Book of Common Prayer
The Majesty of the Lord
93 The Lord ·is king [reigns; 47:2; 96:10; 97:1; 98:6; 99:1; Rev. 19:6]. He is ·clothed [robed] in majesty.
The Lord is ·clothed [robed] in majesty
and ·armed [girded] with strength.
The world is ·set [established],
and it ·cannot be moved [will not totter].
2 Lord, your ·kingdom [L throne] was ·set up [established] long ago;
you are everlasting.
3 Lord, the ·seas [L rivers; C perhaps referring to currents within the sea] raise,
the ·seas [L rivers] raise their voice.
The ·seas [L rivers] raise up their pounding waves [C representing chaos].
4 The sound of the water is loud;
the ·ocean waves [L breakers of the sea] are ·powerful [majestic],
but the Lord above is much ·greater [more powerful/majestic; C God is in control of chaos].
5 Lord, your ·laws [decrees; testimonies] ·will stand forever [are very faithful/true].
·Your Temple will be holy forevermore [L At your house holiness is fitting/appropriate and will be for length of days].
Praise for the Lord’s Glory
96 Sing to the Lord a new song [C celebrating victory; 33:3; 40:3; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Is. 42:10; Rev. 5:9; 14:3];
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord and ·praise [bless] his name;
every day ·tell [announce the good news] ·how he saves us [L of his salvation/victory].
3 Tell the nations of his glory [C his manifest presence];
tell all peoples the ·miracles [wonderful acts] he does,
4 because the Lord is great; he should be praised ·at all times [or with vigor].
He ·should be honored [is awesome; should be feared] more than all the gods,
5 because all the gods of the nations are ·only idols [or worthless],
but the Lord made the heavens [Gen. 1].
6 The Lord has ·glory [splendor] and majesty;
he has power and beauty in his ·Temple [sanctuary; L Holy Place].
7 ·Praise [L Ascribe to] the Lord, all ·nations on earth [L families of peoples];
·praise the Lord’s [L ascribe to the Lord] glory and power.
8 ·Praise the glory of the Lord’s [L Ascribe to the Lord the glory of his] name.
Bring an ·offering [grain/gift/tribute sacrifice; Lev. 2:1] and come into his Temple courtyards.
9 ·Worship [Bow down to] the Lord ·because he is holy [L in the splendor of his holiness].
Tremble before him, everyone on earth.
10 Tell the nations, “The Lord ·is king [reigns; 47:2; 93:1; 97:1; 98:6; 99:1; Rev. 19:6].”
The earth is ·set [established], and it cannot be moved.
He will judge the people fairly.
11 Let the ·skies [heavens] rejoice and the earth be glad;
let the sea and everything in it ·shout [thunder; roar].
12 Let the fields and everything in them rejoice.
Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy
13 before the Lord, because he is coming.
He is coming to judge the world;
he will judge the world with ·fairness [righteousness]
and the peoples with ·truth [faithfulness; 98:9].
Praise God Who Judges and Saves
David’s song from the time he ·acted crazy [acted mad/insane; L changed his mind/discernment] so Abimelech [C perhaps another name for Achish] would ·send [drive] him away, and David did leave [1 Sam. 21:10–15].
34 I will ·praise [bless] the Lord at all times;
his praise is always ·on my lips [L in my mouth].
2 My ·whole being [soul] praises the Lord.
The ·poor [humble] will hear and be glad.
3 ·Glorify [Praise; Magnify] the Lord with me,
and let us ·praise [L extol] his name together.
4 I ·asked the Lord for help [sought the Lord], and he answered me.
He ·saved [rescued; T delivered] me from all that I feared.
5 Those who ·go [L look] to him for help are ·happy [radiant],
and ·they [L their faces] are never ·disgraced [shamed].
6 This ·poor [afflicted] man [C someone in the congregation or the psalmist himself] ·called [prayed], and the Lord heard him
and ·saved him from [gave him victory over] all his ·troubles [distress].
7 The angel of the Lord [91:11; Gen. 32:1–2; 2 Kin. 6:17; Matt. 4:5–6] camps around those who fear God [Prov. 1:7],
and he saves them.
8 ·Examine [L Taste] and see how good the Lord is.
·Happy [Blessed] is the person who ·trusts [finds refuge in] him.
9 You ·who belong to the Lord [holy ones], fear him [Prov. 1:7]!
Those who fear him will ·have everything they need [not lack anything; 23:1].
10 Even lions [C the most noble wild beast] may get weak and hungry,
but those who ·look to [seek] the Lord ·will have every [L do not lack any] good thing.
11 Children, come and listen to me.
I will teach you ·to worship [L the fear of] the Lord.
12 ·You must do these things
to enjoy life and have many happy days [L Who of you takes pleasure in life and loves days to experience good?].
13 You must ·not say evil things [L guard/keep your tongue from evil],
and ·you must not tell lies [L your lips from deception].
14 ·Stop doing [L Turn aside from] evil and do good.
·Look for [Seek] peace and ·work for [pursue] it.
15 ·The Lord sees the [L The eyes of the Lord are on] ·good [righteous] people
and ·listens to their prayers [L his ears attend to their cries for help].
