Book of Common Prayer
Wishing to Be Near God
A psalm of David when he was in the desert of Judah.
63 God, you are my God.
I search for you.
I thirst for you
like someone in a dry, empty land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the Temple
and have seen your strength and glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
I will praise you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live.
I will lift up my hands in prayer to your name.
5 I will be content as if I had eaten the best foods.
My lips will sing, and my mouth will praise you.
6 I remember you while I’m lying in bed;
I think about you through the night.
7 You are my help.
Because of your protection, I sing.
8 I stay close to you;
you support me with your right hand.
9 Some people are trying to kill me,
but they will go down to the grave.
10 They will be killed with swords
and eaten by wild dogs.
11 But the king will rejoice in his God.
All who make promises in his name will praise him,
but the mouths of liars will be shut.
The Lord of Power and Justice
A psalm.
98 Sing to the Lord a new song,
because he has done miracles.
By his right hand and holy arm
he has won the victory.
2 The Lord has made known his power to save;
he has shown the other nations his victory for his people.
3 He has remembered his love
and his loyalty to the people of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
God’s power to save.
4 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth;
burst into songs and make music.
5 Make music to the Lord with harps,
with harps and the sound of singing.
6 Blow the trumpets and the sheep’s horns;
shout for joy to the Lord the King.
7 Let the sea and everything in it shout;
let the world and everyone in it sing.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the mountains sing together for joy.
9 Let them sing before the Lord,
because he is coming to judge the world.
He will judge the world fairly;
he will judge the peoples with fairness.
Praise to the Lord of Love
Of David.
103 All that I am, praise the Lord;
everything in me, praise his holy name.
2 My whole being, praise the Lord
and do not forget all his kindnesses.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He saves my life from the grave
and loads me with love and mercy.
5 He satisfies me with good things
and makes me young again, like the eagle.
6 The Lord does what is right and fair
for all who are wronged by others.
7 He showed his ways to Moses
and his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord shows mercy and is kind.
He does not become angry quickly, and he has great love.
9 He will not always accuse us,
and he will not be angry forever.
10 He has not punished us as our sins should be punished;
he has not repaid us for the evil we have done.
11 As high as the sky is above the earth,
so great is his love for those who respect him.
12 He has taken our sins away from us
as far as the east is from west.
13 The Lord has mercy on those who respect him,
as a father has mercy on his children.
14 He knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.
15 Human life is like grass;
we grow like a flower in the field.
16 After the wind blows, the flower is gone,
and there is no sign of where it was.
17 But the Lord’s love for those who respect him
continues forever and ever,
and his goodness continues to their grandchildren
18 and to those who keep his agreement
and who remember to obey his orders.
19 The Lord has set his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over everything.
20 You who are his angels, praise the Lord.
You are the mighty warriors who do what he says
and who obey his voice.
21 You, his armies, praise the Lord;
you are his servants who do what he wants.
22 Everything the Lord has made
should praise him in all the places he rules.
My whole being, praise the Lord.
It Is Time to Build the Temple
1 The prophet Haggai spoke the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest. This message came in the second year that Darius was king, on the first day of the sixth month:
2 “This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: ‘The people say the right time has not come to rebuild the Temple of the Lord.’”
3 Then Haggai the prophet spoke the word of the Lord: 4 “Is it right for you to be living in fancy houses while the Temple is still in ruins?”
5 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “Think about what you have done. 6 You have planted much, but you harvest little. You eat, but you do not become full. You drink, but you are still thirsty. You put on clothes, but you are not warm enough. You earn money, but then you lose it all as if you had put it into a purse full of holes.”
7 This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: “Think about what you have done. 8 Go up to the mountains, bring back wood, and build the Temple. Then I will be pleased with it and be honored,” says the Lord. 9 “You look for much, but you find little. When you bring it home, I destroy it. Why?” asks the Lord All-Powerful. “Because you all work hard for your own houses while my house is still in ruins! 10 Because of what you have done, the sky holds back its rain and the ground holds back its crops. 11 I have called for a time without rain on the land, and on the mountains, and on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil, the plants which the earth produces, the people, the farm animals, and all the work of your hands.”
