Book of Common Prayer
(A psalm by David when he was in the desert of Judah.)
God's Love Means More than Life
1 (A) You are my God. I worship you.
In my heart, I long for you,
as I would long for a stream
in a scorching desert.
2 I have seen your power
and your glory
in the place of worship.
3 Your love means more
than life to me,
and I praise you.
4 As long as I live,
I will pray to you.
5 I will sing joyful praises
and be filled with excitement
like a guest at a banquet.
6 I think about you, God,
before I go to sleep,
and my thoughts turn to you
during the night.
7 You have helped me,
and I sing happy songs
in the shadow of your wings.
8 I stay close to you,
and your powerful arm
supports me.
9 All who want to kill me
will end up in the ground.
10 Swords will run them through,
and wild dogs will eat them.
11 Because of you, our God,
the king will celebrate
with your faithful followers,
but liars will be silent.
The Lord Works Miracles
1 Sing a new song to the Lord!
He has worked miracles,
and with his own powerful arm,
he has won the victory.
2 The Lord has shown the nations
that he has the power to save
and to bring justice.
3 God has been faithful
in his love for Israel,
and his saving power is seen
everywhere on earth.
4 Tell everyone on this earth
to sing happy songs
in praise of the Lord.
5 Make music for him on harps.
Play beautiful melodies!
6 Sound the trumpets and horns
and celebrate with joyful songs
for our Lord and King!
7 Command the ocean to roar
with all its creatures,
and the earth to shout
with all its people.
8 Order the rivers
to clap their hands,
and all the hills
to sing together.
9 Let them worship the Lord!
He is coming to judge
everyone on the earth,
and he will be honest
and fair.
(By David.)
The Lord's Wonderful Love
1 With all my heart
I praise the Lord,
and with all that I am
I praise his holy name!
2 With all my heart
I praise the Lord!
I will never forget
how kind he has been.
3 The Lord forgives our sins,
heals us when we are sick,
4 and protects us from death.
His kindness and love
are a crown on our heads.
5 Each day that we live,[a]
he provides for our needs
and gives us the strength
of a young eagle.
6 For all who are mistreated,
the Lord brings justice.
7 He taught his Law to Moses
and showed all Israel
what he could do.
8 (A) The Lord is merciful!
He is kind and patient,
and his love never fails.
9 The Lord won't always be angry
and point out our sins;
10 he doesn't punish us
as our sins deserve.
11 How great is God's love for all
who worship him?
Greater than the distance
between heaven and earth!
12 How far has the Lord taken
our sins from us?
Farther than the distance
from east to west!
13 Just as parents are kind
to their children,
the Lord is kind
to all who worship him,
14 because he knows
we are made of dust.
15 We humans are like grass
or wild flowers
that quickly bloom.
16 But a scorching wind blows,
and they quickly wither
to be forever forgotten.
17 The Lord is always kind
to those who worship him,
and he keeps his promises
to their descendants
18 who faithfully obey him.
19 God has set up his kingdom
in heaven, and he rules
the whole creation.
20 All of you mighty angels,
who obey God's commands,
come and praise your Lord!
21 All of you thousands
who serve and obey God,
come and praise your Lord!
22 All of God's creation
and all that he rules,
come and praise your Lord!
With all my heart
I praise the Lord!
Babylon Will Fall
The Lord said:
47 (A) City of Babylon,
You are delicate
and untouched,
but that will change.
Surrender your royal power
and sit in the dirt.
2 Start grinding grain!
Take off your veil.
Strip off your fancy clothes
and wade across rivers.[a]
3 You will suffer the shame
of going naked,
because I will take revenge,
and no one can escape.[b]
4 I am the Lord All-Powerful,
the holy God of Israel.
I am their Savior.
5 Babylon, be silent!
Sit in the dark.
No longer will nations
accept you as their queen.
6 I was angry with my people.
So I let you take their land
and bring disgrace on them.
You showed them no mercy,
but were especially cruel
to those who were old.
7 You thought that you
would be queen forever.
You didn't care what you did;
it never entered your mind
that you might get caught.
8 (B) You think that you alone
are all-powerful,
that you won't be a widow
or lose your children.
All you care about is pleasure,
but listen to what I say.
9 Your magic powers and charms
will suddenly fail,
then you will be a widow
and lose your children.
10 You hid behind evil
like a shield and said,
“No one can see me!”
You were fooled by your wisdom
and your knowledge;
you felt sure that you alone
were in full control.
11 But without warning,
disaster will strike—
and your magic charms
won't help at all.
12 Keep using your magic powers
and your charms
as you have always done.
Maybe—just maybe—
you will frighten somebody!
13 You have worn yourself out,
asking for advice
from those who study the stars
and tell the future
month after month.
Go ask them how to be saved
from what will happen.
14 People who trust the stars
are as helpless as straw
in a flaming fire.
No one can even keep warm,[c]
sitting by a fire
that feeds only on straw.
15 These are the fortunetellers
you have done business with
all of your life.
But they don't know
where they are going,
and they can't save you.
Encouragement and Warning
19 My friends, the blood of Jesus gives us courage to enter the most holy place 20 by a new way that leads to life! And this way takes us through the curtain that is Christ himself.
21 We have a great high priest who is in charge of God's house. 22 (A) So let's come near God with pure hearts and a confidence that comes from having faith. Let's keep our hearts pure, our consciences free from evil, and our bodies washed with clean water. 23 We must hold tightly to the hope we say is ours. After all, we can trust the one who made the agreement with us. 24 We should keep on encouraging each other to be thoughtful and to do helpful things. 25 Some people have given up the habit of meeting for worship, but we must not do that. We should keep on encouraging each other, especially since you know that the day of the Lord's coming is getting closer.
26 No sacrifices can be made for people who decide to sin after they find out about the truth. 27 (B) They are God's enemies, and all they can look forward to is a terrible judgment and a furious fire. 28 (C) If two or more witnesses accused someone of breaking the Law of Moses, that person could be put to death. 29 (D) But it is much worse to dishonor God's Son and to disgrace the blood of the promise that made us holy. And it is just as bad to insult the Holy Spirit, who shows us mercy. 30 (E) We know that God has said he will punish and take revenge. We also know that the Scriptures say the Lord will judge his people. 31 It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God!
2 In the city near the sheep gate was a pool with five porches, and its name in Hebrew was Bethzatha.[a]
3-4 Many sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people were lying close to the pool.[b]
5 Beside the pool was a man who had been sick for 38 years. 6 When Jesus saw the man and realized that he had been crippled for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be healed?”
7 The man answered, “Sir, I don't have anyone to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up. I try to get in, but someone else always gets there first.”
8 Jesus told him, “Pick up your mat and walk!” 9 Right then the man was healed. He picked up his mat and started walking around. The day on which this happened was a Sabbath.
10 (A) When the Jewish leaders saw the man carrying his mat, they said to him, “This is the Sabbath! No one is allowed to carry a mat on the Sabbath.”
11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me to pick up my mat and walk.”
12 They asked him, “Who is this man that told you to pick up your mat and walk?” 13 But he did not know who Jesus was, and Jesus had left because of the crowd.
14 Later, Jesus met the man in the temple and told him, “You are now well. But don't sin anymore or something worse might happen to you.” 15 The man left and told the leaders that Jesus was the one who had healed him. 16 They started making a lot of trouble for Jesus because he did things like this on the Sabbath.
17 But Jesus said, “My Father has never stopped working, and this is why I keep on working.” 18 (B) Now the leaders wanted to kill Jesus for two reasons. First, he had broken the law of the Sabbath. But even worse, he had said God was his Father, which made him equal with God.
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