Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 97
1 The Eternal reigns powerful over all;
let the earth sing with joy;
let the distant islands celebrate.
2 Clouds and deep darkness encircle Him;
righteousness and justice are the bedrock of His rule.
3 Fire precedes Him;
it burns away His opponents on all sides.
4 With His lightning flashing about, He illuminates the world;
the earth watches and trembles.
5 Like wax before the flame, mountains melt when the Eternal appears,
the Master of the whole earth.
6 The heavens display His order and perfect justice;
all peoples witness His magnificence.
7 Those who worship idols,
who boast in the impotent creations of human hands, will be shamed.
Worship Him, all you gods.
8 Zion heard and was glad,
and the daughters of Judah celebrated
because they saw Your justice, O Eternal One.
9 For You are the Eternal, the Most High, over the entire world;
You far exceed all gods.
10 Hate evil, you lovers of the Eternal.
He protects the souls of those who follow Him;
He rescues them from the devices of the wicked.
11 Light is sown in the just;
as it grows, it brings joy to the pure of heart.
12 Celebrate the Eternal God, all you who are faithful;
offer thanks to His holy name.
Psalm 99
1 The Eternal is the king ruling over all;
let all people shake in fear.
He sits on His throne, settled between winged guardians;[a]
let the planet tremble.
2 The Eternal is great in the hearts of His people;
He has made Zion His sacred mountain,
and He reigns majestic over all people.
3 Let them express praise and gratitude to Your amazing and awesome name—
because He is holy, perfect and exalted in His power.
4 The King who rules with strength also treasures justice.
You created order and established what is right.
You have carried out justice
and done what is right to the people of Jacob.
5 Lift up the Eternal our God in your heart;
bow down to the earth where He rests His feet.
He is holy, perfect and exalted in His power.
6 Moses and Aaron were two of His priests;
Samuel was among those who called out to Him.
They asked the Eternal for help, and He answered them.
7 He answered them from a column of cloud;
they heeded His testimonies
and lived by the laws He gave them.
8 You answered them, Eternal our God;
You were, to them, a God who forgives,
yet You did not ignore what they did wrong
and punished them fairly as well.
9 Lift up the Eternal our God in your hearts,
and celebrate His goodness at His holy mountain,
for the Eternal our God is holy, perfect and exalted in His power.
Psalm 100
A song of thanks.
Psalm 100 is one of the best known and most loved psalms. This hymn of thanksgiving invites the whole world to come to God’s temple in Jerusalem and enter its sacred spaces with unbridled joy and hearts filled with gratitude. And why should we? The psalm provides the answer. Not only has God created us—a gracious act of love in and of itself—but He has made us His own people. He has chosen us and loved us. As with Psalm 23, God’s people are cast in the role as sheep living well in His pasture.
The psalm ends on a high note of confidence and hope. At all times—but perhaps more in times of difficulty—we need to be reminded of what is true. Regardless of what seems to be happening around us, the Eternal is good; His love and faithfulness will endure forever.
1 Raise your voices;
make a beautiful noise to the Eternal, all the earth.
2 Serve the Eternal gladly;
enter into His presence singing songs of joy!
3 Know this: the Eternal One Himself is the True God.
He is the One who made us;
we have not made ourselves;
we are His people, like sheep grazing in His fields.
4 Go through His gates, giving thanks;
walk through His courts, giving praise.
Offer Him your gratitude and praise His holy name.
5 Because the Eternal is good,
His loyal love and mercy will never end,
and His truth will last throughout all generations.
Psalm 94
1 O Eternal God of vengeance,
O God who sets things right, shine upon us.
2 Rise, O Judge who presides over the earth,
and pronounce Your sentence upon the proud.
Give them what they deserve!
3 How long, O Eternal One, how long
will the guilty revel in their prosperity?
4 Arrogance pours from their mouths;
all these troublemakers brag of their exploits.
5 They have broken Your people to pieces, O Eternal One,
and brought ruin to Your future generations.
6 They slay a widow, kill a newcomer,
and murder an orphan.
7 Then they say, “The Eternal can’t see what we’re up to;
the God of Jacob’s people pays no attention to us.”
8 Think, brainless people;
stupid people, when will you get it?
9 Does the God who set the ear in its place not hear?
Does the God who made the eye not see?
10 Does the God who teaches the nations
and guides humanity to knowledge,
not exercise just correction?
11 The Eternal knows the highest thoughts of the wise,
and they are worthless.[a]
12 How fortunate are those You discipline, O Eternal One,
those You train by Your divine law;
13 You relieve them in times of distress,
until a grave is dug for evildoers.
