Book of Common Prayer
33 He changes rivers into a desert and wells of water into a thirsty ground. 34 He changes a land of much fruit into a salt waste because of the sin of those who live in it. 35 He changes a desert into a pool of water and makes water flow out of dry ground. 36 And He makes the hungry go there so they may build a city to live in. 37 They plant seeds in the fields and plant grape-vines and gather much fruit. 38 He lets good come to them and they become many in number. And He does not let the number of their cattle become less.
39 When the number of people becomes less and they are put to shame under a bad power and trouble and sorrow, 40 He pours anger on rulers. He makes them walk in the waste places where there is no path. 41 But He lifts those in need out of their troubles. He makes their families grow like flocks. 42 Those who are right see it and are glad. But all the sinful shut their mouths. 43 Let the wise man think about these things. And may he think about the loving-kindness of the Lord.
A Song of Praise
108 My heart will not be moved, O God. I will sing. Yes, I will sing praises with my soul. 2 Wake up, different kinds of harps. I will wake up the new day. 3 I will give thanks to You among the people, O Lord. I will sing praises to You among the nations. 4 For Your loving-kindness is great above the heavens. And Your truth can touch the sky. 5 Be lifted up high above the heavens, O God. Let Your shining-greatness be over all the earth. 6 Save us with Your right hand and answer me. Let Your loved ones be set free.
7 God has said in His holy place: “I will be full of joy. I will divide Shechem and the valley of Succoth. 8 Gilead is Mine. Manasseh is Mine. Ephraim is the covering for My head. Judah is My law giver. 9 Moab is where I wash My hands. I will throw My shoe over Edom. I will call out over Philistia that I have won.”
10 Who will bring me into the strong city? Who will lead me into Edom? 11 Have You not turned away from us, O God? And will You not go out with our armies, O God? 12 O give us help against those who hate us. For the help of man is worth nothing. 13 With God’s help we will do great things. And He will break under His feet those who fight against us.
Song of Praise
33 Sing for joy in the Lord, you who are right with Him. It is right for the pure in heart to praise Him. 2 Give thanks to the Lord with harps. Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings. 3 Sing to Him a new song. Play well with loud sounds of joy. 4 For the Word of the Lord is right. He is faithful in all He does. 5 He loves what is right and good and what is fair. The earth is full of the loving-kindness of the Lord.
6 The heavens were made by the Word of the Lord. All the stars were made by the breath of His mouth. 7 He gathers the waters of the sea together as in a bag. He places the waters in store-houses. 8 Let all the earth fear the Lord. Let all the people of the world honor Him. 9 For He spoke, and it was done. He spoke with strong words, and it stood strong. 10 The Lord brings the plans of nations to nothing. He wrecks the plans of the people. 11 The plans of the Lord stand forever. The plans of His heart stand through the future of all people. 12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord. Happy are the people He has chosen for His own.
13 The Lord looks from heaven. He sees all the sons of men. 14 From where He sits He looks upon all who live on the earth. 15 He made the hearts of them all. And He understands whatever they do. 16 No king is saved by the power of his strong army. A soldier is not saved by great strength. 17 A horse cannot be trusted to win a battle. Its great strength cannot save anyone.
18 See, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him, and on those who hope for His loving-kindness, 19 to save their soul from death, and to keep them alive when there is nothing to eat. 20 Our soul waits for the Lord. He is our help and our safe cover. 21 For our heart is full of joy in Him, because we trust in His holy name. 22 O Lord, let Your loving-kindness be upon us as we put our hope in You.
God’s Love for His Sinful People
11 “When Israel was a child, I loved him. And I called My son out of Egypt. 2 The more I called them, the more they went from Me. They kept giving gifts in worship to the Baals and burning special perfume to false gods. 3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk. I took them in My arms. But they did not know that I healed them. 4 I led them with ropes of human kindness, with ties of love. I lifted the load from their neck and went down to feed them.
5 “They will not return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria will be their king, because they would not return to Me. 6 The sword will come upon their cities and destroy their gates. And it will destroy them because of their plans. 7 My people are always turning from Me. Even when those who speak for the Lord call them to the Most High, no one honors Him.
8 “How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I give you up, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I make you like Zeboiim? My heart will not let Me do it. I love you very much. 9 I will not do anything in My burning anger. I will not destroy Ephraim again. For I am God and not man. I am the Holy One among you, and I will not come in anger.
Paul Is Called to Work with the People Who Are Not Jews
17 “I came back to Jerusalem. When I was praying in the house of God, I had a dream. 18 I saw Him as He said to me, ‘Get out of Jerusalem! They will not listen to you when you tell them about Me!’ 19 I said, ‘Lord, they know I took Christians out of every Jewish place of worship. I had them beaten and put in prison. 20 Also when Stephen was killed, I stood there and watched them throw stones at him. Those who threw the stones had me watch their coats.’ 21 The Lord said to me, ‘Go! I will send you far away to the people who are not Jews.’ ” 22 They listened to him until he said that. Then they all cried out with loud voices, “Kill him! Take such a man from the earth! He should not live!” 23 They kept on calling out. Then they pulled off their coats and threw dust in the air.
Paul Tells Who He Is
24 The captain told them to bring Paul into the soldiers’ building. He told his soldiers to find out from Paul, by beating him, why the people were crying out against him. 25 As they tied him up, Paul said to the soldier, “Does the law say that you can beat a Roman citizen when no one has said he is guilty?”
26 When the soldier heard this, he told it to the captain. He said, “Listen! What are you doing? This man is a Roman citizen.” 27 The captain came and asked Paul, “Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?” Paul said, “Yes!” 28 The captain said, “I had to pay a lot of money to be a citizen.” Paul said, “But I was born a Roman.” 29 Those who were going to beat him left him at once. The captain was also afraid when he heard that Paul was a Roman citizen because he had him tied.
Jesus Teaches What the Law Says about Love
27 “I say to you who hear Me, love those who work against you. Do good to those who hate you. 28 Respect and give thanks for those who try to bring bad to you. Pray for those who make it very hard for you. 29 Whoever hits you on one side of the face, turn so he can hit the other side also. Whoever takes your coat, give him your shirt also. 30 Give to any person who asks you for something. If a person takes something from you, do not ask for it back. 31 Do for other people what you would like to have them do for you.
32 “If you love those who love you, what pay can you expect from that? Sinners also love those who love them. 33 If you do good to those who do good to you, what pay can you expect from that? Sinners also do good to those who do good to them. 34 If you let people use your things and expect to get something back, what pay can you expect from that? Even sinners let sinners use things and they expect to get something back. 35 But love those who hate you. Do good to them. Let them use your things and do not expect something back. Your reward will be much. You will be the children of the Most High. He is kind to those who are not thankful and to those who are full of sin.
Jesus Teaches about Finding Bad in Others
36 “You must have loving-kindness just as your Father has loving-kindness. 37 Do not say what is wrong in other people’s lives. Then other people will not say what is wrong in your life. Do not say someone is guilty. Then other people will not say you are guilty. Forgive other people and other people will forgive you.
38 “Give, and it will be given to you. You will have more than enough. It can be pushed down and shaken together and it will still run over as it is given to you. The way you give to others is the way you will receive in return.”
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.