Book of Common Prayer
The Lord is King![a]
93 The Lord rules as King!
He wears royal power as his clothes.
His strength is like a belt round his body.[b]
So the world is safe and strong.
Nothing can shake it from its place.
2 You, Lord, have always ruled as King,
since before the beginning of time.
3 The floods of water have risen up, Lord.
They have risen with a loud noise.
Their waves beat against the land.[c]
4 But the Lord rules as King
high above everything!
He rules over the powerful waves of the sea,
with all their great noise!
5 Lord, your rules remain strong and true.
Your house will always be holy,
because you are holy.
God rules the world[a]
98 Sing a new song to praise the Lord.
He has done great things.
He has used his own power and his holy strength
to win against his enemies.
2 The Lord has shown everybody
that he has the power to save.
All the nations of the world
can see that he does what is right.
3 He has kept his promise
that he made to the people of Israel.
He has continued to take care of them
with his faithful love.
Everyone who lives everywhere on the earth can see
that God has the power to save people.
4 All people on the earth should shout aloud
to praise the Lord![b]
Sing happy songs to praise him!
5 Make music on your harps to praise him!
Make beautiful music!
6 Make a happy sound with trumpets and horns!
Shout aloud to praise the Lord, your king!
7 The sea and everything that is in it
should shout to praise the Lord!
The earth and all those who live in it
should shout as well!
8 The rivers should clap their hands,
and the mountains should all sing together,
9 to praise the Lord.
He is coming to judge the earth.[c]
He is a fair judge.
He will judge all the people of the world honestly.
This psalm is a song for the music leader.
Praise God![a]
66 Everyone on earth, shout aloud to praise God,
because you are very happy.
2 Sing to praise his great name!
Praise him in the way that he deserves.
3 Say to God, ‘You do great things!
Your great power makes your enemies afraid.
They come to you and they bend down to the ground.
4 The whole world bends down to worship you.
Everyone sings to praise your name.’
Selah.
5 Come and see the great things that God has done.
He has done wonderful miracles for people!
6 He caused the Red Sea to become dry land.
Then his people walked across the Jordan River![b]
So we praise him for what he did there!
7 He has the power to rule for ever.
He watches everything that the nations do.
Wicked people should not be proud and turn against him.
Selah.
8 You people from every nation,
agree that our God is great!
Praise him with loud voices,
so that everyone can hear!
9 He keeps our lives safe.
He does not let us fall to the ground.
10 You have tested us, God.
You wanted to make us pure,
as they make silver pure in a hot fire.
11 You caused a trap to catch us,
so that we had much pain and trouble.
12 You gave people power to hurt us.
We went through dangerous fire and water.
But then you brought us into a safe, open place.[c]
13 I will bring burnt offerings to your Temple.
I will bring to you the gifts that I promised.
14 When I was in trouble, I made those promises.
I spoke them aloud.
15 I will offer to you gifts of fat animals,
to burn them as sacrifices.
I will also burn sheep as offerings,
and their smell will please you.
I will also offer to you bulls and goats.
Selah.
16 Come and listen,
all you people who serve God.
I will tell you about the things that God has done for me.
17 I called to him for help,
then I praised him aloud!
18 If I had kept wicked things in my mind,
the Lord would not have listened to me.
19 But God did hear me.
When I called to him,
he listened to my prayer.
20 So I praise God, as he deserves.[d]
He has not refused to listen to me.
He has continued to love me with his faithful love.
Jonah's prayer
2 From inside the fish's stomach, Jonah prayed to the Lord his God.
2 He said,
‘When I was in trouble, I called out to the Lord,
and he answered my prayer.
Yes, I called out to you for help from the deep hole of death,
and you heard my prayer.[a]
3 You threw me into the deep water,
and I fell into the middle of the sea.
The deep water covered me.
You sent big waves to roll over me.
4 I said to myself,
“You have sent me far away from you.
