Book of Common Prayer
63 A psalm of David when he was hiding in the wilderness of Judea.
O God, my God! How I search for you! How I thirst for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water. How I long to find you! 2 How I wish I could go into your sanctuary to see your strength and glory, 3 for your love and kindness are better to me than life itself. How I praise you! 4 I will bless you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer. 5 At last I shall be fully satisfied; I will praise you with great joy.
6 I lie awake at night thinking of you— 7 of how much you have helped me—and how I rejoice through the night beneath the protecting shadow of your wings. 8 I follow close behind you, protected by your strong right arm. 9 But those plotting to destroy me shall go down to the depths of hell. 10 They are doomed to die by the sword, to become the food of jackals. 11 But I[a] will rejoice in God. All who trust in him exult, while liars shall be silenced.
98 Sing a new song to the Lord telling about his mighty deeds! For he has won a mighty victory by his power and holiness. 2-3 He has announced this victory and revealed it to every nation by fulfilling his promise to be kind to Israel. The whole earth has seen God’s salvation of his people. 4 That is why the earth breaks out in praise to God and sings for utter joy!
5 Sing your praise accompanied by music from the harp. 6 Let the cornets and trumpets shout! Make a joyful symphony before the Lord, the King! 7 Let the sea in all its vastness roar with praise! Let the earth and all those living on it shout, “Glory to the Lord.”
8-9 Let the waves clap their hands in glee and the hills sing out their songs of joy before the Lord, for he is coming to judge the world with perfect justice.
103 I bless the holy name of God with all my heart. 2 Yes, I will bless the Lord and not forget the glorious things he does for me.
3 He forgives all my sins. He heals me. 4 He ransoms me from hell. He surrounds me with loving-kindness and tender mercies. 5 He fills my life with good things! My youth is renewed like the eagle’s! 6 He gives justice to all who are treated unfairly. 7 He revealed his will and nature to Moses and the people of Israel.
8 He is merciful and tender toward those who don’t deserve it; he is slow to get angry and full of kindness and love. 9 He never bears a grudge, nor remains angry forever. 10 He has not punished us as we deserve for all our sins, 11 for his mercy toward those who fear and honor him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. 12 He has removed our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west. 13 He is like a father to us, tender and sympathetic to those who reverence him. 14 For he knows we are but dust 15 and that our days are few and brief, like grass, like flowers, 16 blown by the wind and gone forever.
17-18 But the loving-kindness of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting to those who reverence him; his salvation is to children’s children of those who are faithful to his covenant and remember to obey him!
19 The Lord has made the heavens his throne; from there he rules over everything there is. 20 Bless the Lord, you mighty angels of his who carry out his orders, listening for each of his commands. 21 Yes, bless the Lord, you armies of his angels who serve him constantly.
22 Let everything everywhere bless the Lord. And how I bless him too!
11 “Then, at that time I will rebuild the City of David, which is now lying in ruins, and return it to its former glory, 12 and Israel will possess what is left of Edom and of all the nations that belong to me.” For so the Lord, who plans it all, has said.
13 “The time will come when there will be such abundance of crops that the harvesttime will scarcely end before the farmer starts again to sow another crop, and the terraces of grapes upon the hills of Israel will drip sweet wine! 14 I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they will rebuild their ruined cities and live in them again; they will plant vineyards and gardens; they will eat their crops and drink their wine. 15 I will firmly plant them there upon the land that I have given them; they shall not be pulled up again,” says the Lord your God.
2 1-2 And now, what about the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to meet him? Please don’t be upset and excited, dear brothers, by the rumor that this day of the Lord has already begun. If you hear of people having visions and special messages from God about this, or letters that are supposed to have come from me, don’t believe them. 3 Don’t be carried away and deceived regardless of what they say.
For that day will not come until two things happen: first, there will be a time of great rebellion against God, and then the man of rebellion will come—the son of hell.
13 But we must forever give thanks to God for you, our brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose from the very first to give you salvation,[a] cleansing you by the work of the Holy Spirit and by your trusting in the Truth. 14 Through us he told you the Good News. Through us he called you to share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 With all these things in mind, dear brothers, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the truth that we taught you in our letters and during the time we were with you.
16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting comfort and hope, which we don’t deserve, 17 comfort your hearts with all comfort, and help you in every good thing you say and do.
30 “But I pass no judgment without consulting the Father. I judge as I am told. And my judgment is absolutely fair and just, for it is according to the will of God who sent me and is not merely my own.
31 “When I make claims about myself they aren’t believed, 32-33 but someone else, yes, John the Baptist,[a] is making these claims for me too. You have gone out to listen to his preaching, and I can assure you that all he says about me is true! 34 But the truest witness I have is not from a man, though I have reminded you about John’s witness so that you will believe in me and be saved. 35 John shone brightly for a while, and you benefited and rejoiced, 36 but I have a greater witness than John. I refer to the miracles I do; these have been assigned me by the Father, and they prove that the Father has sent me. 37 And the Father himself has also testified about me, though not appearing to you personally, or speaking to you directly. 38 But you are not listening to him, for you refuse to believe me—the one sent to you with God’s message.
39 “You search the Scriptures, for you believe they give you eternal life. And the Scriptures point to me! 40 Yet you won’t come to me so that I can give you this life eternal!
41-42 “Your approval or disapproval means nothing to me, for as I know so well, you don’t have God’s love within you. 43 I know, because I have come to you representing my Father and you refuse to welcome me, though you readily enough receive those who aren’t sent from him, but represent only themselves! 44 No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the only God!
45 “Yet it is not I who will accuse you of this to the Father—Moses will! Moses, on whose laws you set your hopes of heaven. 46 For you have refused to believe Moses. He wrote about me, but you refuse to believe him, so you refuse to believe in me. 47 And since you don’t believe what he wrote, no wonder you don’t believe me either.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.