14 The Eternal will not abandon His people;
He will not turn away from those He redeemed
15 Because justice is coming for those who do what is right
and all the good-hearted will pursue it.
16 Who will back me up when evildoers come against me?
Who is willing to take my side against the wicked?
17 If the Eternal had not come to my rescue,
my soul would have descended to the land where death silences every voice.
18 When I said, “My foot is slipping!”
Your unfailing love, O Eternal One, held me up.
19 When anxiety overtakes me and worries are many,
Your comfort lightens my soul.
20 Can wicked tyrants be Your allies?
Will You align with rulers who create havoc with unjust decrees?
21 They have joined forces against the life of the just-living, the right-seeking,
and have sentenced the innocent to death.
22 But the Eternal has been my citadel;
my God, a sure safe haven.
23 He will fold their wickedness back upon them,
and because they are malicious, He will silence them.
The Eternal, our True God, will scatter them.
Psalm 95
1 Come, let us worship in song, a joyful offering to the Eternal.
Shout! Shout with joy to the rock of our liberation.
2 Come face-to-face with God, and give thanks;
with loud and joyful voices, praise Him in songs.
3 For the Eternal is a great God,
and a great King, supreme over all gods.
4 Within His control are the very depths of the earth;
the mountaintops too—they all belong to Him.
5 The sea belongs to Him, for He created it—scooped and filled it—
with His hands He made the dry land—every valley and mountain.
6 Come, let us worship Him. Everyone bow down;
kneel before the Eternal who made us.
7 For He is our God
and we are His people, the flock of His pasture,
His sheep protected and nurtured by His hand.
Today, if He speaks, hear His voice.
8 “Don’t harden your hearts the way they did in the bitter uprising at Meribah
or like that day they complained in the wilderness of Massah.
9 Your ancestors tested Me,
wanted Me to prove Myself though they had seen that nothing was too great for Me.
10 For 40 years I despised that grumbling generation
and said, ‘Their hearts are unfaithful;
they no longer walk in My ways; though I call, they do not listen to My voice.’
11 That is why in My anger I swore,
‘They will never enter into My rest.’”
14 When Joab, the son of David’s sister Zeruiah, realized that David was preoccupied with Absalom, he took matters into his own hands. 2 He brought a wise woman from Tekoa and instructed her.
Joab: Act like you are in mourning. Wear mourning garments, don’t anoint yourself with sweet-smelling oils, but act like a woman who has been mourning for someone dead for a long time. 3 Then ask to see the king.
And he told her what she should say.
4 When this woman from Tekoa came before the king, she fell on her face, prostrate before him, and showed the appropriate respect due the king.
Woman of Tekoa: Help me, great king!
David: 5 What is wrong?
Woman of Tekoa: I am a widow. My husband has been dead for some time. 6 I, your servant, had two sons who fought with each other in the field. With no one there to stop them, one struck the other dead. 7 Now the whole family has risen up against me, your humble servant. They demand that I give up the one who killed his brother so that he can be executed as punishment—even though that will take away my remaining son and only heir. So they would put out the last glowing ember of my fire and leave behind absolutely nothing of my husband or me.
David: 8 Go home, and I will give orders that will take care of this matter.
Woman of Tekoa: 9 O my lord, my king, I don’t want my situation to cause you any trouble. Just blame everything on me and my family.
David: 10 If anyone bothers you about this, send him to me, and he will never trouble you again.
Woman of Tekoa: 11 Please, O king, ask the Eternal One, your True God, so that those seeking a blood debt will give up their vengeance and my son will live.
David: As sure as the Eternal lives, not one hair of your son’s head will be damaged.
12 Then the woman asked for liberty to speak freely, and David agreed.
Woman of Tekoa: 13 How does your decision in my case compare with what you are doing to the people of the True God? It seems that your verdict convicts you, since you have not brought home your own banished son. 14 Everyone dies—we are like water spilled in the dust that can’t be reclaimed. But God will not waste a life—He won’t allow the banished one to be exiled permanently from His presence.
15 I say these things to you, my king, because of those who have frightened me. I thought, “Maybe if I speak to the king, he will hear my request. 16 And if the king hears, he will deliver me out of the hands of those who would make my son and me exiles from the inheritance of God.” 17 I thought, “Please let the king’s word bring me peace,” because you, my lord, are like a messenger of God, discerning good and evil alike. The Eternal One, your True God, be with you!
David: 18 I’m going to ask you a question, and I want you to tell me the truth.
Woman of Tekoa: Ask me your question, my king.
David: 19 Has Joab put you up to this?
