Book of Common Prayer
God Decides Right from Wrong
50 The Powerful One, God, the Lord, has spoken. And He calls the earth from where the sun rises to where the sun goes down. 2 God shines from Zion, perfect in beauty. 3 May our God come and not keep quiet. A fire burns before Him, and around Him is a powerful storm. 4 He calls the heavens above, and the earth, that He may judge His people: 5 “Gather My holy ones to Me, those who have made an agreement with Me by their gifts given on an altar.” 6 And the heavens will tell how right and good He is, for God Himself is judge.
7 “Listen, O My people, and I will speak. O Israel, I will speak against you. I am God, your God. 8 I do not speak sharp words to you for your gifts given on an altar. And your burnt gifts are always before Me. 9 I will not take a young bull out of your house, or male goats out of your fields. 10 For every animal among the trees is Mine, and the cattle on a thousand hills. 11 I know every bird of the mountains. And all things that move in the field are Mine. 12 If I were hungry, I would not tell you. For the world is Mine, and all that is in it. 13 Should I eat the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of male goats? 14 Give a gift of thanks on the altar to God. And pay your promises to the Most High. 15 Call on Me in the day of trouble. I will take you out of trouble, and you will honor Me.”
16 But to the sinful, God says: “What right do you have to tell of My Laws, and take My agreement in your mouth? 17 For you hate to be told what to do, and you throw My words behind you. 18 When you see a robber, you are pleased with him. And you join those who do sex sins. 19 You say bad things with your mouth, and you lie with your tongue. 20 You sit and speak against your brother. You talk against your own mother’s son. 21 You have done these things, and I have kept quiet. You thought that I was just like you. But I will speak sharp words to you, and tell you who is guilty to your face.
22 “Now think about this, you who forget God, or I will tear you in pieces and there will be no one to save you. 23 He who gives a gift of thanks honors Me. And to him who makes his way right, I will show him the saving power of God.”
Prayer for a Safe Place
59 O my God, take me away from those who hate me. Put me up high above those who rise up against me. 2 Take me away from those who do wrong. And save me from those who kill. 3 For, look, they lie in wait for my life. Strong men are gathering together to fight me, but not because of my wrong-doing or my sin, O Lord. 4 I have done no wrong, but they get ready to fight against me. Rise up to help me. 5 You, O Lord God of All, God of Israel, rise up to punish all the nations. Show no loving-kindness to those people who cannot be trusted and plan sins. 6 They return at evening. They sound like dogs and go around the city. 7 See, they spit with their mouth. Swords are in their lips. And they say, “Who can hear us?” 8 But You laugh at them, O Lord. You laugh at all the nations.
9 O my Strength, I will watch for You. For God is my strong place. 10 My God in His loving-kindness will meet me. God will let me look at those who come against me and know that I will win the fight. 11 Do not kill them, or my people may forget. Divide them by Your power and bring them down, O Lord, our safe-covering. 12 Let them be caught in their pride for the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips. For the lies and bad things they say, 13 destroy them in anger. Destroy them so that they will be no more. Let it be known that God rules in Jacob and to the ends of the earth.
14 They return at evening. They make sounds like dogs and go around the city. 15 They go around looking for food and they show their teeth if they are not filled.
16 But as for me, I will sing of Your strength. Yes, I will sing with joy of Your loving-kindness in the morning. For You have been a strong and safe place for me in times of trouble. 17 O my Strength, I will sing praises to You. For God is my strong place and the God Who shows me loving-kindness.
Prayer for Help
60 O God, You have turned away from us. You have broken us. You have been angry. O heal us and turn to us again. 2 You have made the land shake. You have torn it open. Heal it where it is broken, for it shakes. 3 You have made Your people suffer hard things. You have given us wine to drink that makes us not able to walk straight. 4 You have given a flag to those who fear You, so it may be seen because of the truth. 5 Save us with Your right hand, and answer us, so Your loved ones may be set free.
6 God has said in His holy place: “I will be full of joy. I will divide Shechem and the valley of Succoth. 7 Gilead is Mine. And Manasseh is Mine. Ephraim is the covering for My head. Judah is My Law giver. 8 Moab is where I wash My hands. I will throw My shoe over Edom. Call out, Philistia, because of me.”
9 Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me into Edom? 10 Have You not turned away from us, O God? And will You not go out with our armies, O God? 11 O give us help against those who hate us. For the help of man is worth nothing. 12 With God’s help we will do well. And He will break under His feet those who fight against us.
God Is King
93 The Lord rules. He is dressed with great power. The Lord has dressed Himself with strength. For sure, the world is built to last. It will not be moved. 2 Your throne is set up from long ago. You have always been. 3 The floods have lifted up, O Lord. The floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their beating waves. 4 The Lord on high is more powerful than the sound of many waters and the strong waves of the sea. 5 Your Word is very sure. O Lord, Your house is holy forever.
