Book of Common Prayer
A psalm of Asaph.
50 The Mighty One, God, the Lord, speaks.
He calls out to the earth
from the sunrise in the east
to the sunset in the west.
2 From Zion, perfect and beautiful,
God’s glory shines out.
3 Our God comes, and he won’t be silent.
A burning fire goes ahead of him.
A terrible storm is all around him.
4 He calls out to heaven and earth to be his witnesses.
Then he judges his people.
5 He says, “Gather this holy people around me.
They made a covenant with me by offering a sacrifice.”
6 The heavens announce that what God decides is right.
That’s because he is a God of justice.
7 God says, “Listen, my people, and I will speak.
I will be a witness against you, Israel.
I am God, your God.
8 I don’t bring charges against you because of your sacrifices.
I don’t bring charges because of the burnt offerings you always bring me.
9 I don’t need a bull from your barn.
I don’t need goats from your pens.
10 Every animal in the forest already belongs to me.
And so do the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I own every bird in the mountains.
The insects in the fields belong to me.
12 If I were hungry, I wouldn’t tell you.
The world belongs to me. And so does everything in it.
13 Do I eat the meat of bulls?
Do I drink the blood of goats?
14 Bring me thank offerings, because I am your God.
Carry out the promises you made to me, because I am the Most High God.
15 Call out to me when trouble comes.
I will save you. And you will honor me.”
16 But here is what God says to a sinful person.
“What right do you have to speak the words of my laws?
How dare you speak the words of my covenant!
17 You hate my teaching.
You turn your back on what I say.
18 When you see a thief, you join him.
You make friends with those who commit adultery.
19 You use your mouth to speak evil.
You use your tongue to spread lies.
20 You are a witness against your brother.
You always tell lies about your own mother’s son.
21 When you did these things, I kept silent.
So you thought I was just like you.
But now I’m going to bring you to court.
I will bring charges against you.
22 “You who forget God, think about this.
If you don’t, I will tear you to pieces.
No one will be able to save you.
23 People who sacrifice thank offerings to me honor me.
To those who are without blame I will show my power to save.”
For the director of music. A miktam of David when Saul had sent men to watch David’s house. Saul sent the men to kill David. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.”
59 God, save me from my enemies.
Keep me safe from people who are attacking me.
2 Save me from those who do evil.
Save me from people who want to kill me.
3 See how they hide and wait for me!
Lord, angry people plan to harm me,
even though I haven’t hurt them in any way or sinned against them.
4 I haven’t done anything wrong to them. But they are ready to attack me.
Rise up and help me! Look at what I’m up against!
5 Lord God who rules over all, rise up. God of Israel,
punish all the nations.
Don’t show any mercy to those sinful people
who have turned against me.
6 My enemies are like a pack of barking dogs
that come back to the city in the evening.
They prowl around the city.
7 Listen to what pours out of their mouths.
The words from their lips are like swords.
They think, “Who can hear us?”
8 But you laugh at them, Lord.
You make fun of all those nations.
9 You give me strength. I look to you.
God, you are like a fort to me. 10 You are my God, and I can depend on you.
God will march out in front of me.
He will let me look down on those who tell lies about me.
11 Lord, you are like a shield that keeps us safe.
Don’t kill my enemies all at once.
If you do, my people will forget about it.
Use your power to pull my enemies up by the roots like weeds.
Destroy them.
12 They have sinned with their mouths.
Their lips have spoken evil words.
They have cursed me and lied.
Let them be caught in their pride.
13 Burn them up in your anger.
Burn them up until there isn’t anything left of them.
Then everyone from one end of the earth to the other will know
that God rules over the people of Jacob.
14 My enemies are like a pack of barking dogs
that come back into the city in the evening.
They prowl around the city.
15 They wander around looking for food.
They groan if they don’t find something that will satisfy them.
16 But I will sing about your strength.
In the morning I will sing about your love.
