Book of Common Prayer
Asaph wrote this psalm for the music leader. He should use special music.
God, help our nation[a]
80 Shepherd of Israel, listen to us!
You lead us, Joseph's family,
as your sheep.[b]
God, you sit on your throne as king,
above the cherubs.[c]
Show everyone your bright glory!
2 Shine on Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Show your great power!
Come and rescue us!
3 God, turn us to come back to you.
Look at us with a smile on your face!
Then we will be safe.
4 Lord God Almighty,
we, your people, are praying to you.
How long will you continue to be angry with us?
5 You have caused us to eat tears as our food.
Buckets full of tears is what we drink.
6 You have caused the people who live near us
to laugh at us.
Our enemies insult us.
7 God Almighty, turn us to come back to you.
Look at us with a smile on your face!
Then we will be safe.
8 You pulled us out from Egypt,
like a vine that you dug out of the ground.
You chased nations out of this land,
and you planted us here.[d]
9 You prepared the ground ready for us.
We put down roots like a vine.[e]
We grew well and we covered all the land.
10 Our branches gave shade to the mountains,
and to the big cedar trees.
11 Our branches reached the Mediterranean Sea,
and as far as the Euphrates River.
12 Why have you knocked down the walls
that protected us?[f]
Now, anyone who passes can rob our fruit.
13 Wild pigs from the forest attack your vine.
Other wild animals eat all the fruit.
14 Come back to us, God Almighty!
Look down from heaven
and see what is happening!
Take care of your special vine.
15 You planted it with your own right hand.
You caused it to grow, like a strong son.[g]
16 But now the enemy has cut down your vine,
and they have burned it with fire.
Show them that you are angry with them,
and destroy them!
17 Give strength to the one who sits at your right hand.
He is the man that you have chosen to serve you.[h]
18 Then we will never turn away from you.
Give to us new life and strength,
so that we may always worship you.
19 Lord God Almighty, turn us to come back to you.
Look at us with a smile on your face!
Then we will be safe.
The 1st Hallelujah Psalm[a]
146 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
I say to myself, ‘Praise the Lord!’
2 I will praise the Lord through all my life.
While I am alive, I will always sing to praise my God.
3 Do not trust in human leaders.
No human can save you.
4 When they die, they return to the ground.
On that day, their plans come to an end.
5 The person who knows that the God of Jacob will help him is a happy person![b]
If he trusts in the Lord as his God, he is happy.
6 The Lord made the skies, the earth and the sea.
He also made everything that is in them.
He always does what he has promised to do.
7 He helps poor people to receive justice.
He gives food to the hungry.
He makes people that are in a prison go free.
8 The Lord makes blind people see again.
The Lord lifts up people who have fallen down.
The Lord loves people who are righteous.
9 The Lord takes care of strangers who live among us.
He helps widows and children who have no family.
But he stops wicked people doing what they want.
10 The Lord will rule as king for ever!
Zion's people, he will always be your God
and your descendants' God.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
The 2nd Hallelujah Psalm
147 Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
It is good to sing to praise our God!
Yes, it is right to praise him and it makes us happy.
2 The Lord is building Jerusalem again.
He is bringing home the Israelite exiles.
3 He makes people who are very sad well again.[c]
He helps their wounds to get better.
4 He decided how many stars there should be in the sky.
He has given a name to each of them.
5 Our Lord is great and very powerful.
He understands everything!
6 The Lord gives help to poor people,
but he knocks down wicked people to the ground.
7 Offer a song to the Lord,
to thank him for what he has done.
Make music with a harp
to praise our God.
8 He fills the sky with clouds.
He sends rain to make the earth wet.
He causes grass to grow on the hills.
9 He gives food for the animals to eat.
He feeds the young ravens when they cry.[d]
10 If a horse is very strong,
that does not please him.
If a soldier is brave,
that does not make him happy.
11 Who does make the Lord happy?
People who respect him and serve him well.
People who trust him because they know he loves them.
12 Jerusalem's people, praise the Lord!
Yes, Zion's people, praise your God![e]
13 Praise him because he makes your city's gates strong.
He blesses the people who live there.
14 He causes your borders to be safe from your enemies.
He gives you lots of the best wheat to eat.
15 He sends his commands to reach all the earth.
Very soon the whole world knows what he wants.
16 He covers the earth with snow,
like a white blanket.
He puts white frost everywhere,
like ashes that the wind blows.
17 He throws hail from the sky,
like small stones.
When he sends a cold wind,
nobody can continue to stand.
18 Then he commands it all to melt.
He makes the warm wind blow,
and the ice becomes streams of water.
19 He sends his message to Jacob's descendants.
He gives his rules and laws to Israel's people.[f]
20 He has not done that for any other nation.
They do not know his laws.[g]
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
13 The Lord God says, ‘These people open their mouths to worship me. They use their lips to say that I am great. But they are not really thinking about me. When they worship me, they use rules that people have taught them. 14 So now I will surprise these people again. I will surprise them with great miracles! Wise people will not seem wise any more. Clever people will no longer seem to be clever.’
