Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for the Nation
For the director of music. A psalm of the sons of Korah [C descendants of Kohath, son of Levi, who served as temple musicians; 1 Chr. 6:22].
85 Lord, you ·have been kind to [delight in] your land;
you ·brought back [restored the fortunes of; C perhaps at the end of the exile] the people of Jacob [C another name for Israel].
2 You forgave the guilt of the people
and covered all their sins. ·
3 You ·stopped [drew back from] all your anger;
you turned back from your ·strong [burning] anger.
4 God our Savior, ·bring us back again [restore us again].
Stop being angry with us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you ·stay angry [draw out your anger against us] from now on?
6 Won’t you give us life again?
Your people would rejoice in you.
7 Lord, show us your ·love [loyalty],
and ·save us [L give to us your salvation/victory].
8 I will listen to what God the Lord says.
He has ·ordered [spoken; promised] ·peace [prosperity] for ·those who worship him [L his people, his saints/loyal ones].
Don’t let them go back to foolishness.
9 ·God will soon save those who respect him [L His salvation/victory is near to those who fear him; Prov. 1:7],
and his glory will ·be seen [L dwell] in our land.
10 ·Love [Loyalty] and ·truth [faithfulness] ·belong to God’s people [L meet];
·goodness [righteousness] and ·peace [prosperity] ·will be theirs [L kiss].
11 ·On earth people will be loyal to God [Faithfulness sprouts/blooms from the earth/land],
and ·God’s goodness [righteousness] will ·shine [look] down from heaven.
12 The Lord will give his ·goodness [or good gifts],
and the land will give its crops.
13 ·Goodness [Righteousness] will go before ·God [L him]
and prepare the way for ·him [L his steps].
God Loves Jerusalem
A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah [C descendants of Kohath, son of Levi, who served as temple musicians; 1 Chr. 6:22].
87 ·The Lord built Jerusalem [L Its foundations are] on the holy mountain [C Zion, the location of the Temple].
2 ·He [L The Lord] loves ·its gates [L the gates of Zion] more than any other place in ·Israel [L Jacob].
3 City of God,
·wonderful [glorious] things are said about you [46; 48; Is. 2:2–4; 26:1–2; 60:15–22; 61:1–7]. ·
4 God says, “I will ·put Egypt and Babylonia
on the list of nations that know me [L mention Rahab and Babylonia as those who know me].
People from Philistia, Tyre, and Cush [C Ethiopia]
will be born there.”
5 They will say about ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple],
“This one and that one were born there.
God Most High will ·strengthen [establish] her.”
6 The Lord will keep a list of the nations.
He will note, “This person was born there.” ·
7 They will dance and sing,
“All ·good things come from Jerusalem [L my fountains are in you; 46:4; Jer. 2:13; Ezek. 47; Rev. 22:1–5].”
A Song About God’s Loyalty
A ·maskil [skillful psalm; meditation] of Ethan the Ezrahite [C a wise man; 1 Kin. 4:31].
89 I will always sing about the Lord’s ·love [loyalty];
I will ·tell of [L make known with my mouth] his ·loyalty [faithfulness] ·from now on [for generations].
2 I will say, “Your ·love [loyalty] ·continues [L is built] forever;
your ·loyalty [faithfulness] ·goes on and on [is established] like the ·sky [heavens].”
3 You said, “I ·made an agreement [L cut a covenant/treaty] with the man of my choice;
I made a promise to my servant David.
4 I told him, ‘I will ·make your family continue [L establish your seed] forever.
·Your kingdom will go on and on [L I will build your throne for generations; 2; 72; 78:70–72; 2 Sam. 7:11–16; 1 Chr. 17:10–14].’” ·
5 Lord, the heavens praise you for your ·miracles [wonderful acts]
and for your ·loyalty [faithfulness] in the ·meeting [assembly] of your holy ones.
6 Who in ·heaven [the skies] ·is equal to [ranks with] the Lord?
None of the ·angels [gods; divine council/assembly; L sons of God; 82:1] is like the Lord.
7 When the ·holy ones [L council of holy ones] meet, it is God they fear.
He is more ·frightening [awesome] than all who surround him.
8 Lord God ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts], who is like you?
Lord, you are powerful and completely ·trustworthy [faithful].
9 You rule the ·mighty [raging; surging] sea
and ·calm [still] the ·stormy [rising] waves.
10 You crushed the Rahab [C a sea monster, representing chaos (Job 26:12; Is. 51:9) and in some contexts Egypt defeated at the Sea (87:4; Is. 30:7; Ezek. 29:3; 32:3)] like a corpse;
by your ·power [L strong arm] you scattered your enemies.
