Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 31
For the worship leader. A song of David.
1 You are my shelter, O Eternal One—my soul’s sanctuary!
Shield me from shame;
rescue me by Your righteousness.
2 Hear me, Lord! Turn Your ear in my direction.
Come quick! Save me!
Be my rock, my shelter,
my fortress of salvation!
3 You are my rock and my fortress—my soul’s sanctuary!
Therefore, for the sake of Your reputation, be my leader, my guide, my navigator, my commander.
4 Save me from the snare that has been secretly set out for me,
for You are my protection.
5 I entrust my spirit into Your hands.[a]
You have redeemed me, O Eternal, God of faithfulness and truth.
6 I despise the people who pay respect to breathless idols,
and I trust only in You, Eternal One.
7 I will gladly rejoice because of Your gracious love
because You recognized the sadness of my affliction.
You felt deep compassion when You saw the pains of my soul.
8 You did not hand me over to the enemy,
but instead, You liberated me
and made me secure in a good and spacious land.
9 Show me Your grace, Eternal One, for I am in a tight spot.
My eyes are aching with grief;
my body and soul are withering with miseries.
10 My life is devoured by sorrow,
and my years are haunted with mourning.
My sin has sapped me of all my strength;
my body withers under the weight of this suffering.
11 To all my enemies I am an object of scorn.
My neighbors especially are ashamed of me.
My friends are afraid to be seen with me.
When I walk down the street, people go out of their way to avoid me.
12 I am as good as dead to them. Forgotten!
Like a shattered clay pot, I am easily discarded and gladly replaced.
13 For I hear their whispered plans;
terror is everywhere!
They conspire together,
planning, plotting, scheming to take my life.
14 But I pour my trust into You, Eternal One.
I’m glad to say, “You are my God!”
15 I give the moments of my life over to You, Eternal One.
Rescue me from those who hate me and who hound me with their threats.
16 Look toward me, and let Your face shine down upon Your servant.
Because of Your gracious love, save me!
17 Spare me shame, O Eternal One,
for I turn and call to You.
Instead, let those who hate me be shamed;
let death’s silence claim them.
18 Seal their lying lips forever,
for with pride and contempt boiling in their hearts,
they speak boldly against the righteous and persecute those who poured their trust into You.
19 Your overflowing goodness
You have kept for those who live in awe of You,
And You share Your goodness with those who make You their sanctuary.
20 You hide them, You shelter them in Your presence,
safe from the conspiracies of sinful men.
You keep them in Your tent,
safe from the slander of accusing tongues.
21 Bless the Eternal!
For He has revealed His gracious love to me
when I was trapped like a city under siege.
22 I began to panic so I yelled out,
“I’m cut off. You no longer see me!”
But You heard my cry for help that day
when I called out to You.
23 Love the Eternal, all of you, His faithful people!
He protects those who are true to Him,
but He pays back the proud in kind.
24 Be strong, and live courageously,
all of you who set your hope in the Eternal!
Psalm 35
A song of David.
1 Make a case against those who struggle with me, Eternal One.
Battle against those who battle against me.
2 Be my shield and protection;
stand with me and rescue me!
3 Draw the spear and javelin
to meet my pursuers.
Reassure my soul and say,
“I will deliver you.”
4 Shame and dishonor those ruthless enemies
who wish to end my life.
Turn back those who conspire against me,
defeated and humiliated!
5 Let them be separated from the righteous as chaff is separated from the grain,
blown by the wind,
driven far, far away by the Eternal’s messenger.
6 Make their way unsure and dangerously dark,
a gauntlet of gloom
chased through the darkness by the Eternal’s messenger.
7 For no reason at all, they set a trap for me—a net, a snare—
then, without cause, they disguised a pit to capture my soul—another cowardly snare.
8 May they be surprised by their own destruction.
May they become tangled in their own net
and fall into the pit which they, themselves, dug.
9 When that day comes, my soul will celebrate the Eternal
and be glad in His salvation.
10 Every fiber of my being[a] will shout,
“Eternal One, there is none like You!
You save the poor
from those who try to overpower them
and rescue the weak and the needy from those who steal from them.”
11 False witnesses step forward;
they ask me strange questions for which I have no answers.
12 When I do good to them, they do evil to me,
bringing misery to my soul.
