Book of Common Prayer
The Majesty of God
93 The Lord is king. He is clothed with majesty.
The Lord is clothed in majesty
and armed with strength.
The world is set,
and it cannot be moved.
2 Lord, your kingdom was set up long ago.
You are everlasting.
3 Lord, the seas rise up.
The seas raise their voice.
The seas lift up their pounding waves.
4 The sound of the water is loud.
The ocean waves are powerful.
But the Lord above is much greater.
5 Lord, your laws will stand forever.
Your Temple will be holy forevermore.
Praise for God’s Glory
96 Sing to the Lord a new song.
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord and praise his name.
Every day tell how he saves us.
3 Tell the nations of his glory.
Tell all peoples the miracles he does.
4 The Lord is great; he should be praised.
He should be honored more than all the gods.
5 All the gods of the nations are only idols.
But the Lord made the skies.
6 The Lord has glory and majesty.
He has power and beauty in his Temple.
7 Praise the Lord, all nations on earth.
Praise the Lord’s glory and power.
8 Praise the glory of the Lord’s name.
Bring an offering and come into his Temple courtyards.
9 Worship the Lord because he is holy.
The whole earth should tremble before the Lord.
10 Tell the nations, “The Lord is king.”
The earth is set, and it cannot be moved.
He will judge the people fairly.
11 Let the skies rejoice and the earth be glad.
Let the sea and everything in it shout.
12 Let the fields and everything in them show their joy.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy.
13 They will sing before the Lord because he is coming.
He is coming to judge the world.
He will judge the world with fairness
and the nations with truth.
Praise God Who Judges and Saves
David’s song from the time he acted crazy so Abimelech would send him away. And David did leave.
34 I will praise the Lord at all times.
His praise is always on my lips.
2 My whole being praises the Lord.
The poor will hear and be glad.
3 Tell the greatness of the Lord with me.
Let us praise his name together.
4 I asked the Lord for help, and he answered me.
He saved me from all that I feared.
5 Those who go to him for help are happy.
They are never disgraced.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him.
The Lord saved him from all his troubles.
7 The Lord saves those who fear him.
His angel camps around them.
8 Examine and see how good the Lord is.
Happy is the person who trusts the Lord.
9 People who belong to the Lord, fear him!
Those who fear him will have everything they need.
10 Even lions may become weak and hungry.
But those people who go to the Lord for help will have every good thing.
11 Children, come and listen to me.
I will teach you to worship the Lord.
12 You must do these things
to enjoy life and have many happy days.
13 You must not say evil things.
You must not tell lies.
14 Stop doing evil and do good.
Look for peace and work for it.
15 The Lord sees the good people.
He listens to their prayers.
16 But the Lord is against those who do evil.
He makes the world forget them.
17 The Lord hears good people when they cry out to him.
He saves them from all their troubles.
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted.
He saves those whose spirits have been crushed.
19 People who do what is right may have many problems.
But the Lord will solve them all.
20 He will protect their very bones.
Not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will kill the wicked people.
Those who hate good people will be judged guilty.
22 But the Lord saves his servants’ lives.
No one who trusts him will be judged guilty.
The Midianites Attack Israel
6 Again the people of Israel did what the Lord said was wrong. So for seven years the Lord let the people of Midian rule Israel. 2 The Midianites were very powerful and were cruel to the Israelites. So the Israelites made hiding places in the mountains. They also hid in caves and safe places. 3 Whenever the Israelites planted crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other peoples from the east would come and attack them. 4 These people camped in the land. And they destroyed the crops that the Israelites had planted. They did this as far as the land near Gaza. The people left nothing for Israel to eat. They left them no sheep, cattle or donkeys. 5 The Midianites came up and camped in the land. They brought their tents and their animals with them. They were like swarms of locusts! There were so many people and camels they could not be counted. These people came into the land to ruin it. 6 Israel became very poor because of the Midianites. So the Israelites cried out to the Lord for help.
7 The Israelites cried out to the Lord for help against the Midianites. 8 So the Lord sent a prophet to them. The prophet said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I brought you out of Egypt, the land of slavery. 9 I saved you from the people of Egypt. And I saved you from all the people of Canaan. I forced them out of their land. And I gave it to you. 10 Then I said to you, ‘I am the Lord your God. You will live in the land of the Amorites, but you must not worship their gods.’ But you did not obey me.”
