Book of Common Prayer
61 O God, listen to me! Hear my prayer! 2 For wherever I am, though far away at the ends of the earth, I will cry to you for help. When my heart is faint and overwhelmed, lead me to the mighty, towering Rock of safety. 3 For you are my refuge, a high tower where my enemies can never reach me. 4 I shall live forever in your tabernacle; oh, to be safe beneath the shelter of your wings! 5 For you have heard my vows, O God, to praise[a] you every day, and you have given me the blessings you reserve for those who reverence your name.
6 You will give me[b] added years of life, as rich and full as those of many generations, all packed into one. 7 And I shall live before the Lord forever. Oh, send your loving-kindness and truth to guard and watch over me, 8 and I will praise your name continually, fulfilling my vow of praising you each day.
62 I stand silently before the Lord, waiting for him to rescue me. For salvation comes from him alone. 2 Yes, he alone is my Rock, my rescuer, defense and fortress. Why then should I be tense with fear when troubles come?
3-4 But what is this? They pick on me at a time when my throne[c] is tottering; they plot my death and use lies and deceit to try to force me from the throne. They are so friendly to my face while cursing in their hearts!
5 But I stand silently before the Lord, waiting for him to rescue me. For salvation comes from him alone. 6 Yes, he alone is my Rock, my rescuer, defense, and fortress—why then should I be tense with fear when troubles come?
7 My protection and success[d] come from God alone. He is my refuge, a Rock where no enemy can reach me. 8 O my people, trust him all the time. Pour out your longings before him, for he can help! 9 The greatest of men or the lowest—both alike are nothing in his sight. They weigh less than air on scales.
10 Don’t become rich by extortion and robbery; if your riches increase, don’t be proud. 11-12 God has said it many times, that power belongs to him (and also, O Lord, steadfast love belongs to you). He rewards each one of us according to what our works deserve.
112 Praise the Lord! For all who fear God and trust in him are blessed beyond expression. Yes, happy is the man who delights in doing his commands.
2 His children shall be honored everywhere, for good men’s sons have a special heritage. 3 He himself shall be wealthy, and his good deeds will never be forgotten. 4 When darkness overtakes him, light will come bursting in. He is kind and merciful— 5 and all goes well for the generous man who conducts his business fairly.
6 Such a man will not be overthrown by evil circumstances. God’s constant care of him will make a deep impression on all who see it. 7 He does not fear bad news, nor live in dread of what may happen. For he is settled in his mind that Jehovah will take care of him. 8 That is why he is not afraid but can calmly face his foes. 9 He gives generously to those in need. His deeds will never be forgotten.[a] He shall have influence and honor.
10 Evil-minded men will be infuriated when they see all this; they will gnash their teeth in anger and slink away, their hopes thwarted.
115 Glorify your name, not ours, O Lord! Cause everyone to praise your loving-kindness and your truth. 2 Why let the nations say, “Their God is dead!”[a]
3 For he is in the heavens and does as he wishes. 4 Their gods are merely man-made things of silver and of gold. 5 They can’t talk or see, despite their eyes and mouths! 6 Nor can they hear, nor smell, 7 nor use their hands or feet, nor speak! 8 And those who make and worship them are just as foolish as their idols are.
9 O Israel, trust the Lord! He is your helper. He is your shield. 10 O priests of Aaron, trust the Lord! He is your helper; he is your shield. 11 All of you, his people, trust in him. He is your helper; he is your shield.
12 Jehovah is constantly thinking about us, and he will surely bless us. He will bless the people of Israel and the priests of Aaron, 13 and all, both great and small, who reverence him.
14 May the Lord richly bless both you and your children. 15 Yes, Jehovah who made heaven and earth will personally bless you! 16 The heavens belong to the Lord, but he has given the earth to all mankind.
17 The dead cannot sing praises to Jehovah here on earth,[b] 18 but we can! We praise him forever! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
14 Sing, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel; be glad and rejoice with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem. 15 For the Lord will remove his hand of judgment and disperse the armies of your enemy. And the Lord himself, the King of Israel, will live among you! At last your troubles will be over—you need fear no more.
16 On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, “Cheer up, don’t be afraid. 17-18 For the Lord your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will give you victory. He will rejoice over you with great gladness; he will love you and not accuse you.” Is that a joyous choir I hear? No, it is the Lord himself exulting over you in happy song.
“I have gathered your wounded and taken away your reproach. 19 And I will deal severely with all who have oppressed you. I will save the weak and helpless ones, and bring together those who were chased away. I will give glory to my former exiles, mocked and shamed.
20 “At that time, I will gather you together and bring you home again, and give you a good name, a name of distinction among all the peoples of the earth, and they will praise you when I restore your fortunes before your very eyes,” says the Lord.