13 When they were sick,
I mourned for them and wore sackcloth;
I chose to humble myself by fasting.
But my prayers came back unanswered.
14 So I mourned more deeply as if I grieved for my brother or friend;
I went around bowed down by sorrow, dressed in black,
as if I were weeping for my mother.
15 But when I stumbled, they gathered together
and celebrated my fall with joy;
People attacked me when I wasn’t expecting it;
they slandered me with no end.
16 Like godless mockers at a festival,[b]
their words tore at me.
17 Lord, how long will You do nothing but watch?
Save me from their evil assaults, plots, and plunder;
rescue my life from these hungry beasts, these ruthless lions!
18 Then I will praise You and thank You at the great gathering,
in the company of the entire congregation.
19 Do not allow my enemies to boast at my expense,
for they despise me without any cause—[c]
yet they wink at me—malicious, taunting winks.
20 Their words have no ring of peace.
They plan evil rumors and incriminations
against those who live peacefully in the land.
21 They speak lying accusations against me;
they say, “Aha! Aha! We know what you’ve been up to.
We’ve seen it with our own eyes!”
22 You have seen what’s happening, Eternal One; don’t remain silent!
Lord, do not stay far away from me!
23 Wake up; come to my defense!
Fight for me, my Lord and my God!
24 Pass Your judgment, Eternal One, my True God;
do it by the standards of Your righteousness.
Do not allow my enemies to boast over me.
25 Do not allow them to gloat over me,
“Aha, we have won! We got what we wanted!”
Do not allow them to brag,
“We chewed him up and spit him out.”
26 Shame and confuse those who celebrate my suffering;
may those who exalt themselves above me be covered with shame—
wrapped in a cloak of dishonor!
27 As for those who desire my vindication,
may they be joyful and glad.
May they forever say,
“The Eternal is indeed great!
He takes pleasure when good things happen to His servant!”
28 That’s why I will speak of Your righteousness
and sing praises to You all day long.
When the Jews return to Jerusalem, they are ready to reconstitute the nation and reclaim God’s promise to Abraham and their ancestors. All families are asked to prove their lineage before they return to their ancestors’ cities, and all priests are asked to do the same before they begin service at the temple. The Jewish leaders are careful that the right people return to the right places so that the new nation resembles the nation under the great kings David, Solomon, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, and Josiah.
Just as the Southern Kingdom’s kings made the restoration of proper worship the priority of their reforms during the monarchy, the reconstruction of the altar is the first order of business when the Jews return to Jerusalem. But they cannot be overzealous in their rebuilding. The few Israelites who have remained in the land while most of the population was exiled revere the site of the destroyed temple as holy. To immediately build the temple on the old foundations could be considered apostasy, so the Jews proceed in their reforms with caution. They don’t want to incur the wrath of God or of their new neighbors.
3 In the seventh month, the month of Tishri, when the Israelites had settled into their towns and when all of the returning Jews had gathered together in Jerusalem in preparation for the festivals, 2 Jeshua (son of Jozadak) and his fellow priests, and Zerubbabel (son of Shealtiel) and others of those returning home built a new altar of uncut stone for burnt offerings to the True God of Israel following the law of Moses, the man of the True God. 3 The men built the altar on the ruined foundation of Solomon’s altar because they feared those who were left behind in the land during the exile. Jeshua and the priests burned offerings to the Eternal each morning and evening 4 and celebrated the Feast of Booths just as Moses had prescribed, offering the required number of burnt offerings each day. 5-6 The daily burnt offerings to the Eternal began on the first day of the seventh month, and when the Feast of Booths ended, our continual offerings did not. They gave burnt sacrifices for the new moons and all of the Eternal’s prescribed festivals, and everyone’s freewill offerings were given to Him.
But the foundation of His temple had not been laid. 7 Jeshua, Zerubbabel, and their fellow returning expatriates exercised King Cyrus of Persia’s permission to pay masons and carpenters and send food, drinks, and oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians in exchange for a shipment of Lebanese cedar by sea to Joppa.
8 In the second month of the second year after they had begun preparations for the True God’s temple in Jerusalem, Zerubbabel (son of Shealtiel), Jeshua (son of Jozadak), and the priests and Levites and all who had been exiled, began construction of the Eternal’s temple. The Levites 20 years old and older oversaw the construction, 9 and Jeshua and his relatives, Kadmiel and his sons, the descendants of Judah, oversaw the True God’s temple laborers, the descendants of Henadad and their brothers the Levites.
