Book of Common Prayer
Praise God Who Judges and Saves
David’s song from the time he ·acted crazy [acted mad/insane; L changed his mind/discernment] so Abimelech [C perhaps another name for Achish] would ·send [drive] him away, and David did leave [1 Sam. 21:10–15].
34 I will ·praise [bless] the Lord at all times;
his praise is always ·on my lips [L in my mouth].
2 My ·whole being [soul] praises the Lord.
The ·poor [humble] will hear and be glad.
3 ·Glorify [Praise; Magnify] the Lord with me,
and let us ·praise [L extol] his name together.
4 I ·asked the Lord for help [sought the Lord], and he answered me.
He ·saved [rescued; T delivered] me from all that I feared.
5 Those who ·go [L look] to him for help are ·happy [radiant],
and ·they [L their faces] are never ·disgraced [shamed].
6 This ·poor [afflicted] man [C someone in the congregation or the psalmist himself] ·called [prayed], and the Lord heard him
and ·saved him from [gave him victory over] all his ·troubles [distress].
7 The angel of the Lord [91:11; Gen. 32:1–2; 2 Kin. 6:17; Matt. 4:5–6] camps around those who fear God [Prov. 1:7],
and he saves them.
8 ·Examine [L Taste] and see how good the Lord is.
·Happy [Blessed] is the person who ·trusts [finds refuge in] him.
9 You ·who belong to the Lord [holy ones], fear him [Prov. 1:7]!
Those who fear him will ·have everything they need [not lack anything; 23:1].
10 Even lions [C the most noble wild beast] may get weak and hungry,
but those who ·look to [seek] the Lord ·will have every [L do not lack any] good thing.
11 Children, come and listen to me.
I will teach you ·to worship [L the fear of] the Lord.
12 ·You must do these things
to enjoy life and have many happy days [L Who of you takes pleasure in life and loves days to experience good?].
13 You must ·not say evil things [L guard/keep your tongue from evil],
and ·you must not tell lies [L your lips from deception].
14 ·Stop doing [L Turn aside from] evil and do good.
·Look for [Seek] peace and ·work for [pursue] it.
15 ·The Lord sees the [L The eyes of the Lord are on] ·good [righteous] people
and ·listens to their prayers [L his ears attend to their cries for help].
16 But the ·Lord is [L face of the Lord is] against those who do evil;
he ·makes the world forget them [L cuts memory of them off the earth].
17 ·The Lord hears good people when they [L They] cry out to him,
and he saves them from all their ·troubles [distress].
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted,
and he saves those whose spirits have been crushed.
19 People who ·do what is right may [are righteous] have many ·problems [afflictions],
but the Lord ·will solve them [L saves them from them] all.
20 He will protect their very bones;
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will kill the wicked;
those who hate ·good [righteous] people will be judged guilty.
22 But the Lord ·saves [redeems; ransoms] his servants’ lives;
no one who ·trusts [finds refuge in] him will be judged guilty.
Praise God Who Creates and Saves
33 ·Sing [Shout for joy] to the Lord, you ·who do what is right [righteous ones];
·honest people should praise him [L praise is fitting from the upright/virtuous].
2 ·Praise [Give thanks to] the Lord on the harp;
make music for him on a ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing a new song [C celebrating victory; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Is. 42:10; Rev. 5:9; 14:3] to him;
play well ·and joyfully [with a loud/a victory shout].
4 God’s word is ·true [upright; virtuous],
and everything he does is ·right [faithful].
5 He loves what is right and ·fair [just];
the Lord’s ·love [loyalty; covenant love] fills the earth.
6 The ·sky was [heavens were] made at the Lord’s ·command [word; Gen. 1:8].
By the breath from his mouth, he made all ·the stars [L its hosts; Gen. 1:16].
7 He gathered the water of the sea into ·a heap [or jars; bottles].
He ·made the great ocean stay in its place [L placed the deeps in a storehouse; Job 38:8–11].