12 Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all the rest of the people who were left alive obeyed the Lord their God and the message from Haggai the prophet, because the Lord their God had sent him. And the people feared the Lord.
13 Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, gave the Lord’s message to the people, saying, “The Lord says, ‘I am with you.’” 14 The Lord stirred up Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, the governor of Judah, and Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and all the rest of the people who were left alive. So they came and worked on the Temple of their God, the Lord All-Powerful. 15 They began on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in the second year Darius was king.
The Beauty of the Temple
2 On the twenty-first day of the seventh month, the Lord spoke his word through Haggai the prophet, saying, 2 “Speak to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, and to the rest of the people who are left alive. Say, 3 ‘Do any of you remember how great the Temple was before it was destroyed? What does it look like now? Doesn’t it seem like nothing to you?’ 4 But the Lord says, ‘Zerubbabel, be brave. Also, Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest, be brave. And all you people who live in the land, be brave,’ says the Lord. ‘Work, because I am with you,’ says the Lord All-Powerful. 5 ‘I made a promise to you when you came out of Egypt, and my Spirit is still with you. So don’t be afraid.’
6 “This is what the Lord All-Powerful says: ‘In a short time I will once again shake the heavens and the earth, the sea and the dry land. 7 I will shake all the nations, and they will bring their wealth. Then I will fill this Temple with glory,’ says the Lord All-Powerful. 8 ‘The silver is mine, and the gold is mine,’ says the Lord All-Powerful. 9 ‘The new Temple will be greater than the one before,’ says the Lord All-Powerful. ‘And in this place I will give peace,’ says the Lord All-Powerful.”
Apollos in Ephesus and Corinth
24 A Jew named Apollos came to Ephesus. He was born in the city of Alexandria and was a good speaker who knew the Scriptures well. 25 He had been taught about the way of the Lord and was always very excited when he spoke and taught the truth about Jesus. But the only baptism Apollos knew about was the baptism that John[a] taught. 26 Apollos began to speak very boldly in the synagogue, and when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him to their home and helped him better understand the way of God. 27 Now Apollos wanted to go to the country of Southern Greece. So the believers helped him and wrote a letter to the followers there, asking them to accept him. These followers had believed in Jesus because of God’s grace, and when Apollos arrived, he helped them very much. 28 He argued very strongly with the Jews before all the people, clearly proving with the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.
Paul in Ephesus
19 While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul was visiting some places on the way to Ephesus. There he found some followers 2 and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?”
They said, “We have never even heard of a Holy Spirit.”
3 So he asked, “What kind of baptism did you have?”
They said, “It was the baptism that John taught.”
4 Paul said, “John’s baptism was a baptism of changed hearts and lives. He told people to believe in the one who would come after him, and that one is Jesus.”
5 When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. 6 Then Paul laid his hands on them,[b] and the Holy Spirit came upon them. They began speaking different languages[c] and prophesying. 7 There were about twelve people in this group.
The Good Samaritan
25 Then an expert on the law stood up to test Jesus, saying, “Teacher, what must I do to get life forever?”
26 Jesus said, “What is written in the law? What do you read there?”
27 The man answered, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.”[a] Also, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”[b]
28 Jesus said to him, “Your answer is right. Do this and you will live.”
29 But the man, wanting to show the importance of his question, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Jesus answered, “As a man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, some robbers attacked him. They tore off his clothes, beat him, and left him lying there, almost dead. 31 It happened that a priest was going down that road. When he saw the man, he walked by on the other side. 32 Next, a Levite[c] came there, and after he went over and looked at the man, he walked by on the other side of the road. 33 Then a Samaritan[d] traveling down the road came to where the hurt man was. When he saw the man, he felt very sorry for him. 34 The Samaritan went to him, poured olive oil and wine[e] on his wounds, and bandaged them. Then he put the hurt man on his own donkey and took him to an inn where he cared for him. 35 The next day, the Samaritan brought out two coins,[f] gave them to the innkeeper, and said, ‘Take care of this man. If you spend more money on him, I will pay it back to you when I come again.’”
36 Then Jesus said, “Which one of these three men do you think was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by the robbers?”
37 The expert on the law answered, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Jesus said to him, “Then go and do what he did.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.