11 The ·skies [heavens] and the earth belong to you.
You ·made [founded] the world and ·everything in it [L its fullness].
12 You created the north and the south.
Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon [C majestic mountains] sing for joy at your name.
13 Your arm has great power.
Your hand is strong; your right hand is lifted up.
14 Your ·kingdom [L throne] is ·built [established] on ·what is right and fair [righteousness and judgment/justice].
·Love [Loyalty] and ·truth [faithfulness] are ·in all you do [L before your face].
15 ·Happy [Blessed] are the people who know how to ·praise [shout to] you.
Lord, let them ·live [L walk] in the light of your ·presence [L face].
16 In your name they rejoice
and continually ·praise [exalt] your ·goodness [righteousness].
17 You are their ·glorious [beautiful] strength,
and in your ·kindness [favor] you ·honor our king [L lift up our horn; C symbol of power and here of the king].
18 Our shield [C the king] belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.
19 ·Once [Then], in a vision [2 Sam. 7:4], you spoke
to ·those who worship you [your faithful ones/saints].
You said, “I have ·given strength to [L set help on] a warrior;
I have raised up a ·young man [chosen one] from my people [1 Sam. 13:14; Acts 13:22].
20 I have found my servant David;
I ·appointed him by pouring [L have anointed him with] holy oil on him [1 Sam. 16:1–13].
21 I will steady him with my hand
and strengthen him with my arm.
22 No enemy will ·make him give forced payments [make him pay tribute; or prevail over/or outwit him],
and wicked people will not ·defeat [afflict; humble] him.
23 I will ·crush [pound] his enemies in front of him;
I will ·defeat [strike down] those who hate him.
24 My ·loyalty [faithfulness] and ·love [loyalty] will be with him.
Through ·me [L my name] ·he will be strong [L his horn will be raised up; v. 17].
25 I will ·give him power [L set his hand] over the sea
·and control [L his right hand] over the rivers [C the waters represent chaos].
26 He will ·say [proclaim] to me, ‘You are my father,
my God, the Rock, my ·Savior [Victor].’
27 I will make him my firstborn son,
the ·greatest [highest] king on earth [2:7; 2 Sam. 7:14].
28 My ·love [loyalty] will ·watch over [keep; guard] him forever,
and my ·agreement [covenant; treaty] with him will ·never end [be faithful].
29 I will ·make his family continue [L set his seed forever],
and his ·kingdom [L throne] ·will last as long as the skies [L like the days of the skies/heavens].
14 So the people left ·the place where they had camped [their camp/L tents], and they followed the priests who carried the Ark of the ·Agreement [Covenant; Treaty] across the Jordan River. 15 During harvest the Jordan overflows its banks. When the priests carrying the Ark came to the edge of the river and stepped into the water, 16 the water ·upstream [L going down from above] stopped flowing. It stood up in a heap a great distance away at Adam, a town near Zarethan. The water flowing down to the Sea of Arabah (the ·Dead [L Salt] Sea) was completely cut off. So the people crossed the river ·near [opposite; across from] Jericho. 17 The priests carried the Ark of the ·Agreement with [Covenant/Treaty of] the Lord to the middle of the river and stood there on dry ground. They waited there while ·all the people [the whole nation] of Israel walked across the Jordan River on dry land.
Rocks to Remind the People
4 After all the ·people [nation] had finished crossing the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua, 2 “Choose twelve men from among the people, one from each tribe. 3 ·Tell [Command; Instruct] them to get twelve rocks from the middle of the river, from where the priests stood. Carry the rocks and put them down where you ·stay [camp; lodge] tonight.”
4 So Joshua ·chose [appointed] one man from each tribe. Then he called the twelve men together 5 and said to them, “Go out into the river where the Ark of the Lord your God is. Each of you bring back one rock, one for each tribe of Israel, and carry it on your shoulder. 6 They will be a ·sign [reminder; memorial] among you. In the future your children will ask you, ‘What do these rocks mean [L to you]?’ 7 Tell them the water stopped flowing in the Jordan when the Ark of the ·Agreement with [Covenant/Treaty of] the Lord crossed the ·river [L Jordan]. These rocks will always remind the ·Israelites [L sons/T children of Israel] of this [C stone memorials are common in the OT; 7:26; 24:26–27; Gen. 28:18–22; 31:45–47].”
