Book of Common Prayer
2 What fools the nations are to rage[a] against the Lord! How strange that men should try to outwit God! 2 For a summit conference of the nations has been called to plot against the Lord and his Messiah, Christ the King.[b] 3 “Come, let us break his chains,” they say, “and free ourselves from all this slavery to God.”
4 But God in heaven merely laughs! He is amused by all their puny plans. 5 And then in fierce fury he rebukes them and fills them with fear.
6 For the Lord declares,[c] “This is the King of my choice, and I have enthroned him in Jerusalem, my holy city.”
7 His chosen one replies,[d] “I will reveal the everlasting purposes of God, for the Lord has said to me, ‘You are my Son. This is your Coronation Day. Today I am giving you your glory.’” 8 “Only ask and I will give you all the nations of the world. 9 Rule them with an iron rod; smash them like clay pots!”
10 O kings and rulers of the earth, listen while there is time. 11 Serve the Lord with reverent fear; rejoice with trembling. 12 Fall down before his Son and kiss his feet[e] before his anger is roused and you perish. I am warning you—his wrath will soon begin. But oh, the joys of those who put their trust in him!
85 Lord, you have poured out amazing blessings on this land! You have restored the fortunes of Israel,[a] 2 and forgiven the sins of your people—yes, covered over each one, 3 so that all your wrath, your blazing anger, is now ended.
4 Now bring us back to loving you,[b] O Lord, so that your anger will never need rise against us again. 5 (Or will you be always angry—on and on to distant generations?) 6 Oh, revive us! Then your people can rejoice in you again. 7 Pour out your love and kindness on us, Lord, and grant us your salvation.
8 I am listening carefully to all the Lord is saying—for he speaks peace to his people, his saints, if they will only stop their sinning. 9 Surely his salvation is near to those who reverence him; our land will be filled with his glory.
10 Mercy and truth have met together. Grim justice[c] and peace have kissed! 11 Truth rises from the earth, and righteousness smiles down from heaven.
12 Yes, the Lord pours down his blessings on the land, and it yields its bountiful crops. 13 Justice goes before him to make a pathway for his steps.[d]
110 Jehovah said to my Lord the Messiah,[a] “Rule as my regent—I will subdue your enemies and make them bow low before you.”
2 Jehovah has established your throne[b] in Jerusalem to rule over your enemies. 3 In that day of your power your people shall come to you willingly, dressed in holy altar robes.[c] And your strength shall be renewed day by day like morning dew. 4 Jehovah has taken oath and will not rescind his vow that you are a priest forever like[d] Melchizedek. 5 God stands beside you to protect you. He will strike down many kings in the day of his anger. 6 He will punish the nations and fill them with their dead. He will crush many heads. 7 But he himself shall be refreshed from springs along the way.
132 Lord, do you remember that time when my heart[a] was so filled with turmoil? 2-5 I couldn’t rest, I couldn’t sleep, thinking how I ought to build a permanent home for the Ark of the Lord,[b] a Temple for the Mighty One of Israel. Then I vowed that I would do it; I made a solemn promise to the Lord.
6 First the Ark was in Ephrathah,[c] then in the distant countryside of Jaar. 7 But now it will be settled in the Temple, in God’s permanent home here on earth. That is where we will go to worship him.[d] 8 Arise, O Lord, and enter your Temple with the Ark, the symbol of your power.
9 We will clothe the priests in white, the symbol of all purity. May our nation shout for joy.
10 Do not reject your servant David—the king you chose for your people. 11 For you promised me that my son would sit on my throne and succeed me. And surely you will never go back on a promise! 12 You also promised that if my descendants will obey the terms of your contract with me, then the dynasty of David shall never end.
13 O Lord, you have chosen Jerusalem[e] as your home: 14 “This is my permanent home where I shall live,” you said, “for I have always wanted it this way. 15 I will make this city prosperous and satisfy her poor with food. 16 I will clothe her priests with salvation; her saints shall shout for joy. 17 David’s power shall grow, for I have decreed for him a mighty Son.[f] 18 I’ll clothe his enemies with shame, but he shall be a glorious King.”
4 But in the last days Mount Zion will be the most renowned of all the mountains of the world, praised by all nations; people from all over the world will make pilgrimages there.
2 “Come,” they will say to one another, “let us visit the mountain of the Lord, and see the Temple of the God of Israel; he will tell us what to do, and we will do it.” For in those days the whole world will be ruled by the Lord from Jerusalem! He will issue his laws and announce his decrees from there.
3 He will arbitrate among the nations and dictate to strong nations far away. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks; nations shall no longer fight each other, for all war will end. There will be universal peace, and all the military academies and training camps will be closed down.
4 Everyone will live quietly in his own home in peace and prosperity, for there will be nothing to fear. The Lord himself has promised this. 5 (Therefore we will follow the Lord our God forever and ever, even though all the nations around us worship idols!)
2 “O Bethlehem Ephrathah, you are but a small Judean village, yet you will be the birthplace of my King who is alive from everlasting ages past!” 3 God will abandon his people to their enemies until she who is to give birth has her son; then at last his fellow countrymen—the exile remnants of Israel—will rejoin their brethren in their own land.
4 And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and his people shall remain there undisturbed, for he will be greatly honored all around the world.
7 Dear friends, let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show that they are the children of God, and that they are getting to know him better. 8 But if a person isn’t loving and kind, it shows that he doesn’t know God—for God is love.
9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into this wicked world to bring to us eternal life through his death. 10 In this act we see what real love is: it is not our love for God but his love for us when he sent his Son to satisfy God’s anger against our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God loved us as much as that, we surely ought to love each other too. 12 For though we have never yet seen God, when we love each other God lives in us, and his love within us grows ever stronger. 13 And he has put his own Holy Spirit into our hearts as a proof to us that we are living with him and he with us. 14 And furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now tell all the world that God sent his Son to be their Savior. 15 Anyone who believes and says that Jesus is the Son of God has God living in him, and he is living with God.
16 We know how much God loves us because we have felt his love and because we believe him when he tells us that he loves us dearly. God is love, and anyone who lives in love is living with God and God is living in him.
31 “He has come from heaven and is greater than anyone else. I am of the earth, and my understanding is limited to the things of earth. 32 He tells what he has seen and heard, but how few believe what he tells them! 33-34 Those who believe him discover that God is a fountain of truth. For this one—sent by God—speaks God’s words, for God’s Spirit is upon him without measure or limit. 35 The Father loves this man because he is his Son, and God has given him everything there is. 36 And all who trust him—God’s Son—to save them have eternal life; those who don’t believe and obey him shall never see heaven, but the wrath of God remains upon them.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.