Book of Common Prayer
A Song of Victory
For the director of music. By the Lord’s servant, David. David sang this song to the Lord. He sang it when the Lord had saved him from Saul and all his other enemies.
18 I love you, Lord. You are my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my protection, my Savior.
My God is my rock.
I can run to him for safety.
He is my shield and my saving strength, my high tower.
3 I will call to the Lord.
He is worthy of praise.
And I will be saved from my enemies.
4 The ropes of death bound me.
The deadly rivers overwhelmed me.
5 The ropes of death wrapped around me.
The traps of death were before me.
6 In my trouble I called to the Lord.
I cried out to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice.
My call for help reached his ears.
7 The earth trembled and shook.
The foundations of the mountains began to shake.
They shook because the Lord was angry.
8 Smoke came out of his nose.
Burning fire came out of his mouth.
Burning coals went before him.
9 He tore open the sky and came down.
Dark clouds were under his feet.
10 He rode a creature with wings and flew.
He flew on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his shelter around him,
surrounded by fog and clouds.
12 Out of the brightness of his presence came clouds.
They came with hail and lightning.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven.
God Most High raised his voice.
And there was hail and lightning.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies.
His many bolts of lightning confused them with fear.
15 Lord, you spoke strongly.
The wind blew from your nose.
The valleys of the sea appeared.
The foundations of the earth were seen.
16 The Lord reached down from above and took me.
He pulled me from the deep water.
17 He saved me from my powerful enemies.
Those who hated me were too strong for me.
18 They attacked me at my time of trouble.
But the Lord supported me.
19 He took me to a safe place.
Because he delights in me, he saved me.
20 The Lord spared me because I did what was right.
Because I have not done evil, he has rewarded me.
21 I have followed the ways of the Lord.
I have not done evil by turning away from my God.
22 I remember all his laws.
I have not broken his rules.
23 I am innocent before him.
I have kept myself from doing evil.
24 The Lord rewarded me because I did what was right.
I did what the Lord said was right.
25 Lord, you are loyal to those who are loyal.
You are good to those who are good.
26 You are pure to those who are pure.
But you are against those who are bad.
27 You save those who are not proud.
But you make humble those who are proud.
28 Lord, you give light to my lamp.
My God brightens the darkness around me.
29 With your help I can attack an army.
With God’s help I can jump over a wall.
30 The ways of God are without fault.
The Lord’s words are pure.
He is a shield to those who trust him.
31 Who is God? Only the Lord.
Who is the Rock? Only our God.
32 God is my protection.
He makes my way free from fault.
33 He makes me like a deer, which does not stumble.
He helps me stand on the steep mountains.
34 He trains my hands for battle.
So my arms can bend a bronze bow.
35 You protect me with your saving shield.
You support me with your right hand.
You have stooped to make me great.
36 You give me a wide path on which to walk.
My feet have not slipped.
37 I chased my enemies and caught them.
I did not quit till they were destroyed.
38 I crushed them so they couldn’t rise up again.
They fell beneath my feet.
39 You gave me strength in battle.
You made my enemies bow before me.
40 You made my enemies turn back.
I destroyed those who hated me.
41 They called for help,
but no one came to save them.
They called to the Lord,
but he did not answer them.
42 I beat my enemies into pieces.
They were like dust in the wind.
I poured them out like mud in the streets.
43 You saved me when the people attacked me.
You made me the leader of nations.
People I never knew serve me.
44 As soon as they hear me, they obey me.
Foreigners obey me.
45 They all become afraid.
They tremble in their hiding places.
46 The Lord lives!
May my Rock be praised.
Praise the God who saves me!
47 God gives me victory over my enemies.
He brings people under my rule.
48 He saves me from my enemies.
You set me over those who hate me.
You saved me from cruel men.
49 So I will praise you, Lord, among the nations.
I will sing praises to your name.
50 The Lord gives great victories to his king.
He is loyal to his appointed king,
to David and his descendants forever.
12 The Lord of heaven’s armies has a certain day planned.
On that day he will punish the proud and those who brag.
They will no longer be important.
13 He will bring down the tall cedar trees from Lebanon.
He will destroy the great oak trees of Bashan.
14 He will destroy all the tall mountains
and the high hills.
15 He will knock down every tall tower
and every high, strong wall.
16 He will sink all the trading ships.
And he will destroy the beautiful ships.
17 At that time proud people will stop being proud.
They will bow low with shame.
And at that time only the Lord will be praised.
18 But all the idols will be gone.
19 People will run to caves in the rocky cliffs.
They will dig holes and hide in the ground.
They will hide from the anger of the Lord
and his great power.
They will do this when the Lord stands to shake the earth.
20 At that time people will throw away
their gold and silver idols.
They made these idols for themselves to worship.
But they will throw them away to the bats and moles.
21 Then the people will hide in caves
and cracks in the rocks.
They will hide from the anger of the Lord
and his great power.
They will do this when the Lord stands to shake the earth.
22 You should stop trusting in people to save you.
People are only human.
They aren’t able to help you.
3 We could not come to you, but it was very hard to wait any longer. So we decided to stay in Athens alone 2 and send Timothy to you. Timothy is our brother, who works with us for God. He helps us tell people the Good News about Christ. We sent Timothy to strengthen and comfort you in your faith. 3 We sent him so that none of you would be upset by these troubles we have now. You yourselves know that we must have these troubles. 4 Even when we were with you, we told you that we all would have to suffer. And you know that it has happened the way we said. 5 This is why I sent Timothy to you, so that I could know about your faith. I sent him when I could not wait any longer. I was afraid that the devil had tempted you, and perhaps our hard work would have been wasted.
6 But Timothy now has come back to us from you and has brought us good news about your faith and love. He told us that you always remember us in a good way. He told us that you want to see us just as much as we want to see you. 7 So, brothers, we are comforted about you, because of your faith. We have much trouble and suffering, but still we are comforted. 8 For our life is really full if you stand strong in the Lord. 9 We have so much joy before our God because of you, and we thank him for you. But we cannot thank him enough for all the joy we feel. 10 And we continue praying with all our heart for you night and day. We pray that we can see you again and give you all the things you need to make your faith strong.
11 We pray that our God and Father and our Lord Jesus will prepare the way for us to come to you. 12 We pray that the Lord will make your love grow more and more for each other and for all people. We pray that you will love others as we love you and 13 that your hearts will be made strong. Then you will be holy and without fault before our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy people.
Sadducees Try to Trick Jesus
27 Some Sadducees came to Jesus. (Sadducees believe that people will not rise from death.) They asked, 28 “Teacher, Moses wrote that a man’s brother might die. He leaves a wife but no children. Then that man must marry the widow and have children for his dead brother. 29 One time there were seven brothers. The first brother married, but died. He had no children. 30 Then the second brother married the widow, and he died. 31 And the third brother married the widow, and he died. The same thing happened with all the other brothers. They all died and had no children. 32 The woman was the last to die. 33 But all seven brothers married her. So when people rise from death, whose wife will the woman be?”
34 Jesus said to the Sadducees, “On earth, people marry each other. 35 But those who will be worthy to be raised from death and live again will not marry. 36 In that life they are like angels and cannot die. They are children of God, because they have been raised from death. 37 Moses clearly showed that the dead are raised to life. When Moses wrote about the burning bush,[a] he said that the Lord is ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’[b] 38 God is the God of living people, not dead people. All people are alive to God.”
39 Some of the teachers of the law said, “Teacher, your answer was good.” 40 No one was brave enough to ask him another question.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.