Book of Common Prayer
33 He ·changed [turned; L set] rivers into a ·desert [wilderness]
and springs of water into ·dry [parched; thirsty] ground.
34 He made ·fertile [fruitful] land salty
because the people there did evil [Gen. 19].
35 He ·changed [turned; L set] the ·desert [wilderness] into pools of water
and ·dry [parched] ground into springs of water.
36 He had the hungry settle there
so they could ·build [establish] a city in which to live.
37 They ·planted seeds in the fields and vineyards [L sowed fields and planted vineyards],
and they had a ·good harvest [fruitful crop].
38 God blessed them, and they ·grew in number [multiplied greatly].
Their cattle did not ·become fewer [diminish].
39 Because of ·disaster [oppression], ·troubles [evil], and sadness,
·their families [L they] ·grew smaller [diminished] and ·weaker [were brought low].
40 He ·showed he was displeased with [L poured contempt on] their ·leaders [princes]
and made them wander in a pathless ·desert [waste].
41 But he lifted the ·poor [needy] out of their suffering
and ·made their families grow [L set their clans] like flocks of sheep.
42 ·Good people [The upright/virtuous] see this and are happy,
but the wicked ·say nothing [L shuts their mouths].
43 Whoever is wise will ·remember [keep; guard] these things
and will ·think about [consider] the ·love [loyalty] of the Lord.
A Prayer for Victory
A song. A psalm of David.
108 God, my heart is ·steady [steadfast; ready].
I will sing and ·praise [play a psalm for] you ·with all my being [L as will my soul/or glory].
2 Wake up, harp and lyre!
I will wake up the dawn.
3 Lord, I will ·praise [thank] you among the ·nations [peoples];
I will sing ·songs of praise [psalms] about you to all the nations.
4 Your great ·love [loyalty] ·reaches to [is greater than] the ·skies [heavens],
your ·truth [faithfulness] to the heavens.
5 God, you are ·supreme [exalted] above the ·skies [heavens].
Let your glory [C manifest presence] be over all the earth [57:5–11].
6 Answer us and ·save us [give us victory] by your ·power [L right hand]
so ·the people you love [your beloved] will be rescued.
7 God has said ·from his Temple [L from his Holy Place; or in his holiness],
“·When I win [or With joy], I will ·divide [parcel up] Shechem
and measure off the Valley of Succoth [Gen. 33:17–20].
8 Gilead and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is like my helmet.
Judah holds my royal scepter [Gen. 49:10; C they are agents of God’s power].
9 Moab is like my washbowl.
I throw my sandals at Edom [C showing contempt].
I shout [C in triumph] at Philistia [C enemies of Israel].”
10 Who will bring me to the ·strong, walled [fortified] city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 God, ·surely you have rejected [L have you not rejected…?] us;
you do not go out with our armies.
12 ·Help us fight the enemy [L Give us help against the foe].
Human ·help [aid] is useless,
13 but we can ·win [fight bravely] with God’s help.
He will ·defeat [tread on] our ·enemies [foes; 60:5–12].
Praise God Who Creates and Saves
33 ·Sing [Shout for joy] to the Lord, you ·who do what is right [righteous ones];
·honest people should praise him [L praise is fitting from the upright/virtuous].
2 ·Praise [Give thanks to] the Lord on the harp;
make music for him on a ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing a new song [C celebrating victory; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Is. 42:10; Rev. 5:9; 14:3] to him;
play well ·and joyfully [with a loud/a victory shout].
4 God’s word is ·true [upright; virtuous],
and everything he does is ·right [faithful].
5 He loves what is right and ·fair [just];
the Lord’s ·love [loyalty; covenant love] fills the earth.
6 The ·sky was [heavens were] made at the Lord’s ·command [word; Gen. 1:8].
By the breath from his mouth, he made all ·the stars [L its hosts; Gen. 1:16].
7 He gathered the water of the sea into ·a heap [or jars; bottles].
He ·made the great ocean stay in its place [L placed the deeps in a storehouse; Job 38:8–11].
8 All the earth should ·worship [fear; hold in awe] the Lord [Prov. 1:7];
·the whole [L all the inhabitants of the] world should ·fear him [hold him in awe].
9 He spoke, and it happened.
He commanded, and it ·appeared [L stood; Heb. 11:3].
10 The Lord ·upsets [frustrates] the ·plans [counsels] of nations;
he ·ruins [foils] ·all their plans [L the plans of the peoples].
11 But the Lord’s ·plans [counsels] will ·stand [endure] forever;
·his ideas [L the plans of his heart] will last from now on.
12 ·Happy [Blessed] is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people he chose for his ·very own [L inheritance; Ex. 19:5].
13 The Lord looks down from heaven
and sees every person.
14 From his throne he watches
all who live on earth.
15 He ·made [fashions all] their hearts
and understands everything they do.
16 No king is saved by his ·great [large] army.
No warrior ·escapes [is rescued/T delivered] by his great strength.
17 Horses ·can’t bring [are a vain hope for] victory;
they can’t save by their strength.
18 But the ·Lord looks after [L eye of the Lord is on] those who fear him,
those who ·put their hope [wait on him] in his ·love [loyalty; covenant love].
19 He ·saves [rescues; T delivers] ·them [their soul] from death
and ·spares their lives in times of hunger [revives them in famine].
20 So our hope is in the Lord.
He is our help, our shield to protect us.
21 ·We [L Our hearts] rejoice in him,
because we ·trust [have confidence in] his holy name.
22 Lord, ·show your love to us [L let your loyalty/covenant love be on us]
as we ·put our hope in [wait for] you.
