Book of Common Prayer
75 How we thank you, Lord! Your mighty miracles give proof that you care.
2 “Yes,” the Lord replies, “and when I am ready, I will punish the wicked! 3 Though the earth shakes and all its people live in turmoil, yet its pillars are firm, for I have set them in place!”
4 I warned the proud to cease their arrogance! I told the wicked to lower their insolent gaze[a] 5 and to stop being stubborn and proud. 6-7 For promotion and power come from nowhere on earth, but only from God. He promotes one and deposes another. 8 In Jehovah’s hand there is a cup of pale and sparkling wine. It is his judgment, poured out upon the wicked of the earth. They must drain that cup to the dregs.
9 But as for me, I shall forever declare the praises of the God of Jacob. 10 “I will cut off the strength of evil men,” says the Lord,[b] “and increase the power of good men in their place.”
76 God’s reputation is very great in Judah and in Israel. 2 His home is in Jerusalem. He lives upon Mount Zion. 3 There he breaks the weapons of our enemies.
4 The everlasting mountains cannot compare with you in glory! 5 The mightiest of our enemies are conquered. They lie before us in the sleep of death; not one can lift a hand against us. 6 When you rebuked them, God of Jacob, steeds and riders fell. 7 No wonder you are greatly feared! Who can stand before an angry God? 8 You pronounce sentence on them from heaven; the earth trembles and stands silently before you. 9 You stand up to punish the evildoers and to defend the meek of the earth. 10 Man’s futile wrath will bring you glory. You will use it as an ornament!
11 Fulfill all your vows that you have made to Jehovah your God. Let everyone bring him presents. He should be reverenced and feared, 12 for he cuts down princes and does awesome things to the kings of the earth.
23 Because the Lord is my Shepherd, I have everything I need!
2-3 He lets me rest in the meadow grass and leads me beside the quiet streams. He gives me new strength. He helps me do what honors him the most.
4 Even when walking through the dark valley of death I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me, guarding, guiding all the way.[a]
5 You provide delicious food for me in the presence of my enemies. You have welcomed me as your guest;[b] blessings overflow!
6 Your goodness and unfailing kindness shall be with me all of my life, and afterwards I will live with you forever in your home.
27 The Lord is my light and my salvation; he protects me from danger—whom shall I fear? 2 When evil men come to destroy me, they will stumble and fall! 3 Yes, though a mighty army marches against me, my heart shall know no fear! I am confident that God will save me.
4 The one thing I want from God, the thing I seek most of all, is the privilege of meditating in his Temple, living in his presence every day of my life, delighting in his incomparable perfections and glory. 5 There I’ll be when troubles come. He will hide me. He will set me on a high rock 6 out of reach of all my enemies. Then I will bring him sacrifices and sing his praises with much joy.
7 Listen to my pleading, Lord! Be merciful and send the help I need.
8 My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me, O my people.” And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”
9 Oh, do not hide yourself when I am trying to find you. Do not angrily reject your servant. You have been my help in all my trials before; don’t leave me now. Don’t forsake me, O God of my salvation. 10 For if my father and mother should abandon me, you would welcome and comfort me.
11 Tell me what to do, O Lord, and make it plain because I am surrounded by waiting enemies. 12 Don’t let them get me, Lord! Don’t let me fall into their hands! For they accuse me of things I never did, and all the while are plotting cruelty. 13 I am expecting the Lord to rescue me again, so that once again I will see his goodness to me here in the land of the living.
14 Don’t be impatient. Wait for the Lord, and he will come and save you! Be brave, stouthearted, and courageous. Yes, wait and he will help you.
22 But the Philistines returned and again spread out across the valley of Rephaim.
23 When David asked the Lord what to do, he replied, “Don’t make a frontal attack. Go behind them and come out by the balsam trees. 24 When you hear a sound like marching feet in the tops of the balsam trees, attack! For it will signify that the Lord has prepared the way for you and will destroy them.”
