Book of Common Prayer
83 O God, don’t sit idly by, silent and inactive when we pray. Answer us! Deliver us!
2 Don’t you hear the tumult and commotion of your enemies? Don’t you see what they are doing, these proud men who hate the Lord? 3 They are full of craftiness and plot against your people, laying plans to slay your precious ones. 4 “Come,” they say, “and let us wipe out Israel as a nation—we will destroy the very memory of her existence.” 5 This was their unanimous decision at their summit conference—they signed a treaty to ally themselves against Almighty God— 6 these Ishmaelites and Edomites and Moabites and Hagrites; 7 people from the lands of Gebal, Ammon, Amalek, Philistia and Tyre; 8 Assyria has joined them too, and is allied with the descendants of Lot.[a]
9 Do to them as once you did to Midian, or as you did to Sisera and Jabin at the river Kishon, 10 and as you did to your enemies at Endor, whose decaying corpses fertilized the soil. 11 Make their mighty nobles die as Oreb did, and Zeeb;[b] let all their princes die like Zebah and Zalmunna, 12 who said, “Let us seize for our own use these pasturelands of God!”
13 O my God, blow them away like dust; like chaff before the wind— 14 as a forest fire that roars across a mountain. 15 Chase them with your fiery storms, tempests, and tornados. 16 Utterly disgrace them until they recognize your power and name, O Lord. 17 Make them failures in everything they do; let them be ashamed and terrified 18 until they learn that you alone, Jehovah, are the God above all gods in supreme charge of all the earth.
146 Praise the Lord! Yes, really praise him! 2 I will praise him as long as I live, yes, even with my dying breath.
3 Don’t look to men for help; their greatest leaders fail; 4 for every man must die. His breathing stops, life ends, and in a moment all he planned for himself is ended. 5 But happy is the man who has the God of Jacob as his helper, whose hope is in the Lord his God— 6 the God who made both earth and heaven, the seas and everything in them. He is the God who keeps every promise, 7 who gives justice to the poor and oppressed and food to the hungry. He frees the prisoners 8 and opens the eyes of the blind; he lifts the burdens from those bent down beneath their loads. For the Lord loves good men. 9 He protects the immigrants and cares for the orphans and widows. But he turns topsy-turvy the plans of the wicked.
10 The Lord will reign forever. O Jerusalem,[a] your God is King in every generation! Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
147 Hallelujah! Yes, praise the Lord! How good it is to sing his praises! How delightful, and how right!
2 He is rebuilding Jerusalem and bringing back the exiles. 3 He heals the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds. 4 He counts the stars and calls them all by name. 5 How great he is! His power is absolute! His understanding is unlimited. 6 The Lord supports the humble, but brings the wicked into the dust.
7 Sing out your thanks to him; sing praises to our God, accompanied by harps. 8 He covers the heavens with clouds, sends down the showers, and makes the green grass grow in mountain pastures. 9 He feeds the wild animals, and the young ravens cry to him for food. 10 The speed of a horse is nothing to him. How puny in his sight is the strength of a man. 11 But his joy is in those who reverence him, those who expect him to be loving and kind.
12 Praise him, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! 13 For he has fortified your gates against all enemies and blessed your children. 14 He sends peace across your nation and fills your barns with plenty of the finest wheat. 15 He sends his orders to the world. How swiftly his word flies. 16 He sends the snow in all its lovely whiteness, scatters the frost upon the ground, 17 and hurls the hail upon the earth. Who can stand before his freezing cold? 18 But then he calls for warmer weather, and the spring winds blow and all the river ice is broken. 19 He has made known his laws and ceremonies of worship to Israel— 20 something he has not done with any other nation; they have not known his commands.
Hallelujah! Yes, praise the Lord!
85 Lord, you have poured out amazing blessings on this land! You have restored the fortunes of Israel,[a] 2 and forgiven the sins of your people—yes, covered over each one, 3 so that all your wrath, your blazing anger, is now ended.
4 Now bring us back to loving you,[b] O Lord, so that your anger will never need rise against us again. 5 (Or will you be always angry—on and on to distant generations?) 6 Oh, revive us! Then your people can rejoice in you again. 7 Pour out your love and kindness on us, Lord, and grant us your salvation.
8 I am listening carefully to all the Lord is saying—for he speaks peace to his people, his saints, if they will only stop their sinning. 9 Surely his salvation is near to those who reverence him; our land will be filled with his glory.
10 Mercy and truth have met together. Grim justice[c] and peace have kissed! 11 Truth rises from the earth, and righteousness smiles down from heaven.
12 Yes, the Lord pours down his blessings on the land, and it yields its bountiful crops. 13 Justice goes before him to make a pathway for his steps.[d]
86 Bend down and hear my prayer, O Lord, and answer me, for I am deep in trouble.
2 Protect me from death, for I try to follow all your laws. Save me, for I am serving you and trusting you. 3 Be merciful, O Lord, for I am looking up to you in constant hope. 4 Give me happiness, O Lord, for I worship only you. 5 O Lord, you are so good and kind, so ready to forgive, so full of mercy for all who ask your aid.
6 Listen closely to my prayer, O God. Hear my urgent cry. 7 I will call to you whenever trouble strikes, and you will help me.
8 Where among the heathen gods is there a god like you? Where are their miracles? 9 All the nations—and you made each one—will come and bow before you, Lord, and praise your great and holy name. 10 For you are great and do great miracles. You alone are God.
11 Tell me where you want me to go and I will go there. May every fiber of my being unite in reverence to your name. 12 With all my heart I will praise you. I will give glory to your name forever, 13 for you love me so much! You are constantly so kind! You have rescued me from deepest hell.
