Book of Common Prayer
33 He changed rivers into a desert.
He stopped springs from flowing.
34 He made the fertile land become salty,
because the people living there did such evil things.
35 He changed the desert into a land with pools of water.
He caused springs to flow from dry ground.
36 He led the hungry to that good land,
and they built a city to live in.
37 They planted seeds in their fields and grapes in their vineyards,
and they had a good harvest.
38 God blessed them with many children
and plenty of animals.
39 But because of disaster and troubles,
their families became small and weak.
40 God shames even great leaders
and makes them wander through empty deserts.
41 But he rescues the poor from their misery.
He makes their families large like flocks of sheep.
42 Good people see this and are happy.
But the wicked see it and don’t know what to say.
43 Whoever is wise will remember these things
and begin to understand the Lord’s faithful love.
A praise song of David.
108 God, I am ready, heart and soul,
to sing songs of praise.
Wake up, my soul!
2 Harps and lyres, wake up,
and let’s wake the dawn!
3 Lord, I will praise you before all people.
I will sing praises about you to every nation.
4 Your faithful love is higher
than the highest clouds in the sky!
5 Rise above the heavens, God.
Let all the world see your glory.
6 Use your great power and help us!
Answer my prayer and save the people you love.
7 God has made this promise in his Temple[a]:
“I will win the war and rejoice in victory!
I will divide this land among my people.
I will give them Shechem.
I will give them Succoth Valley.
8 Gilead and Manasseh will be mine.
Ephraim will be my helmet.
Judah will be my royal scepter.
9 Moab will be the bowl for washing my feet.
Edom will be the slave who carries my sandals.
I will defeat the Philistines and shout in victory!”
10-11 But, God, it seems that you have left us!
You do not go out with our army.
So who will lead me into the strong, protected city?
Who will lead me into battle against Edom?
12 Help us defeat the enemy!
No one on earth can rescue us.
13 Only God can make us strong.
Only God can defeat our enemies!
33 Rejoice in the Lord, good people!
It is only right for good people to praise him.
2 Play the lyre and praise the Lord.
Play the ten-stringed harp for him.
3 Sing a new song[a] to him.
Play it well and sing it loud!
4 The Lord’s word is true,
and he is faithful in everything he does.
5 He loves goodness and justice.
The Lord’s faithful love fills the earth.
6 The Lord spoke the command, and the world was made.
The breath from his mouth created everything in the heavens.
7 He gathered together the water of the sea.
He put the ocean in its place.
8 Everyone on earth should fear and respect the Lord.
All the people in the world should fear him,
9 because when he speaks, things happen.
And if he says, “Stop!”—then it stops.[b]
10 The Lord can ruin every decision the nations make.
He can spoil all their plans.
11 But the Lord’s decisions are good forever.
His plans are good for generation after generation.
12 Great blessings belong to those who have the Lord as their God!
He chose them to be his own special people.
13 The Lord looked down from heaven
and saw all the people.
14 From his high throne he looked down
at all the people living on earth.
15 He created every person’s mind,
and he knows what each one is doing.
16 A king is not saved by the power of his army.
A soldier does not survive by his own great strength.
17 Horses don’t really bring victory in war.
Their strength cannot help you escape.
18 The Lord watches over his followers,
those who wait for him to show his faithful love.
19 He saves them from death.
He gives them strength when they are hungry.
20 So we will wait for the Lord.
He helps us and protects us.
21 He makes us happy.
We trust his holy name.
22 Lord, we worship you,
so show your great love for us.
Edom Will Not Let Israel Pass
14 While Moses was at Kadesh, he sent some men with a message to the king of Edom. The message said,
“This is what your brothers, the Israelites, say to you: You know about all the troubles we have had. 15 Many years ago our ancestors went down into Egypt, and we lived there for many years. The people of Egypt were cruel to us. 16 But we asked the Lord for help, and he heard us and sent an angel to help us. The Lord has brought us out of Egypt.
