Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 66
For the choir director; a song; a psalm.
1 Shout happily to Elohim, all the earth!
2 Make music to praise the glory of his name.
Make his praise glorious.
3 Say to Elohim,
“How awe-inspiring are your deeds!
Your power is so great that your enemies will cringe in front of you.
4 The whole earth will worship you.
It will make music to praise you.
It will make music to praise your name.” Selah
5 Come and see what Elohim has done—
his awe-inspiring deeds for Adam’s descendants.
6 He turned the sea into dry land.
They crossed the river on foot.
We rejoiced because of what he did there.
7 He rules forever with his might.
His eyes watch the nations.
Rebels will not be able to oppose him. Selah
8 Thank our Elohim, you nations.
Make the sound of his praise heard.
9 He has kept us alive
and has not allowed us to fall.
10 You have tested us, O Elohim.
You have refined us in the same way silver is refined.
11 You have trapped us in a net.
You have laid burdens on our backs.
12 You let people ride over our heads.
We went through fire and water,
but then you brought us out and refreshed us.
13 I will come into your temple with burnt offerings.
I will keep my vows to you,
14 the vows made by my lips and spoken by my own mouth
when I was in trouble.
15 I will offer you a sacrifice of fattened livestock for burnt offerings
with the smoke from rams.
I will offer cattle and goats. Selah
16 Come and listen, all who fear Elohim,
and I will tell you what he has done for me.
17 With my mouth I cried out to him.
High praise was on my tongue.
18 If I had thought about doing anything sinful,
Adonay would not have listened to me.
19 But Elohim has heard me.
He has paid attention to my prayer.
20 Thanks be to Elohim,
who has not rejected my prayer
or taken away his mercy from me.
Psalm 67
For the choir director; on stringed instruments; a psalm; a song.
1 May Elohim have pity on us and bless us!
May he smile on us. Selah
2 Then your ways will be known on earth,
your salvation throughout all nations.
3 Let everyone give thanks to you, O Elohim.
Let everyone give thanks to you.
4 Let the nations be glad and sing joyfully
because you judge everyone with justice
and guide the nations on the earth. Selah
5 Let the people give thanks to you, O Elohim.
Let all the people give thanks to you.
6 The earth has yielded its harvest.
May Elohim, our Elohim, bless us.
7 May Elohim bless us,
and may all the ends of the earth worship him.
Psalm 19
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
1 The heavens declare the glory of El,
and the sky displays what his hands have made.
2 One day tells a story to the next.
One night shares knowledge with the next
3 without talking,
without words,
without their voices being heard.
4 Yet, their sound has gone out into the entire world,
their message to the ends of the earth.
He has set up a tent in the heavens for the sun,
5 which comes out of its chamber like a bridegroom.
Like a champion, it is eager to run its course.
6 It rises from one end of the heavens.
It circles around to the other.
Nothing is hidden from its heat.
7 The teachings of Yahweh are perfect.
They renew the soul.
The testimony of Yahweh is dependable.
It makes gullible people wise.
8 The instructions of Yahweh are correct.
They make the heart rejoice.
The command of Yahweh is radiant.
It makes the eyes shine.
9 The fear of Yahweh is pure.
It endures forever.
The decisions of Yahweh are true.
They are completely fair.
10 They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold.
They are sweeter than honey, even the drippings from a honeycomb.
11 As your servant I am warned by them.
There is a great reward in following them.
12 Who can notice every mistake?
Forgive my hidden faults.
13 Keep me from sinning.
Do not let anyone gain control over me.
Then I will be blameless,
and I will be free from any great offense.
14 May the words from my mouth and the thoughts from my heart
be acceptable to you, O Yahweh, my rock and my Go’el.
Psalm 46
For the choir director; a song by the descendants of Korah; according to alamoth.[a]
1 Elohim is our Machseh and strength,
an ever-present help in times of trouble.
2 That is why we are not afraid
even when the earth quakes
or the mountains topple into the depths of the sea.
3 Water roars and foams,
and mountains shake at the surging waves. Selah
4 There is a river
whose streams bring joy to the city of Elohim,
the holy place where Elyon lives.
5 Elohim is in that city.
It cannot fall.
Elohim will help it at the break of dawn.
6 Nations are in turmoil, and kingdoms topple.
The earth melts at the sound of God’s voice.
7 Yahweh Tsebaoth is with us.
The Elohim of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah
8 Come, see the works of Yahweh,
the devastation he has brought to the earth.
9 He puts an end to wars all over the earth.
He breaks an archer’s bow.
He cuts spears in two.
He burns chariots.
10 Let go of your concerns!
Then you will know that I am Elohim.