The Angel of the Lord Visits Gideon
11 The angel of the Lord came and sat down under an oak tree at Ophrah. The oak tree belonged to Joash, who was one of the Abiezrite people. Joash was the father of Gideon. Gideon was separating some wheat from the chaff in a winepress. Gideon did this to keep the wheat from the Midianites. 12 The angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon and said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior!”
13 Then Gideon said, “Pardon me, sir. If the Lord is with us, why are we having so many troubles? Our ancestors told us he did miracles. They told us the Lord brought them out of Egypt. But now he has left us. He has allowed the Midianites to defeat us.”
14 The Lord turned to Gideon and said, “You have the strength to save the people of Israel. Go and save them from the Midianites. I am the one who is sending you.”
15 But Gideon answered, “Pardon me, Lord. How can I save Israel? My family group is the weakest in Manasseh. And I am the least important member of my family.”
16 The Lord answered him, “I will be with you. It will seem as if you are fighting only one man.”
17 Then Gideon said to the Lord, “If you are pleased with me, give me proof. Show me that it is really you talking with me. 18 Please wait here. Do not go away until I come back to you. Let me bring my offering and set it in front of you.”
And the Lord said, “I will wait until you come back.”
19 So Gideon went in and cooked a young goat. He also took about 20 quarts of flour and made bread without yeast. Then he put the meat into a basket. And he put the broth from the boiled meat into a pot. He brought out the meat, the broth and the bread without yeast. He brought the food to the angel of the Lord. Gideon gave it to him under the oak tree.
20 The angel of God said to Gideon, “Put the meat and the bread without yeast on that rock over there. Then pour the broth on them.” And Gideon did as he was told. 21 The angel of the Lord had a stick in his hand. He touched the meat and the bread with the end of the stick. Then fire jumped up from the rock! The meat and the bread were completely burned up! And the angel of the Lord disappeared! 22 Then Gideon understood he had been talking to the angel of the Lord. So Gideon cried, “Lord God! I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face!”
23 But the Lord said to Gideon, “Calm down! Don’t be afraid! You will not die!”
24 So Gideon built an altar there to worship the Lord. Gideon named the altar The Lord Is Peace. It still stands at Ophrah, where the Abiezrites live.
6 Remember this: The person who plants a little will have a small harvest. But the person who plants a lot will have a big harvest. 7 Each one should give, then, what he has decided in his heart to give. He should not give if it makes him sad. And he should not give if he thinks he is forced to give. God loves the person who gives happily. 8 And God can give you more blessings than you need. Then you will always have plenty of everything. You will have enough to give to every good work. 9 It is written in the Scriptures:
“He gives freely to the poor.
The things he does are right and will continue forever.” Psalm 112:9
10 God is the One who gives seed to the farmer. And he gives bread for food. And God will give you all the seed you need and make it grow. He will make a great harvest from your goodness. 11 God will make you rich in every way so that you can always give freely. And your giving through us will cause many to give thanks to God. 12 This service that you do helps the needs of God’s people. It is also bringing more and more thanks to God. 13 This service you do is a proof of your faith. Many people will praise God because of it. They will praise God because you follow the Good News of Christ—the gospel you say you believe. They will praise God because you freely share with them and with all others. 14 And when they pray, they will wish they could be with you. They will feel this because of the great grace that God has given you. 15 Thanks be to God for his gift that is too wonderful to explain.
People Say Jesus Has a Devil
20 Then Jesus went back home. But again a crowd gathered. There were so many people that Jesus and his followers could not eat. 21 His family heard about all these things. They went to get him because people were saying that Jesus was out of his mind.
22 And the teachers of the law from Jerusalem were saying, “Beelzebul is living inside him! He uses power from the ruler of demons to force demons out.”
23 So Jesus called the people together and used stories to teach them. He said, “Satan will not force his own demons out of people. 24 A kingdom that fights against itself cannot continue. 25 And a family that is divided cannot continue. 26 And if Satan is against himself and fights against his own people, then he cannot continue. And that is the end of Satan. 27 If a person wants to enter a strong man’s house and steal his things, first he must tie up the strong man. Then the thief can steal the things from the strong man’s house. 28 I tell you the truth. All sins that people do can be forgiven. And all the bad things people say against God can be forgiven. 29 But any person who says bad things against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven. He is guilty of a sin that continues forever.”
30 Jesus said this because the teachers of the law said that Jesus had an evil spirit inside him.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.