8 All the earth should ·worship [fear; hold in awe] the Lord [Prov. 1:7];
·the whole [L all the inhabitants of the] world should ·fear him [hold him in awe].
9 He spoke, and it happened.
He commanded, and it ·appeared [L stood; Heb. 11:3].
10 The Lord ·upsets [frustrates] the ·plans [counsels] of nations;
he ·ruins [foils] ·all their plans [L the plans of the peoples].
11 But the Lord’s ·plans [counsels] will ·stand [endure] forever;
·his ideas [L the plans of his heart] will last from now on.
12 ·Happy [Blessed] is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his ·very own [L inheritance; Ex. 19:5].
13 The Lord looks down from heaven
and sees every person.
14 From his throne he watches
all who live on earth.
15 He ·made [fashions all] their hearts
and understands everything they do.
16 No king is saved by his ·great [large] army.
No warrior ·escapes [is rescued/T delivered] by his great strength.
17 Horses ·can’t bring [are a vain hope for] victory;
they can’t save by their strength.
18 But the ·Lord looks after [L eye of the Lord is on] those who fear him,
those who ·put their hope [wait on him] in his ·love [loyalty; covenant love].
19 He ·saves [rescues; T delivers] ·them [their soul] from death
and ·spares their lives in times of hunger [revives them in famine].
20 So our hope is in the Lord.
He is our help, our shield to protect us.
21 ·We [L Our hearts] rejoice in him,
because we ·trust [have confidence in] his holy name.
22 Lord, ·show your love to us [L let your loyalty/covenant love be on us]
as we ·put our hope in [wait for] you.
Elijah Runs Away
19 King Ahab told Jezebel every thing Elijah had done and how Elijah had killed all the prophets with a sword. 2 So Jezebel sent a messenger to Elijah, saying, “May the gods ·punish me terribly [deal severely with me, and worse; L do to me, and even more] if by this time tomorrow I don’t ·kill you just as you killed those prophets [L make your life like the life of one of them].”
3 Elijah was afraid and ran for his life, taking his servant with him. When they came to Beersheba in Judah, Elijah left his servant there. 4 Then Elijah ·walked [journeyed] for a whole day into the ·desert [wilderness]. He sat down under a ·bush [juniper/broom tree] and asked to die. “I have had enough, Lord,” he prayed. “·Let me die [L Take my life]. I am no better than my ·ancestors [fathers; C that is, he is as good as dead, as they already are].” 5 Then he lay down under the tree and slept.
Suddenly an ·angel [messenger] came to him and touched him. “Get up and eat,” the angel said. 6 Elijah saw near his head a loaf baked over ·coals [hot stones] and a jar of water, so he ate and drank. Then he ·went back to sleep [L lay down again].
7 The Lord’s ·angel [messenger] came to him a second time. The angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat. If you don’t, the journey will be too ·hard [much] for you.” 8 So Elijah got up and ate and drank. The food made him strong enough to walk for forty days and nights to Mount ·Sinai [L Horeb; Ex. 3:1, 17:6; 19:18], the mountain of God.
The Unity of the Body
4 [L Therefore,] As a prisoner [3:1] ·for [because I belong to; or in] the Lord, I urge you to ·live [walk] in a manner worthy of the calling ·you have received [L to which you were called]. 2 ·Always be [or Be completely] humble, gentle, and patient, ·accepting [putting up/bearing with] each other in love. 3 Make every effort to preserve the unity ·of [provided by; available through] the Spirit ·in [through] the ·peace that joins us together [L bond of peace]. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, and God called you to ·have one hope [L one hope of your calling]. 5 There is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. 6 There is one God and Father of everything. ·He rules everything and is everywhere and is in everything [L …who is over all and through all and in all].
