Book of Common Prayer
For the director of music. A psalm of Asaph. A song to the tune of “Do Not Destroy.”
75 God, we praise you.
We praise you because you are near to us.
People talk about the wonderful things you have done.
2 You say, “I choose the appointed time to judge people.
And I judge them fairly.
3 When the earth and all its people tremble,
I keep everything from falling to pieces.
4 To the proud I say, ‘Don’t brag anymore.’
To sinners I say, ‘Don’t show off your power.
5 Don’t show it off against me.
Don’t talk back to me.’ ”
6 No one from east or west or north or south
can judge themselves.
7 God is the one who judges.
He says to one person, “You are guilty.”
To another he says, “You are not guilty.”
8 In the hand of the Lord is a cup.
It is full of wine mixed with spices.
It is the wine of his anger.
He pours it out. All the evil people on earth
drink it down to the very last drop.
9 I will speak about this forever.
I will sing praise to the God of Jacob.
10 God says, “I will destroy the power of all sinful people.
But I will make godly people more powerful.”
For the director of music. A psalm of Asaph. A song to be played on stringed instruments.
76 In the land of Judah, God is well known.
In Israel, his name is great.
2 His tent is in Jerusalem.
The place where he lives is on Mount Zion.
3 There he broke the deadly arrows of his enemies.
He broke their shields and swords.
He broke their weapons of war.
4 God, you shine like a very bright light.
You are more majestic than mountains full of wild animals.
5 Brave soldiers have been robbed of everything they had.
Now they lie there, sleeping in death.
Not one of them can even lift his hands.
6 God of Jacob, at your command
both horse and chariot lie still.
7 People should have respect for you alone.
Who can stand in front of you when you are angry?
8 From heaven you handed down your sentence.
The land was afraid and became quiet.
9 God, that happened when you rose up to judge.
It happened when you came to save all your suffering people in the land.
10 Your anger against sinners brings you praise.
Those who live through your anger gather to worship you.
11 Make promises to the Lord your God and keep them.
Let all the neighboring nations
bring gifts to the God who should be respected.
12 He breaks the proud spirit of rulers.
The kings of the earth have respect for him.
A psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd. He gives me everything I need.
2 He lets me lie down in fields of green grass.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
3 He gives me new strength.
He guides me in the right paths
for the honor of his name.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid.
You are with me.
Your shepherd’s rod and staff
comfort me.
5 You prepare a feast for me
right in front of my enemies.
You pour oil on my head.
My cup runs over.
6 I am sure that your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life.
And I will live in the house of the Lord
forever.
A psalm of David.
27 The Lord is my light, and he saves me.
Why should I fear anyone?
The Lord is my place of safety.
Why should I be afraid?
2 My enemies are evil.
They will trip and fall
when they attack me
and try to swallow me up.
3 Even if an army attacks me,
my heart will not be afraid.
Even if war breaks out against me,
I will still trust in God.
4 I’m asking the Lord for only one thing.
Here is what I want.
I want to live in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life.
I want to look at the beauty of the Lord.
I want to worship him in his temple.
5 When I’m in trouble,
he will keep me safe in his house.
He will hide me in the safety of his holy tent.
He will put me on a rock that is very high.
6 Then I will win the battle
over my enemies who are all around me.
At his holy tent I will offer my sacrifice with shouts of joy.
I will sing and make music to the Lord.
7 Lord, hear my voice when I call out to you.
Treat me with kindness and answer me.
8 My heart says, “Seek him!”
Lord, I will seek you.
9 Don’t turn your face away from me.
Don’t turn me away because you are angry.
You have helped me.
God my Savior, don’t say no to me.
Don’t desert me.
10 My father and mother may desert me,
but the Lord will accept me.
11 Lord, teach me your ways.
Lead me along a straight path.
There are many people who treat me badly.
12 My enemies want to harm me. So don’t turn me over to them.
Witnesses who tell lies are rising up against me.
They say all sorts of evil things about me.
13 Here is something I am still sure of.
I will see the Lord’s goodness
while I’m still alive.
14 Wait for the Lord.
Be strong and don’t lose hope.
Wait for the Lord.
22 Once more the Philistines came up. They spread out in the Valley of Rephaim. 23 So David asked the Lord for advice. The Lord answered, “Do not go straight up. Instead, circle around behind them. Attack them in front of the poplar trees. 24 Listen for the sound of marching in the tops of the trees. Then move quickly. The sound will mean that I have gone out in front of you. I will strike down the Philistine army.” 25 So David did just as the Lord had commanded him. He struck down the Philistines. He struck them down from Gibeon all the way to Gezer.