You are like a fort to me.
You keep me safe in times of trouble.
17 You give me strength. I sing praise to you.
God, you are like a fort to me. You are my God, and I can depend on you.
For the director of music. For teaching. A miktam of David when he fought against Aram Naharaim and Aram Zobah. That was when Joab returned and struck down 12,000 people from Edom in the Valley of Salt. To the tune of “The Lily of the Covenant.”
60 God, you have turned away from us. You have attacked us.
You have been angry. Now turn back to us!
2 You have shaken the land and torn it open.
Fix its cracks, because it is falling apart.
3 You have shown your people hard times.
You have made us drink the wine of your anger.
Now we can’t even walk straight.
4 But you lead into battle those who have respect for you.
You give them a flag to wave against the enemy’s weapons.
5 Save us and help us by your power.
Do this so that those you love may be saved.
6 God has spoken from his temple.
He has said, “I will win the battle.
Then I will divide up the land around Shechem.
I will divide up the Valley of Sukkoth.
7 Gilead belongs to me.
So does the land of Manasseh.
Ephraim is the strongest tribe.
It is like a helmet for my head.
Judah is the royal tribe.
It is like a ruler’s scepter.
8 Moab serves me like one who washes my feet.
I toss my sandal on Edom to show that I own it.
I shout to Philistia that I have won the battle.”
9 Who will bring me to the city that has high walls around it?
Who will lead me to the land of Edom?
10 God, isn’t it you, even though you have now turned away from us?
Isn’t it you, even though you don’t lead our armies into battle anymore?
11 Help us against our enemies.
The help people give doesn’t amount to anything.
12 With your help we will win the battle.
You will walk all over our enemies.
For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David.
8 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in the whole earth!
You have set your glory
in the heavens.
2 You have made sure that children
and infants praise you.
Their praise is a wall
that stops the talk of your enemies.
3 I think about the heavens.
I think about what your fingers have created.
I think about the moon and stars
that you have set in place.
4 What are human beings that you think about them?
What is a son of man that you take care of him?
5 You have made them a little lower than the angels.
You placed on them a crown of glory and honor.
6 You made human beings rule over everything your hands created.
You put everything under their control.
7 They rule over all flocks and herds
and over the wild animals.
8 They rule over the birds in the sky
and over the fish in the ocean.
They rule over everything that swims in the oceans.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in the whole earth!
For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of the Sons of Korah.
84 Lord who rules over all,
how lovely is the place where you live!
2 I can’t wait to be in the courtyards of the Lord’s temple.
I really want to be there.
My whole being cries out
for the living God.
3 Lord who rules over all,
even the sparrow has found a home near your altar.
My King and my God,
the swallow also has a nest there,
where she may have her young.
4 Blessed are those who live in your house.
They are always praising you.
5 Blessed are those whose strength comes from you.
They have firmly decided to travel to your temple.
6 As they pass through the dry Valley of Baka,
they make it a place where water flows.
The rain in the fall covers it with pools.
7 Those people get stronger as they go along,
until each of them appears in Zion, where God lives.
8 Lord God who rules over all, hear my prayer.
God of the people of Jacob, listen to me.
9 God, may you be pleased with your anointed king.
You appointed him to be like a shield that keeps us safe.
10 A single day in your courtyards is better
than a thousand anywhere else.
I would rather guard the door of the house of my God
than live in the tents of sinful people.
11 The Lord God is like the sun that gives us light.
He is like a shield that keeps us safe.
The Lord blesses us with favor and honor.
He doesn’t hold back anything good
from those whose lives are without blame.
12 Lord who rules over all,
blessed is the person who trusts in you.
Appoint Judges and Officials
18 Appoint judges and officials for each of your tribes. Do it in every town the Lord your God is giving you. They must judge the people fairly. 19 Do what is right. Treat everyone the same. Don’t take money from people who want special favors. It makes those who are wise close their eyes to the truth. It twists the words of those who have done nothing wrong. 20 Do only what is right. Then you will live. You will take over the land the Lord your God is giving you.
