Book of Common Prayer
97 Oh, how I love your teachings!
They are in my thoughts all day long.
98 Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies,
because your commandments are always with me.
99 I have more insight than all my teachers,
because your written instructions are in my thoughts.
100 I have more wisdom than those with many years of experience,
because I have obeyed your guiding principles.
101 I have kept my feet ⌞from walking⌟ on any evil path
in order to obey your word.
102 I have not neglected your regulations,
because you have taught me.
103 How sweet the taste of your promise is!
It tastes sweeter than honey.
104 From your guiding principles I gain understanding.
That is why I hate every path that leads to lying.
105 Your word is a lamp for my feet
and a light for my path.
106 I took an oath, and I will keep it.
I took an oath to follow your regulations,
which are based on your righteousness.
107 I have suffered so much.
Give me a new life, O Lord, as you promised.
108 Please accept the praise I gladly give you, O Lord,
and teach me your regulations.
109 I always take my life into my own hands,
but I never forget your teachings.
110 Wicked people have set a trap for me,
but I have never wandered away from your guiding principles.
111 Your written instructions are mine forever.
They are the joy of my heart.
112 I have decided to obey your laws.
They offer a reward that never ends.
113 I hate two-faced people,
but I love your teachings.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield.
My hope is based on your word.
115 Get away from me, you evildoers,
so that I can obey the commandments of my God.
116 Help me God, as you promised, so that I may live.
Do not turn my hope into disappointment.
117 Hold me, and I will be safe,
and I will always respect your laws.
118 You reject all who wander away from your laws,
because their lies mislead them.
119 You get rid of all wicked people on earth as if they were rubbish.
That is why I love your written instructions.
120 My body shudders in fear of you,
and I am afraid of your regulations.
For the choir director; on the gittith; [a] by Asaph.
81 Sing joyfully to God, our strength.
Shout happily to the God of Jacob.
2 Begin a psalm, and strike a tambourine.
Play lyres and harps with their pleasant music.
3 Blow the ram’s horn on the day of the new moon,
on the day of the full moon,
on our festival days.
4 This is a law for Israel,
a legal decision from the God of Jacob.
5 These are the instructions God set in place for Joseph
when Joseph rose to power over Egypt.
I heard a message I did not understand:
6 “I removed the burden from his shoulder.
His hands were freed from the basket.
7 When you were in trouble, you called out ⌞to me⌟, and I rescued you.
I was hidden in thunder, but I answered you.
I tested your ⌞loyalty⌟ at the oasis of Meribah. Selah
8 Listen, my people, and I will warn you.
Israel, if you would only listen to me!
9 Never keep any strange god among you.
Never worship a foreign god.
10 I am the Lord your God, the one who brought you out of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it.
11 “But my people did not listen to me.
Israel wanted nothing to do with me.
12 So I let them go their own stubborn ways
and follow their own advice.
13 If only my people would listen to me!
If only Israel would follow me!
14 I would quickly defeat their enemies.
I would turn my power against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord would cringe in front of him,
and their time ⌞for punishment⌟ would last forever.
16 But I would feed Israel with the finest wheat
and satisfy them with honey from a rock.”
A psalm by Asaph.
82 God takes his place in his own assembly.
He pronounces judgment among the gods:
2 “How long are you going to judge unfairly?
How long are you going to side with wicked people?” Selah
3 Defend weak people and orphans.
Protect the rights of the oppressed and the poor.
4 Rescue weak and needy people.
Help them escape the power of wicked people.
5 Wicked people do not know or understand anything.
As they walk around in the dark,
all the foundations of the earth shake.
6 I said, “You are gods.
You are all sons of the Most High.
7 You will certainly die like humans
and fall like any prince.”
8 Arise, O God!
Judge the earth, because all the nations belong to you.
73 The priests, Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, some of the people, the temple servants, and the rest of Israel settled in their own cities. When the seventh month came, the people of Israel were in their own cities.
