Book of Common Prayer
The Word of God
119 ·Happy [Blessed] are those ·who live pure lives [L whose way is blameless],
who follow the Lord’s ·teachings [instructions; law].
2 Happy are those who keep his ·rules [decrees; testimonies],
who ·try to obey [L seek] him with their whole heart.
3 They don’t do what is wrong;
they follow his ways.
4 Lord, you ·gave [commanded] your ·orders [precepts]
to be obeyed completely.
5 ·I wish I [L O that my ways] were more ·loyal [steadfast; established; set]
in obeying your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements].
6 Then I would not be ashamed
·when I study [staring/gazing at] your commands.
7 When I learned that your ·laws [judgments] are fair,
I ·praised [thanked] you with an ·honest [upright] heart.
8 I will obey your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements],
so please don’t ever ·leave [abandon; forsake] me.
9 How can a young person ·live a pure life [L keep his way pure]?
By ·obeying [guarding; keeping] your word.
10 With all my heart I ·try to obey [seek] you.
Don’t let me ·break [stray from] your commands.
11 I have ·taken your words to heart [treasured/stored your words in my heart]
so I would not sin against you.
12 Lord, you ·should be praised [are blessed].
Teach me your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements].
13 My lips will ·tell about [recount]
all the ·laws you have spoken [L judgments of your mouth].
14 I enjoy ·living by your rules [the way of your decrees/testimonies]
as people enjoy great riches.
15 I ·think about [meditate on] your ·orders [precepts]
and ·study [look at] your ways.
16 I enjoy ·obeying your demands [your statutes/ordinances/requirements],
and I will not forget your word.
17 ·Do good [Grant this] to me, your servant, so I can live,
so I can ·obey [keep; guard] your word.
18 Open my eyes to see
the ·miracles [wonders] in your ·teachings [instructions; law].
19 I am a ·stranger [sojourner; alien resident] ·on earth [or in the land].
Do not hide your commands from me.
20 ·I wear myself out [My soul pines away] with ·desire [longing]
for your ·laws [judgments] all the time.
21 You ·scold [rebuke; reprimand] ·proud [arrogant] people;
those who ·ignore [wander from] your commands are cursed.
22 ·Don’t let me be insulted and hated [L Take away insult and contempt]
because I keep your ·rules [decrees; testimonies].
23 Even if princes sit around and speak against me,
I, your servant, will ·think [meditate] about your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements].
24 Your ·rules [statutes; ordinances; requirements] give me pleasure;
they ·give me good advice [L are my advisors/counselors].
A Prayer Against Liars
For the director of music. Upon the ·sheminith [L eighth; C a reference to an eight-stringed instrument or possibly the manner of singing]. A psalm of David.
12 Save me, Lord, because the ·good [faithful; godly; covenantal; loyal] people are all gone;
·no true believers are left on earth [L the faithful have vanished among humanity].
2 Everyone ·lies [L speaks falsehood] to his neighbors;
they ·say one thing and mean another [speak with flattering lips and with a double heart/L heart and heart].
3 The Lord will ·stop [L cut off] those flattering lips
and those bragging tongues.
4 They say, “Our tongues will ·help us win [prevail].
·We can say what we wish [L Our lips belong to us]; ·no one [L who…?] is our master.”
5 But the Lord says,
“I will now rise up,
because the ·poor [weak] are ·being hurt [destroyed; plundered; oppressed].
Because of the ·moans [groans; sighs] of the ·helpless [needy],
I will give them the ·help [victory] they ·want [long for].”
6 The Lord’s ·words [or promises] are ·pure [flawless],
like silver ·purified [refined] ·by fire [or in a furnace],
·purified [refined] seven times over [18:30; 119:140].
7 Lord, you will ·keep us safe [L guard/protect them];
you will always ·protect [guard] us from such ·people [a generation].
8 But the wicked ·are [L walk] all around us;
·everyone loves what is wrong [L what is vile is lifted up among the sons of man/humanity].
