Book of Common Prayer
Qoph
145 I called to You wholeheartedly: “Answer me, O Eternal One!”
I will respect, I will follow Your statutes.
146 I cried out to You: “Rescue me,
and I will live according to Your decrees.”
147 I wake before the dawn and call for help;
I hope in Your words.
148 My eyes do not shut before each watch of the night
so that I can fix my mind on Your word.
149 Listen to my voice, in keeping with Your unfailing love.
Preserve my life, O Eternal One, according to Your just rulings.
150 Those who wish me harm are moving closer to me;
they are far away from Your teaching.
151 But You are near me, O Eternal One,
and all You have commanded is true.
152 I learned a long time ago
that You established Your decrees to last forever.
Resh
153 Give attention to my misery and rescue me
because I have not forgotten Your teaching.
154 Fight for me, and set me free;
give me life in keeping with Your promise.
155 Salvation is far from the wicked
because they do not live in pursuit of Your precepts.
156 Your mercies are tender and great, O Eternal One;
grant me life in keeping with Your ordinances.
157 I have many oppressors and foes;
still I do not swerve from Your decrees.
158 I observe the faithless and detest them
because they turn away from Your word.
159 Reflect, O God, on how I love Your precepts;
give me life, O Eternal One, in keeping with Your unfailing love.
160 The entirety of Your word is truth,
and every one of Your right rulings will surely last forever.
Shin
161 Princes persecute me without reason,
but my heart remains true and is awed by Your words.
162 I celebrate because of Your promise,
like someone who discovers great treasure.
163 I despise and abhor lies,
but I love Your law.
164 Seven times every day I praise You
because of Your right rulings.
165 Those who love Your law have an abundance of peace,
and nothing along their paths can cause them to stumble.
166 I wait for Your salvation, O Eternal One,
and I live out Your commands.
167 My soul is faithful to Your decrees,
and my love for them is extraordinary.
168 I live according to Your precepts and decrees
because everything I do is right before Your eyes.
Tav
169 Let my cry come before You, O Eternal One.
Grant me understanding in keeping with Your word.
170 Let my plea come before You;
liberate me in keeping with Your word.
171 Praise will pour from my lips
because You help me learn what You require.
172 My tongue will sing of Your word
because every command of Yours is right.
173 Let Your hand be poised to help me
because I have chosen to live by Your precepts.
174 I long for Your salvation, O Eternal One.
Meanwhile, Your teaching brings me great joy.
175 Let my soul live on so that I may praise You,
and let Your precepts guide me.
176 I have wandered down the wrong path like a lost sheep; come find me, Your servant,
because I do not forget Your commands.
Psalm 128
A song for those journeying to worship.
1 Those who stand in awe of the Eternal—
who follow wherever He leads, committed in their hearts—experience His blessings!
2 God will use your hard work to provide you food.
You will prosper in your labor, and it will go well for you.
3 Your wife will be like a healthy vine producing plenty of fruit,
a spring of life in your home.
Your children will be like young olive shoots;
you will watch them bud and bloom around your table.
4 Such are the blessings the Eternal lavishes
on those who stand in awe of Him!
5 May the Eternal continue to pour out His love on you,
showering down blessings from His holy mountain, Zion.
May you see Jerusalem prosper
all your days.
6 May you have the privilege of seeing your grandchildren as they grow.
May peace flourish in Israel!
Psalm 129
A song for those journeying to worship.
1 “This is not the first time my enemies assaulted me;
they have often attacked me since I was young.”
So let Israel now proclaim,
2 “This is not the first time my enemies assaulted me;
they have attacked me since I was young,
and yet they have not been able to overpower me.
3 The plowers plowed over me;
they plowed their furrows deep and long down my back.”
4 The Eternal is just.
He’s severed the bindings of the wicked so they can’t hurt me anymore.
5 May all who despise Zion
hang their heads in shame.
May all who despise Zion recoil and run away.
6 Let them grow like grass upon rooftops
that withers and dies in the sun long before it has time to grow,
7 Unfit to be harvested by the worker,
not worthy of the effort to carry off to the binder.
8 Unwanted, uncared for—no passersby to greet them, no one to say,
“May the favor of the Eternal be upon you;
We bless you in His name.”
Psalm 130
A song for those journeying to worship.
1 From the depths of disaster I appeal to You, O Eternal One:
2 Lord, hear my cry!
Attune Your ears to my humble prayer!
3 If You, Eternal One, recorded each offense,
Lord, who on earth could stand innocent?
4 But with You forgiveness exists;
that’s why true respect of You might flow.
5 So I wait for the Eternal—my soul awaits rescue—
and I put my hope in His transforming word.
6 My soul waits for the Lord to break into the world
more than night watchmen expect the break of day,
even more than night watchmen expect the break of day.
7 O Israel, ground your hope in the Eternal.
For in the Eternal lives the most loyal love,
and with Him comes the most abundant redemption.
8 He will ransom Israel
from all the sinful acts that stole you away.