1 1-2 From: Paul, the slave of God and the messenger of Jesus Christ.
I have been sent to bring faith to those God has chosen and to teach them to know God’s truth—the kind of truth that changes lives—so that they can have eternal life, which God promised them before the world began—and he cannot lie. 3 And now in his own good time he has revealed this Good News and permits me to tell it to everyone. By command of God our Savior, I have been trusted to do this work for him.
4 To: Titus, who is truly my son in the affairs of the Lord.
May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior give you his blessings and his peace.
5 I left you there on the island of Crete so that you could do whatever was needed to help strengthen each of its churches, and I asked you to appoint pastors[a] in every city who would follow the instructions I gave you. 6 The men you choose must be well thought of for their good lives; they must have only one wife and their children must love the Lord and not have a reputation for being wild or disobedient to their parents.
7 These pastors must be men of blameless lives because they are God’s ministers. They must not be proud or impatient; they must not be drunkards or fighters or greedy for money. 8 They must enjoy having guests in their homes and must love all that is good. They must be sensible men, and fair. They must be clean minded and level headed. 9 Their belief in the truth that they have been taught must be strong and steadfast so that they will be able to teach it to others and show those who disagree with them where they are wrong.
10 For there are many who refuse to obey; this is especially true among those who say that all Christians must obey the Jewish laws. But this is foolish talk; it blinds people to the truth, 11 and it must be stopped. Already whole families have been turned away from the grace of God. Such teachers are only after your money. 12 One of their own men, a prophet from Crete, has said about them, “These men of Crete are all liars; they are like lazy animals, living only to satisfy their stomachs.” 13 And this is true. So speak to the Christians there as sternly as necessary to make them strong in the faith 14 and to stop them from listening to Jewish folk tales and the demands of men who have turned their backs on the truth.
15 A person who is pure of heart sees goodness and purity in everything; but a person whose own heart is evil and untrusting finds evil in everything, for his dirty mind and rebellious heart color all he sees and hears. 16 Such persons claim they know God, but from seeing the way they act, one knows they don’t. They are rotten and disobedient, worthless so far as doing anything good is concerned.
1 1-2 Dear friend who loves God:[a]
Several biographies of Christ have already been written using as their source material the reports circulating among us from the early disciples and other eyewitnesses. 3 However, it occurred to me that it would be well to recheck all these accounts from first to last and after thorough investigation to pass this summary on to you,[b] 4 to reassure you of the truth of all you were taught.
5 My story begins with a Jewish priest, Zacharias, who lived when Herod was king of Judea. Zacharias was a member of the Abijah division of the Temple service corps. (His wife, Elizabeth, was, like himself, a member of the priest tribe of the Jews, a descendant of Aaron.) 6 Zacharias and Elizabeth were godly folk, careful to obey all of God’s laws in spirit as well as in letter. 7 But they had no children, for Elizabeth was barren; and now they were both very old.
8-9 One day as Zacharias was going about his work in the Temple—for his division was on duty that week—the honor fell to him by lot[c] to enter the inner sanctuary and burn incense before the Lord. 10 Meanwhile, a great crowd stood outside in the Temple court, praying as they always did during that part of the service when the incense was being burned.
11-12 Zacharias was in the sanctuary when suddenly an angel appeared, standing to the right of the altar of incense! Zacharias was startled and terrified.
13 But the angel said, “Don’t be afraid, Zacharias! For I have come to tell you that God has heard your prayer, and your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son! And you are to name him John. 14 You will both have great joy and gladness at his birth, and many will rejoice with you. 15 For he will be one of the Lord’s great men. He must never touch wine or hard liquor—and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from before his birth! 16 And he will persuade many a Jew to turn to the Lord his God. 17 He will be a man of rugged[d] spirit and power like Elijah, the prophet of old; and he will precede the coming of the Messiah, preparing the people for his arrival. He will soften adult hearts to become like little children’s, and will change disobedient minds to the wisdom of faith.”
18 Zacharias said to the angel, “But this is impossible! I’m an old man now, and my wife is also well along in years.”
19 Then the angel said, “I am Gabriel! I stand in the very presence of God. It was he who sent me to you with this good news! 20 And now, because you haven’t believed me, you are to be stricken silent, unable to speak until the child is born. For my words will certainly come true at the proper time.”
21 Meanwhile the crowds outside were waiting for Zacharias to appear and wondered why he was taking so long. 22 When he finally came out, he couldn’t speak to them, and they realized from his gestures that he must have seen a vision in the Temple. 23 He stayed on at the Temple for the remaining days of his Temple duties and then returned home. 24 Soon afterwards Elizabeth his wife became pregnant and went into seclusion for five months.
25 “How kind the Lord is,” she exclaimed, “to take away my disgrace of having no children!”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.