Book of Common Prayer
Praise God Who Saved the Nation
For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song.
68 Let God rise up and scatter his enemies;
let those who hate him run away from him.
2 Blow them away as smoke
is driven away by the wind.
As wax melts before a fire,
let the wicked be destroyed before God.
3 But those who do right should be glad
and should rejoice before God;
they should be happy and glad.
4 Sing to God; sing praises to his name.
Prepare the way for him
who rides through the desert,
whose name is the Lord.
Rejoice before him.
5 God is in his holy Temple.
He is a father to orphans,
and he defends the widows.
6 God gives the lonely a home.
He leads prisoners out with joy,
but those who turn against God will live in a dry land.
7 God, you led your people out
when you marched through the desert. Selah
8 The ground shook
and the sky poured down rain
before God, the God of Mount Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
9 God, you sent much rain;
you refreshed your tired land.
10 Your people settled there.
God, in your goodness
you took care of the poor.
11 The Lord gave the command,
and a great army told the news:
12 “Kings and their armies run away.
In camp they divide the wealth taken in war.
13 Those who stayed by the campfires
will share the riches taken in battle.”
14 The Almighty scattered kings
like snow on Mount Zalmon.
15 The mountains of Bashan are high;
the mountains of Bashan have many peaks.
16 Why do you mountains with many peaks look with envy
on the mountain that God chose for his home?
The Lord will live there forever.
17 God comes with millions of chariots;
the Lord comes from Mount Sinai to his holy place.
18 When you went up to the heights,
you led a parade of captives.
You received gifts from the people,
even from those who turned against you.
And the Lord God will live there.
19 Praise the Lord, God our Savior,
who helps us every day. Selah
20 Our God is a God who saves us;
the Lord God saves us from death.
21 God will crush his enemies’ heads,
the hairy skulls of those who continue to sin.
22 The Lord said, “I will bring the enemy back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea.
23 Then you can stick your feet in their blood,
and your dogs can lick their share.”
24 God, people have seen your victory march;
God my King marched into the holy place.
25 The singers are in front and the instruments are behind.
In the middle are the girls with the tambourines.
26 Praise God in the meeting place;
praise the Lord in the gathering of Israel.
27 There is the smallest tribe, Benjamin, leading them.
And there are the leaders of Judah with their group.
There also are the leaders of Zebulun and of Naphtali.
28 God, order up your power;
show the mighty power you have used for us before.
29 Kings will bring their wealth to you,
to your Temple in Jerusalem.
30 Punish Egypt, the beast in the tall grass along the river.
Punish the leaders of nations, those bulls among the cows.
Defeated, they will bring you their silver.
Scatter those nations that love war.
31 Messengers will come from Egypt;
the people of Cush will pray to God.
32 Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
sing praises to the Lord. Selah
33 Sing to the one who rides through the skies, which are from long ago.
He speaks with a thundering voice.
34 Announce that God is powerful.
He rules over Israel,
and his power is in the skies.
35 God, you are wonderful in your Temple.
The God of Israel gives his people strength and power.
Praise God!
A Prayer for the King
Of Solomon.
72 God, give the king your good judgment
and the king’s son your goodness.
2 Help him judge your people fairly
and decide what is right for the poor.
3 Let there be peace on the mountains
and goodness on the hills for the people.
4 Help him be fair to the poor
and save the needy
and punish those who hurt them.
5 May they respect you as long as the sun shines
and as long as the moon glows.
6 Let him be like rain on the grass,
like showers that water the earth.
7 Let goodness be plentiful while he lives.
Let peace continue as long as there is a moon.
8 Let his kingdom go from sea to sea,
and from the Euphrates River to the ends of the earth.
9 Let the people of the desert bow down to him,
and make his enemies lick the dust.
10 Let the kings of Tarshish and the faraway lands
bring him gifts.
Let the kings of Sheba and Seba
bring their presents to him.
11 Let all kings bow down to him
and all nations serve him.
