Book of Common Prayer
Praise God for Answering Prayers
For the director of music. A song of praise.
66 Everything on earth, shout with joy to God!
2 Sing about his glory!
Make his praise glorious!
3 Say to God, “Your works are amazing!
Your power is great.
Your enemies fall before you.
4 All the earth worships you.
They sing praises to you.
They sing praises to your name.” Selah
5 Come and see what God has done.
See what amazing things he has done for people.
6 He turned the sea into dry land.
The people crossed the river on foot.
So let us rejoice because of what he did.
7 He rules forever with his power.
He keeps his eye on the nations.
So people should not turn against him. Selah
8 You people, praise our God.
Loudly sing his praise.
9 He protects our lives
and does not let us be defeated.
10 God, you have tested us.
You have purified us like silver.
11 You let us be trapped.
You put a heavy load on us.
12 You let our enemies walk on our heads.
We went through fire and flood.
But you brought us to a place with good things.
13 I will come to your Temple with burnt offerings.
I will give you what I promised.
14 I promised to give you these things
when I was in trouble.
15 I will bring you offerings of fat animals.
And I will offer male sheep, bulls and goats. Selah
16 All of you who fear God, come and listen.
I will tell you what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him with my mouth.
I praised him with my tongue.
18 If I had known of any sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened to me.
19 But God has listened.
He has heard my prayer.
20 Praise God.
He did not ignore my prayer.
He did not hold back his love from me.
Everyone Should Praise God
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A song of praise.
67 God, have mercy on us and bless us.
Show your kindness to us. Selah
2 Then the world will learn your ways.
All nations will learn that you can save.
3 God, the people should praise you.
All people should praise you.
4 The nations should be glad and sing
because you judge people fairly.
You guide all the nations on earth. Selah
5 God, the people should praise you.
All people should praise you.
6 The land has given its crops.
God, our God, blesses us.
7 God blesses us
so people to the ends of the earth will fear him.
God’s Works and Word
For the director of music. A song of David.
19 The heavens tell the glory of God.
And the skies announce what his hands have made.
2 Day after day they tell the story.
Night after night they tell it again.
3 They have no speech or words.
They don’t make any sound to be heard.
4 But their message goes out through all the world.
It goes everywhere on earth.
The sky is like a home for the sun.
5 The sun comes out like a bridegroom from his bedroom.
It rejoices like an athlete eager to run a race.
6 The sun rises at one end of the sky,
and it follows its path to the other end.
Nothing hides from its heat.
7 The Lord’s teachings are perfect.
They give new strength.
The Lord’s rules can be trusted.
They make plain people wise.
8 The Lord’s orders are right.
They make people happy.
The Lord’s commands are pure.
They light up the way.
9 It is good to respect the Lord.
That respect will last forever.
The Lord’s judgments are true.
They are completely right.
10 They are worth more than gold,
even the purest gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
even the finest honey.
11 They tell your servant what to do.
Keeping them brings great reward.
12 No one can see all his own mistakes.
Forgive me for my secret sins.
13 Keep me from the sins that I want to do.
Don’t let them rule me.
Then I can be pure
and free from the greatest of sins.
14 I hope my words and thoughts please you.
Lord, you are my Rock, the one who saves me.
God Protects His People
For the director of music. By alamoth. A song of the sons of Korah.
46 God is our protection and our strength.
He always helps in times of trouble.
2 So we will not be afraid if the earth shakes,
or if the mountains fall into the sea.
3 We will not fear even if the oceans roar and foam,
or if the mountains shake at the raging sea. Selah
4 There is a river which brings joy to the city of God.
This is the holy place where God Most High lives.
5 God is in that city, and so it will not be shaken.
God will help her at dawn.
6 Nations tremble, and kingdoms shake.
God shouts, and the earth crumbles.
7 The Lord of heaven’s armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our protection. Selah
8 Come and see what the Lord has done.
He has done amazing things on the earth.
9 He stops wars everywhere on the earth.
He breaks all bows and spears
and burns up the chariots with fire.
10 God says, “Be still and know that I am God.
I will be praised in all the nations.
I will be praised throughout the earth.”
