Book of Common Prayer
For the director of music. A psalm of David, the servant of the Lord. He sang the words of this song to the Lord. He sang them when the Lord saved him. He saved him from the power of all his enemies and of Saul. David said,
18 I love you, Lord.
You give me strength.
2 The Lord is my rock and my place of safety. He is the God who saves me.
My God is my rock. I go to him for safety.
He is like a shield to me. He’s the power that saves me. He’s my place of safety.
3 I called out to the Lord. He is worthy of praise.
He saved me from my enemies.
4 The ropes of death were almost wrapped around me.
A destroying flood swept over me.
5 The ropes of the grave were tight around me.
Death set its trap in front of me.
6 When I was in trouble, I called out to the Lord.
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice.
My cry for help reached his ears.
7 The earth trembled and shook.
The base of the mountains rocked back and forth.
It trembled because the Lord was angry.
8 Smoke came out of his nose.
Flames of fire came out of his mouth.
Burning coals blazed out of it.
9 He opened the heavens and came down.
Dark clouds were under his feet.
10 He stood on the cherubim and flew.
The wings of the wind lifted him up.
11 He covered himself with darkness.
The dark rain clouds of the sky were like a tent around him.
12 Clouds came out of the brightness that was all around him.
They came with hailstones and flashes of lightning.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven.
The voice of the Most High God was heard.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered our enemies.
He sent great flashes of lightning and chased the enemies away.
15 The bottom of the sea could be seen.
The foundations of the earth were uncovered.
Lord, it happened when your anger blazed out.
It came like a blast of breath from your nose.
16 He reached down from heaven. He took hold of me.
He lifted me out of deep waters.
17 He saved me from my powerful enemies.
He set me free from those who were too strong for me.
18 They opposed me when I was in trouble.
But the Lord helped me.
19 He brought me out into a wide and safe place.
He saved me because he was pleased with me.
20 The Lord has been good to me because I do what is right.
He has rewarded me because I lead a pure life.
21 I have lived the way the Lord wanted me to.
I am not guilty of turning away from my God.
22 I keep all his laws in mind.
I haven’t turned away from his commands.
23 He knows that I am without blame.
He knows I’ve kept myself from sinning.
24 The Lord has rewarded me for doing what is right.
He has rewarded me because I haven’t done anything wrong.
25 Lord, to those who are faithful you show that you are faithful.
To those who are without blame you show that you are without blame.
26 To those who are pure you show that you are pure.
But to those whose paths are crooked you show that you are clever.
27 You save those who aren’t proud.
But you bring down those whose eyes are proud.
28 Lord, you keep the lamp of my life burning brightly.
You are my God. You bring light into my darkness.
29 With your help I can attack a troop of soldiers.
With the help of my God I can climb over a wall.
30 God’s way is perfect.
The Lord’s word doesn’t have any flaws.
He is like a shield
to all who go to him for safety.
31 Who is God except the Lord?
Who is the Rock except our God?
32 God gives me strength for the battle.
He keeps my way secure.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer.
He causes me to stand on the highest places.
34 He trains my hands to fight every battle.
My arms can bend a bow of bronze.
35 Lord, you are like a shield that keeps me safe.
Your strong right hand keeps me going.
Your help has made me great.
36 You give me a wide path to walk on
so that I don’t twist my ankles.
37 I chased my enemies and caught them.
I didn’t turn back until they were destroyed.
38 I crushed them so that they couldn’t get up.
They fell under my feet.
39 Lord, you gave me strength to fight the battle.
You made my enemies humble in front of me.
40 You made them turn their backs and run away.
So I destroyed my enemies.
41 They cried out for help. But there was no one to save them.
They called out to the Lord. But he didn’t answer them.
42 I beat them as fine as dust blown by the wind.
I stomped on them like mud in the streets.
43 You saved me when my own people attacked me.
You made me the ruler over nations.
People I didn’t know serve me now.
44 People from other lands bow down to me in fear.
As soon as they hear me, they obey me.
45 All of them give up hope.
They come trembling out of their hiding places.
46 The Lord lives! Give praise to my Rock!
Give honor to God my Savior!
47 He is the God who pays back my enemies.
He brings the nations under my control.
48 He saves me from my enemies.
You have honored me more than them.
You have saved me from a man who wanted to hurt me.
49 Lord, I will praise you among the nations.
I will sing the praises of your name.
50 The Lord helps his king win great battles.
He shows his faithful love to his anointed king.
He shows it to David and to his family forever.
31 “King Nebuchadnezzar, you looked up and saw a large statue standing in front of you. It was huge. It shone brightly. And it terrified you. 32 The head of the statue was made out of pure gold. Its chest and arms were made out of silver. Its stomach and thighs were made out of bronze. 33 Its legs were made out of iron. And its feet were partly iron and partly baked clay. 34 While you were watching, a rock was cut out. But human hands didn’t do it. It struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay. It smashed them. 35 Then the iron and clay were broken to pieces. So were the bronze, silver and gold. All of them were broken to pieces. They became like straw on a threshing floor at harvest time. The wind blew them away without leaving a trace. But the rock that struck the statue became a huge mountain. It filled the whole earth.
