Book of Common Prayer

God’s Chosen One Will Rule

2 Why are the nations so shaken up and the people planning foolish things? ² The kings of the earth stand in a line ready to fight, and all the leaders are against the Lord and against His Chosen One. ³ They say, “Let us break their chains and throw them away from us.”

⁴ He Who sits in the heavens laughs. The Lord makes fun of them. ⁵ Then He will speak to them in His anger and make them afraid, saying, ⁶ “But as for Me, I have set My King on Zion, My holy mountain.” ⁷ I will make known the words of the Lord. He said to Me, “You are My Son. Today I have become Your Father. ⁸ Ask of Me, and I will give the nations for you to own. The ends of the earth will belong to You. ⁹ You will break them using a piece of iron. And they will be broken in pieces like pots of clay.”

¹⁰ So, kings, be wise. Listen, you rulers of the earth. ¹¹ Serve the Lord with fear, and be full of joy as you shake in fear. ¹² Kiss the Son. Be afraid that He may be angry and destroy you in the way. For His anger is quick. Happy are all who put their trust in Him.

The King of Shining-Greatness

24 The earth is the Lord’s, and all that is in it, the world, and all who live in it. ² For He has built it upon the seas. He has set it upon the rivers. ³ Who may go up the mountain of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place? ⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart. He who has not lifted up his soul to what is not true, and has not made false promises. ⁵ He will receive what is good from the Lord, and what is right and good from the God Who saves him. ⁶ Such is the family of those who look for Him, who look for Your face, O God of Jacob.

⁷ Lift up your heads, O gates. And be lifted up, O doors that last forever. And the King of shining-greatness will come in. ⁸ Who is the King of shining-greatness? The Lord strong and powerful. The Lord powerful in war. ⁹ Lift up your heads, O gates. Lift them up, O doors that last forever and the King of shining-greatness will come in. ¹⁰ Who is the King of shining-greatness? The Lord of All. He is the King of shining-greatness.

Moses on Mount Sinai

¹² The Lord said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and stay there. I will give you the pieces of stone with the Law which I have written for you to teach the people.” ¹³ Then Moses got up with his helper Joshua, and Moses went up on the mountain of God. ¹⁴ He said to the leaders, “Wait here until we return to you. See, Aaron and Hur are with you. Let whoever has a problem go to them.” ¹⁵ Then Moses went up on the mountain, which was covered with a cloud. ¹⁶ The shining-greatness of the Lord rested on Mount Sinai. And the cloud covered it for six days. On the seventh day He called to Moses from the cloud. ¹⁷ To the people of Israel, the shining-greatness of the Lord looked like a fire that destroys on the mountain top. ¹⁸ Moses went into the cloud as he went up on the mountain. And Moses was on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

Paul Is Faithful in Preaching the Good News

4 Through God’s loving-kindness, He has given us this job to do. So we do not give up. ² We have put away all things that are done in secret and in shame. We do not play with the Word of God or use it in a false way. Because we are telling the truth, we want men’s hearts to listen to us. God knows our desires. ³ If the Good News we preach is hidden, it is hidden to those who are lost in sin. ⁴ The eyes of those who do not believe are made blind by Satan who is the god of this world. He does not want the light of the Good News to shine in their hearts. This Good News shines as the shining-greatness of Christ. Christ is as God is. ⁵ We do not preach about ourselves. We preach Christ Jesus the Lord. We are your servants because of Jesus. ⁶ It was God Who said, “The light will shine in darkness.” ^(A) He is the One Who made His light shine in our hearts. This brings us the light of knowing God’s shining-greatness which is seen in Christ’s face.

A Prayer for the King

72 O God, make the king right in what he decides. Make the king’s son right with You. ² May he be right when he decides who is right and who is wrong and may he be fair to the poor. ³ Let mountains and hills bring peace to the people through what is right and good. ⁴ May he stand by those who are poor, save the children of those in need, and destroy the bad power over them.

⁵ May all the children-to-come fear You as long as the sun and the moon last. ⁶ May He come down like rain upon the cut grass, like rain that waters the earth. ⁷ In His days may all go well with those who are right and good. And may there be much peace until the moon is no more.

⁸ May he also rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. ⁹ Those who live in the desert will put their faces to the ground before Him. And those who hate Him will kiss the dust. ¹⁰ Let the kings of Tarshish and of the islands bring gifts. Let the kings of Sheba and Seba bring gifts. ¹¹ Yes, let all kings fall down at His feet, and all nations serve Him.

¹² For He will take out of trouble the one in need when he cries for help, and the poor man who has no one to help. ¹³ He will have loving-pity on the weak and those in need. He will save the lives of those in need. ¹⁴ He will take them from the bad power that is held over them and from being hurt. Their blood will be of much worth in His eyes. ¹⁵ He will live, and the gold of Sheba will be given to Him. Prayer will be given for Him all the time. Let them honor Him all day long.

¹⁶ May there be much grain in the land on top of the mountains. May its fruit grow like the trees of Lebanon. And may those of the city grow like the grass of the earth. ¹⁷ May His name last forever. May His name become bigger as long as the sun shines. And let men respect themselves through Him. Let all nations honor Him.

¹⁸ Honor and thanks be to the Lord God, the God of Israel, Who alone does great things. ¹⁹ And honor be to His great name forever. May the whole earth be filled with His shining-greatness. Let it be so.

²⁰ The prayers of David, the son of Jesse, are ended.

²⁷ “Now My soul is troubled. Should I say, ‘Father, save Me from this time of trouble and pain’? No, this is why I came to this time. ²⁸ Father, honor Your name!”

The People Hear the Voice of God

Then a voice from heaven came, saying, “I have already honored My name. I will honor it again!” ²⁹ The people heard the voice. Some who stood there said, “It was thunder.” Others said, “An angel spoke to Him.” ³⁰ Jesus said, “The voice did not come for Me, but it came to be a help to you.

Jesus Tells How He Will Die

³¹ “Now this world is being told it is guilty. Now the leader of this world will be thrown out. ³² And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will attract all people toward Me.” ³³ He said this to tell the kind of death He was going to die.

³⁴ The people said to Him, “The Law of Moses says that the Christ is to live forever. Why do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this Son of Man?”

³⁵ Jesus said to them, “The Light will be with you for a little while yet. Go on your way while you have the Light so you will not be in the dark. When a man is walking in the dark, he does not know where he is going. ³⁶ While you have the Light, put your trust in the Light. Then you will be the sons of the Light.” Jesus said these things and then went away. He hid Himself from them.