A Prayer for God to Be Near
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
13 How long will you forget me, Lord? Forever?
How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I ·worry [or bear pain; L hold counsels]
and ·feel sad [hold sorrow] in my heart all day?
How long will my enemy ·win [rise up] over me?
3 Lord, look at me.
Answer me, my God;
·tell me [L light up my eyes], or I will ·die [L sleep the sleep of death].
4 Otherwise my enemy will say, “I have ·won [finished him off]!”
·Those against me [My foes] will rejoice that I’ve been ·defeated [shaken; moved].
5 I ·trust [have confidence] in your ·love [loyalty; covenant love].
My heart ·is happy [rejoices] because ·you saved me [of your victory/salvation].
6 I sing to the Lord
because he has ·taken care of [been good to] me.
The Unbelieving Fool
For the director of music. Of David.
14 Fools say ·to themselves [L in their hearts],
“There is no God [C Psalm 53 largely parallels this psalm].”
·Fools are evil [L They are corrupt] and do ·terrible [detestable] things [Deut. 32:5];
there is no one who does anything good.
2 The Lord looked down from heaven on all people
to see if anyone ·understood [L was wise/insightful],
if anyone was ·looking to God for help [seeking God].
3 But all have ·turned [wandered] away.
Together, everyone has become ·evil [perverse].
There is no one who does anything good,
not even one [Rom. 3:10–12].
4 Don’t ·the wicked [L those who do evil] ·understand [know]?
They ·destroy [consume; L eat] my people as if they were ·eating [consuming] bread.
They do not ·ask the Lord for help [call on the Lord].
5 But the wicked are ·filled [terrified] with terror,
because God is with ·those who do what is right [the company of the righteous].
6 The wicked ·upset [confuse; frustrate] the plans of the poor,
but the Lord ·will protect them [is their refuge].
7 I pray that ·victory [salvation] will come to Israel from Mount Zion [C the location of the Temple]!
May the Lord ·bring them back [restore the fortunes of his people; C perhaps at the end of the exile].
Then the people of Jacob will rejoice,
and the people of Israel will be glad.
12 This is what the Lord says:
“A shepherd might save from a lion’s mouth
only two leg bones or a scrap of an ear of his sheep.
In the same way only a few Israelites in Samaria will be saved—
·people who now sit on their beds
and on their couches [or only a corner of a bed or a part of a couch will be saved].”
13 “Listen and ·be witnesses [testify] against the family of Jacob [C Israel],” says the Lord God, the God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
14 “·When [L On the day] I punish Israel for their sins,
I will also destroy the altars at Bethel [C an important worship center in Israel; 1 Kin. 12:25–33].
The ·corners [L horns] of the altar will be cut off,
and they will fall to the ground.
15 I will tear down the winter house,
together with the summer house.
The houses ·decorated with [or filled with; L of] ivory will be destroyed,
and the great houses will ·come to an end [or be swept away],” says the Lord.
Israel Will Not Return
4 Listen to this message, you cows of Bashan on the Mountain of Samaria [C mocking the wealthy women of Samaria].
You ·take things from [oppress] the poor
and crush people who are in need.
Then you command your husbands,
“Bring us something to drink!”
2 The Lord God has ·promised [sworn] this:
“Just as surely as I am a holy God,
the time will come
when you will be taken away ·by hooks [or in baskets],
and what is left of you with fishhooks.
3 You will go straight out of the city
through ·holes [breaches] in the walls,
and you will be thrown ·on the garbage dump [on the dung heap; or out toward Harmon],” says the Lord.
4 “Come to the city of Bethel and ·sin [rebel; transgress];
come to Gilgal and ·sin [rebel; transgress] even more [C Bethel and Gilgal were important worship centers in Israel].
Offer your sacrifices every morning,
and bring ·one-tenth of your crops [your tithes] every three days.
5 Offer bread made with yeast as a sacrifice to show your thanks,
and ·brag about [publicly announce] the ·special [voluntary; freewill] offerings you bring,
because this is what you love to do, ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel],” says the Lord God.
