Book of Common Prayer
Love for the Law of the Lord
97 How I love your law!
I think about it all day long.
98 Your commandment is with me all the time
and makes me wiser than my enemies.
99 I understand more than all my teachers,
because I meditate on your instructions.
100 I have greater wisdom than those who are old,
because I obey your commands.
101 I have avoided all evil conduct,
because I want to obey your word.
102 I have not neglected your instructions,
because you yourself are my teacher.
103 How sweet is the taste of your instructions—
sweeter even than honey!
104 I gain wisdom from your laws,
and so I hate all bad conduct.
Light from the Law of the Lord
105 Your word is a lamp to guide me
and a light for my path.
106 I will keep my solemn promise
to obey your just instructions.
107 My sufferings, Lord, are terrible indeed;
keep me alive, as you have promised.
108 Accept my prayer of thanks, O Lord,
and teach me your commands.
109 I am always ready to risk my life;
I[a] have not forgotten your law.
110 The wicked lay a trap for me,
but I have not disobeyed your commands.
111 Your commandments are my eternal possession;
they are the joy of my heart.
112 I have decided to obey your laws
until the day I die.
Safety in the Law of the Lord
113 I hate those who are not completely loyal to you,
but I love your law.
114 You are my defender and protector;
I put my hope in your promise.
115 Go away from me, you sinful people.
I will obey the commands of my God.
116 Give me strength, as you promised, and I shall live;
don't let me be disappointed in my hope!
117 Hold me, and I will be safe,
and I will always pay attention to your commands.
118 You reject everyone who disobeys your laws;
their deceitful schemes are useless.
119 You treat all the wicked like rubbish,
and so I love your instructions.
120 Because of you I am afraid;
I am filled with fear because of your judgments.
A Song for a Festival[a]
81 Shout for joy to God our defender;
sing praise to the God of Jacob!
2 Start the music and beat the tambourines;
play pleasant music on the harps and the lyres.
3 (A)Blow the trumpet for the festival,
when the moon is new and when the moon is full.
4 This is the law in Israel,
an order from the God of Jacob.
5 He gave it to the people of Israel
when he attacked the land of Egypt.
I hear an unknown voice saying,
6 “I took the burdens off your backs;
I let you put down your loads of bricks.
7 (B)When you were in trouble, you called to me, and I saved you.
From my hiding place in the storm, I answered you.
I put you to the test at the springs of Meribah.
8 Listen, my people, to my warning;
Israel, how I wish you would listen to me!
9 (C)You must never worship another god.
10 I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of Egypt.
Open your mouth, and I will feed you.
11 “But my people would not listen to me;
Israel would not obey me.
12 So I let them go their stubborn ways
and do whatever they wanted.
13 How I wish my people would listen to me;
how I wish they would obey me!
14 I would quickly defeat their enemies
and conquer all their foes.
15 Those who hate me would bow in fear before me;
their punishment would last forever.
16 But I would feed you with the finest wheat
and satisfy you with wild honey.”
God the Supreme Ruler[b]
82 God presides in the heavenly council;
in the assembly of the gods he gives his decision:
2 “You must stop judging unjustly;
you must no longer be partial to the wicked!
3 Defend the rights of the poor and the orphans;
be fair to the needy and the helpless.
4 Rescue them from the power of evil people.
5 “How ignorant you are! How stupid!
You are completely corrupt,
and justice has disappeared from the world.
6 (D)‘You are gods,’ I said;
‘all of you are children of the Most High.’
7 But you will die like mortals;
your life will end like that of any prince.”
8 Come, O God, and rule the world;
all the nations are yours.
The Recovery of the Ax Head
6 One day the group of prophets that Elisha was in charge of complained to him, “The place where we live is too small! 2 Give us permission to go to the Jordan and cut down some trees, so that we can build a place to live.”
“All right,” Elisha answered.
3 One of them urged him to go with them; he agreed, 4 and they set out together. When they arrived at the Jordan, they began to work. 5 As one of them was cutting down a tree, suddenly his iron ax head fell in the water. “What shall I do, sir?” he exclaimed to Elisha. “It was a borrowed ax!”
6 “Where did it fall?” Elisha asked.
The man showed him the place, and Elisha cut off a stick, threw it in the water, and made the ax head float. 7 “Take it out,” he ordered, and the man reached down and picked it up.