14 O God, proud and insolent men defy me; violent, godless men are trying to kill me. 15 But you are merciful and gentle, Lord, slow in getting angry, full of constant loving-kindness and of truth; 16 so look down in pity and grant strength to your servant and save me. 17 Send me a sign of your favor. When those who hate me see it, they will lose face because you help and comfort me.
60 Arise, my people! Let your light shine for all the nations to see! For the glory of the Lord is streaming from you. 2 Darkness as black as night shall cover all the peoples of the earth, but the glory of the Lord will shine from you. 3 All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see the glory of the Lord upon you.
4 Lift up your eyes and see! For your sons and daughters are coming home to you from distant lands. 5 Your eyes will shine with joy, your hearts will thrill, for merchants from around the world will flow to you, bringing you the wealth of many lands. 6 Vast droves of camels will converge upon you, dromedaries from Midian and Sheba and Ephah too, bringing gold and incense to add to the praise of God. 7 The flocks of Kedar shall be given you, and the rams of Nabaioth for my altars, and I will glorify my glorious Temple in that day.
8 And who are these who fly like a cloud to Israel, like doves to their nests? 9 I have reserved the ships of many lands, the very best,[a] to bring the sons of Israel home again from far away, bringing their wealth with them. For the Holy One of Israel, known around the world, has glorified you in the eyes of all.
10 Foreigners will come and build your cities. Presidents and kings will send you aid. For though I destroyed you in my anger, I will have mercy on you through my grace. 11 Your gates will stay wide open around the clock to receive the wealth of many lands. The kings of the world will cater to you. 12 For the nations refusing to be your allies[b] will perish; they shall be destroyed. 13 The glory of Lebanon will be yours—the forests of firs, pines, and box trees—to beautify my sanctuary. My Temple will be glorious.
14 The sons of anti-Semites will come and bow before you! They will kiss your feet! They will call Jerusalem “The City of the Lord” and “The Glorious Mountain of the Holy One of Israel.”
15 Though once despised and hated and rebuffed by all, you will be beautiful forever, a joy for all the generations of the world, for I will make you so. 16 Powerful kings and mighty nations shall provide you with the choicest of their goods to satisfy your every need, and you will know at last and really understand that I, the Lord, am your Savior and Redeemer, the Mighty One of Israel. 17 I will exchange your brass for gold, your iron for silver, your wood for brass, your stones for iron. Peace and righteousness shall be your taskmasters!
14 Remind your people of these great facts, and command them in the name of the Lord not to argue over unimportant things. Such arguments are confusing and useless and even harmful. 15 Work hard so God can say to you, “Well done.” Be a good workman, one who does not need to be ashamed when God examines your work. Know what his Word says and means. 16 Steer clear of foolish discussions that lead people into the sin of anger with each other. 17 Things will be said that will burn and hurt for a long time to come. Hymenaeus and Philetus, in their love of argument, are men like that. 18 They have left the path of truth, preaching the lie that the resurrection of the dead has already occurred; and they have weakened the faith of some who believe them.
19 But God’s truth stands firm like a great rock, and nothing can shake it. It is a foundation stone with these words written on it: “The Lord knows those who are really his,” and “A person who calls himself a Christian should not be doing things that are wrong.”
20 In a wealthy home there are dishes made of gold and silver as well as some made from wood and clay. The expensive dishes are used for guests, and the cheap ones are used in the kitchen or to put garbage in. 21 If you stay away from sin you will be like one of these dishes made of purest gold—the very best in the house—so that Christ himself can use you for his highest purposes.
22 Run from anything that gives you the evil thoughts that young men often have, but stay close to anything that makes you want to do right. Have faith and love, and enjoy the companionship of those who love the Lord and have pure hearts.
23 Again I say, don’t get involved in foolish arguments, which only upset people and make them angry. 24 God’s people must not be quarrelsome; they must be gentle, patient teachers of those who are wrong. 25 Be humble when you are trying to teach those who are mixed up concerning the truth. For if you talk meekly and courteously to them, they are more likely, with God’s help, to turn away from their wrong ideas and believe what is true. 26 Then they will come to their senses and escape from Satan’s trap of slavery to sin, which he uses to catch them whenever he likes, and then they can begin doing the will of God.
17 As he was starting out on a trip, a man came running to him and knelt down and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get to heaven?”
18 “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good! 19 But as for your question—you know the commandments: don’t kill, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, respect your father and mother.”
20 “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve never once[a] broken a single one of those laws.”
21 Jesus felt genuine love for this man as he looked at him. “You lack only one thing,” he told him; “go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor—and you shall have treasure in heaven—and come, follow me.”
22 Then the man’s face fell, and he went sadly away, for he was very rich.
23 Jesus watched him go, then turned around and said to his disciples, “It’s almost impossible for the rich to get into the Kingdom of God!”
24 This amazed them. So Jesus said it again: “Dear children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches[b] to enter the Kingdom of God. 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.”
26 The disciples were incredulous! “Then who in the world can be saved, if not a rich man?” they asked.
27 Jesus looked at them intently, then said, “Without God, it is utterly impossible. But with God everything is possible.”
28 Then Peter began to mention all that he and the other disciples had left behind. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said.
29 And Jesus replied, “Let me assure you that no one has ever given up anything—home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or property—for love of me and to tell others the Good News, 30 who won’t be given back, a hundred times over, homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land—with persecutions!
“All these will be his here on earth, and in the world to come he shall have eternal life. 31 But many people who seem to be important now will be the least important then; and many who are considered least here shall be greatest there.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.