Jesus Will Come Again
3 ·My friends [L Beloved], this is [L now] the second letter I have written you [C the first is probably 1 Peter] to ·help your honest minds remember [L awaken/arouse your sincere understanding/intentions with a reminder]. 2 I want you to ·think about [remember; recall] the words the holy prophets spoke in the past, and remember the command our Lord and Savior gave us through your apostles [Jude 17]. 3 It is most important for you to understand what will happen in the last days. ·People [L Scoffers] will ·laugh at [scoff at; ridicule] you. They will ·live doing the evil things they want to do [indulge their own desires/lusts; Jude 18]. 4 [L And] They will say, “·Jesus promised to come again. Where is he [L Where is his promised coming]? [L For] Our ·fathers [ancestors] have ·died [L fallen asleep], but ·the world [L all things] continues the way it has been since ·it was made [it began with creation].” 5 But they ·do not want to remember [willfully forget/ignore] what happened long ago. By the word of God heaven ·was made [came to be; Gen. 1:3–20; Ps. 33:6; 148:5; Heb. 11:3], and the earth was made from water [Gen. 1:2; Ps. 24:2] and with water [Gen. 1:6–7, 9; Ps. 33:7; 136:6; Prov. 8:27–29]. 6 ·Then [L Through these; C either the water and the word of God, or the heavens and earth which poured forth their water; Gen. 7:11] the world was flooded and destroyed ·with water [L being deluged with water; Gen. 6—9]. 7 And that same word of God is ·keeping [reserving; holding in store] heaven and earth that we now have in order to be destroyed by fire [Deut. 32:22; Is. 66:15–16; Zeph. 1:18; Mal. 4:1]. They are being kept for the judgment day and the destruction of ·all who are against God [L the ungodly/impious people].
8 But do not forget [ignore; miss] this one thing, ·dear friends [L beloved]: To the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day [C our perception of time is not the same as God’s; Ps. 90:4]. 9 The Lord is not ·slow [or late] in doing what he promised—the way some people understand ·slowness [lateness; Hab. 2:3]. But God is being patient with you [Ex. 34:6]. He does not want anyone to ·be lost [perish], but he wants all people to ·change their hearts and lives [L come to repentance].
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief [C with surprise and danger]. The ·skies [heavens] will ·disappear [pass away; Matt. 5:18; 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 16:17; 21:33] with a loud noise. ·Everything in them [L The elements; C either everything in the cosmos or specifically the heavenly bodies] will be ·destroyed [or dissolved] by ·fire [heat; burning], and the earth and ·everything in it [or all the deeds done on it] will be exposed.[a]
Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority(A)
23 Jesus went to the Temple [courts], and while he was teaching there, the ·leading [T chief] priests and the elders of the people came to him. They said, “What authority do you have to do these things? [L And] Who gave you this authority?”
24 Jesus answered, “I also will ask you a question. If you answer me, then I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. 25 Tell me: When John baptized people, did that come from ·God [L heaven; C a reverential Jewish way of referring to God] or just from ·other people [human beings]?”
They argued about Jesus’ question, saying, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from ·God [L heaven],’ Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘It was from ·people [human beings],’ we are afraid of what the crowd will do because they all ·believe [think; hold] that John was a prophet.”
27 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said to them, “Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things.
A Story About Two Sons
28 “Tell me what you think about this: A man had two sons. He went to the ·first [elder] son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in ·my [the] vineyard.’ 29 The son answered, ‘I will not go.’ But later the son ·changed his mind [regretted/thought better of it] and went. 30 Then the father went to the other son and said, ·‘Son, go and work today in my vineyard’ [L the same thing]. The son answered, ‘Yes, sir, I will,’ but he did not go. 31 Which of the two sons ·obeyed [L did the will of] his father?”
·The priests and leaders [L They] answered, “The first son.”
Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes ·will enter [are going into] the kingdom of God ·before you do [ahead of you]. 32 [L For] John came to show you the ·right way to live [the way/path of righteousness]. You did not believe him, but the tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. Even after seeing this, you still refused to ·change your ways [change your mind; repent] and believe him.
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