Book of Common Prayer

³³ He dries up rivers ³⁴ and turns the good land of the wicked into deserts of salt. ³⁵ Again, he turns deserts into fertile, watered valleys. ³⁶ He brings the hungry to settle there and build their cities, ³⁷ to sow their fields and plant their vineyards, and reap their bumper crops! ³⁸ How he blesses them! They raise big families there and many cattle.

³⁹ But others become poor through oppression, trouble, and sorrow. ⁴⁰ For God pours contempt upon the haughty and causes princes to wander among ruins; ⁴¹ but he rescues the poor who are godly and gives them many children and much prosperity. ⁴² Good men everywhere will see it and be glad, while evil men are stricken silent.

⁴³ Listen, if you are wise, to what I am saying. Think about the loving-kindness of the Lord!

108 O God, my heart is ready to praise you! I will sing and rejoice before you.

² Wake up, O harp and lyre! We will meet the dawn with song. ³ I will praise you everywhere around the world, in every nation. ⁴ For your loving-kindness is great beyond measure, high as the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches the skies. ⁵ His glory is far more vast than the heavens. It towers above the earth. ⁶ Hear the cry of your beloved child—come with mighty power and rescue me.

⁷ God has given sacred promises; no wonder I exult! He has promised to give us all the land of Shechem and also Succoth Valley. ⁸ “Gilead is mine to give to you,” he says, “and Manasseh as well; the land of Ephraim is the helmet on my head. Judah is my scepter. ⁹ But Moab and Edom are despised;^[a] and I will shout in triumph over the Philistines.”

¹⁰ Who but God can give me strength to conquer these fortified cities? Who else can lead me into Edom?

¹¹ Lord, have you thrown us away? Have you deserted our army? ¹² Oh, help us fight against our enemies, for men are useless allies. ¹³ But with the help of God we shall do mighty acts of valor. For he treads down our foes.

33 Let all the joys of the godly well up in praise to the Lord, for it is right to praise him. ² Play joyous melodies of praise upon the lyre and on the harp. ³ Compose new songs of praise to him, accompanied skillfully on the harp; sing joyfully.

⁴ For all God’s words are right, and everything he does is worthy of our trust. ⁵ He loves whatever is just and good; the earth is filled with his tender love. ⁶ He merely spoke, and the heavens were formed and all the galaxies of stars. ⁷ He made the oceans, pouring them into his vast reservoirs.

⁸ Let everyone in all the world—men, women, and children—fear the Lord and stand in awe of him. ⁹ For when he but spoke, the world began! It appeared at his command! ¹⁰ And with a breath he can scatter the plans of all the nations who oppose him, ¹¹ but his own plan stands forever. His intentions are the same for every generation.

¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen as his own. ^13-15 The Lord gazes down upon mankind from heaven where he lives. He has made their hearts and closely watches everything they do.

^16-17 The best-equipped army cannot save a king—for great strength is not enough to save anyone. A war horse is a poor risk for winning victories—it is strong, but it cannot save.

^18-19 But the eyes of the Lord are watching over those who fear him, who rely upon his steady love. He will keep them from death even in times of famine! ²⁰ We depend upon the Lord alone to save us. Only he can help us; he protects us like a shield. ²¹ No wonder we are happy in the Lord! For we are trusting him. We trust his holy name. ²² Yes, Lord, let your constant love surround us, for our hopes are in you alone.

66 Heaven is my throne and the earth is my footstool: What Temple can you build for me as good as that? ² My hand has made both earth and skies, and they are mine. Yet I will look with pity on the man who has a humble and a contrite heart, who trembles at my word.

³ But those who choose their own ways, delighting in their sins, are cursed. God will not accept their offerings. When such men sacrifice an ox on the altar of God, it is no more acceptable to him than human sacrifice. If they sacrifice a lamb or bring an offering of grain, it is as loathsome to God as putting a dog or the blood of a swine on his altar! When they burn incense to him, he counts it the same as though they blessed an idol. ⁴ I will send great troubles upon them—all the things they feared, for when I called them, they refused to answer, and when I spoke to them, they would not hear. Instead, they did wrong before my eyes and chose what they knew I despised.

⁵ Hear the words of God, all you who fear him, and tremble at his words: Your brethren hate you and cast you out for being loyal to my name. “Glory to God,” they scoff. “Be happy in the Lord!” But they shall be put to shame.

⁶ What is all the commotion in the city? What is that terrible noise from the Temple? It is the voice of the Lord taking vengeance upon his enemies.

⁶ Do you want to be truly rich? You already are if you are happy and good. ⁷ After all, we didn’t bring any money with us when we came into the world, and we can’t carry away a single penny when we die. ⁸ So we should be well satisfied without money if we have enough food and clothing. ⁹ But people who long to be rich soon begin to do all kinds of wrong things to get money, things that hurt them and make them evil-minded and finally send them to hell itself. ¹⁰ For the love of money is the first step toward all kinds of sin. Some people have even turned away from God because of their love for it, and as a result have pierced themselves with many sorrows.

¹¹ O Timothy, you are God’s man. Run from all these evil things, and work instead at what is right and good, learning to trust him and love others and to be patient and gentle. ¹² Fight on for God. Hold tightly to the eternal life that God has given you and that you have confessed with such a ringing confession before many witnesses.

¹³ I command you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a fearless testimony before Pontius Pilate, ¹⁴ that you fulfill all he has told you to do so that no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ returns. ¹⁵ For in due season Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only Almighty God, the King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶ who alone can never die, who lives in light so terrible that no human being can approach him. No mere man has ever seen him nor ever will. Unto him be honor and everlasting power and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁷ Tell those who are rich not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which will soon be gone, but their pride and trust should be in the living God who always richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. ¹⁸ Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and should give happily to those in need, always being ready to share with others whatever God has given them. ¹⁹ By doing this they will be storing up real treasure for themselves in heaven—it is the only safe investment for eternity! And they will be living a fruitful Christian life down here as well.

²⁰ Oh, Timothy, don’t fail to do these things that God entrusted to you. Keep out of foolish arguments with those who boast of their “knowledge” and thus prove their lack of it. ²¹ Some of these people have missed the most important thing in life—they don’t know God. May God’s mercy be upon you.

Sincerely, Paul

³⁵ Later, as Jesus was teaching the people in the Temple area, he asked them this question:

“Why do your religious teachers claim that the Messiah must be a descendant of King David? ³⁶ For David himself said—and the Holy Spirit was speaking through him when he said it—‘God said to my Lord, sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.’ ³⁷ Since David called him his Lord, how can he be his son?”

(This sort of reasoning delighted the crowd and they listened to him with great interest.)

³⁸ Here are some of the other things he taught them at this time:

“Beware of the teachers of religion! For they love to wear the robes of the rich and scholarly, and to have everyone bow to them as they walk through the markets. ³⁹ They love to sit in the best seats in the synagogues and at the places of honor at banquets— ⁴⁰ but they shamelessly cheat widows out of their homes and then, to cover up the kind of men they really are, they pretend to be pious by praying long prayers in public. Because of this, their punishment will be the greater.”

⁴¹ Then he went over to the collection boxes in the Temple and sat and watched as the crowds dropped in their money. Some who were rich put in large amounts. ⁴² Then a poor widow came and dropped in two pennies.

^43-44 He called his disciples to him and remarked, “That poor widow has given more than all those rich men put together! For they gave a little of their extra fat,^[a] while she gave up her last penny.”