11 The Lord of heaven’s armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our protection. Selah
The Lord Punishes the People
26 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 27 “How long will these evil people complain about me? I have heard these Israelites’ grumbling and complaining. 28 So tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says. I heard what you said. As surely as I live, I will do those things to you. 29 You will die in this desert. Every one of you who is 20 years old or older and who was counted with the people will die. You complained against me, the Lord. 30 Not one of you will enter and live in the land I promised to you. Only Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun will go in. 31 You said that your children would be taken away. But I will bring them into the land. They will enjoy what you refused. 32 As for you, you will die in this desert. 33 Your children will be shepherds here for 40 years. They will suffer because you were not loyal. They will suffer until you lie dead in the desert. 34 For 40 years you will suffer for your sins. That is a year for each of the 40 days you explored the land. You will know me as your enemy.’ 35 I, the Lord, have spoken. I will certainly 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 had sent to explore the land had returned. They had spread complaints among all the Israelites. They had given a bad report about the land. 37 They were responsible for the bad report. So the Lord killed them with a terrible sickness. 38 Only two of the men did not die. They were Joshua son of Nun and Caleb son of Jephunneh.
39 When Moses told these things to the Israelites, they were very sad. 40 Early the next morning they started to go toward the beginning of the mountains. They said, “We have sinned. We will go where the Lord told us.”
41 But Moses said, “Why are you disobeying the Lord’s command? You will not win! 42 Don’t go. The Lord is not with you. You will be beaten by your enemies. 43 You will run into the Amalekites and Canaanites. They will kill you with swords. You have turned away from the Lord. He will not be with you.”
44 But they were proud. They went toward the beginning of the mountains. But Moses and the Ark of the Covenant with the Lord did not leave the camp. 45 The Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived in those mountains came down. And they attacked the Israelites. They beat them back all the way to Hormah.
The Meeting at Jerusalem
15 Then some men came to Antioch from Judea. They began teaching the non-Jewish brothers: “You cannot be saved if you are not circumcised. Moses taught us to do this.” 2 Paul and Barnabas were against this teaching and argued with the men about it. So the group decided to send Paul, Barnabas, and some other men to Jerusalem. There they could talk more about this with the apostles and elders.
3 The church helped the men leave on the trip. They went through the countries of Phoenicia and Samaria, telling all about how the non-Jewish people had turned to God. This made all the believers very happy. 4 When they arrived in Jerusalem, the apostles, the elders, and the church welcomed them. Paul, Barnabas, and the others told about all the things that God had done with them. 5 But some of the believers who had belonged to the Pharisee group came forward. They said, “The non-Jewish believers must be circumcised. We must tell them to obey the law of Moses!”
6 The apostles and the elders gathered to study this problem. 7 There was a long debate. Then Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you know what happened in the early days. God chose me from among you to preach the Good News to the non-Jewish people. They heard the Good News from me, and they believed. 8 God, who knows the thoughts of all men, accepted them. He showed this to us by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. 9 To God, those people are not different from us. When they believed, he made their hearts pure. 10 So now why are you testing God? You are putting a heavy load around the necks of the non-Jewish brothers. It is a load that neither we nor our fathers were able to carry. 11 But we believe that we and they too will be saved by the grace of the Lord Jesus!”
12 Then the whole group became quiet. They listened to Paul and Barnabas speak. Paul and Barnabas told about all the miracles and signs that God did through them among the non-Jewish people.
Jesus Causes Division
49 Jesus continued speaking, “I came to set fire to the world. I wish it were already burning! 50 I must be baptized with a different kind of baptism.[a] I feel very troubled until it is over. 51 Do you think that I came to give peace to the world? No! I came to divide the world! 52 From now on, a family with five people will be divided, three against two, and two against three. 53 A father and son will be divided: The son will be against his father. The father will be against his son. A mother and her daughter will be divided: The daughter will be against her mother. The mother will be against her daughter. A mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law will be divided: The daughter-in-law will be against her mother-in-law. The mother-in-law will be against her daughter-in-law.”
Understanding the Times
54 Then Jesus said to the people, “When you see clouds coming up in the west, you say, ‘It’s going to rain.’ 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 Hypocrites! You can understand the weather. Why don’t you understand what is happening now?
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.