Book of Common Prayer
The Majesty of the Lord
93 The Lord is king. He is clothed in majesty.
The Lord is clothed in majesty
and armed with strength.
The world is set,
and it cannot be moved.
2 Lord, your kingdom was set up long ago;
you are everlasting.
3 Lord, the seas raise,
the seas raise their voice.
The seas raise up their pounding waves.
4 The sound of the water is loud;
the ocean waves are powerful,
but the Lord above is much greater.
5 Lord, your laws will stand forever.
Your Temple will be holy forevermore.
Praise for the Lord’s Glory
96 Sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord and praise his name;
every day tell how he saves us.
3 Tell the nations of his glory;
tell all peoples the miracles he does,
4 because the Lord is great; he should be praised at all times.
He should be honored more than all the gods,
5 because all the gods of the nations are only idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
6 The Lord has glory and majesty;
he has power and beauty in his Temple.
7 Praise the Lord, all nations on earth;
praise the Lord’s glory and power.
8 Praise the glory of the Lord’s name.
Bring an offering and come into his Temple courtyards.
9 Worship the Lord because he is holy.
Tremble before him, everyone on earth.
10 Tell the nations, “The Lord is king.”
The earth is set, and it cannot be moved.
He will judge the people fairly.
11 Let the skies rejoice and the earth be glad;
let the sea and everything in it shout.
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
and the peoples with truth.
Praise God Who Judges and Saves
David’s song from the time he acted crazy so Abimelech would send him away, and David did leave.
34 I will praise the Lord at all times;
his praise is always on my lips.
2 My whole being praises the Lord.
The poor will hear and be glad.
3 Glorify the Lord with me,
and let us praise his name together.
4 I asked the Lord for help, and he answered me.
He saved me from all that I feared.
5 Those who go to him for help are happy,
and they are never disgraced.
6 This poor man called, and the Lord heard him
and saved him from all his troubles.
7 The angel of the Lord camps around those who fear God,
and he saves them.
8 Examine and see how good the Lord is.
Happy is the person who trusts him.
9 You who belong to the Lord, fear him!
Those who fear him will have everything they need.
10 Even lions may get weak and hungry,
but those who look to the Lord will have every good thing.
11 Children, come and listen to me.
I will teach you to worship the Lord.
12 You must do these things
to enjoy life and have many happy days.
13 You must not say evil things,
and you must not tell lies.
14 Stop doing evil and do good.
Look for peace and work for it.
15 The Lord sees the good people
and listens to their prayers.
16 But the Lord is against those who do evil;
he makes the world forget them.
17 The Lord hears good people when they cry out to him,
and he saves them from all their troubles.
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 have many problems,
but the Lord will solve 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 people will be judged guilty.
22 But the Lord saves his servants’ lives;
no one who trusts him will be judged guilty.
The People Confess Sin
10 As Ezra was praying and confessing and crying and throwing himself down in front of the Temple, a large group of Israelite men, women, and children gathered around him who were also crying loudly. 2 Then Shecaniah son of Jehiel the Elamite said to Ezra, “We have been unfaithful to our God by marrying women from the peoples around us. But even so, there is still hope for Israel. 3 Now let us make an agreement before our God. We will send away all these women and their children as you and those who respect the commands of our God advise. Let it be done to obey God’s Teachings. 4 Get up, Ezra. You are in charge, and we will support you. Have courage and do it.”
5 So Ezra got up and made the priests, Levites, and all the people of Israel promise to do what was suggested; and they promised. 6 Then Ezra left the Temple and went to the room of Jehohanan son of Eliashib. While Ezra was there, he did not eat or drink, because he was still sad about the unfaithfulness of the captives who had returned.
7 They sent an order in Judah and Jerusalem for all the captives who had returned to meet together in Jerusalem. 8 Whoever did not come to Jerusalem within three days would lose his property and would no longer be a member of the community of the returned captives. That was the decision of the officers and elders.
9 So within three days all the men of Judah and Benjamin gathered in Jerusalem. It was the twentieth day of the ninth month. All the men were sitting in the open place in front of the Temple and were upset because of the meeting and because it was raining. 10 Ezra the priest stood up and said to them, “You have been unfaithful and have married non-Jewish women. You have made Israel more guilty. 11 Now, confess it to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Do his will and separate yourselves from the people living around you and from your non-Jewish wives.”
12 Then the whole group answered Ezra with a loud voice, “Ezra, you’re right! We must do what you say. 13 But there are many people here, and it’s the rainy season. We can’t stand outside, and this problem can’t be solved in a day or two, because we have sinned badly. 14 Let our officers make a decision for the whole group. Then let everyone in our towns who has married a non-Jewish woman meet with the elders and judges of each town at a planned time, until the hot anger of our God turns away from us.” 15 Only Jonathan son of Asahel, Jahzeiah son of Tikvah, Meshullam, and Shabbethai the Levite were against the plan.
16 So the returned captives did what was suggested. Ezra the priest chose men who were leaders of the family groups and named one from each family division. On the first day of the tenth month they sat down to study each case. 17 By the first day of the first month, they had finished with all the men who had married non-Jewish women.
10 When the governor made a sign for Paul to speak, Paul said, “Governor Felix, I know you have been a judge over this nation for a long time. So I am happy to defend myself before you. 11 You can learn for yourself that I went to worship in Jerusalem only twelve days ago. 12 Those who are accusing me did not find me arguing with anyone in the Temple or stirring up the people in the synagogues or in the city. 13 They cannot prove the things they are saying against me now. 14 But I will tell you this: I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way of Jesus. The others say that the Way of Jesus is not the right way. But I believe everything that is taught in the law of Moses and that is written in the books of the Prophets. 15 I have the same hope in God that they have—the hope that all people, good and bad, will surely be raised from the dead. 16 This is why I always try to do what I believe is right before God and people.
17 “After being away from Jerusalem for several years, I went back to bring money to my people and to offer sacrifices. 18 I was doing this when they found me in the Temple. I had finished the cleansing ceremony and had not made any trouble; no people were gathering around me. 19 But there were some people from Asia who should be here, standing before you. If I have really done anything wrong, they are the ones who should accuse me. 20 Or ask these people here if they found any wrong in me when I stood before the council in Jerusalem. 21 But I did shout one thing when I stood before them: ‘You are judging me today because I believe that people will rise from the dead!’”
You Will Be Rewarded
12 Then Jesus said to the man who had invited him, “When you give a lunch or a dinner, don’t invite only your friends, your family, your other relatives, and your rich neighbors. At another time they will invite you to eat with them, and you will be repaid. 13 Instead, when you give a feast, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, and the blind. 14 Then you will be blessed, because they have nothing and cannot pay you back. But you will be repaid when the good people rise from the dead.”
A Story About a Big Banquet
15 One of those at the table with Jesus heard these things and said to him, “Blessed are the people who will share in the meal in God’s kingdom.”
16 Jesus said to him, “A man gave a big banquet and invited many people. 17 When it was time to eat, the man sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come. Everything is ready.’
18 “But all the guests made excuses. The first one said, ‘I have just bought a field, and I must go look at it. Please excuse me.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen; I must go and try them. Please excuse me.’ 20 A third person said, ‘I just got married; I can’t come.’ 21 So the servant returned and told his master what had happened. Then the master became angry and said, ‘Go at once into the streets and alleys of the town, and bring in the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 Later the servant said to him, ‘Master, I did what you commanded, but we still have room.’ 23 The master said to the servant, ‘Go out to the roads and country lanes, and urge the people there to come so my house will be full. 24 I tell you, none of those whom I invited first will eat with me.’”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.