25 So David did as the Lord had instructed him and destroyed the Philistines all the way from Geba to Gezer.
6 1-2 Then David mobilized thirty thousand special troops and led them to Baal-judah to bring home the Ark of the Lord of heaven who is enthroned above the Guardian Angels. 3 The Ark was placed upon a new cart and taken from the hillside home of Abinadab. It was driven by Abinadab’s sons, Uzzah and Ahio. 4 Ahio was walking in front 5 and was followed by David and the other leaders of Israel, who were joyously waving branches of juniper trees and playing every sort of musical instrument before the Lord—lyres, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.
6 But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon, the oxen stumbled and Uzzah put out his hand to steady the Ark. 7 Then the anger of the Lord flared out against Uzzah and he killed him for doing this, so he died there beside the Ark. 8 David was angry at what the Lord had done, and named the spot “The Place of Wrath upon Uzzah” (which it is still called to this day).
9 David was now afraid of the Lord and asked, “How can I ever bring the Ark home?” 10 So he decided against taking it into the City of David, but carried it instead to the home of Obed-edom, who had come from Gath. 11 It remained there for three months, and the Lord blessed Obed-edom and all his household.
16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere throughout the city. 17 He went to the synagogue for discussions with the Jews and the devout Gentiles, and spoke daily in the public square to all who happened to be there.
18 He also had an encounter with some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. Their reaction, when he told them about Jesus and his resurrection, was, “He’s a dreamer,” or, “He’s pushing some foreign religion.”
19 But they invited him to the forum at Mars Hill. “Come and tell us more about this new religion,” they said, 20 “for you are saying some rather startling things and we want to hear more.” 21 (I should explain that all the Athenians as well as the foreigners in Athens seemed to spend all their time discussing the latest new ideas!)
22 So Paul, standing before them at the Mars Hill forum, addressed them as follows:
“Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious, 23 for as I was out walking I saw your many altars, and one of them had this inscription on it—‘To the Unknown God.’ You have been worshiping him without knowing who he is, and now I wish to tell you about him.
24 “He made the world and everything in it, and since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples; 25 and human hands can’t minister to his needs—for he has no needs! He himself gives life and breath to everything, and satisfies every need there is. 26 He created all the people of the world from one man, Adam,[a] and scattered the nations across the face of the earth. He decided beforehand which should rise and fall, and when. He determined their boundaries.
27 “His purpose in all of this is that they should seek after God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us. 28 For in him we live and move and are! As one of your own poets says it, ‘We are the sons of God.’ 29 If this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol made by men from gold or silver or chipped from stone. 30 God tolerated man’s past ignorance about these things, but now he commands everyone to put away idols and worship only him. 31 For he has set a day for justly judging the world by the man he has appointed, and has pointed him out by bringing him back to life again.”
32 When they heard Paul speak of the resurrection of a person who had been dead, some laughed, but others said, “We want to hear more about this later.” 33 That ended Paul’s discussion with them, 34 but a few joined him and became believers. Among them was Dionysius, a member of the City Council, and a woman named Damaris, and others.
8 1-2 One day about this time as another great crowd gathered, the people ran out of food again. Jesus called his disciples to discuss the situation.
“I pity these people,” he said, “for they have been here three days and have nothing left to eat. 3 And if I send them home without feeding them, they will faint along the road! For some of them have come a long distance.”
4 “Are we supposed to find food for them here in the desert?” his disciples scoffed.
5 “How many loaves of bread do you have?” he asked.
“Seven,” they replied. 6 So he told the crowd to sit down on the ground. Then he took the seven loaves, thanked God for them, broke them into pieces and passed them to his disciples; and the disciples placed them before the people. 7 A few small fish were found, too, so Jesus also blessed these and told the disciples to serve them.
8-9 And the whole crowd ate until they were full, and afterwards he sent them home. There were about 4,000 people in the crowd that day and when the scraps were picked up after the meal, there were seven very large basketfuls left over!
10 Immediately after this he got into a boat with his disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.