Book of Common Prayer
24 The earth belongs to God! Everything in all the world is his! 2 He is the one who pushed the oceans back to let dry land appear.[a]
3 Who may climb the mountain of the Lord and enter where he lives? Who may stand before the Lord? 4 Only those with pure hands and hearts, who do not practice dishonesty and lying. 5 They will receive God’s own goodness[b] as their blessing from him, planted in their lives by God himself, their Savior. 6 These are the ones who are allowed to stand before the Lord and worship the God of Jacob.
7 Open up, O ancient gates, and let the King of Glory in. 8 Who is this King of Glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, invincible in battle. 9 Yes, open wide the gates and let the King of Glory in.
10 Who is this King of Glory? The Commander of all of heaven’s armies!
29 Praise the Lord, you angels of his; praise his glory and his strength. 2 Praise him for his majestic glory, the glory of his name. Come before him clothed in sacred garments.
3 The voice of the Lord echoes from the clouds. The God of glory thunders through the skies. 4 So powerful is his voice; so full of majesty. 5-6 It breaks down the cedars. It splits the giant trees of Lebanon. It shakes Mount Lebanon and Mount Sirion. They leap and skip before him like young calves! 7 The voice of the Lord thunders through the lightning. 8 It resounds through the deserts and shakes the wilderness of Kadesh. 9 The voice of the Lord spins and topples the mighty oaks.[a] It strips the forests bare. They whirl and sway beneath the blast. But in his Temple all are praising, “Glory, glory to the Lord.”
10 At the Flood the Lord showed his control of all creation. Now he continues to unveil his power. 11 He will give his people strength. He will bless them with peace.
8 O Lord our God, the majesty and glory of your name fills all the earth and overflows the heavens. 2 You have taught the little children to praise you perfectly. May their example shame and silence your enemies!
3 When I look up into the night skies and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you have made— 4 I cannot understand how you can bother with mere puny man, to pay any attention to him!
5 And yet you have made him only a little lower than the angels[a] and placed a crown of glory and honor upon his head.
6 You have put him in charge of everything you made; everything is put under his authority: 7 all sheep and oxen, and wild animals too, 8 the birds and fish, and all the life in the sea. 9 O Jehovah, our Lord, the majesty and glory of your name fills the earth.
84 How lovely is your Temple, O Lord of the armies of heaven.
2 I long, yes, faint with longing to be able to enter your courtyard and come near to the Living God. 3 Even the sparrows and swallows are welcome to come and nest among your altars and there have their young, O Lord of heaven’s armies, my King and my God! 4 How happy are those who can live in your Temple, singing your praises.
5 Happy are those who are strong in the Lord, who want above all else to follow your steps. 6 When they walk through the Valley of Weeping, it will become a place of springs where pools of blessing and refreshment collect after rains! 7 They will grow constantly in strength, and each of them is invited to meet with the Lord in Zion.
8 O Jehovah, God of the heavenly armies, hear my prayer! Listen, God of Israel. 9 O God, our Defender and our Shield, have mercy on the one you have anointed as your king.[a]
10 A single day spent in your Temple is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a doorman of the Temple of my God than live in palaces[b] of wickedness. 11 For Jehovah God is our Light and our Protector. He gives us grace and glory. No good thing will he withhold from those who walk along his paths.[c]
12 O Lord of the armies of heaven, blessed are those who trust in you.
13 But we must forever give thanks to God for you, our brothers loved by the Lord, because God chose from the very first to give you salvation,[a] cleansing you by the work of the Holy Spirit and by your trusting in the Truth. 14 Through us he told you the Good News. Through us he called you to share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
15 With all these things in mind, dear brothers, stand firm and keep a strong grip on the truth that we taught you in our letters and during the time we were with you.
16 May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting comfort and hope, which we don’t deserve, 17 comfort your hearts with all comfort, and help you in every good thing you say and do.
7 “Ask, and you will be given what you ask for. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened. 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Anyone who seeks, finds. If only you will knock, the door will open. 9 If a child asks his father for a loaf of bread, will he be given a stone instead? 10 If he asks for fish, will he be given a poisonous snake? Of course not! 11 And if you hard-hearted, sinful men know how to give good gifts to your children, won’t your Father in heaven even more certainly give good gifts to those who ask him for them?
12 “Do for others what you want them to do for you. This is the teaching of the laws of Moses in a nutshell.[a]
13 “Heaven can be entered only through the narrow gate! The highway to hell[b] is broad, and its gate is wide enough for all the multitudes who choose its easy way. 14 But the Gateway to Life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it.
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.