Appoint the King the Lord Chooses
14 You will enter the land the Lord your God is giving you. You will take it as your own. You will make your homes in it. When you do, you will say, “Let’s appoint a king over us, just like all the nations around us.” 15 When that happens, make sure you appoint over yourselves a king the Lord your God chooses. He must be from among your own people. Don’t appoint over yourselves someone from another country. Don’t choose anyone who isn’t from one of the tribes of Israel. 16 The king must not get large numbers of horses for himself. He must not make the people return to Egypt to get more horses. The Lord has told you, “You must not go back there again.” 17 The king must not have many wives. If he does, they will lead him astray. He must not store up large amounts of silver and gold.
18 When he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he must make for himself a copy of the law. He must write on a scroll the law that I am teaching you. He must copy it from the scroll of a priest, who is a Levite. 19 The king must keep the scroll close to him at all times. He must read it all the days of his life. Then he can learn to have respect for the Lord his God. He can carefully obey all the words of this law and these rules. 20 He won’t think of himself as being better than his people are. He won’t turn away from the law. He won’t turn to the right or the left. Then he and his sons after him will rule over his kingdom in Israel for a long time.
Giving Freely to the Lord’s People
8 Brothers and sisters, we want you to know about the grace that God has given to the churches in Macedonia. 2 They have suffered a great deal. But in their suffering, their joy was more than full. Even though they were very poor, they gave very freely. 3 I tell you that they gave as much as they could. In fact, they gave even more than they could. Completely on their own, 4 they begged us for the chance to share in serving the Lord’s people in that way. 5 They did more than we expected. First they gave themselves to the Lord. Then they gave themselves to us because that was what God wanted. 6 Titus had already started collecting money from you. So we asked him to help you finish making your kind gift. 7 You do well in everything else. You do well in faith and in speaking. You do well in knowledge and in complete commitment. And you do well in the love we have helped to start in you. So make sure that you also do well in the grace of giving to others.
8 I am not commanding you to do it. But I want to test you. I want to find out if you really love God. I want to compare your love with that of others. 9 You know the grace shown by our Lord Jesus Christ. Even though he was rich, he became poor to help you. Because he became poor, you can become rich.
10 Here is my opinion about what is best for you in that matter. Last year you were the first to give. You were also the first to want to give. 11 So finish the work. Then your desire to do it will be matched by your finishing it. Give on the basis of what you have. 12 Do you really want to give? Then the gift is measured by what someone has. It is not measured by what they don’t have.
13 We don’t want others to have it easy at your expense. We want things to be equal. 14 Right now you have plenty in order to take care of what they need. Then they will have plenty to take care of what you need. The goal is to even things out. 15 It is written, “The one who gathered a lot didn’t have too much. And the one who gathered a little had enough.” (Exodus 16:18)
Paul Sends Titus to Corinth to Receive the Offering
16 God put into the heart of Titus the same concern I have for you. Thanks should be given to God for this.
The Story of the Widow Who Would Not Give Up
18 Jesus told his disciples a story. He wanted to show them that they should always pray and not give up. 2 He said, “In a certain town there was a judge. He didn’t have any respect for God or care about what people thought. 3 A widow lived in that town. She came to the judge again and again. She kept begging him, ‘Make things right for me. Someone is treating me badly.’
4 “For some time the judge refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘I don’t have any respect for God. I don’t care about what people think. 5 But this widow keeps bothering me. So I will see that things are made right for her. If I don’t, she will someday come and attack me!’ ”
6 The Lord said, “Listen to what the unfair judge says. 7 God’s chosen people cry out to him day and night. Won’t he make things right for them? Will he keep putting them off? 8 I tell you, God will see that things are made right for them. He will make sure it happens quickly. But when the Son of Man comes, will he find people on earth who have faith?”
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