Now I will never see your holy temple again.”[b]
5 The deep water of the sea covered me,
so that my life was in danger.
The plants in the sea were all around my head.
6 I went very deep in the water,
as far as the bottom of the mountains.
Deep in the earth, I was in a prison,
and its gates had shut for ever.
But, Lord, my God,
you brought me up from that deep hole.
7 When my life was nearly gone, I prayed to you, Lord.
In your holy temple, you heard my prayer for help.
8 Idols cannot help.
People who worship them have turned away from a faithful God.
9 But as for me, I will sing to thank you.
I will offer a sacrifice to you.
I will do everything that I have promised to do.
The Lord is the one who saves people!’
Peter speaks to the crowd
14 Peter was there with the other 11 apostles and he stood up with them. He began to speak to the crowd with a loud voice. He said, ‘You people who are Jews like us, listen carefully to me. All of you who live here in Jerusalem, you also listen to me. I will explain to you everything that is happening.
22 Peter then said, ‘People of Israel, listen to what I am saying! Jesus, the man from Nazareth, came with God's authority to do his work. God did many powerful and special things through him. These miracles showed you clearly that God had sent him. You know about all this. These things happened here, and you saw them. 23 God knew that Jesus' enemies would give him to you. God had decided that this should happen. You let people who do not obey God's Law fix him to the cross. In that way you killed him. 24 But after his death, God caused him to become alive again. God saved Jesus from the power of death. It was impossible for death to keep hold of him. 25 A long time ago, King David spoke about the Messiah in this way:
“I saw the Lord near me all the time.
He is next to me, on my right side,
so nothing will cause me trouble.
26 Because of this, I am very happy,
and I will praise you, God.
I am human and one day I will die,
but I know that you will help me while I live.
27 When I die, you will not leave me in Hades, the place for dead people.
You will not let anything destroy the body of your Holy One.
28 You have shown me the paths that lead to life with you.
I will be completely happy because you will be with me for ever.” ’[a]
29 Peter then said, ‘Friends, people of Israel, I must speak clearly to you about our ancestor, King David. He died and people buried his body in the ground. You can still see the place where people buried him. 30 He was a prophet. He knew what God had promised to do for him. He knew that one of his descendants would be king of God's people one day. 31 David understood what God would do in a future time. He did not speak about himself, but he spoke about the Messiah. He said that God would cause this man to become alive again after his death. God would not let him remain in Hades, the place for dead people. Nothing would destroy his body. 32 This man that David talked about is Jesus. After his death, God caused him to become alive again. We ourselves saw this happen. All of us saw it.
Jesus is the way to the Father
14 Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Do not be sad or afraid. Believe in God, and also believe in me. 2 There are many rooms in my Father's house. I will go now so that I can prepare a place for you there. If it was not true, I would not have told you this. 3 After I have prepared a place for you, I will return. Then I will take you so that you will be with me. You will be where I am. 4 You know the way to the place where I will go.’
5 Thomas said to him, ‘Lord, we do not know where you will go. So how can we know the way to get there?’ 6 Jesus answered, ‘I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. Nobody comes to the Father except by me. 7 If you really know me, you will also know my Father. From now on, you do know him and you have seen him.’
8 Philip said, ‘Lord, show the Father to us. That is all that we need.’ 9 Jesus answered, ‘I have been with all of you for a long time. But still you do not seem to know me, Philip! Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. So why do you say, “Show the Father to us”? 10 I am in the Father and the Father is in me. You should believe that. The words that I say to you do not come from me myself. But the Father lives in me, and he is doing his work. 11 I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Believe me when I say that. You have seen the things that I have done. So, if you do not believe my words, believe because of my work. 12 I tell you this: Whoever believes in me will do the same things that I have been doing. Yes, he will do even greater things than these, because I will go to my Father. 13 Ask me to help you. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it for you. In that way, the Son will show everyone how great the Father is. 14 Yes, you should ask me for anything in my name.[a] I will do it for you.’
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