Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 66
For the worship leader. A song.
1 Shout out to God, all the earth.
Erupt with joy to the one True God!
2 Sing of the glory due His name!
Offer Him the most magnificent praises!
3 Say to God, “All You have done is wondrous and causes fear!
Your power is mighty, and Your enemies pretend to submit to You.
4 The entire earth will bow down to worship You
and will sing glory-songs to You;
they will sing praises to Your name!
[pause][a]
5 Come and witness the True God’s endless works.
His miraculous deeds done on behalf of humanity inspire fear.
6 He transformed the sea into dry land;
our people passed through the river on foot!
Rejoice in Him; celebrate what He did there!
7 By His great might, He rules forever;
His eyes watch over all the nations,
so no one should go up against Him.
[pause]
8 Everyone, bless our True God!
Let praise-filled voices be heard near and far—at home and on foreign soil!
9 Praise the One who gives us life and keeps us safe,
who does not allow us to stumble in the darkness.
10 For You have put us to the test, O God;
You have refined us as silver is refined.
11 You trapped us with a snare;
You have laid upon our backs a heavy burden.
12 You allowed us to be conquered and let our enemies run over us.
We journeyed through dangers, through fire and flood,
But You led us finally to a safe place, a land rich and abundant.
13 I will come into Your temple with burnt offerings;
I will fulfill my promises to You—
14 The oaths that parted my lips
and were promises my mouth freely made when I was suffering and in anguish.
15 I will bring You my sacrifices—plump beasts
and the sweet smoke of consecrated rams—
I will also offer You bulls and goats.
[pause]
16 Come and listen, everyone who reveres the True God,
and I will tell you what He has done for me.
17 I cried out to Him with my mouth,
and I praised Him with my tongue.
18 If I entertain evil in my heart,
the Lord will not hear me.
19 But surely God has heard me;
He has paid attention to the urgency of my request.
20 May the True God be blessed,
for He did not turn away from my prayer
nor did He hold back His loyal love from me.
4 And the Israelites set out again. They left Mount Hor and traveled by way of the Red Sea,[a] skirting Edom; but again, the difficult travel gave everyone a short temper. 5 They challenged both God and Moses.
Israelites: What were you thinking to bring us up out of Egypt and let us die out here in this desert land? There’s nothing to eat and no water either. We are sick and tired of living on what food we have.
6 As a divine response, the Eternal One sent venomous snakes[b] among them and the people were bitten. A number of Israelites were indeed killed by them. 7 They then appealed to Moses.
Israelites: We are so sorry! We know that it was wrong to speak against the Eternal and against you. Please talk to the Him, and get Him to take these awful snakes away.
So Moses appealed to God on behalf of the terrified and chastened congregation, 8 and He instructed Moses.
Eternal One: Make a venomous snake that looks like the ones tormenting the congregation, and put it on a pole. Everyone who gets bitten can simply look at your serpent and be healed.
9 So Moses took some bronze and cast a likeness of those vicious snakes to serve as an antidote for anyone who had been bitten. If they were to look on the bronze serpent, they would then live.
11 I tell you the truth: we speak about the things we know, and we give evidence about the things we have seen, and you choose to reject the truth of our witness. 12 If you do not believe when I talk to you about ordinary, earthly realities, then heavenly realities will certainly elude you. 13 No one has ever journeyed to heaven above except the One who has come down from heaven—the Son of Man, who is of heaven. 14 Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness. In the same way, the Son of Man must be lifted up; 15 then all those who believe in Him will experience everlasting life.
16 For God expressed His love for the world in this way: He gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will not face everlasting destruction, but will have everlasting life. 17 Here’s the point. God didn’t send His Son into the world to judge it; instead, He is here to rescue a world headed toward certain destruction.
Psalm 118
1 Give thanks to the Eternal because He is always good.
He never ceases to be loving and kind.
2 Let the people of Israel proclaim:
“He never ceases to be loving and kind.”
