Book of Common Prayer
Asaph wrote this song for the music leader. He should use special music.
God judges people fairly
75 God, we thank you!
Yes, we thank you!
You are very near to us.
People everywhere say what great things you have done.
2 God says, ‘I choose the time when I will judge people,
and I will be a fair judge.
3 When the earth shakes and the people in it are afraid,
I will keep its foundations strong.’
Selah.
4 I say to people who are proud,
‘Do not be proud.’
I say to wicked people,
‘Do not boast about your power.
5 Do not boast against God.
Do not speak with such proud words.’
6 Who has the power to judge people?
Nobody from the east, or from the west,
or from the desert can be judge.
7 God is the one who judges people.
He decides who to bring down
and who to lift up.[a]
8 The Lord holds a cup of punishment in his hand.[b]
It is full of wine, with spices in it.
The Lord pours out his anger from this cup.
All the wicked people in the world will have to drink it.
They will drink all of it, so that none remains.
9 But as for me, I will always thank you, God.
I will sing to praise you,
the God of Jacob.
10 You say, ‘I will destroy the power of wicked people.
I will give strength to my righteous people.’
This psalm is a song that Asaph wrote for the music leader. Sing it with the music of stringed instruments.
God has great power
76 People in Judah know who God is.
He is famous in Israel.[c]
2 His home is in Salem.
Yes, he lives in Zion.[d]
3 There he destroyed all the weapons of our enemy,
their arrows, their shields,
and their swords.
He destroyed everything that they use to fight wars.
Selah.
4 God, you are the one who shines with glory!
You are greater than the greatest mountains.
5 You won against brave soldiers,
so that we robbed them of everything.
Now they are sleeping,
and they will never wake up!
They are completely helpless.
6 God of Jacob,
when your enemies heard your battle cry,
both the horses and their riders fell down dead.
7 Yes, everyone is afraid of you, our God!
When you are angry,
nobody can stand against you.
8 From heaven you said how you would judge people.
Everybody on earth became afraid.
They could not say anything!
9 This happened when you came to punish wicked people.
You came to rescue the weak and poor people in the land.
Selah.
10 Everybody will praise you,
even those who are angry against you.
You will show them how angry you really are.[e]
11 Make promises to the Lord your God,
and do what you have promised.
Everyone who serves God should bring gifts to him.
We must respect him with fear.
12 He makes proud rulers become humble.
All the kings of the world should be afraid of him.
This is a song that David wrote.
God takes care of his people[a]
23 The Lord takes care of me,
like a shepherd with his sheep.
I have everything that I need.
2 He takes me to green fields where I can rest.
He leads me to streams of water where I can drink.
3 He gives me new strength in my life.
He is my guide to the right paths.
He does this to give honour to his name.
4 I may walk through a valley that is as dark as death.
But I will not be afraid of any danger.
This is because you are with me, Lord.
Your stick and your shepherd's pole protect me from danger.
5 You prepare a big meal for me while my enemies watch.
You put olive oil on my head.
You bless me so much that my cup is completely full.
6 I am sure that you will always be good to me.
You will love me all the days of my life.
That will never change.
I will live in the Lord's house for as long as I live.
This is a song that David wrote.
I trust God to keep me safe
27 The Lord gives me light in my life
and he makes me safe.
So I am not afraid of anyone!
The Lord takes care of my life.
Nobody can make me afraid!
2 Evil men are ready to attack me.
They want to destroy my body.
But when my enemies attack me,
they trip and fall to the ground!
3 Even if a whole army comes to fight against me,
I will not be afraid.
Even if they attack me in war,
I will continue to trust God.
4 There is one thing that I have asked the Lord to do for me.
This is the one thing that I really want:
I want to live in the Lord's house
all the days of my life.
Then I will clearly see the Lord's beauty.
I will pray to him in his temple.
5 When danger is near,
the Lord will keep me safe.
He will take care of me in his home.
He will put me in a safe place,
on the top of a high rock.
6 My enemies may be all round me,
but I will win against them.
They will see how strong I am!
I will offer sacrifices to the Lord in his temple.
I will be so happy that I will shout aloud!
Yes, I will sing to praise the Lord.
7 Lord, hear me when I call to you for help.[a]
Be kind to me and answer me.
8 I have heard you say to me, ‘Come near to me.’
So I will come and pray to you, Lord.
9 Please do not turn away from me.
I am your servant,
so do not be angry with me.
You have always helped me in the past,
so do not push me away now.
You are the one who saves me, God,
so do not turn away from me.
10 Even if my father and my mother leave me,
the Lord will still take care of me.
11 Lord, please teach me to follow your way.
Lead me along a good, safe path,
because my enemies are waiting to attack me.
12 Do not give me to my enemies.
They say false things against me,
so that they can destroy me.
13 But I surely believe
that I will see how good the Lord is!
I will know his love while I still live in this world.
14 Wait for the Lord to help you!
Be strong and brave.
Yes, wait for the Lord to help you!
3 The Lord says,
‘But you magicians, come here!
You use magic to learn about future times.
You are the family of an adulteress and a prostitute.
4 Who do you think you are laughing at?
Who are you insulting?
Who are you pointing at with your tongue?
You are people who have turned against God.
