Book of Common Prayer

This is a song that David wrote for the music leader.

We trust God to help us^[a]

This is a song that David wrote for the music leader.

We thank God for his help^[b]

This is a song that David wrote.

God takes care of his people^[a]

This is a song that David wrote.

I trust God to keep me safe

A song to thank God

Jesus appears to John

⁹ I am John. I am a believer, as you are. I am like your brother and your friend. Because we belong to Jesus' kingdom, we are having trouble and pain. So we all need to be strong and patient, as Jesus helps us. The Roman leaders punished me because I taught God's message. I told people the true message about Jesus. That is why they sent me to Patmos island.^[a]

¹⁰ On the Lord's day, God's Spirit caused me to see and to hear things.^[b] I heard a voice speak behind me. The sound was as loud as a trumpet. ¹¹ The voice said: ‘When you see these things, write them in a book. Then you must send the book to the seven churches in these cities:

¹² I turned round to see who was speaking to me. When I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands with their lights. ¹³ In the middle of the lights, I saw someone like a son of man.^[c] He was wearing long clothes that reached down to his feet. He wore a gold belt around the top part of his body. ¹⁴ His head and his hair were white like sheep's hair. They were very white, like snow. His eyes were like fires that were burning brightly. ¹⁵ His feet shone like a metal that shines brightly in a very hot fire. When he spoke, his voice was very loud. It was like the sound of water that pours along a river very quickly. ¹⁶ He held seven stars in his right hand. A sword with two sharp edges came out of his mouth. His face was like the sun when it shines very brightly.

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell down at his feet like a dead person. Then he put his right hand on me, and he said to me, ‘Do not be afraid! I am the one who is the first and also the last. ¹⁸ I am the one who always lives. I died once. But look! Now I am alive and I will be alive for ever. I have authority over death and over Hades, the place for dead people.^{[d] 19} So write down the things that you have seen. Write about what you see that is happening now. Also write about the things that will happen later.

²⁰ You saw seven stars that I held in my right hand. You saw seven lights in their gold lampstands. Now I will tell you what they mean. The seven stars show what the angels of the seven churches are like.^[e] The seven lights in their lampstands show what the seven churches themselves are like.’

⁵³ [Then everyone went to his own home.]^[a]

8 ^[b][But Jesus went to the hill which is called the Mount of Olives.

The Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus

² Early the next morning, Jesus returned to the temple in Jerusalem. All the people came to him. He sat down and he began to teach them. ³ The Pharisees and the teachers of God's Law brought a woman to him. They had found her with another man. She was having sex with a man who was not her husband. They made her stand in front of all the people there. ⁴ They said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, we found this woman. She was having sex with a man who was not her husband. ⁵ In God's Law Moses says that we should throw stones at this kind of woman, to kill her. What do you say about this?’ ⁶ They asked this question for a reason. They wanted Jesus to say something wrong, so that they could punish him. But Jesus bent himself down. He started to write on the ground with his finger.

⁷ The Pharisees and the teachers of God's Law continued to ask Jesus questions. So he stood up and he said to them, ‘Any person among you who is not guilty of any sin may throw the first stone to kill her.’ ⁸ Then he bent himself down again and he wrote on the ground. ⁹ When they heard what Jesus said, the people began to go away. They went one by one. The older people went first. After some time, only Jesus remained with the woman. She was still standing there. ¹⁰ Jesus stood up. He said to her, ‘Woman, where are they? Is there nobody still here who wants to punish you?’ ¹¹ She said, ‘There is nobody, sir.’ So Jesus said, ‘I also do not want to punish you. Go away now and change the way you live. Do not do wrong things again.’]