A Call to Worship the Lord
96 Sing to the Lord a new song. Let all the earth sing to the Lord. 2 Sing to the Lord. Honor His name. Make His saving power known from day to day. 3 Tell of His shining-greatness among the nations. Tell of His wonderful works among all the people. 4 For the Lord is great and should be given much praise. He is to be honored with fear above all gods. 5 For all the gods of the nations are false gods. But the Lord made the heavens. 6 Honor and great power are with Him. Strength and beauty are in His holy place.
7 Give to the Lord, O families of the nations, give to the Lord the honor and strength that He should have. 8 Give to the Lord the honor of His name. Bring a gift and come into His holy place. 9 Worship the Lord in holy clothing. May all the earth shake in fear before Him. 10 Say among the nations that the Lord rules. The world is built to last. It will not be moved. He will be right when He says who is guilty or not.
11 Let the heavens be glad. And let the earth be full of joy. Let the sea and all that is in it make a loud noise. 12 Let the fields and all that is in them be full of joy. Then all the trees of the land will sing for joy 13 before the Lord. For He is coming. He is coming to say who is guilty or not on the earth. He will be right in what He decides about the world. And He will be faithful to the people.
Job Tells of His Past Days
29 Then Job spoke again and said,
Job Keeps On Talking
31 “I have made an agreement with my eyes not to look with desire at a young woman. 2 What would be my share from God above? What would my gift be from the All-powerful on high? 3 Does not trouble come to those who are not right and good? Do not hard times come to those who do wrong? 4 Does He not see my ways and number all my steps?
5 “If I have walked in ways that are false, and my foot has been quick to follow false ways, 6 let Him weigh me with a true weight. Let God know that I am honest. 7 If my step has turned from the way, and my heart has followed my eyes, or if my hands have held on to sin, 8 then let me plant and another eat. Let what grows be pulled out by the roots.
9 “If my heart has been tempted by a woman, or I have waited at my neighbor’s door, 10 may my wife grind grain for another. And let others bow down upon her. 11 For that would be a very sinful thing to do. It would be a sin that would be punished by the judges. 12 For that would be a fire that burns at the Place That Destroys. It would dig out all I have planted.
13 “If I did not listen to my men servants and women servants when they complained against me, 14 what will I do when God speaks to me? When He asks me why, what will I answer Him? 15 Did not He Who made me inside my mother make him also? Did not the same One give us life from our mothers?
16 “If I have kept what the poor should have or have caused the eyes of the woman whose husband has died to be tired, 17 if I have eaten my food alone without sharing it with the child who has no parents, 18 (but from the time I was young, he grew up with me as a father, and I have helped the woman without a husband since I was born,) 19 if I have seen anyone die because he had no clothing, or left any poor person without clothes, 20 if he has not thanked me for the clothing on his body, and been made warm with the wool of my sheep, 21 if I have not done these things, or if I have lifted up my hand against the child who has no parents, because I saw I had help in the gate, 22 let my shoulder fall out of place, and let my arm be broken off at the joint. 23 For trouble sent by God fills me with fear. Because of His great power I could not do these things.
A Meeting of Church Leaders in Jerusalem
15 Some men came down from the country of Judea and started to teach the Christians. They said, “Unless you go through the religious act of becoming a Jew as Moses taught, you cannot be saved from the punishment of sin.” 2 Paul and Barnabas argued with them. Then Paul and Barnabas and some other men were chosen to go up to Jerusalem. They were to talk to the missionaries and church leaders about this teaching. 3 The church sent them on their way. They went through the countries of Phoenicia and Samaria and told how those who were not Jews were turning to God. This made the Christians very happy.
4 When they got to Jerusalem, the church and the missionaries and the church leaders were glad to see them. Paul and Barnabas told them what God had done through them.
5 Some of the Christians there had been proud religious law-keepers. They got up and said, “Doing the religious act of becoming a Jew and keeping the Law of Moses are two things that must be done.” 6 The missionaries and church leaders got together to talk about this. 7 After a long time of much talking, Peter got up and said to them, “Brothers, you know in the early days God was pleased to use me to preach the Good News to the people who are not Jews so they might put their trust in Christ. 8 God knows the hearts of all men. He showed them they were to have His loving-favor by giving them the Holy Spirit the same as He gave to us. 9 He has made no difference between them and us. They had their hearts made clean when they put their trust in Him also. 10 Why do you test God by putting too heavy a load on the back of the followers? It was too heavy for our fathers or for us to carry. 11 We believe it is by the loving-favor of the Lord Jesus that we are saved. They are saved from the punishment of sin the same way.”
Jesus Tells That the Grave Will Not Hold the Dead
17 When Jesus got there, He heard that Lazarus had been in the grave four days. 18 Bethany was about one-half hour walk from Jerusalem. 19 Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to give words of comfort about their brother.
20 Martha heard that Jesus was coming and went to meet Him. Mary stayed in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 I know even now God will give You whatever You ask.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again when the dead are raised from the grave on the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the One Who raises the dead and gives them life. Anyone who puts his trust in Me will live again, even if he dies. 26 Anyone who lives and has put his trust in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She answered, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God. You are the One Who was to come into the world.”
Lazarus Is Raised from the Dead
28 After Martha said this, she went and called her sister Mary. She said without anyone else hearing, “The Teacher is here and has sent for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up and went to Him.
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