Book of Common Prayer
God the Supreme Ruler
97 The Lord is king! Earth, be glad!
Rejoice, you islands of the seas!
2 Clouds and darkness surround him;
he rules with righteousness and justice.
3 Fire goes in front of him
and burns up his enemies around him.
4 His lightning lights up the world;
the earth sees it and trembles.
5 The hills melt like wax before the Lord,
before the Lord of all the earth.
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
and all the nations see his glory.
7 Everyone who worships idols is put to shame;
all the gods bow down[a] before the Lord.
8 The people of Zion are glad,
and the cities of Judah rejoice
because of your judgments, O Lord.
9 Lord Almighty, you are ruler of all the earth;
you are much greater than all the gods.
10 The Lord loves those who hate evil;[b]
he protects the lives of his people;
he rescues them from the power of the wicked.
11 Light shines on the righteous,
and gladness on the good.
12 All you that are righteous be glad
because of what the Lord has done!
Remember what the holy God has done,
and give thanks to him.
God the Supreme King
99 (A)The Lord is king,
and the people tremble.
He sits on his throne above the winged creatures,
and the earth shakes.
2 The Lord is mighty in Zion;
he is supreme over all the nations.
3 Everyone will praise his great and majestic name.
Holy is he!
4 Mighty king,[a] you love what is right;
you have established justice in Israel;
you have brought righteousness and fairness.
5 Praise the Lord our God;
worship before his throne!
Holy is he!
6 Moses and Aaron were his priests,
and Samuel was one who prayed to him;
they called to the Lord, and he answered them.
7 (B)He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud;
they obeyed the laws and commands that he gave them.
8 O Lord, our God, you answered your people;
you showed them that you are a God who forgives,
even though you punished them for their sins.
9 Praise the Lord our God,
and worship at his sacred hill![b]
The Lord our God is holy.
The One True God
115 To you alone, O Lord, to you alone,
and not to us, must glory be given
because of your constant love and faithfulness.
2 Why should the nations ask us,
“Where is your God?”
3 Our God is in heaven;
he does whatever he wishes.
4 (A)Their gods are made of silver and gold,
formed by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
and eyes, but cannot see.
6 They have ears, but cannot hear,
and noses, but cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but cannot feel,
and feet, but cannot walk;
they cannot make a sound.
8 May all who made them and who trust in them
become[a] like the idols they have made.
9 Trust in the Lord, you people of Israel.
He helps you and protects you.
10 Trust in the Lord, you priests of God.
He helps you and protects you.
11 Trust in the Lord, all you that worship him.
He helps you and protects you.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us;
he will bless the people of Israel
and all the priests of God.
13 (B)He will bless everyone who honors him,
the great and the small alike.
14 May the Lord give you children—
you and your descendants!
15 May you be blessed by the Lord,
who made heaven and earth!
16 Heaven belongs to the Lord alone,
but he gave the earth to us humans.
17 The Lord is not praised by the dead,
by any who go down to the land of silence.[b]
18 But we, the living, will give thanks to him
now and forever.
Praise the Lord!
40 (A)The Israelites had lived in Egypt for 430 years. 41 On the day the 430 years ended, all the tribes of the Lord's people left Egypt. 42 It was a night when the Lord kept watch to bring them out of Egypt; this same night is dedicated to the Lord for all time to come as a night when the Israelites must keep watch.
Regulations about Passover
43 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “These are the Passover regulations: No foreigner shall eat the Passover meal, 44 but any slave that you have bought may eat it if you circumcise him first. 45 No temporary resident or hired worker may eat it. 46 (B)The whole meal must be eaten in the house in which it was prepared; it must not be taken outside. And do not break any of the animal's bones. 47 The whole community of Israel must celebrate this festival, 48 but no uncircumcised man may eat it. If a foreigner has settled among you and wants to celebrate Passover to honor the Lord, you must first circumcise all the males of his household. He is then to be treated like a native-born Israelite and may join in the festival. 49 The same regulations apply to native-born Israelites and to foreigners who settle among you.” 50 All the Israelites obeyed and did what the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron. 51 On that day the Lord brought the Israelite tribes out of Egypt.
29 (A)Now, what about those people who are baptized for the dead? What do they hope to accomplish? If it is true, as some claim, that the dead are not raised to life, why are those people being baptized for the dead? 30 And as for us—why would we run the risk of danger every hour? 31 My friends, I face death every day! The pride I have in you, in our life in union with Christ Jesus our Lord, makes me declare this. 32 (B)If I have, as it were, fought “wild beasts” here in Ephesus simply from human motives, what have I gained? But if the dead are not raised to life, then, as the saying goes, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we will die.”
33 Do not be fooled. “Bad companions ruin good character.” 34 Come back to your right senses and stop your sinful ways. I declare to your shame that some of you do not know God.
The Resurrection Body
35 Someone will ask, “How can the dead be raised to life? What kind of body will they have?” 36 You fool! When you plant a seed in the ground, it does not sprout to life unless it dies. 37 And what you plant is a bare seed, perhaps a grain of wheat or some other grain, not the full-bodied plant that will later grow up. 38 God provides that seed with the body he wishes; he gives each seed its own proper body.
39 And the flesh of living beings is not all the same kind of flesh; human beings have one kind of flesh, animals another, birds another, and fish another.
40 And there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies; the beauty that belongs to heavenly bodies is different from the beauty that belongs to earthly bodies. 41 The sun has its own beauty, the moon another beauty, and the stars a different beauty; and even among stars there are different kinds of beauty.
The Resurrection(A)
28 After the Sabbath, as Sunday morning was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb. 2 Suddenly there was a violent earthquake; an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, rolled the stone away, and sat on it. 3 His appearance was like lightning, and his clothes were white as snow. 4 The guards were so afraid that they trembled and became like dead men.
5 The angel spoke to the women. “You must not be afraid,” he said. “I know you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. 6 He is not here; he has been raised, just as he said. Come here and see the place where he was lying. 7 Go quickly now, and tell his disciples, ‘He has been raised from death, and now he is going to Galilee ahead of you; there you will see him!’ Remember what I have told you.”
8 So they left the tomb in a hurry, afraid and yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples.
9 Suddenly Jesus met them and said, “Peace be with you.” They came up to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. 10 “Do not be afraid,” Jesus said to them. “Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me.”
The Report of the Guard
11 While the women went on their way, some of the soldiers guarding the tomb went back to the city and told the chief priests everything that had happened. 12 The chief priests met with the elders and made their plan; they gave a large sum of money to the soldiers 13 and said, “You are to say that his disciples came during the night and stole his body while you were asleep. 14 And if the Governor should hear of this, we will convince him that you are innocent, and you will have nothing to worry about.”
15 The guards took the money and did what they were told to do. And so that is the report spread around by the Jews to this very day.
Jesus Appears to His Disciples(B)
16 (C)The eleven disciples went to the hill in Galilee where Jesus had told them to go.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.