Living in the Light
5 You are God’s children whom he loves, so ·try to be like [imitate] him. 2 ·Live a life of love [Walk in love] just as Christ loved us and gave himself for us as a ·sweet-smelling [fragrant] offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But there must be ·no [no hint/mention/rumor of] sexual sin among you, or any kind of ·evil [impurity] or greed. Those things are not ·right [proper; fitting] for God’s holy people. 4 Also, there must be no ·evil talk [obscenity; filthiness] among you, and you must not speak foolishly or tell ·evil [crude; coarse; vulgar] jokes. These things are ·not right for you [out of place/character]. Instead, you should be giving thanks to God. 5 [L For] You can be sure of this: No one will have a ·place [inheritance] in the kingdom of Christ and of God who sins sexually, or does ·evil [impure] things, or is greedy. Anyone who is greedy is ·serving a false god [L an idolater].
6 Do not let anyone ·fool [deceive] you ·by telling you things that are not true [or with shallow philosophies; L with empty words], because these things will bring God’s ·anger [wrath] on ·those who do not obey him [L the children/sons of disobedience]. 7 So ·have nothing to do with them [or do not partner/associate with them]. 8 In the past you were ·full of darkness [L darkness], but now you are ·full of light [L light] in the Lord. So ·live [walk] like children ·who belong to [living in; L of] the light. 9 ·Light brings [L For the fruit of the light is] every kind of goodness, ·right living [righteousness], and truth. 10 ·Try to learn [Discern; Test and prove] what pleases the Lord. 11 ·Have nothing to do with [Take no part in] the things done in darkness, which are ·not worth anything [L unfruitful]. But ·show that they are wrong [expose them]. 12 [L For] It is shameful even to talk about what those people do in secret. 13 But the light makes all things ·easy to see [visible; exposed], 14 and everything that is ·made easy to see [visible; exposed] ·can become [or becomes a; L is] light. This is why it is said:
“Wake up, sleeper!
Rise from death,
and Christ will ·shine on [give light to] you [C likely an early Christian hymn based on Is. 26:19 and 60:1–2].”
15 So be very careful how you ·live [walk]. Do not ·live [walk] like those who are ·not wise [foolish], but ·live wisely [like those who are wise]. 16 ·Take advantage of every opportunity [or Make the most of your time; L …redeeming the time/season], because ·these are evil times [L the days are evil]. 17 So do not be ·foolish [ignorant] but ·learn what the Lord wants you to do [or understand the Lord’s will]. 18 Do not be drunk with wine, which ·will ruin you [is debauchery/reckless living], but be filled with the Spirit. 19 ·Speak [L …speaking] to each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music in your hearts to the Lord. 20 ·Always give [L …always giving] thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind
9 As Jesus ·was walking along [passed by; went along], he saw a man who had been born blind. 2 His ·followers [disciples] asked him, “·Teacher [L Rabbi], whose sin caused this man to be born blind—his own sin or his parents’ sin?” [C The disciples, like the friends of Job, viewed suffering as the result of a person’s own sins.]
3 Jesus answered, “It is not this man’s sin or his parents’ sin that made him blind. This man was born blind so that God’s ·power [L works] could be ·shown [displayed; revealed; manifest] in him. 4 While it is daytime, we must continue doing the work of the One who sent me. Night is coming [C Jesus’ death], when no one can work. 5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world [see 8:12].”
6 After Jesus said this, he spit on the ground and made some mud with ·it [L the saliva] and ·put [spread; anointed] the mud on the man’s eyes [C the significance of the mud made with spit is unclear]. 7 Then he told the man, “Go and wash in the Pool of Siloam.” (Siloam [C from a Hebrew word] means Sent.) So the man went, washed, and came back seeing.
8 The neighbors and some people who had earlier seen this man begging said, “Isn’t this the same man who used to sit and beg?”
9 Some said, “He is the one,” but others said, “No, he only looks like him.”
The man himself said, “I am the man.”
10 [L Therefore] They asked him, “How [L then] ·did you get your sight [L were your eyes opened]?”
11 He answered, “The man named Jesus made some mud and ·put [spread; anointed] it on my eyes. Then he told me to go to Siloam and wash. So I went and washed, and then I could see.”
12 They asked him, “Where is this man?”
“I don’t know,” he answered.
Spiritual Blindness
35 When Jesus heard that they had ·thrown [cast; driven] him out [C of the synagogue], Jesus found him and said, “Do you ·believe [trust] in the Son of Man [C a title for the Messiah; Dan. 7:13–14]?”
36 He asked, “Who is ·the Son of Man [L he], sir, so that I can ·believe [trust] in him?”
37 Jesus said to him, “You have seen him. ·The Son of Man [L He] is the one talking with you.”
38 He said, “·Lord [C the same word is rendered “sir” in v. 36, but here may have a more solemn sense], I ·believe [trust]!” Then the man ·worshiped [prostrated himself before] Jesus.
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