12 He will help the poor when they cry out
and will save the needy when no one else will help.
13 He will be kind to the weak and poor,
and he will save their lives.
14 He will save them from cruel people who try to hurt them,
because their lives are precious to him.
15 Long live the king!
Let him receive gold from Sheba.
Let people always pray for him
and bless him all day long.
16 Let the fields grow plenty of grain
and the hills be covered with crops.
Let the land be as fertile as Lebanon,
and let the cities grow like the grass in a field.
17 Let the king be famous forever;
let him be remembered as long as the sun shines.
Let the nations be blessed because of him,
and may they all bless him.
18 Praise the Lord God, the God of Israel,
who alone does such miracles.
19 Praise his glorious name forever.
Let his glory fill the whole world.
Amen and amen.
20 This ends the prayers of David son of Jesse.
Jacob’s Dream at Bethel
10 Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Haran. 11 When he came to a place, he spent the night there because the sun had set. He found a stone and laid his head on it to go to sleep. 12 Jacob dreamed that there was a ladder resting on the earth and reaching up into heaven, and he saw angels of God going up and coming down the ladder. 13 Then Jacob saw the Lord standing above the ladder, and he said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your grandfather, and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are now sleeping. 14 Your descendants will be as many as the dust of the earth. They will spread west and east, north and south, and all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and your descendants. 15 I am with you and will protect you everywhere you go and will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
16 Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place, but I did not know it.” 17 He was afraid and said, “This place frightens me! It is surely the house of God and the gate of heaven.”
18 Jacob rose early in the morning and took the stone he had slept on and set it up on its end. Then he poured olive oil on the top of it. 19 At first, the name of that city was Luz, but Jacob named it Bethel.[a]
20 Then Jacob made a promise. He said, “I want God to be with me and to protect me on this journey. I want him to give me food to eat and clothes to wear 21 so I will be able to return in peace to my father’s house. If the Lord does these things, he will be my God. 22 This stone which I have set up on its end will be the house of God. And I will give God one-tenth of all he gives me.”
13 All these great people died in faith. They did not get the things that God promised his people, but they saw them coming far in the future and were glad. They said they were like visitors and strangers on earth. 14 When people say such things, they show they are looking for a country that will be their own. 15 If they had been thinking about the country they had left, they could have gone back. 16 But they were waiting for a better country—a heavenly country. So God is not ashamed to be called their God, because he has prepared a city for them.
17 It was by faith that Abraham, when God tested him, offered his son Isaac as a sacrifice. God made the promises to Abraham, but Abraham was ready to offer his own son as a sacrifice. 18 God had said, “The descendants I promised you will be from Isaac.”[a] 19 Abraham believed that God could raise the dead, and really, it was as if Abraham got Isaac back from death.
20 It was by faith that Isaac blessed the future of Jacob and Esau. 21 It was by faith that Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each one of Joseph’s sons. Then he worshiped as he leaned on the top of his walking stick.
22 It was by faith that Joseph, while he was dying, spoke about the Israelites leaving Egypt and gave instructions about what to do with his body.
Jesus Is the Good Shepherd
7 So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, I am the door for the sheep. 8 All the people who came before me were thieves and robbers. The sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the door, and the person who enters through me will be saved and will be able to come in and go out and find pasture. 10 A thief comes to steal and kill and destroy, but I came to give life—life in all its fullness.
11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. 12 The worker who is paid to keep the sheep is different from the shepherd who owns them. When the worker sees a wolf coming, he runs away and leaves the sheep alone. Then the wolf attacks the sheep and scatters them. 13 The man runs away because he is only a paid worker and does not really care about the sheep.
14 “I am the good shepherd. I know my sheep, and my sheep know me, 15 just as the Father knows me, and I know the Father. I give my life for the sheep. 16 I have other sheep that are not in this flock, and I must bring them also. They will listen to my voice, and there will be one flock and one shepherd. 17 The Father loves me because I give my life so that I can take it back again.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.