Woman of Tekoa: Of course you are right, my king. No one can fool you. It was your servant Joab who sent me and told me what to say to you. 20 He did this because he hoped to change your situation with Absalom. But my lord, my king, is wise, as wise as a heavenly messenger of God who sees all that is happening on earth.
The last words of Paul to his Ephesian disciples are emotional, inspiring, but unbelievably arrogant. Who would place himself on a pedestal and encourage everyone to be more like him? It sounds like a cult of personality, but it is not. Paul understands that the gospel must be incarnate; it is more than a set of ideas, so someone must demonstrate how to walk the path of faith. He calls them to watch him carefully and emulate his behavior: watch how I treat people, how I eat, what I say, the way I give; and do likewise. If all believers could possess the same boldness to say, “do as I do,” then the world would be a better place. Believers would not just speak the good news; they would live the good news.
21 Cos was our next stop, and the next day, Rhodes, and the next, Patara. 2 We found another ship in Patara that would take us south and east toward Phoenicia. 3 We saw Cyprus to our left and sailed on to Syria, landing at Tyre where the ship had cargo to unload. 4 We found the disciples there and stayed with them for seven days. The Spirit moved them to tell Paul not to go on to Jerusalem; 5 but the day came for our departure, and the whole community of disciples, including wives and children, escorted us outside the city. We knelt down together on the beach, prayed together, said farewell, and then parted company— 6 the disciples returning to their homes, we sailing on. 7 From Tyre we docked at Ptolemais where we met with the believers and spent a day with them. 8 Then we moved on to Caesarea. In Caesarea we stayed with Philip the evangelist, one of the seven.[a] 9 His four virgin daughters lived with him, each having the gift of prophecy. 10 While we were with them, another gifted prophet named Agabus came north from Judea. 11 He took Paul’s belt and used it to bind his own feet and hands.
Agabus: This is a message from the Holy Spirit: unbelieving Jews in Jerusalem will in this way bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the outsiders.
Paul is a man of great mystery. This persecutor-turned-preacher seems more like a character from pages of fiction than the instigator of the spread of Christianity. He becomes what he once despised and willingly suffers on behalf of his new Savior. Paul is accused of many things, but he is no fool. He fully understands what is waiting for him in Jerusalem: persecution, suffering, and ultimately death. His friends beg him not to return to this holy city, but Paul is called to live in the footsteps of the One who was crucified—He who was destined to suffer yet called for no drugs. His suffering served a greater purpose, and Paul never loses sight of this spiritual reality because he is living in the kingdom of God.
The masses hope for a gospel that makes them happy, healthy, and wealthy. Jesus said the way of life is a hard road, with only a few on it. Ironically this hard road ends in life. The easy, broad street—which may be paved with good intentions—always leads to death and destruction.
12 Now we all joined in imploring Paul—we, his companions, and Philip and his daughters, everyone present—begging him not to go one step closer to the city.
Paul: 13 Please, you’re breaking my heart with your tears! I know exactly what I’m doing. I’m fully prepared to be bound, and more—to die for the name of Jesus, the King.
14 We realized our persuasion was fruitless, so we stopped pleading with him and simply said, “The Lord’s will be done.”
10 From there Jesus traveled to Judea and beyond the Jordan River; He taught the crowds who gathered as was His custom.
2 Some Pharisees came to Him to test Him on His adherence to the law of Moses.
Pharisees: Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?
Jesus: 3 What did Moses say to you?
Pharisees: 4 Moses permitted us to write a certificate of dismissal and divorce her.[a]
Jesus: 5 Moses gave you this law as a concession because of the hardness of your hearts. 6 But truly, God created humans male and female in the beginning.[b] 7 As it is written in the Hebrew Scriptures, “For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother [to marry his wife],[c] 8 and the two of them will become one flesh and blood.”[d] So they are no longer two people, but one. 9 What God has joined together in this way, no one may sever.
10 In the privacy of their dwelling that evening, the disciples asked Him about this teaching, 11 and He went even further.
Jesus: If any husband divorces his wife and then marries another woman, he commits adultery against her. 12 And if a wife should divorce her husband and marry another, then she commits adultery against him.
The Pharisees hope to trip Jesus. Instead of taking a side, Jesus goes to the purpose and meaning of marriage: not just from a social but a spiritual perspective.
13 When the crowd gathered again, the people brought their children to see Jesus, hoping that He might grant them His blessing through His touch.
His disciples turned them all away; 14 but when Jesus saw this, He was incensed.
Jesus (to the disciples): Let the children come to Me, and don’t ever stand in their way, for this is what the kingdom of God is all about. 15 Truly anyone who doesn’t accept the kingdom of God as a little child does can never enter it.
16 Jesus gathered the children in His arms, and He laid His hands on them to bless them.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.