16 But the ·Lord is [L face of the Lord is] against those who do evil;
he ·makes the world forget them [L cuts memory of them off the earth].
17 ·The Lord hears good people when they [L They] cry out to him,
and he saves them from all their ·troubles [distress].
18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted,
and he saves those whose spirits have been crushed.
19 People who ·do what is right may [are righteous] have many ·problems [afflictions],
but the Lord ·will solve them [L saves them from them] all.
20 He will protect their very bones;
not one of them will be broken.
21 Evil will kill the wicked;
those who hate ·good [righteous] people will be judged guilty.
22 But the Lord ·saves [redeems; ransoms] his servants’ lives;
no one who ·trusts [finds refuge in] him will be judged guilty.
The Last Troubles
15 Then I saw another ·wonder [sign; miracle; portent] in heaven that was great and amazing. There were seven angels bringing seven ·disasters [plagues]. These are the last ·disasters [plagues], because ·after [or in] them, God’s ·anger [wrath] is ·finished [completed; ended].
2 I saw what looked like a sea of glass [1 Kin. 7:23–26; Ezek. 1:22] mixed with fire [19:20; 20:10]. All of those who had ·won the victory over [conquered] the beast and his ·idol [image] and over the number of his name [13:17] were standing by the sea of glass. They had harps ·that God had given them [L of/from God]. 3 They sang the song of Moses [Ex. 15:1; Deut. 31:30], the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:
“·You do great and wonderful things [L Great and marvelous/amazing are your works; Ps. 111:2],
Lord God ·Almighty [All-powerful].
·Everything the Lord does is [L Your ways are] ·right [just] and true [Ps. 145:17],
King of the nations.[a]
4 ·Everyone will respect you [L Who will not fear you…?], Lord [Jer. 10:7],
and ·will honor you [L honor/glorify your name].
[L Because; For] Only you are holy.
All the nations will come
and worship [L before] you [Ps. 86:9–10],
because the right things you have done
are now made known [Deut. 32:4].”
5 After ·this [L these things] I saw that the temple (the ·Tent [Tabernacle] of the ·Agreement [Testimony; Covenant Law]) in heaven was opened. 6 And the seven angels bringing the seven ·disasters [plagues] came out of the temple. They were dressed in ·clean [pure], ·shining [bright] linen and wore golden ·bands [sashes] tied around their chests [C garments worn by priests]. 7 Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls filled with the ·anger [wrath] of God, who lives forever and ever. 8 The temple was filled with smoke [C smoke often symbolizes the presence of God; Ex. 40:34–38] from the glory and the power of God, and no one could enter the temple until the seven ·disasters [plagues] of the seven angels were ·finished [completed; ended; C accomplished their purpose].
Who Is the Greatest?(A)
18 At that time the ·followers [disciples] came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 Jesus called a little child to him and stood the child before his ·followers [disciples]. 3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, you must ·change [or turn from your sins; convert; L turn] and become like little children. Otherwise, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 The greatest person in the kingdom of heaven [L therefore] is the one who makes himself humble [and becomes] like this [little] child.
5 “[L And] Whoever ·accepts [welcomes; receives] a child ·in my name [C as a representative or follower of Jesus] ·accepts [welcomes; receives] me [C indicates concern for the lowly; children had low social status]. 6 If someone causes one of these little children who believes in me to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], it would be better for that person to have a ·large stone [large millstone; L millstone of a donkey] tied around the neck and be ·drowned [L thrown] in the [L depths of the] sea. 7 ·How terrible for [L Woe to] ·the people of the world [L the world] because of ·the things that cause them to sin [temptations to sin; L stumbling blocks]. ·Such things will happen [L It is necessary for stumbling blocks to come], but ·how terrible for [L woe to] the one ·who causes them to happen [L through whom the stumbling block comes]! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you ·to lose part of your body and live forever [L to enter life maimed or crippled] than to have two hands and two feet and be thrown into the ·fire that burns forever [eternal fire]. 9 If your eye causes you to ·sin [lose faith; stumble], ·take [tear; gouge] it out and throw it away. It is better for you to ·have only one eye and live forever [L enter life one-eyed] than to have two eyes and be thrown into the ·fire of hell [L Gehenna of fire; 5:22].
A Lost Sheep(B)
10 “Be careful [Watch out; or See that you…]. Don’t ·think these little children are worth nothing [L despise/look down on one of these little ones]. [L For] I tell you that they have angels in heaven who are always ·with [in the presence of; L see the face of] my Father in heaven. |11 The Son of Man came to save ·lost people [that which was lost].|[a]
12 “[L What do you think?] If a man has a hundred sheep but one of the sheep ·gets lost [goes astray; wanders off], ·he will [L won’t he…?] leave the other ninety-nine on the ·hill [L hills; mountains] and go to look for the lost sheep. 13 I tell you the truth, if he finds it he ·is happier about [rejoices more over] that one sheep than ·about [over] the ninety-nine that ·were never lost [never went astray/wandered off]. 14 In the same way, your Father in heaven ·does not want [is not willing that] any of these little children to ·be lost [perish].
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