A New Time Is Coming
17 “·Look [T Behold], I will ·make [create] new heavens and a new earth,
and people will not remember the ·past [former things]
or ·think about those things [bring them to heart/mind].
18 My people will be happy and joyful forever
because of the things I will ·make [create].
I will make a Jerusalem that is full of joy,
and I will make her people a delight.
19 Then I will rejoice over Jerusalem
and be delighted with my people.
There will never again be heard in that city
the sounds of ·crying [weeping] and ·sadness [crying].
20 There will never be a ·baby [infant] from that city
who lives only a few days.
And there will never be an older person
who doesn’t ·have a long life [L live out his days].
A person who ·lives a hundred years will be called young [or dies at a hundred years will still be considered a child],
and a person who dies before he is a hundred will be thought of as a ·sinner [or accursed].
21 In that city those who build houses will live there.
Those who plant vineyards will get to eat their grapes [C as opposed to times of conquest, when homes are confiscated and crops are stolen].
22 No more will one person ·build a house and someone else live there [L build and another inhabit].
One person will not ·plant a garden and someone else eat its fruit [L plant and another eat].
·My people will live a long time,
as trees live long [L For like the days of a tree
shall be the days of my people].
My chosen people will live there
and enjoy the ·things they make [L work of their hands].
23 They will ·never again work for nothing [not labor in vain].
They will never again give birth to children ·who die young [L doomed for misfortune/disaster].
All my people will be blessed by the Lord;
they and their ·children [descendants; seed] will be blessed.
24 I will ·provide for their needs [L answer] before they ·ask [call],
and I will ·help them [L hear] while they are still ·asking for help [L speaking].
25 The wolf and the lamb will ·eat together in peace [feed/graze together].
The lion will eat hay like an ox,
and ·a snake on the ground will not hurt anyone [the serpent’s food will be dust; Gen. 3:14].
They will not hurt or destroy each other
on all my holy mountain,”
says the Lord.
14 “·Blessed [Happy] are those who wash their robes [C an image of spiritual cleansing] so that they will receive the ·right [power; authority] to eat the fruit from the tree of life and may ·go through [enter] the gates into the city. 15 Outside the city are the ·evil people [L dogs], those who do ·evil magic [sorcery], who ·sin sexually [fornicate], who murder, who worship idols, and who love lies and tell lies.
16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to ·tell you [testify/witness to] these things for the churches. I am the ·descendant from the family of David [root and descendant/offspring of David; C a messianic title applied to Jesus; 5:4; Is. 11:10], and I am the bright morning star [2:28; Num. 24:17; C a messianic title].”
17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” Let the one who hears this say, “Come!” Let whoever is thirsty come; whoever wishes may ·have [take; receive] the water of life ·as a free gift [freely].
18 I ·warn [testify to] everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this ·book [scroll]: If anyone adds anything to these words, God will add to that person the ·disasters [plagues] written about in this ·book [scroll]. 19 And if anyone takes away from the words of this ·book [scroll] of prophecy, God will take away that one’s ·share [part] of the tree of life and of the holy city, which are written about in this ·book [scroll; Deut. 4:2; 12:32].
20 ·Jesus, the One who says these things are true, [L The One who witnesses to these things] says, “Yes, I am coming ·soon [quickly].”
·Amen [C Hebrew for “so be it”]. Come, Lord Jesus!
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
An Unforgiving Servant(A)
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, when my ·fellow believer [L brother (or sister)] sins against me, how many times ·must [should] I forgive him? Should I forgive him as many as seven times?”
22 Jesus answered, “I tell you, you must forgive him not just seven times, but ·seventy times seven times [or seventy-seven times; C the Greek can mean either 490 or 77; the point is unlimited forgiveness]!
23 “[L Therefore; For this reason] The kingdom of heaven is like a king who decided to ·collect the money his servants owed him [L settle accounts with his servants/slaves]. 24 When the king began ·to collect his money [the settlement/reckoning], a ·servant [slave] who owed him ·several million dollars [or billions of dollars; L ten thousand talents; C a talent was worth about six thousand days’ wages; this is an impossibly high debt] was brought to him. 25 But ·the servant [L he] did not have enough money to pay his master. So the master ordered that ·the servant [L he] be sold, together with his wife and children and everything he owned, and the debt paid.
26 “But the ·servant [slave] fell ·on his knees [face down; in obeisance] and begged, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’ 27 The master felt ·sorry [compassion] for ·his servant [that slave], so he let him go free and ·forgave [canceled] the debt.
28 “·Later [L After departing], that same ·servant [slave] found ·another servant [a fellow servant/slave] who owed him a ·few dollars [hundred denarii]. ·The servant [L He] grabbed him ·around the neck [L and began choking him] and said, ‘Pay me the money you owe me!’
29 “The ·other servant [fellow servant/slave] fell on his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you everything I owe.’
30 “But ·the first servant [L he] refused. He threw ·the other servant [him] into prison until he could pay everything he owed. 31 When ·the other servants [his fellow servants/slaves] saw what had happened, they were very ·sorry [upset; distressed]. So they went and ·told [reported to] their master all that had happened.
32 “Then the master called ·his servant [L him] in and said, ‘You ·evil [wicked] ·servant [slave]! Because you ·begged [pleaded with] me, I forgave [canceled] all that debt. 33 ·You should have [L Shouldn’t you have…?] showed mercy to ·that other servant [your fellow servant/slave], just as I showed mercy to you.’ 34 The master was very angry and ·put the servant in prison to be punished [L delivered him to the tormenters/torturers] until he could pay everything he owed.
35 “·This king did what [L So also] my heavenly Father will do to you if you do not forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
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