Book of Common Prayer
33 He changed rivers into a desert
and springs of water into dry ground.
34 He made fertile land salty,
because the people there did evil.
35 He changed the desert into pools of water
and dry ground into springs of water.
36 He had the hungry settle there
so they could build a city in which to live.
37 They planted seeds in the fields and vineyards,
and they had a good harvest.
38 God blessed them, and they grew in number.
Their cattle did not become fewer.
39 Because of disaster, troubles, and sadness,
their families grew smaller and weaker.
40 He showed he was displeased with their leaders
and made them wander in a pathless desert.
41 But he lifted the poor out of their suffering
and made their families grow like flocks of sheep.
42 Good people see this and are happy,
but the wicked say nothing.
43 Whoever is wise will remember these things
and will think about the love of the Lord.
A Prayer for Victory
A song. A psalm of David.
108 God, my heart is steady.
I will sing and praise you with all my being.
2 Wake up, harp and lyre!
I will wake up the dawn.
3 Lord, I will praise you among the nations;
I will sing songs of praise about you to all the nations.
4 Your great love reaches to the skies,
your truth to the heavens.
5 God, you are supreme above the skies.
Let your glory be over all the earth.
6 Answer us and save us by your power
so the people you love will be rescued.
7 God has said from his Temple,
“When I win, I will divide Shechem
and measure off the Valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is like my helmet.
Judah holds my royal scepter.
9 Moab is like my washbowl.
I throw my sandals at Edom.
I shout at Philistia.”
10 Who will bring me to the strong, walled city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 God, surely you have rejected us;
you do not go out with our armies.
12 Help us fight the enemy.
Human help is useless,
13 but we can win with God’s help.
He will defeat our enemies.
Praise God Who Creates and Saves
33 Sing to the Lord, you who do what is right;
honest people should praise him.
2 Praise the Lord on the harp;
make music for him on a ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing a new song to him;
play well and joyfully.
4 God’s word is true,
and everything he does is right.
5 He loves what is right and fair;
the Lord’s love fills the earth.
6 The sky was made at the Lord’s command.
By the breath from his mouth, he made all the stars.
7 He gathered the water of the sea into a heap.
He made the great ocean stay in its place.
8 All the earth should worship the Lord;
the whole world should fear him.
9 He spoke, and it happened.
He commanded, and it appeared.
10 The Lord upsets the plans of nations;
he ruins all their plans.
11 But the Lord’s plans will stand forever;
his ideas will last from now on.
12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his very own.
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 their hearts
and understands everything they do.
16 No king is saved by his great army.
No warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 Horses can’t bring victory;
they can’t save by their strength.
18 But the Lord looks after those who fear him,
those who put their hope in his love.
19 He saves them from death
and spares their lives in times of hunger.
20 So our hope is in the Lord.
He is our help, our shield to protect us.
21 We rejoice in him,
because we trust his holy name.
22 Lord, show your love to us
as we put our hope in you.
Edom Will Not Let Israel Pass
14 From Kadesh, Moses sent messengers to the king of Edom. He said, “Your brothers, the Israelites, say to you: You know about all the troubles we have had, 15 how our ancestors went down into Egypt and we lived there for many years. The people of Egypt were cruel to us and our ancestors, 16 but when we cried out to the Lord, he heard us and sent us an angel to bring us out of Egypt.
“Now we are here at Kadesh, a town on the edge of your land. 17 Please let us pass through your country. We will not touch any fields of grain or vineyards, and will not drink water from the wells. We will travel only along the king’s road, not turning right or left until we have passed through your country.”
18 But the king of Edom answered: “You may not pass through here. If you try, I will come and meet you with swords.”
19 The Israelites answered: “We will go along the main road, and if we or our animals drink any of your water, we will pay for it. We only want to walk through. That’s all.”
20 But he answered: “You may not pass through here.”
Then the Edomites went out to meet the Israelites with a large and powerful army. 21 The Edomites refused to let them pass through their country, so the Israelites turned back.
Aaron Dies
22 All the Israelites moved from Kadesh to Mount Hor, 23 near the border of Edom. There the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 24 “Aaron will die. He will not enter the land that I’m giving to the Israelites, because you both acted against my command at the waters of Meribah. 25 Take Aaron and his son Eleazar up on Mount Hor, 26 and take off Aaron’s special clothes and put them on his son Eleazar. Aaron will die there; he will join his ancestors.”
27 Moses obeyed the Lord’s command. They climbed up Mount Hor, and all the people saw them go. 28 Moses took off Aaron’s clothes and put them on Aaron’s son Eleazar. Then Aaron died there on top of the mountain. Moses and Eleazar came back down the mountain, 29 and when all the people learned that Aaron was dead, everyone in Israel cried for him for thirty days.
Dead to Sin but Alive in Christ
6 So do you think we should continue sinning so that God will give us even more grace? 2 No! We died to our old sinful lives, so how can we continue living with sin? 3 Did you forget that all of us became part of Christ when we were baptized? We shared his death in our baptism. 4 When we were baptized, we were buried with Christ and shared his death. So, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the wonderful power of the Father, we also can live a new life.
5 Christ died, and we have been joined with him by dying too. So we will also be joined with him by rising from the dead as he did. 6 We know that our old life died with Christ on the cross so that our sinful selves would have no power over us and we would not be slaves to sin. 7 Anyone who has died is made free from sin’s control.
8 If we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. 9 Christ was raised from the dead, and we know that he cannot die again. Death has no power over him now. 10 Yes, when Christ died, he died to defeat the power of sin one time—enough for all time. He now has a new life, and his new life is with God. 11 In the same way, you should see yourselves as being dead to the power of sin and alive with God through Christ Jesus.
Jesus Enters Jerusalem as a King
21 As Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem, they stopped at Bethphage at the hill called the Mount of Olives. From there Jesus sent two of his followers 2 and said to them, “Go to the town you can see there. When you enter it, you will quickly find a donkey tied there with its colt. Untie them and bring them to me. 3 If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkeys, say that the Master needs them, and he will send them at once.”
4 This was to bring about what the prophet had said:
5 “Tell the people of Jerusalem,
‘Your king is coming to you.
He is gentle and riding on a donkey,
on the colt of a donkey.’” Isaiah 62:11; Zechariah 9:9
6 The followers went and did what Jesus told them to do. 7 They brought the donkey and the colt to Jesus and laid their coats on them, and Jesus sat on them. 8 Many people spread their coats on the road. Others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road. 9 The people were walking ahead of Jesus and behind him, shouting,
“Praise[a] to the Son of David!
God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord! Psalm 118:26
Praise to God in heaven!”
10 When Jesus entered Jerusalem, all the city was filled with excitement. The people asked, “Who is this man?”
11 The crowd said, “This man is Jesus, the prophet from the town of Nazareth in Galilee.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.