3 Let the priests of Aaron’s line proclaim:
“He never ceases to be loving and kind.”
4 Let the people who fear the Eternal proclaim:
“He never ceases to be loving and kind.”
5 When trouble surrounded me, I cried out to the Eternal;
He answered me and brought me to a wide, open space.
6 The Eternal is with me,
so I will not be afraid of anything.
If God is on my side, how can anyone hurt me?
7 The Eternal is on my side, a champion for my cause;
so when I look at those who hate me, victory will be in sight.
8 It is better to put your faith in the Eternal for your security
than to trust in people.
9 It is better to put your faith in Him for your security
than to trust in princes.
10 All these nations surround me, squeezing me from all sides;
with the name of the Eternal, I will destroy them.
11 They rose up against me, squeezed me from all sides, yes, from all sides;
with the name of the Eternal, I will destroy them.
12 They surrounded me like a swarm of bees;
they were destroyed quickly and thoroughly—
Flaring up like a pile of thorns—
with the name of the Eternal, I will destroy them.
13 I was pushed back, attacked so that I was about to fall,
but the Eternal was there to help me keep my balance.
14 He is my strength, and He is the reason I sing;
He has been there to save me in every situation.
15 In the tents of the righteous soldiers of God,
there are shouts of joy and victory. They sing:
“The right hand of the Eternal has shown His power.
16 The mighty arm of the Eternal is raised in victory;
the right hand of His has shown His power.”
17 I will not die. I will live.
I will live to tell about all the Eternal has done.
18 The Eternal has taught me many lessons;
He has been strict and severe,
but even in His discipline, He has not allowed me to die.
Early Christians found in the words of this psalm a wonderful way of describing the significance of Jesus. He was the rejected stone whom God made the cornerstone of a brand-new temple (verses 22–24).
19 Open wide to me the gates of justice
so that I may walk through them
and offer praise and worship to the Eternal.
20 This is the gate of the Eternal;
the righteous children of God will go through it.
21 I will praise You because You answered me when I was in trouble.
You have become my salvation.
22 The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very stone that holds together the entire foundation.
23 This is the work of the Eternal,
and it is marvelous in our eyes.[a]
24 This is the day the Eternal God has made;
let us celebrate and be happy today.
25 O Eternal One, save us, we beg You.
O Eternal One, we beg You, bring us success!
26 He who comes in the name of the Eternal will be blessed;[b]
we have blessed You from the house of the Eternal.
27 The Eternal is the True God;
He shines His light on us.
Let the feast begin.
Bring the sacrifice, and tie it to the horns of the altar.
28 You are my God, and I give You thanks;
You are my God, and I praise You.
29 Give thanks to our Eternal Lord; He is always good.
He never ceases to be loving and kind.
Peter urges us always to be ready to give a reason for the hope that lives within us. But it is important that it be done not with arrogance and contempt, but with gentle ness and love—the same virtues that should guide our responses to any hostile challenge. This is one way we can glorify Jesus as King over all our lives—by exalting Him with both our emotions and our intellect.
17 For if it is the will of God that you suffer, then it is better to suffer for doing what is right than for doing what is wrong. 18 The Anointed One suffered for sins once for all time—the righteous suffering for the unrighteous—so that He might bring us to God. Though He died in the flesh, He was made alive again through the Spirit. 19 And in the Spirit, He went and preached to those spirits held captive. 20 It was these who long ago lived in disobedience while God waited patiently as Noah was building the ark. At that time, only a tiny band—eight people—was spared from the flood.
21 The water through which the ark safely passed symbolizes now the ceremonial washing through baptism[a] that initiates you into salvation. You are saved not because it cleanses your body of filth but because of your appeal to God from a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus the Anointed, our Liberating King. 22 Now He has entered heaven and sits at the right hand of God as heavenly messengers and authorities and powers submit to His supremacy.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.