7 Each one of us has been given the ·special gift of grace [L grace; or gift], ·showing how generous Christ is [or in proportion to Christ’s gift; L according to the measure of Christ’s gift]. 8 That is why it says in the Scriptures,
“When he ·went up [ascended] to the heights,
he ·led a parade of captives [or took captives into captivity],
and he gave gifts to people [Ps. 68:18].”
9 When it says, “He ·went up [ascended],” what does it mean? ·It means [L …except] that he first ·came down [descended] to the ·earth [or lower regions, namely the earth; or the depths of the earth; C probably refers to (1) the Incarnation, though possibly (2) Christ’s descent to Hades after his death (1 Pet. 3:19–20), or (3) Christ’s descent through the Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2)]. 10 So the one who ·came down [descended] is the same one who ·went up [ascended] above all the heavens. ·Christ did that [L …in order] to fill ·everything with his presence [L all things]. 11 And ·Christ gave gifts to people—he made some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to go and tell the Good News, and some to have the work of caring for and teaching God’s people [L he himself gave apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors/shepherds, and teachers]. 12 ·Christ gave those gifts to prepare [L …to equip] God’s holy people for the work of serving, to make the body of Christ stronger. 13 This work must continue until we ·are all joined together in the same faith [or all reach unity in the faith] and in the same knowledge of the Son of God. We must become like ·a mature person [or the perfect Man; C Christ], ·growing until we become like Christ and have his perfection [L to the measure of the stature of Christ’s fullness].
14 Then we will no longer be ·babies [children]. We will not be tossed about like a ship that the waves carry one way and then another. We will not be ·influenced by every new teaching [L carried along by every wind of (false) teaching] we hear from people who are trying to ·fool [trick] us. They ·make plans [scheme] and try any kind of trick to fool people into following ·the wrong path [error; false teaching]. 15 ·No! [Instead; Rather] ·Speaking [or Living out; Practicing] the truth with love, we will grow up in every way into Christ, who is the head. 16 ·The whole body depends on Christ, and [L …through/by whom] all the parts of the body are joined and held together. Each ·part [supporting joint/ligament] ·does its own work [performs its function] to make the whole body grow and ·be strong with [to build itself up in] love.
More than Five Thousand Fed(A)
6 After this, Jesus went ·across [to the other side of] ·Lake [T the Sea of] Galilee (or, Lake Tiberias). 2 Many people followed him because they saw the ·miracles [L signs; 2:11] he did ·to heal [L for; on behalf of] the sick. 3 Jesus went up on a ·hill [or mountain] and sat down there with his ·followers [disciples]. 4 It was almost the time for the Jewish Passover Feast [C the annual festival that celebrates God’s rescue of Israel from Egypt; Ex. 12; John 2:13].
5 When Jesus ·looked up [L raised his eyes] and saw a large crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip [C one of the twelve disciples; 1:43], “Where can we buy enough bread for all these people to eat?” 6 (Jesus asked Philip this question to test him, because Jesus already knew what he ·planned [was going] to do.)
7 Philip answered [L him], “·Someone would have to work almost a year to buy enough bread [L Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not enough; C a denarius was a unit of money worth about a day’s wages] for each person to have only a little piece.”
8 Another one of his ·followers [disciples], Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish, but ·that is not enough [L what are these…?] for so many people.”
10 Jesus said, “·Tell [L Make] the people to sit down.” There was plenty of grass there, and about five thousand men sat down there. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves of bread, ·thanked God [L gave thanks] for them, and ·gave [distributed] them to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, giving as much as the people wanted.
12 When they ·had all had enough to eat [L were filled/satisfied], Jesus said to his ·followers [disciples], “Gather the leftover ·pieces of fish and bread [L pieces] so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they gathered up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with the pieces left from the five barley loaves [2 Kin. 4:42–44; C Jesus’ miracle surpasses that of Elisha].
14 When the people saw this ·miracle [L sign] that Jesus did, they said, “He must truly be the Prophet [1:21; C probably the “prophet like Moses” of Deut. 18:15–18] who is coming into the world.”
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