The Public Reading of Moses’ Teachings
8 ⌞When the seventh month came,⌟ all the people gathered together in the courtyard in front of Water Gate. They told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of Moses’ Teachings, which the Lord had commanded Israel ⌞to follow⌟. 2 Then Ezra the priest brought the Teachings in front of the assembly. This included men, women, and any ⌞children⌟ who could understand what they heard. This took place on the first day of the seventh month. 3 From daybreak until noon, he read from it in the courtyard in front of Water Gate to the men, women, and ⌞children⌟ who could understand it. All the people listened to the Book of Moses’ Teachings.
5 Ezra, standing higher than all the other people, opened the book in front of all the people. As he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Ezra thanked the Lord, the great God. All the people responded, “Amen! Amen!” as they raised their hands and then bowed with their faces to the ground and worshiped the Lord. 7 The Levites—Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah—explained the Teachings to the people while they were standing there. 8 They read the Book of God’s Teachings clearly and explained the meaning so that the people could understand what was read.
9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and scribe, and the Levites who taught the people told them, “This is a holy day for the Lord your God. Don’t mourn or cry.” All the people were crying as they listened to the reading of God’s Teachings. 10 Then he told them, “Go, eat rich foods, drink sweet drinks, and send portions to those who cannot provide for themselves. Today is a holy day for the Lord. Don’t be sad because the joy you have in the Lord is your strength.” 11 So the Levites calmed all the people by saying, “Listen. Today is a holy day. Don’t be sad.”
12 Then all the people went to eat and drink and to send portions. They had a big, joyful celebration because they understood the words that had been explained to them.
The Festival of Booths Is Observed
13 On the second day the leaders of the families of all the people, including the priests and the Levites, met with Ezra the scribe to study the words of God’s Teachings. 14 They found written in the Teachings that the Lord had given an order through Moses that the people of Israel should live in booths during a festival in the seventh month. 15 They should announce this command and send this message throughout all their cities and Jerusalem: “Go to the mountains, and get branches—olive and wild olive, myrtle, palm, and other thick-leaved branches—to make booths as it is written.”
16 So the people went to get branches to make booths for themselves. Some made booths on their roofs, others in their courtyards, in the courtyards of God’s temple, in the open area by Water Gate, or in the open area at Ephraim Gate.
17 The whole assembly that had come back from exile made booths and lived in them. From the time of Jeshua (son of Nun) to that day, the people of Israel had not done this. There was a big, joyful celebration. 18 Day by day, from the first day of the festival to the last day, Ezra continued to read from the Book of God’s Teachings. The people celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, they had a closing festival assembly in accordance with the regulations.
21 Then a powerful angel picked up a stone that was like a large millstone. He threw it into the sea and said,
“The important city Babylon will be thrown down with the same force.
It will never be found again.
22 The sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters
will never be heard in it again.
A skilled craftsman—regardless of the type of craft—
will never be found in it again.
The sound of a millstone
will never be heard in it again.
23 Light from lamps
will never shine in it again.
Voices of brides and grooms
will never be heard in it again.
Its merchants were the important people of the world,
because all the nations were deceived by its witchcraft.
24 “The blood of prophets, God’s people, and everyone who had been murdered on earth was found in it.”
29 Jesus moved on from there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up a mountain and sat there.
30 A large crowd came to him, bringing with them the lame, blind, disabled, those unable to talk, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he cured them. 31 The crowd was amazed to see mute people talking, the disabled cured, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. So they praised the God of Israel.
Jesus Feeds More Than Four Thousand(A)
32 Jesus called his disciples and said, “I feel sorry for the people. They have been with me three days now and have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry, or they may become exhausted on their way home.”
33 His disciples asked him, “Where could we get enough bread to feed such a crowd in this place where no one lives?”
34 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They answered, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
35 He ordered the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks to God. Then he broke the bread and gave it to the disciples, and they gave the bread and fish to the people.
37 All of them ate as much as they wanted. The disciples picked up the leftover pieces and filled seven large baskets. 38 Four thousand men had eaten. (This number does not include the women and children who had eaten.)
39 After he sent the people on their way, Jesus stepped into the boat and came to the territory of Magadan.
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