Book of Common Prayer
מ Mem
97 Lord, I really love your law!
All day long I spend time thinking about it.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
because your commands are always in my heart.
99 I know more than all my teachers do,
because I spend time thinking about your covenant laws.
100 I understand more than the elders do,
because I obey your rules.
101 I’ve kept my feet from every path that sinners take
so that I might obey your word.
102 I haven’t turned away from your laws,
because you yourself have taught me.
103 Your words are very sweet to my taste!
They are sweeter than honey to me.
104 I gain understanding from your rules.
So I hate every path that sinners take.
נ Nun
105 Your word is like a lamp that shows me the way.
It is like a light that guides me.
106 I have made a promise
to follow your laws, because they are right.
107 I have suffered very much.
Lord, keep me alive as you have promised.
108 Lord, accept the praise I freely give you.
Teach me your laws.
109 I keep putting my life in danger.
But I won’t forget to obey your law.
110 Evil people have set a trap for me.
But I haven’t wandered away from your rules.
111 Your covenant laws are your gift to me forever.
They fill my heart with joy.
112 I have decided to obey your orders
to the very end.
ס Samekh
113 I hate people who can’t make up their minds.
But I love your law.
114 You are my place of safety.
You are like a shield that keeps me safe.
I have put my hope in your word.
115 Get away from me, you who do evil!
Then I can do what my God commands me to do.
116 My God, keep me going as you have promised. Then I will live.
Don’t let me lose all hope.
117 Take good care of me, and I will be saved.
I will always honor your orders.
118 You turn your back on all those who wander away from your orders.
Their wrong thoughts will be proved to be wrong.
119 You throw away all the sinners on earth as if they were trash.
So I love your covenant laws.
120 My body trembles because I have respect for you.
I have great respect for your laws.
For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of Asaph.
81 Sing joyfully to God! He gives us strength.
Give a loud shout to the God of Jacob!
2 Let the music begin. Play the tambourines.
Play sweet music on harps and lyres.
3 Blow the ram’s horn on the day of the New Moon feast.
Blow it again when the moon is full and the Feast of Booths begins.
4 This is an order given to Israel.
It is a law of the God of Jacob.
5 He gave it as a covenant law for the people of Joseph.
It was given when God went out to punish Egypt.
There I heard a voice I didn’t recognize.
6 The voice said, “I removed the load from your shoulders.
I set your hands free from carrying heavy baskets.
7 You called out when you were in trouble, and I saved you.
I answered you out of a thundercloud.
I tested you at the waters of Meribah.
8 “My people, listen and I will warn you.
Israel, I wish you would listen to me!
9 Don’t have anything to do with the gods of other nations.
Don’t bow down and worship any god other than me.
10 I am the Lord your God.
I brought you up out of Egypt.
Open your mouth wide, and I will fill it with good things.
11 “But my people wouldn’t listen to me.
Israel wouldn’t obey me.
12 So I let them go their own stubborn way.
I let them follow their own sinful plans.
13 “I wish my people would listen to me!
I wish Israel would live as I want them to live!
14 Then I would quickly bring their enemies under control.
I would use my power against their attackers.
15 Those who hate me would bow down to me in fear.
They would be punished forever.
16 But you would be fed with the finest wheat.
I would satisfy you with the sweetest honey.”
A psalm of Asaph.
82 God takes his place at the head of a large gathering of leaders.
He announces his decisions among them.
2 He says, “How long will you stand up for those who aren’t fair to others?
How long will you show mercy to sinful people?
3 Stand up for the weak and for children whose fathers have died.
Protect the rights of people who are poor or treated badly.
4 Save those who are weak and needy.
Save them from the power of sinful people.
5 “You leaders don’t know anything.
You don’t understand anything.
You are in the dark about what is right.
Law and order have been destroyed all over the world.
6 “I said, ‘You leaders are like gods.
You are all children of the Most High God.’
7 But you will die, like mere human beings.
You will die like every other leader.”
8 God, rise up. Judge the earth.
All the nations belong to you.
73 The priests and Levites made their homes in their own towns. So did the musicians, the temple servants and the men who guarded the gates. The rest of the Israelites also made their homes in their own towns.
Ezra Reads the Law to the People
The Israelites had made their homes in their towns. In the seventh month, 8 1 all of them gathered together. They went to the open area in front of the Water Gate. They told Ezra to bring out the Book of the Law of Moses. The Lord had given Israel that Law so they would obey him. Ezra was the teacher of the Law.
