Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.
61 God, hear my cry;
listen to my prayer.
2 I call to you from the ends of the earth
when I am afraid.
Carry me away to a high mountain.
3 You have been my protection,
like a strong tower against my enemies.
4 Let me live in your Holy Tent forever.
Let me find safety in the shelter of your wings. Selah
5 God, you have heard my promises.
You have given me what belongs to those who fear you.
6 Give the king a long life;
let him live many years.
7 Let him rule in the presence of God forever.
Protect him with your love and truth.
8 Then I will praise your name forever,
and every day I will keep my promises.
Trust Only in God
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
62 I find rest in God;
only he can save me.
2 He is my rock and my salvation.
He is my defender;
I will not be defeated.
3 How long will you attack someone?
Will all of you kill that person?
Who is like a leaning wall, like a fence ready to fall?
4 They are planning to make that person fall.
They enjoy telling lies.
With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse. Selah
5 I find rest in God;
only he gives me hope.
6 He is my rock and my salvation.
He is my defender;
I will not be defeated.
7 My honor and salvation come from God.
He is my mighty rock and my protection.
8 People, trust God all the time.
Tell him all your problems,
because God is our protection. Selah
9 The least of people are only a breath,
and even the greatest are just a lie.
On the scales, they weigh nothing;
together they are only a breath.
10 Do not trust in force.
Stealing is of no use.
Even if you gain more riches,
don’t put your trust in them.
11 God has said this,
and I have heard it over and over:
God is strong.
12 The Lord is loving.
You reward people for what they have done.
Praise God Who Saved the Nation
For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song.
68 Let God rise up and scatter his enemies;
let those who hate him run away from him.
2 Blow them away as smoke
is driven away by the wind.
As wax melts before a fire,
let the wicked be destroyed before God.
3 But those who do right should be glad
and should rejoice before God;
they should be happy and glad.
4 Sing to God; sing praises to his name.
Prepare the way for him
who rides through the desert,
whose name is the Lord.
Rejoice before him.
5 God is in his holy Temple.
He is a father to orphans,
and he defends the widows.
6 God gives the lonely a home.
He leads prisoners out with joy,
but those who turn against God will live in a dry land.
7 God, you led your people out
when you marched through the desert. Selah
8 The ground shook
and the sky poured down rain
before God, the God of Mount Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
9 God, you sent much rain;
you refreshed your tired land.
10 Your people settled there.
God, in your goodness
you took care of the poor.
11 The Lord gave the command,
and a great army told the news:
12 “Kings and their armies run away.
In camp they divide the wealth taken in war.
13 Those who stayed by the campfires
will share the riches taken in battle.”
14 The Almighty scattered kings
like snow on Mount Zalmon.
15 The mountains of Bashan are high;
the mountains of Bashan have many peaks.
16 Why do you mountains with many peaks look with envy
on the mountain that God chose for his home?
The Lord will live there forever.
17 God comes with millions of chariots;
the Lord comes from Mount Sinai to his holy place.
18 When you went up to the heights,
you led a parade of captives.
You received gifts from the people,
even from those who turned against you.
And the Lord God will live there.
19 Praise the Lord, God our Savior,
who helps us every day. Selah
20 Our God is a God who saves us;
the Lord God saves us from death.
21 God will crush his enemies’ heads,
the hairy skulls of those who continue to sin.
22 The Lord said, “I will bring the enemy back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea.
23 Then you can stick your feet in their blood,
and your dogs can lick their share.”
24 God, people have seen your victory march;
God my King marched into the holy place.
25 The singers are in front and the instruments are behind.
In the middle are the girls with the tambourines.
26 Praise God in the meeting place;
praise the Lord in the gathering of Israel.
27 There is the smallest tribe, Benjamin, leading them.
And there are the leaders of Judah with their group.
There also are the leaders of Zebulun and of Naphtali.
28 God, order up your power;
show the mighty power you have used for us before.
29 Kings will bring their wealth to you,
to your Temple in Jerusalem.
30 Punish Egypt, the beast in the tall grass along the river.
Punish the leaders of nations, those bulls among the cows.
Defeated, they will bring you their silver.
Scatter those nations that love war.
31 Messengers will come from Egypt;
the people of Cush will pray to God.
32 Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
sing praises to the Lord. Selah
33 Sing to the one who rides through the skies, which are from long ago.
He speaks with a thundering voice.