15 It will be very bad for people who try to deceive the Lord. They try to hide their thoughts from him. They secretly decide to do evil things. They boast and they say, ‘Nobody can see us. Nobody knows what we are doing.’
16 Your minds are really confused! You think that the clay is more important than the person who uses it to make pots! A bowl cannot say to its maker, ‘You did not make me!’ A pot cannot say to the potter, ‘You do not know what you are doing!’
17 Very soon, Lebanon's forest will become a field of fruit trees. And the field of fruit trees will seem like a forest. 18 At that time, deaf people will be able to hear when someone is reading words from a book. Blind people who have been living in a dark place will be able see what is happening. 19 And the Lord will make weak people happy again. Poor people will sing with joy, because of what the Holy God of Israel has done.
20 Cruel people will disappear. Proud people who insult others will no longer be there. There will be no more people who love to do evil things.
21 It will be the same for people who tell lies in court. They deceive the judge at the city gate. They say false things against good people to make them guilty. People who are like that will have gone!
22 So this is what the Lord says to Jacob's descendants. He is the one who rescued Abraham. He says, ‘Jacob's descendants will no longer be ashamed. Their faces will show their shame no more. 23 They will see that I have blessed them so that they have many children. Then they will agree that I am great. They will praise me, the Holy God of Jacob. They will respect me, Israel's God.
24 At that time, people with minds that are confused will understand what is right. And people who like to complain will accept my teaching.’
22 When I looked, I saw that there was no temple in the city. The Lord God, who has all power and authority, is there himself. The Lamb is also there. So people do not need a special place to worship him there. 23 Also, the city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it. God's bright glory gives light to the city. The Lamb is the lamp that gives it light.
24 People from all the world's nations will live in the city's light. The earth's rulers will bring all their valuable things into it. 25 Nobody will ever shut the city's gates at the end of the day. It will always be day and there will be no night there. 26 People from all the world's nations will bring their beautiful and valuable things into the city. 27 But nothing that is bad or unclean will ever go in there. Nobody who does anything that God hates will go into the city. Nobody who tells lies will go in. Only those people with their names written in the Lamb's book of life can go in there.[a]
The river and the tree that give life
22 Then the angel showed me a river. It had water that gives true life to people. The water shone like clean glass. The river of water started from the throne where God and the Lamb sit to rule. It ran from the throne 2 along the middle of the city's biggest street. I saw a tree that was growing on each side of the river. It is the tree that gives people true life. It has 12 different kinds of fruit, a new fruit every month. The tree's leaves are like medicine. They make people of every nation well again.
3 Nothing that is in the city will be under a curse. The throne where God and the Lamb sit to rule will be in the city. God's servants will worship him there. 4 They will see his face. His name will be on the front of their heads. 5 There will be no more night, so nobody will need a lamp to make light. They will not need light from the sun, because the Lord God will shine on them. They will rule as kings for ever.
Mary visits Elizabeth
39 After that, Mary prepared herself to travel. She hurried to a town in the hills of Judea. 40 When she arrived at the home of Zechariah, she said ‘hello’ to Elizabeth. 41 When Elizabeth heard Mary speak, she felt her baby move quickly inside her. The Holy Spirit filled her. 42 She spoke to Mary in a loud voice, ‘God has made you very happy. He has been good and kind to you more than to other women. He has also been good and kind to your baby. 43 You are the mother of my Lord and I am not an important person. So it is very good that you have visited me. 44 Listen! When I heard you say, “Hello” to me, my baby moved quickly inside me. He was very happy. 45 The Lord has told you what will happen. And you believed what he told you. Because of that, God has made you a happy person.’
Mary's song
46 Then Mary said,
‘All of me wants to praise God and say,
“Lord, how good and great you are!”
47 I thank God because he is the one who saves me.
48 I know that I am not an important person.
God knows this, and he has been kind to me.
Listen! From now on, all people will say that God has made me happy.
48 I know that I am not an important person.
God knows this, and he has been kind to me.
Listen! From now on, all people will say that God has made me happy.
49 Yes, God has done great things for me.
He is very powerful and strong. He is good in every way.
50 He is kind to people who respect and obey him.
He will always be kind to people like that.
51 He has shown how strong he is to do great things.
Some people think that they are very important.
But he has sent them away in different directions.
52 Some people were ruling countries.
But he has taken their power away from them.
He has given power to people who do not feel important.
53 He has fed hungry people with good things to eat.
But he has sent rich people away with nothing.
54 He promised that he would be kind to his people, Israel.
Now he has come and helped them.
55 He made a promise to Abraham and to our other ancestors.
Now he has done what he promised.’[a]
56 Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months. Then she returned to her home.
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