David Brings the Ark to Jerusalem
6 Again David brought together the best soldiers in Israel. The total number was 30,000. 2 He and all his men went to Baalah in Judah. They wanted to bring the ark of God up to Jerusalem from there. The ark is named after the Lord. He is the Lord who rules over all. He sits on his throne between the cherubim that are on the ark. 3 The ark of God was placed on a new cart. Then it was brought from Abinadab’s house, which was on a hill. Uzzah and Ahio were guiding the cart. They were the sons of Abinadab. 4 The ark of God was on the cart. Ahio was walking in front of it. 5 David was celebrating with all his might in front of the Lord. So was the whole community of Israel. All of them were playing castanets, harps, lyres, tambourines, rattles and cymbals.
6 They came to the threshing floor of Nakon. The oxen nearly fell there. So Uzzah reached out and took hold of the ark of God. 7 Then the Lord was very angry with Uzzah. That’s because what Uzzah did showed that he didn’t have any respect for the Lord. So God struck him down. He died there beside the ark of God.
8 David was angry because the Lord’s great anger had broken out against Uzzah. That’s why the place is still called Perez Uzzah to this day.
9 David was afraid of the Lord that day. He asked, “How can the ark of the Lord ever be brought to me?” 10 He didn’t want to take the ark of the Lord to be with him in the City of David. Instead, he took it to the house of Obed-Edom. Obed-Edom was from Gath. 11 The ark of the Lord remained in Obed-Edom’s house for three months. And the Lord blessed him and his whole family.
Paul Preaches in Athens
16 Paul was waiting for Silas and Timothy in Athens. He was very upset to see that the city was full of statues of gods. 17 So he went to the synagogue. There he talked both with Jews and with Greeks who worshiped God. Each day he spoke with anyone who happened to be in the market place. 18 A group of Epicurean and Stoic thinkers began to argue with him. Some of them asked, “What is this fellow chattering about?” Others said, “He seems to be telling us about gods we’ve never heard of.” They said this because Paul was preaching the good news about Jesus. He was telling them that Jesus had risen from the dead. 19 They took him to a meeting of the Areopagus. There they said to him, “What is this new teaching you’re giving us? 20 You have some strange ideas we’ve never heard before. We would like to know what they mean.” 21 All the people of Athens spent their time talking about and listening to the latest ideas. People from other lands who lived there did the same.
22 Then Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus. He said, “People of Athens! I see that you are very religious in every way. 23 As I walked around, I looked carefully at the things you worship. I even found an altar with
To an Unknown God
written on it. So you don’t know what you are worshiping. Now I am going to tell you about this ‘unknown god.’
24 “He is the God who made the world. He also made everything in it. He is the Lord of heaven and earth. He doesn’t live in temples built by human hands. 25 He is not served by human hands. He doesn’t need anything. Instead, he himself gives life and breath to all people. He also gives them everything else they have. 26 From one man he made all the people of the world. Now they live all over the earth. He decided exactly when they should live. And he decided exactly where they should live. 27 God did this so that people would seek him. And perhaps they would reach out for him and find him. They would find him even though he is not far from any of us. 28 ‘In him we live and move and exist.’ As some of your own poets have also said, ‘We are his children.’
29 “Yes, we are God’s children. So we shouldn’t think that God is made out of gold or silver or stone. He isn’t a statue planned and made by clever people. 30 In the past, God didn’t judge people for what they didn’t know. But now he commands all people everywhere to turn away from their sins. 31 He has set a day when he will judge the world fairly. He has appointed a man to be its judge. God has proved this to everyone by raising that man from the dead.”
32 They heard Paul talk about the dead being raised. Some of them made fun of this idea. But others said, “We want to hear you speak about this again.” 33 So Paul left the meeting of the Areopagus. 34 Some of the people became followers of Paul and believed in Jesus. Dionysius was one of them. He was a member of the Areopagus. A woman named Damaris also became a believer. And so did some others.
Jesus Feeds the Four Thousand
8 During those days another large crowd gathered. They had nothing to eat. So Jesus called for his disciples to come to him. He said, 2 “I feel deep concern for these people. They have already been with me three days. They don’t have anything to eat. 3 If I send them away hungry, they will become too weak on their way home. Some of them have come from far away.”
4 His disciples answered him. “There is nothing here,” they said. “Where can anyone get enough bread to feed them?”
5 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied.
6 He told the crowd to sit down on the ground. He took the seven loaves and gave thanks to God. Then he broke them and gave them to his disciples. They passed the pieces of bread around to the people. 7 The disciples also had a few small fish. Jesus gave thanks for them too. He told the disciples to pass them around. 8 The people ate and were satisfied. After that, the disciples picked up seven baskets of leftover pieces. 9 About 4,000 people were there. After Jesus sent them away, 10 he got into a boat with his disciples. He went to the area of Dalmanutha.
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