You love to tell lies.
5 You worship your idols among the big trees,
and you have sex at the same time.[a]
You kill your children as sacrifices to your false gods.
You do that beside streams
and in caves among the rocks.
6 You take big stones from the streams,
and they become your idols.
They are the gods that you love to worship.
You pour drink offerings over them.
You offer grain to them.
Because of what you do,
should I not punish you?
7 You go up to the tops of high hills,
and you lie down there to have sex.
You go there to offer sacrifices to your gods.
8 You put your images behind the doors of your rooms.
Then you turn your backs to me,
and you get into bed with your false gods.
You have made an agreement with them.
You pay money to have sex with your lovers.
You love to see their bare bodies.
9 You take olive oil as a gift to your king,
and also many perfumes.[b]
You send your people far away
to get news of other gods.
You even talk to the spirits of dead people.
10 You become very tired,
because you travel so far.
But you would never say,
“This is useless!”
Instead, you find new strength,
and you do not stop.
11 What idol are you so afraid of,
that you choose to deceive me?
You seem to have forgotten about me.
You do not think about me at all.
Have I been silent for too long?
Is that why you no longer respect me?
12 Now I will speak against the things that you do.
You think that they are good and right,
but those things will not help you.
13 Shout for help, if you like.
See if your group of idols can help you!
The wind will blow them all away.
Even a breath will carry them away.
But if people trust me to help them,
this land will belong to them.
They will worship me on my holy mountain.’[c]
25 Now it is God's Spirit that gives us life. So we must let God's Spirit lead us in how we live. 26 We must not become proud. We must not be jealous of each other, so that we cause trouble to one another.
Be kind and good to each other
6 My friends, if you see that someone among you is doing a wrong thing, you must warn that person. Those of you who have help from God's Spirit should tell that person how to live in a good way. But you must be patient and respect him. Be very careful yourselves, so that you do not also want to do wrong things. 2 When anyone among you has troubles, you must help each other. If you do that, you will be obeying Christ's rule.[a] 3 You must not think that you are too important to help other people. If you are not really so important, you are thinking a false thought. 4 Everyone should think carefully about the things that they themselves do. If those things are good, that is a reason to be proud. A person like that does not need to think about whether he is better than anyone else. 5 Each person must live in a way that they know is right for them.
6 Everyone who is learning about God's message from a teacher should help his teacher. The student should share all the good things that he has with his teacher.
7 Nobody can hide the things that he does from God. Do not think a false thought like that! It is like a farmer who plants seeds in his field. The same kind of crops will grow as the seeds which he plants. That will be his harvest. 8 A person may do things only to make himself happy. That person's harvest will be God's punishment and death. Or a person may do the things that God's Spirit wants. That person will receive a harvest from God's Spirit. The harvest will be life with God for ever. 9 We must continue to do things that are good and we should not get tired. If we do not feel weak and stop doing good things, then we will receive a good harvest at the proper time.
10 Because of all that, we must help everyone when we have the chance. Certainly we must do good things to help our friends who believe in Christ, as we do.
Jesus helps a boy who has a bad spirit
14 They reached the place where the other disciples were. They saw that there was a large crowd there with them. Some teachers of God's Law were arguing with the disciples. 15 The people in the crowd saw Jesus and immediately they were very surprised. They ran to say ‘hello’ to Jesus.
16 Jesus asked his disciples, ‘What are you arguing about with the teachers of God's Law?’
17 A man in the crowd answered. He said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, I brought my son to you. He is not able to speak because he has a bad spirit. 18 When the bad spirit takes hold of him, it throws him to the ground. Water comes out of his mouth and he bites his teeth together. Then his body stops moving. I asked your disciples to send the spirit out of him. But they were not able to do it.’
19 Jesus replied, ‘You people today still do not believe in God. I have been with you for a long time and still you do not believe. It is difficult for me to be patient with you. Bring the boy to me.’
20 So the people brought the boy to Jesus. When the bad spirit saw Jesus, it immediately caused the boy's body to shake strongly. The boy fell onto the ground and he rolled about. Water was coming from his mouth.
21 Jesus asked the boy's father, ‘How long has he been like this?’
‘He has been like this since he was a small boy,’ the father replied. 22 ‘Often the spirit has caused him to fall into the fire or into water. It is trying to kill him. Please be kind to us. If you can do anything, help us!’
23 Jesus said to the father, ‘You should not say, “If you can do anything.” Everything is possible for those people who believe.’
24 Immediately, the boy's father shouted, ‘Oh! I believe! Help me to believe more!’
25 Jesus saw that the crowd of people was quickly becoming bigger. So he told the bad spirit to stop. Jesus said to it, ‘Spirit, I am telling you that you must leave this boy. He cannot hear or speak because of you. I tell you to come out of him! You must never go into him again.’
26 The spirit screamed. It caused the boy's body to shake many times. Then it came out of him. The boy seemed to be dead, so many people said, ‘He is dead.’ 27 But Jesus held the boy's hand and he helped the boy to stand up.
28 Jesus went into a house and the disciples were alone with him. Then they asked him, ‘Why could we not cause the bad spirit to leave the boy?’
29 Jesus said to them, ‘You must pray. This kind of spirit will not leave a person unless you pray.’
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