10 After the laborers had laid the Eternal’s temple foundation, the priests and Levites praised the Eternal as their beloved King David of Israel had prescribed. The priests dressed in their vestments and played trumpets, the Levite descendants of Asaph played their cymbals, 11 and together they sang praises and gave thanks to the Eternal.
Priests and Levites: We praise him because He is good and because of His continual and loyal love for Israel.
All the people joined in, shouting praises to the Eternal because the foundation of His temple was complete. 12 But in the midst of those praises, the priests, Levites, and tribal leaders who remembered the first temple wept loudly when they saw it because they knew this temple could never be as grand as Solomon’s. 13 There were shouts of joy intermingled with cries of sorrow, and the entire ensemble grew so loud it could be heard a great distance away.
Churches are often characterized by words such as “independent” and “autonomous.” But one would be hard-pressed to find any of these ideas in the Scriptures. Instead, Paul seems to be modeling submission and interdependence. We must always consider others and shape our actions to bless them. But he does not stop there—it is clear that we are responsible to care for one another in physical and monetary ways. What might Paul say to the church today, given the drastic disparity between the wealthy churches of the West and the brothers and sisters in the rest of the world who lack food, water, or shelter?
10 If Timothy comes, see that he is comfortable and untroubled; his work is the Lord’s, as is mine. 11 No one should treat him badly. Send him on to meet me in peace because the brothers and sisters here and I are looking for him. 12 You shouldn’t expect to see our brother Apollos, although I tried to persuade him to come to you with the rest of the brothers and sisters, because now is not the best time for him to come. When it’s his time, he will come.
13 Listen, stay alert, stand tall in the faith, be courageous, and be strong. 14 Let love prevail in your life, words, and actions.
15 Finally, brothers and sisters, I call on you to follow your leaders. People like those in the house of Stephanas—you know they were among the first believers in Achaia, and they have devoted their lives to serving God’s people— 16 I urge you to submit to the authority of such leaders, to every coworker, and to those who offer their backs and shoulders for the work. 17 I celebrate the arrival of Stephanas, Fortunatus, and Achaicus, as they have supplied me with what you could not. 18 They have been a breath of fresh air for me as I know they are for you, so respect and honor those like them.
19 The churches in Asia salute you. Aquila and Prisca send a heartfelt greeting in the Lord along with those who gather at their house. 20 The entire family in faith here sends their greetings. Be sure you greet one another by a holy kiss.
21 This closing greeting is written by my own hand—Paul’s: 22 May those who have no love for the Lord be cursed. Maranatha, “Our Lord, come!” 23 May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with you. 24 My love to you all in the name of the Anointed One, Jesus. [Amen.][a]
22 Some of the faithful brought Jesus a man who was possessed by a demon, who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him. The man could see and talk, and demons no longer crawled around in him.
People (astonished): 23 Could this be the Son of David?
Pharisees: 24 It is only through Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this Jesus can cast out demons.
25 Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking.
Jesus: That would be like a father splitting his own household down the middle or a king cutting his kingdom in half—the household and the kingdom would fall apart. 26 So, too, if Satan imbued people with the power to drive out demons, Satan’s kingdom would collapse. 27 And you should think about this too: you have friends who drive out demons. If I am working as a tool of Beelzebul, whom are your people working for? 28 When I come to you and drive out demons by the Spirit of your Father in heaven—for the glory of your Father in heaven—you should recognize and rejoice that the kingdom of God has come to you.
29 Imagine you wanted to break into the house of your neighbor, a strong brawny man, and steal his furniture. First, you’d have to tie up your neighbor, yes? Once he was bound and tied, you could take whatever you wanted. 30 Similarly—he who is not with Me is against Me, and he who is not doing the Father’s work of gathering up the flock may as well be scattering the flock.
31-32 It is one thing for you to speak ill of the Son of Man. People will be forgiven for every sin they commit and blasphemy they utter. But those who call the work of God the work of Satan utterly remove themselves from God, and those who blaspheme God’s Spirit will not be forgiven, neither in this world nor in the world to come.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.