36 “This was your dream. Now I will tell you what it means. 37 King Nebuchadnezzar, you are the greatest king of all. The God of heaven has given you authority and power. He has given you might and glory. 38 He has put everyone under your control. He has also given you authority over the wild animals and the birds in the sky. It doesn’t matter where they live. He has made you ruler over all of them. You are that head of gold.
39 “After you, another kingdom will take over. It won’t be as powerful as yours. Next, a third kingdom will rule over the whole earth. The bronze part of the statue stands for that kingdom. 40 Finally, there will be a fourth kingdom. It will be as strong as iron. Iron breaks and smashes everything to pieces. And the fourth kingdom will crush and break all the others. 41 You saw that the feet and toes were made out of iron and baked clay. And the fourth kingdom will be divided up. But it will still have some of the strength of iron. That’s why you saw iron mixed with clay. 42 The toes were partly iron and partly clay. And the fourth kingdom will be partly strong and partly weak. 43 You saw the iron mixed with baked clay. And the fourth kingdom will be made up of all kinds of people. They won’t hold together any more than iron mixes with clay.
44 “In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom. It will never be destroyed. And no other nation will ever take it over. It will crush all those other kingdoms. It will bring them to an end. But it will last forever. 45 That’s what the vision of the rock cut out of a mountain means. Human hands didn’t cut out the rock. It broke the statue to pieces. It smashed the iron, bronze, clay, silver and gold.
“The great God has shown you what will take place in days to come. The dream is true. And you can trust the meaning of it that I have explained to you.”
46 Then King Nebuchadnezzar bowed low in front of Daniel. He wanted to honor him. So he ordered that an offering and incense be offered up to him. 47 The king said to Daniel, “I’m sure your God is the greatest God of all. He is the Lord of kings. He explains mysteries. That’s why you were able to explain the mystery of my dream.”
48 Then the king put Daniel in a position of authority. He gave him many gifts. He made him ruler over the city of Babylon and the towns around it. He put him in charge of all its other wise men. 49 The king also did what Daniel asked him to. He appointed Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to help Daniel govern Babylon and the towns around it. Daniel himself remained at the royal court.
Warnings About Saying No to the Son
18 Dear children, we are living in the last days. You have heard that the great enemy of Christ is coming. But even now many enemies of Christ have already come. That’s how we know that these are the last days. 19 These enemies left our community of believers. They didn’t really belong to us. If they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by leaving they showed that none of them belonged to us.
20 You have received the Spirit from the Holy One. And all of you know the truth. 21 I’m not writing to you because you don’t know the truth. I’m writing because you do know it. I’m writing to you because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. The person who says this is the great enemy of Christ. They say no to the Father and the Son. 23 The person who says no to the Son doesn’t belong to the Father. But anyone who says yes to the Son belongs to the Father also.
24 Make sure that you don’t forget what you have heard from the beginning. Then you will remain joined to the Son and to the Father. 25 And here is what God has promised us. He has promised us eternal life.
26 I’m writing these things to warn you. I am warning you about people trying to lead you astray. 27 But you have received the Holy Spirit from God. He continues to live in you. So you don’t need anyone to teach you. God’s Spirit teaches you about everything. What he says is true. He doesn’t lie. Remain joined to Christ, just as you have been taught by the Spirit.
God’s Children and Sin
28 Dear children, remain joined to Christ. Then when he comes, we can be bold. We will not be ashamed to meet him when he comes.
29 You know that God is right and always does what is right. And you know that everyone who does what is right is God’s child.
John the Baptist Prepares the Way
3 Tiberius Caesar had been ruling for 15 years. Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea. Herod was the ruler of Galilee. His brother Philip was the ruler of Iturea and Traconitis. Lysanias was ruler of Abilene. 2 Annas and Caiaphas were high priests. At that time God’s word came to John, son of Zechariah, in the desert. 3 He went into all the countryside around the Jordan River. There he preached that people should be baptized and turn away from their sins. Then God would forgive them. 4 Here is what is written in the book of Isaiah the prophet. It says,
“A messenger is calling out in the desert,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord.
Make straight paths for him.
5 Every valley will be filled in.
Every mountain and hill will be made level.
The crooked roads will become straight.
The rough ways will become smooth.
6 And all people will see God’s salvation.’ ” (Isaiah 40:3–5)
7 John spoke to the crowds coming to be baptized by him. He said, “You are like a nest of poisonous snakes! Who warned you to escape the coming of God’s anger? 8 Live in a way that shows you have turned away from your sins. And don’t start saying to yourselves, ‘Abraham is our father.’ I tell you, God can raise up children for Abraham even from these stones. 9 The ax is already lying at the roots of the trees. All the trees that don’t produce good fruit will be cut down. They will be thrown into the fire.”
10 “Then what should we do?” the crowd asked.
11 John answered, “Anyone who has extra clothes should share with the one who has none. And anyone who has extra food should do the same.”
12 Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?”
13 “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” John told them.
14 Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?”
John replied, “Don’t force people to give you money. Don’t bring false charges against people. Be happy with your pay.”
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