I rule the nations.
I rule the earth.
11 Yahweh Tsebaoth is with us.
The Elohim of Jacob is our stronghold. Selah
Habakkuk’s Vision
1 The divine revelation that the prophet Habakkuk saw.
Habakkuk’s Question
2 How long, O Yahweh, am I to cry for help,
but you will not listen?
I cry out to you, “There’s violence!”
yet you will not come to the rescue.
3 Why do you make me see wrongdoing?
And why do you watch wickedness?
Destruction and violence are in front of me.
Quarrels and disputes arise.
4 That is why your teaching is numbed,
and justice is never carried out.
Wicked people surround righteous people
so that when justice is carried out, it’s perverted.
The Lord’s Answer
5 Look among the nations and watch.
Be amazed and astonished.
I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe even if it were reported to you.
6 I am going to send the Babylonians,
that fierce and reckless nation.
They will march throughout the earth
to take possession of lands that don’t belong to them.
7 They will be terrifying and fearsome.
They will carry out their own kind of justice and honor.
8 Their horses will be faster than leopards
and quicker than wolves in the evening.
Their riders will gallop along proudly.
Their riders will come from far away.
They will fly like an eagle that swoops down for its prey.
9 They will all come for violence.
Every face will be directed forward.
They will gather prisoners like sand.
10 They will make fun of kings and treat rulers as a joke.
They will laugh at every fortified city
and build a dirt ramp to capture it.
11 They will move quickly and pass through like the wind.
So they will be guilty,
because their own strength is their god.
Habakkuk’s Question
12 Didn’t you exist before time began, O Yahweh, my Elohim, my Holy One?
We will not die!
O Yahweh, you have appointed the Babylonians to bring judgment.
O Rock, you have destined them to correct us.
13 Your eyes are too pure to look at evil.
You can’t watch wickedness.
Why do you keep watching treacherous people?
Why are you silent when wicked people swallow those
who are more righteous than they are?
14 You make all people like the fish in the sea,
like schools of sea life that have no ruler.
15 The Babylonians pull them all up with fishhooks,
drag them away in nets,
and gather them in dragnets.
So they rejoice and are happy.
16 That is why they sacrifice to their nets and burn incense to their dragnets.
They are rich and well fed because of them.
17 Will they keep on emptying their nets
and always kill nations without mercy?
Habakkuk Waits for the Lord’s Answer
2 I will stand at my guard post.
I will station myself on the wall.
I will watch to see what he will say to me
and what answer I will get to my complaint.
13 Brothers and sisters, I can’t consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don’t look back, I lengthen my stride, and 14 I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Yeshua.
15 Whoever has a mature faith should think this way. And if you think differently, God will show you how to think. 16 However, we should be guided by what we have learned so far.
Imitate Me
17 Brothers and sisters, imitate me, and pay attention to those who live by the example we have given you. 18 I have often told you, and now tell you with tears in my eyes, that many live as the enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 In the end they will be destroyed. Their own emotions are their god, and they take pride in the shameful things they do. Their minds are set on worldly things. 20 We, however, are citizens of heaven. We look forward to the Lord Yeshua Christ coming from heaven as our Savior. 21 Through his power to bring everything under his authority, he will change our humble bodies and make them like his glorified body.
Paul’s Advice
4 So, brothers and sisters, I love you and miss you. You are my joy and my crown. Therefore, dear friends, keep your relationship with the Lord firm!
The Hypocrisy of the Jewish Leaders
13 “How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. You don’t enter it yourselves, and you don’t permit others to enter when they try.[a]
15 “How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You cross land and sea to recruit a single follower, and when you do, you make that person twice as fit for hell as you are.
16 “How horrible it will be for you, you blind guides! You say, ‘To swear an oath by the temple doesn’t mean a thing. But to swear an oath by the gold in the temple means a person must keep his oath.’ 17 You blind fools! What is more important, the gold or the temple that made the gold holy? 18 Again you say, ‘To swear an oath by the altar doesn’t mean a thing. But to swear an oath by the gift on the altar means a person must keep his oath.’ 19 You blind men! What is more important, the gift or the altar that makes the gift holy? 20 To swear an oath by the altar is to swear by it and by everything on it. 21 To swear an oath by the temple is to swear by it and by the one who lives there. 22 And to swear an oath by heaven is to swear by God’s throne and the one who sits on it.
23 “How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You give God one-tenth of your mint, dill, and cumin. But you have neglected justice, mercy, and faithfulness. These are the most important things in Moses’ Teachings. You should have done these things without neglecting the others. 24 You blind guides! You strain gnats out of your wine, but you swallow camels.
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.