34 Announce that God is powerful.
He rules over Israel,
and his power is in the skies.
35 God, you are wonderful in your Temple.
The God of Israel gives his people strength and power.
Praise God!
The Dreams Come True
42 Jacob learned that there was grain in Egypt, so he said to his sons, “Why are you just sitting here looking at one another? 2 I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us to eat, so that we will live and not die.”
3 So ten of Joseph’s brothers went down to buy grain from Egypt. 4 But Jacob did not send Benjamin, Joseph’s brother, with them, because he was afraid that something terrible might happen to him. 5 Along with many other people, the sons of Israel[a] went to Egypt to buy grain, because the people in the land of Canaan were also hungry.
6 Now Joseph was governor over Egypt. He was the one who sold the grain to people who came to buy it. So Joseph’s brothers came to him and bowed facedown on the ground before him. 7 When Joseph saw his brothers, he knew who they were, but he acted as if he didn’t know them. He asked unkindly, “Where do you come from?”
They answered, “We have come from the land of Canaan to buy food.”
8 Joseph knew they were his brothers, but they did not know who he was. 9 And Joseph remembered his dreams about his brothers bowing to him. He said to them, “You are spies! You came to learn where the nation is weak!”
10 But his brothers said to him, “No, my master. We come as your servants just to buy food. 11 We are all sons of the same father. We are honest men, not spies.”
12 Then Joseph said to them, “No! You have come to learn where this nation is weak!”
13 And they said, “We are ten of twelve brothers, sons of the same father, and we live in the land of Canaan. Our youngest brother is there with our father right now, and our other brother is gone.”
14 But Joseph said to them, “I can see I was right! You are spies! 15 But I will give you a way to prove you are telling the truth. As surely as the king lives, you will not leave this place until your youngest brother comes here. 16 One of you must go and get your brother. The rest of you will stay here in prison. We will see if you are telling the truth. If not, as surely as the king lives, you are spies.” 17 Then Joseph put them all in prison for three days.
Wickedness in the Church
5 It is actually being said that there is sexual sin among you. And it is a kind that does not happen even among people who do not know God. A man there has his father’s wife. 2 And you are proud! You should have been filled with sadness so that the man who did this should be put out of your group. 3 I am not there with you in person, but I am with you in spirit. And I have already judged the man who did that sin as if I were really there. 4 When you meet together in the name of our Lord Jesus, and I meet with you in spirit with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 then hand this man over to Satan. So his sinful self[a] will be destroyed, and his spirit will be saved on the day of the Lord.
6 Your bragging is not good. You know the saying, “Just a little yeast makes the whole batch of dough rise.” 7 Take out all the old yeast so that you will be a new batch of dough without yeast, which you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 So let us celebrate this feast, but not with the bread that has the old yeast—the yeast of sin and wickedness. Let us celebrate this feast with the bread that has no yeast—the bread of goodness and truth.
19 and Judas Iscariot, who later turned against Jesus.
Some People Say Jesus Has a Devil
20 Then Jesus went home, but again a crowd gathered. There were so many people that Jesus and his followers could not eat. 21 When his family heard this, they went to get him because they thought he was out of his mind. 22 But the teachers of the law from Jerusalem were saying, “Beelzebul is living inside him! He uses power from the ruler of demons to force demons out of people.”
23 So Jesus called the people together and taught them with stories. He said, “Satan will not force himself out of people. 24 A kingdom that is divided cannot continue, 25 and a family that is divided cannot continue. 26 And if Satan is against himself and fights against his own people, he cannot continue; that is the end of Satan. 27 No one can enter a strong person’s house and steal his things unless he first ties up the strong person. Then he can steal things from the house. 28 I tell you the truth, all sins that people do and all the things people say against God can be forgiven. 29 But anyone who speaks against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of a sin that continues forever.”
30 Jesus said this because the teachers of the law said that he had an evil spirit inside him.
Jesus’ True Family
31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to tell him to come out. 32 Many people were sitting around Jesus, and they said to him, “Your mother and brothers[a] are waiting for you outside.”
33 Jesus asked, “Who are my mother and my brothers?” 34 Then he looked at those sitting around him and said, “Here are my mother and my brothers! 35 My true brother and sister and mother are those who do what God wants.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.