Eternal One: 30 Jeremiah, now prophesy against the nations. Speak to them these words:
The Eternal roars from on high;
from His holy place above, His voice thunders.
Like a lion, He will roar against His land
and shout, like those who tread the grapes,
against those living on the earth.
31 The uproar will echo to ends of the earth
because the Eternal brings His charge against the nations.
He will judge all humanity and punish the wicked in battle.
So says the Eternal.
32 This is what the Eternal, Commander of heavenly armies, has to say:
Eternal One: Look what is happening!
Disaster is spreading across the earth,
From nation to nation;
a mighty storm is gathering from the ends of the earth!
Coming in the wake of that fateful storm, the death and destruction are unimaginable.
33 Those killed by the Eternal in that day will blanket the earth from one end to the other. So great is their number that no one will gather the dead and bury them. No one will be there to mourn them. They will lie like dung upon the face of the earth.
34 Cry out, you shepherds, and weep;
wallow in the dust—roll in ashes, you leaders of the flock.
For the time has come for you to be slaughtered and scattered abroad.
You will fall and shatter like a treasured vessel.
35 As for the shepherds, they will have nowhere to hide;
as for the leaders, they will not escape My punishment.
36 Listen to the sound—the cry of the shepherds,
the wailing of the leaders of the flock!
The Eternal is ruining their pleasant pastures.
37 Their peaceful meadows are now deathly silent,
for the fierce anger of the Eternal has blown through.
38 Like a lion leaving his lair, so He has left His,
for their land has become a horror—
Kindled by the enemy’s hot anger
and the burning fury of the Eternal.
Faith is not something we do. It is a response to what God has done already on our behalf, the response of a spirit restless in a fragmented world.
14 How can people invoke His name when they do not believe? How can they believe in Him when they have not heard? How can they hear if there is no one proclaiming Him? 15 How can some give voice to the truth if they are not sent by God? As Isaiah said, “Ah, how beautiful the feet of those who declare the good news of victory, of peace and liberation.”[a] 16 But some will hear the good news and refuse to submit to the truth they hear. Isaiah the prophet also says, “Lord, who would ever believe it? Who would possibly accept what we’ve been told?”[b] 17 So faith proceeds from hearing, as we listen to the message about God’s Anointed.
18 But let me ask this: have my people ever heard? Indeed, they have:
Yet from here to the ends of the earth, their voice has gone out;
the whole world has heard what they have to say.[c]
19 But again let me ask: did Israel perhaps hear and not understand all of this? Well, Moses was the first to say,
I will make you jealous with a people who are not a nation.
With a senseless people I will anger you.[d]
20 Then Isaiah the fearless prophet says it this way:
I was found by people who did not seek Me;
I showed My face to those who never asked for Me.[e]
21 And as to the fate of Israel, God says,
All day long I opened My hands
to a rebellious people, who constantly work against Me.[f]
The Pharisees are frequently around to challenge whatever Jesus says and does, but He always gets the better of them. Once again, Jesus turns what the Pharisees say inside out. They think blindness is a curse that evidences sin, and they think vision ensures knowledge and understanding—even concerning spiritual matters. Instead, the Pharisees’ confidence in their vision and discernment make them unable to see the truth about Jesus. Ironically, they have blind trust in their sighted leaders. By refusing to believe in Him, they are the sinners—not the blind man.
10 Jesus: I tell you the truth: the man who crawls through the fence of the sheep pen, rather than walking through the gate, is a thief or a vandal. 2 The shepherd walks openly through the entrance. 3 The guard who is posted to protect the sheep opens the gate for the shepherd, and the sheep hear his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When all the sheep have been gathered, he walks on ahead of them; and they follow him because they know his voice. 5 The sheep would not be willing to follow a stranger; they run because they do not know the voice of a stranger.
6 Jesus explained a profound truth through this metaphor, but they did not understand His teaching. 7 So He explained further.
Jesus: I tell you the truth: I am the gate of the sheep. 8 All who approached the sheep before Me came as thieves and robbers, and the sheep did not listen to their voices. 9 I am the gate; whoever enters through Me will be liberated, will go in and go out, and will find pastures. 10 The thief approaches with malicious intent, looking to steal, slaughter, and destroy; I came to give life with joy and abundance.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep in His care. 12 The hired hand is not like the shepherd caring for His own sheep. When a wolf attacks, snatching and scattering the sheep, he runs for his life, leaving them defenseless. 13 The hired hand runs because he works only for wages and does not care for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd; I know My sheep, and My sheep know Me. 15 As the Father knows Me, I know the Father; I will give My life for the sheep. 16 There are many more sheep than you can see here, and I will bring them as well. They will hear My voice, and the flock will be united. One flock. One shepherd. 17 The Father loves Me because I am willing to lay down My life—but I will take it up again. 18 My life cannot be taken away by anybody else; I am giving it of My own free will. My authority allows Me to give My life and to take it again. All this has been commanded by My Father.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.