“Now we are here at Kadesh, where your land begins. 17 Please let us travel through your country. We will not travel through any fields or vineyards. We will not drink water from any of your wells. We will travel only along King’s Road. We will not leave that road to the right or to the left. We will stay on the road until we have traveled through your country.”
18 But the king of Edom answered, “You may not travel through our land. If you try to travel through our land, we will come and fight you with swords.”
19 The Israelites answered, “We will travel along the main road. If our animals drink any of your water, we will pay you for it. We only want to walk through your country. We don’t want to take it for ourselves.”
20 But again the king of Edom answered, “We will not allow you to come through our country.”
Then the king of Edom gathered a large and powerful army and went out to fight against the Israelites. 21 The king of Edom refused to let the Israelites travel through his country, so the Israelites turned around and went another way.
Aaron Dies
22 All the Israelites traveled from Kadesh to Mount Hor. 23 Mount Hor was near the border of Edom. The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 24 “It is time for Aaron to die and go to be with his ancestors. Aaron will not enter the land that I promised to the Israelites. Moses, I say this to you because both you and Aaron did not fully obey the command I gave you at the waters of Meribah.
25 “Now, bring Aaron and his son Eleazar up to Mount Hor. 26 Take Aaron’s special clothes from him and put these clothes on his son Eleazar. Aaron will die there on the mountain. And he will go to be with his ancestors.”
27 Moses obeyed the Lord’s command. Moses, Aaron, and Eleazar went up on Mount Hor. All the Israelites watched them go. 28 Moses removed Aaron’s special clothes and put them on Aaron’s son Eleazar. Then Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Moses and Eleazar came back down the mountain. 29 All the Israelites learned that Aaron was dead. So everyone in Israel mourned for 30 days.
Dead to Sin but Alive in Christ
6 So do you think we should continue sinning so that God will give us more and more grace? 2 Of course not! Our old sinful life ended. It’s dead. So how can we continue living in sin? 3 Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ Jesus when we were baptized? In our baptism we shared in his death. 4 So when we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and took part in his death. And just as Christ was raised from death by the wonderful power of the Father, so we can now live a new life.
5 Christ died, and we have been joined with him by dying too. So we will also be joined with him by rising from death as he did. 6 We know that our old life was put to death on the cross with Christ. This happened so that our sinful selves would have no power over us. Then we would not be slaves to sin. 7 Anyone who has died is made free from sin’s control.
8 If we died with Christ, we know that we will also live with him. 9 Christ was raised from death. And we know that he cannot die again. Death has no power over him now. 10 Yes, when Christ died, he died to defeat the power of sin one time—enough for all time. He now has a new life, and his new life is with God. 11 In the same way, you should see yourselves as being dead to the power of sin and alive for God through Christ Jesus.
Jesus Enters Jerusalem Like a King(A)
21 Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem. But first they stopped at Bethphage at the hill called the Mount of Olives. From there Jesus sent two of his followers into town. 2 He said to them, “Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will find a donkey with her colt. Untie them both, and bring them to me. 3 If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkeys, tell them, ‘The Master needs them. He will send them back soon.’”
4 This showed the full meaning of what the prophet said:
5 “Tell the people of Zion,[a]
‘Now your king is coming to you.
He is humble and riding on a donkey.
He is riding on a young donkey, born from a work animal.’” (B)
6 The followers went and did what Jesus told them to do. 7 They brought the mother donkey and the young donkey to him. They covered the donkeys with their coats, and Jesus sat on them. 8 On the way to Jerusalem, many people spread their coats on the road for Jesus. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 Some of the people were walking ahead of Jesus. Others were walking behind him. They all shouted,
Praise to God in heaven!”
10 Then Jesus went into Jerusalem. All the people in the city were confused. They asked, “Who is this man?”
11 The crowds following Jesus answered, “This is Jesus. He is the prophet from the town of Nazareth in Galilee.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International