The Syrian Army Is Defeated
8 The king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his officers and chose a place to set up his camp. 9 But Elisha sent word to the king of Israel, warning him not to go near that place, because the Syrians were waiting in ambush there. 10 So the king of Israel warned the people who lived in that place, and they were on guard. This happened several times.
11 The Syrian king became greatly upset over this; he called in his officers and asked them, “Which one of you is on the side of the king of Israel?”
12 One of them answered, “No one is, Your Majesty. The prophet Elisha tells the king of Israel what you say even in the privacy of your own room.”
13 “Find out where he is,” the king ordered, “and I will capture him.”
When he was told that Elisha was in Dothan, 14 he sent a large force there with horses and chariots. They reached the town at night and surrounded it. 15 Early the next morning Elisha's servant got up, went out of the house, and saw the Syrian troops with their horses and chariots surrounding the town. He went back to Elisha and exclaimed, “We are doomed, sir! What shall we do?”
16 “Don't be afraid,” Elisha answered. “We have more on our side than they have on theirs.” 17 Then he prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes and let him see!” The Lord answered his prayer, and Elisha's servant looked up and saw the hillside covered with horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
18 When the Syrians attacked, Elisha prayed, “O Lord, strike these men blind!” The Lord answered his prayer and struck them blind. 19 Then Elisha went to them and said, “You are on the wrong road; this is not the town you are looking for. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you are after.” And he led them to Samaria.
20 As soon as they had entered the city, Elisha prayed, “Open their eyes, Lord, and let them see.” The Lord answered his prayer; he restored their sight, and they saw that they were inside Samaria.
21 When the king of Israel saw the Syrians, he asked Elisha, “Shall I kill them, sir? Shall I kill them?”
22 “No,” he answered. “Not even soldiers you had captured in combat would you put to death. Give them something to eat and drink, and let them return to their king.” 23 So the king of Israel provided a great feast for them; and after they had eaten and drunk, he sent them back to the king of Syria. From then on the Syrians stopped raiding the land of Israel.
9 In the letter that I wrote you I told you not to associate with immoral people. 10 Now I did not mean pagans who are immoral or greedy or are thieves, or who worship idols. To avoid them you would have to get out of the world completely. 11 What I meant was that you should not associate with a person who calls himself a believer but is immoral or greedy or worships idols or is a slanderer or a drunkard or a thief. Don't even sit down to eat with such a person.
12-13 (A)After all, it is none of my business to judge outsiders. God will judge them. But should you not judge the members of your own fellowship? As the scripture says, “Remove the evil person from your group.”
Lawsuits against Fellow Christians
6 If any of you have a dispute with another Christian, how dare you go before heathen judges instead of letting God's people settle the matter? 2 Don't you know that God's people will judge the world? Well, then, if you are to judge the world, aren't you capable of judging small matters? 3 Do you not know that we shall judge the angels? How much more, then, the things of this life! 4 If such matters come up, are you going to take them to be settled by people who have no standing in the church? 5 Shame on you! Surely there is at least one wise person in your fellowship who can settle a dispute between fellow Christians. 6 Instead, one Christian goes to court against another and lets unbelievers judge the case!
7 The very fact that you have legal disputes among yourselves shows that you have failed completely. Would it not be better for you to be wronged? Would it not be better for you to be robbed? 8 Instead, you yourselves wrong one another and rob one another, even other believers!
Teaching about Revenge(A)
38 (B)“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.’ 39 But now I tell you: do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, let him slap your left cheek too. 40 And if someone takes you to court to sue you for your shirt, let him have your coat as well. 41 And if one of the occupation troops forces you to carry his pack one mile, carry it two miles. 42 When someone asks you for something, give it to him; when someone wants to borrow something, lend it to him.
Love for Enemies(C)
43 (D)“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your friends, hate your enemies.’ 44 But now I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 (E)so that you may become the children of your Father in heaven. For he makes his sun to shine on bad and good people alike, and gives rain to those who do good and to those who do evil. 46 Why should God reward you if you love only the people who love you? Even the tax collectors do that! 47 And if you speak only to your friends, have you done anything out of the ordinary? Even the pagans do that! 48 (F)You must be perfect—just as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.