Book of Common Prayer
97 How I love your teachings!
I think about them all day long.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
because they are mine forever.
99 I am wiser than all my teachers,
because I think about your rules.
100 I have more understanding than the elders,
because I follow your orders.
101 I have avoided every evil way
so I could obey your word.
102 I haven’t walked away from your laws,
because you yourself are my teacher.
103 Your promises are sweet to me,
sweeter than honey in my mouth!
104 Your orders give me understanding,
so I hate lying ways.
105 Your word is like a lamp for my feet
and a light for my path.
106 I will do what I have promised
and obey your fair laws.
107 I have suffered for a long time.
Lord, give me life by your word.
108 Lord, accept my willing praise
and teach me your laws.
109 My life is always in danger,
but I haven’t forgotten your teachings.
110 Wicked people have set a trap for me,
but I haven’t strayed from your orders.
111 I will follow your rules forever,
because they make me happy.
112 I will try to do what you demand
forever, until the end.
113 I hate disloyal people,
but I love your teachings.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
115 Get away from me, you who do evil,
so I can keep my God’s commands.
116 Support me as you promised so I can live.
Don’t let me be embarrassed because of my hopes.
117 Help me, and I will be saved.
I will always respect your demands.
118 You reject those who ignore your demands,
because their lies mislead them.
119 You throw away the wicked of the world like trash.
So I will love your rules.
120 I shake in fear of you;
I respect your laws.
A Song for a Holiday
For the director of music. By the gittith. A psalm of Asaph.
81 Sing for joy to God, our strength;
shout out loud to the God of Jacob.
2 Begin the music. Play the tambourines.
Play pleasant music on the harps and lyres.
3 Blow the trumpet at the time of the New Moon,
when the moon is full, when our feast begins.
4 This is the law for Israel;
it is the command of the God of Jacob.
5 He gave this rule to the people of Joseph
when they went out of the land of Egypt.
I heard a language I did not know, saying:
6 “I took the load off their shoulders;
I let them put down their baskets.
7 When you were in trouble, you called, and I saved you.
I answered you with thunder.
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 My people, listen. I am warning you.
Israel, please listen to me!
9 You must not have foreign gods;
you must not worship any false god.
10 I, the Lord, am your God,
who brought you out of Egypt.
Open your mouth and I will feed you.
11 “But my people did not listen to me;
Israel did not want me.
12 So I let them go their stubborn way
and follow their own advice.
13 I wish my people would listen to me;
I wish Israel would live my way.
14 Then I would quickly defeat their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord would bow before him.
Their punishment would continue forever.
16 But I would give you the finest wheat
and fill you with honey from the rocks.”
A Cry for Justice
A psalm of Asaph.
82 God is in charge of the great meeting;
he judges among the “gods.”
2 He says, “How long will you defend evil people?
How long will you show greater kindness to the wicked? Selah
3 Defend the weak and the orphans;
defend the rights of the poor and suffering.
4 Save the weak and helpless;
free them from the power of the wicked.
5 “You know nothing. You don’t understand.
You walk in the dark,
while the world is falling apart.
6 I said, ‘You are “gods.”
You are all sons of God Most High.’
7 But you will die like any other person;
you will fall like all the leaders.”
8 God, come and judge the earth,
because you own all the nations.
73 So these people all settled in their own towns: the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Temple servants, and all the other people of Israel.
Ezra Reads the Teachings
By the seventh month the Israelites were settled in their own towns.
8 All the people of Israel gathered together in the square by the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the teacher to bring out the Book of the Teachings of Moses, which the Lord had given to Israel.
2 So on the first day of the seventh month, Ezra the priest brought out the Teachings for the crowd. Men, women, and all who could listen and understand had gathered. 3 At the square by the Water Gate Ezra read the Teachings out loud from early morning until noon to the men, women, and everyone who could listen and understand. All the people listened carefully to the Book of the Teachings.
5 Ezra opened the book in full view of everyone, because he was above them. As he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God, and all the people held up their hands and said, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
7 These Levites explained the Teachings to the people as they stood there: Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, and Pelaiah. 8 They read from the Book of the Teachings of God and explained what it meant so the people understood what was being read.
9 Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra the priest and teacher, and the Levites who were teaching said to all the people, “This is a holy day to the Lord your God. Don’t be sad or cry.” All the people had been crying as they listened to the words of the Teachings.
10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy good food and sweet drinks. Send some to people who have none, because today is a holy day to the Lord. Don’t be sad, because the joy of the Lord will make you strong.”
11 The Levites helped calm the people, saying, “Be quiet, because this is a holy day. Don’t be sad.”
12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink, to send some of their food to others, and to celebrate with great joy. They finally understood what they had been taught.
13 On the second day of the month, the leaders of all the families, the priests, and the Levites met with Ezra the teacher. They gathered to study the words of the Teachings. 14 This is what they found written in the Teachings: The Lord commanded through Moses that the people of Israel were to live in shelters during the feast of the seventh month. 15 The people were supposed to preach this message and spread it through all their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the mountains, and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, myrtle trees, palms, and shade trees. Make shelters with them, as it is written.”
16 So the people went out and got tree branches. They built shelters on their roofs,[a] in their courtyards, in the courtyards of the Temple, in the square by the Water Gate, and in the square next to the Gate of Ephraim. 17 The whole group that had come back from captivity built shelters and lived in them. The Israelites had not done this since the time of Joshua son of Nun. And they were very happy.
18 Ezra read to them every day from the Book of the Teachings, from the first day to the last. The people of Israel celebrated the feast for seven days, and then on the eighth day the people gathered as the law said.
21 Then a powerful angel picked up a large stone, like one used for grinding grain, and threw it into the sea. He said:
“In the same way, the great city of Babylon will be thrown down,
and it will never be found again.
22 The music of people playing harps and other instruments, flutes, and trumpets,
will never be heard in you again.
No workman doing any job
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of grinding grain
will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of a lamp
will never shine in you again,
and the voices of a bridegroom and bride
will never be heard in you again.
Your merchants were the world’s great people,
and all the nations were tricked by your magic.
24 You are guilty of the death of the prophets and God’s holy people
and all who have been killed on earth.”
Jesus Heals Many People
29 After leaving there, Jesus went along the shore of Lake Galilee. He went up on a hill and sat there.
30 Great crowds came to Jesus, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, those who could not speak, and many others. They put them at Jesus’ feet, and he healed them. 31 The crowd was amazed when they saw that people who could not speak before were now able to speak. The crippled were made strong. The lame could walk, and the blind could see. And they praised the God of Israel for this.
More than Four Thousand Fed
32 Jesus called his followers to him and said, “I feel sorry for these people, because they have already been with me three days, and they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. They might faint while going home.”
33 His followers asked him, “How can we get enough bread to feed all these people? We are far away from any town.”
34 Jesus asked, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They answered, “Seven, and a few small fish.”
35 Jesus told the people to sit on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and gave thanks to God. Then he divided the food and gave it to his followers, and they gave it to the people. 37 All the people ate and were satisfied. Then his followers filled seven baskets with the leftover pieces of food. 38 There were about four thousand men there who ate, besides women and children. 39 After sending the people home, Jesus got into the boat and went to the area of Magadan.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.