2 Ezra the priest brought the Law out to the whole community. It was the first day of the seventh month. The group was made up of men, women, and children old enough to understand what Ezra was going to read. 3 He read the Law to them from sunrise until noon. He did it as he faced the open area in front of the Water Gate. He read it to the men, the women, and the children old enough to understand. And all the people paid careful attention as Ezra was reading the Book of the Law.
5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him. That’s because he was standing above them. As he opened the book, the people stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord. He is the great God. All the people lifted up their hands and said, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down. They turned their faces toward the ground and worshiped the Lord.
7 The Levites taught the Law to the people. They remained standing while the Levites taught them. The Levites who were there included Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai and Hodiah. They also included Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah. 8 All these Levites read to the people parts of the Book of the Law of God. They made it clear to them. They told them what it meant. So the people understood what was being read.
9 Nehemiah was the governor. Ezra was a priest and the teacher of the Law. They spoke up. So did the Levites who were teaching the people. All these men said to the people, “This day is set apart to honor the Lord your God. So don’t weep. Don’t be sad.” All the people had been weeping as they listened to the words of the Law.
10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy some good food and sweet drinks. Send some of it to people who don’t have any. This day is holy to our Lord. So don’t be sad. The joy of the Lord makes you strong.”
11 The Levites calmed all the people down. They said, “Be quiet. This is a holy day. So don’t be sad.”
12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink. They shared their food with others. They celebrated with great joy. Now they understood the words they had heard. That’s because everything had been explained to them.
13 All the family leaders gathered around Ezra, the teacher. So did the priests and Levites. All of them paid attention to the words of the Law. It was the second day of the month. 14 The Lord had given the Law through Moses. He wanted the Israelites to obey it. It is written there that they were supposed to live in booths during the Feast of Booths. That feast was celebrated in the seventh month. 15 They were also supposed to spread the message all through their towns and in Jerusalem. They were supposed to announce, “Go out into the central hill country. Bring back some branches from olive and wild olive trees. Also bring some from myrtle, palm and shade trees. Use the branches to make booths.”
16 So the people went out and brought back some branches. They built themselves booths on their own roofs. They made them in their courtyards. They put them up in the courtyards of the house of God. They built them in the open area in front of the Water Gate. And they built them in the open area in front of the Gate of Ephraim. 17 All the people who had returned from the land of Babylon made booths. They lived in them during the Feast of Booths. They hadn’t celebrated the feast with so much joy for a long time. In fact, they had never celebrated it like that from the days of Joshua, the son of Nun, until that day. So their joy was very great.
18 Day after day, Ezra read parts of the Book of the Law of God to them. He read it out loud from the first day to the last. They celebrated the Feast of Booths for seven days. On the eighth day they gathered together. They followed the required rules for celebrating the feast.
Babylon’s Judgment Is Final
21 Then a mighty angel picked up a huge rock. It was the size of a large millstone. He threw it into the sea. Then he said,
“That is how
the great city of Babylon will be thrown down.
Never again will it be found.
22 The songs of musicians will never be heard in you again.
Gone will be the music of harps, flutes and trumpets.
No worker of any kind
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of a millstone
will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of a lamp
will never shine in you again.
The voices of brides and grooms
will never be heard in you again.
Your traders were among the world’s most important people.
By your magic spell all the nations were led astray.
24 You were guilty of the murder of prophets and God’s holy people.
You were guilty of the blood of all who have been killed on the earth.”
Jesus Feeds Four Thousand
29 Jesus left there. He walked along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. 30 Large crowds came to him. They brought blind people and those who could not walk. They also brought disabled people, those who could not speak, and many others. They laid them at his feet, and he healed them. 31 The people were amazed. Those who could not speak were speaking. The disabled were made well. Those not able to walk were walking. Those who were blind could see. So the people praised the God of Israel.
32 Then Jesus called for his disciples to come to him. He said, “I feel deep concern for these people. They have already been with me three days. They don’t have anything to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. If I do, they will become too weak on their way home.”
33 His disciples answered him. “There is nothing here,” they said. “Where could we get enough bread to feed this large crowd?”
34 “How many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
“Seven,” they replied, “and a few small fish.”
35 Jesus told the crowd to sit down on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves and the fish and gave thanks. Then he broke them and gave them to the disciples. And the disciples passed them out to the people. 37 All of them ate and were satisfied. After that, the disciples picked up seven baskets of leftover pieces. 38 The number of men who ate was 4,000. Women and children also ate. 39 After Jesus had sent the crowd away, he got into the boat. He went to the area near Magadan.
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