived in Jerusalem, the apostles, the elders, and the whole church welcomed them. Paul, Barnabas, and the others told about all that God had done with them. 5 Some of the believers in Jerusalem had belonged to the Pharisees. They stood up and said, “The non-Jewish believers must be circumcised. We must tell them to obey the Law of Moses!”
6 Then the apostles and the elders gathered to study this problem. 7 After a long debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “My brothers, I am sure you remember what happened in the early days. God chose me from among you to tell the Good News to those who are not Jewish. It was from me that they heard the Good News and believed. 8 God knows everyone, even their thoughts, and he accepted these non-Jewish people. He showed this to us by giving them the Holy Spirit the same as he did to us. 9 To God, those people are not different from us. When they believed, God made their hearts pure. 10 So now, why are you putting a heavy burden[a] around the necks of the non-Jewish followers of Jesus? Are you trying to make God angry? We and our fathers were not able to carry that burden. 11 No, we believe that we and these people will be saved the same way—by the grace of the Lord Jesus.”
12 Then the whole group became quiet. They listened while Paul and Barnabas told about all the miraculous signs and wonders that God had done through them among the non-Jewish people.
Following Jesus May Bring You Trouble(A)
49 Jesus continued speaking: “I came to bring fire to the world. I wish it were already burning! 50 There is a kind of baptism[a] that I must suffer through. I feel very troubled until it is finished. 51 Do you think I came to give peace to the world? No, I came to divide the world! 52 From now on, a family of five will be divided, three against two, and two against three.
53 A father and son will be divided:
The son will turn against his father.
The father will turn against his son.
A mother and her daughter will be divided:
The daughter will turn against her mother.
The mother will turn against her daughter.
A mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law will be divided:
The daughter-in-law will turn against her mother-in-law.
The mother-in-law will turn against her daughter-in-law.”
Understanding the Times(B)
54 Then Jesus said to the people, “When you see clouds growing bigger in the west, you say, ‘A rainstorm is coming.’ And soon it begins to rain. 55 When you feel the wind begin to blow from the south, you say, ‘It will be a hot day.’ And you are right. 56 You hypocrites! You can understand the weather. Why don’t you understand what is happening now?
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International