Book of Common Prayer

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.

The Voice of the Lord in the Storm

29 Give to the Lord, O sons of the powerful. Give to the Lord shining-greatness and strength. ² Give to the Lord the honor that belongs to Him. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holy living.

³ The voice of the Lord is upon the waters. The God of shining-greatness thunders. The Lord is over many waters. ⁴ The voice of the Lord is powerful. The voice of the Lord is great. ⁵ The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars. Yes, the Lord breaks in pieces the tall cedars of Lebanon. ⁶ He makes Lebanon jump like a calf, and Sirion like a young wild bull. ⁷ The voice of the Lord sends out lightning. ⁸ The voice of the Lord shakes the desert. The Lord shakes the desert of Kadesh. ⁹ The voice of the Lord makes the deer give birth, and tears away the leaves of the trees. And in His holy house everything says, “Honor to God!”

¹⁰ The Lord sat as King over the flood. The Lord sits as King forever. ¹¹ The Lord will give strength to His people. The Lord will give His people peace.

God’s Shining-Greatness

8 O Lord, our Lord, how great is Your name in all the earth. You have set Your shining-greatness above the heavens. ² Out of the mouth of children and babies, You have built up strength because of those who hate You, and to quiet those who fight against You.

³ When I look up and think about Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in their place, ⁴ what is man, that You think of him, the son of man that You care for him? ⁵ You made him a little less than the angels and gave him a crown of greatness and honor. ⁶ You made him to rule over the works of Your hands. You put all things under his feet: ⁷ All sheep and cattle, all the wild animals, ⁸ the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and all that pass through the sea. ⁹ O Lord, our Lord, how great is Your name in all the earth!

A Desire for God’s House

84 How beautiful are the places where You live, O Lord of all! ² My soul wants and even becomes weak from wanting to be in the house of the Lord. My heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God. ³ Even the bird has found a home. The swallow has found a nest for herself where she may lay her young at Your altars, O Lord of all, my King and my God. ⁴ How happy are those who live in Your house! They are always giving thanks to You.

⁵ How happy is the man whose strength is in You and in whose heart are the roads to Zion! ⁶ As they pass through the dry valley of Baca, they make it a place of good water. The early rain fills the pools with good also. ⁷ They go from strength to strength. Every one of them stands before God in Zion.

⁸ O Lord God of all, hear my prayer. Listen, O God of Jacob. ⁹ Look upon our safe-covering, O God. And look upon the face of Your chosen one. ¹⁰ For a day in Your house is better than a thousand outside. I would rather be the one who opens the door of the house of my God, than to live in the tents of the sinful. ¹¹ For the Lord God is a sun and a safe-covering. The Lord gives favor and honor. He holds back nothing good from those who walk in the way that is right. ¹² O Lord of all, how happy is the man who trusts in You!

The Lord Answers Job

38 Then the Lord answered Job out of the strong wind and said,

¹⁸ Have you understood how great the earth is? Tell Me, if you know all this.

¹⁹ “Where does the light come from? And where is the place of darkness, ²⁰ that you may take it to its land, and know the paths to its home? ²¹ You know, for you were born then. You are very old! ²² Have you gone into the store-houses of the snow? Have you seen the store-houses of the hail, ²³ which I have kept for the time of trouble, for the day of war and battle? ²⁴ What is the way to the place where the light is divided, or the east wind spread over the earth?

²⁵ “Who has cut open a way for the flood, and a path for the thunderstorm? ²⁶ Who brings rain on the land without people, on a desert without a man in it, ²⁷ to fill the need of the wasted land, and to make the grass grow? ²⁸ Does the rain have a father? Who has given birth to the drops of rain? ²⁹ Who gave birth to ice? And who gave birth to the snow water of heaven? ³⁰ Water becomes hard like stone, and the top of the sea is covered with ice.

³¹ “Can you tie the chains of the stars of Pleiades, or loose the ropes of Orion? ³² Can you lead the groups of stars out at the right times? Can you lead the stars of the Bear with her young? ³³ Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you make them to rule over the earth?

³⁴ “Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, that a flood of water may cover you? ³⁵ Can you send out lightnings, that they may go and say to you, ‘Here we are’? ³⁶ Who has given wisdom to the heart? Who has given understanding to the mind? ³⁷ Who can number the clouds by wisdom? Or who can push over the water jars of the heavens, ³⁸ when the dust gathers together and becomes hard?

³⁹ “Can you hunt food for the lion? Can you fill the hunger of the young lions, ⁴⁰ when they lie in their own place in the rock, or wait in their hiding place? ⁴¹ Who gets the food ready for the raven, when its young cry to God and go about without food?

Babylon Is Destroyed

18 Then I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had much power. The earth was made bright with his shining-greatness. ² He cried out with a loud voice, “The big and powerful city of Babylon is destroyed. Demons and every kind of unclean spirit live there. Unclean birds that are hated are there. ³ For she gave her wine to the nations of the world. It was the wine of her desire for sex sins. The kings of the earth have done these sex sins with her. The men of the earth who buy and sell have become rich from the riches she received while living in sin.”

⁴ I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out from her, my people. Do not be a part of her sins so you will not share her troubles. ⁵ For her sins are as high as heaven. God is ready to punish her for her sins. ⁶ Pay her back for what she has paid you. Give back to her twice as much for what she has done. In her own cup give her twice as much as she gave. ⁷ Give her as much trouble and suffering as the fun and the rich living she chose for herself. In her heart she says, ‘I sit here like a queen. I am not a woman whose husband has died. I will never have sorrow.’ ⁸ Because of this, troubles of death and sorrow and no food will come to her in one day. She will be burned with fire. For the Lord God is powerful. He is the One Who says she is guilty.

Jesus Teaches about Anger and Killing

²¹ “You have heard that men were told long ago, ‘You must not kill another person. If someone does kill, he will be guilty and will be punished for his wrong-doing.’ ²² But I tell you that whoever is angry with his brother will be guilty and have to suffer for his wrong-doing. Whoever says to his brother, ‘You have no brains,’ will have to stand in front of the court. Whoever says, ‘You fool,’ will be sent to the fire of hell. ²³ If you take your gift to the altar and remember your brother has something against you, ²⁴ leave your gift on the altar. Go and make right what is wrong between you and him. Then come back and give your gift. ²⁵ Agree with the one who is against you while you are talking together, or he might take you to court. The court will hand you over to the police. You will be put in prison. ²⁶ For sure, I tell you, you will not be let out of prison until you have paid every piece of money of the fine.