Book of Common Prayer
(A song and a psalm by Asaph.)
God Rules All the Earth
1 Our God, don't just sit there,
silently doing nothing!
2 Your hateful enemies
are turning against you
and rebelling.
3 They are sly, and they plot
against those you treasure.
4 They say, “Let's wipe out
the nation of Israel
and make sure that no one
remembers its name!”
5 All of them fully agree
in their plans against you,
and among them are
6 Edom and the Ishmaelites;
Moab and the Hagrites;
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek;
Philistia and Phoenicia.[a]
8 Even Assyria has joined forces
with Moab and Ammon.[b]
9 (A) Our Lord, punish all of them
as you punished Midian.
Destroy them, as you destroyed
Sisera and Jabin
at Kishon Creek 10 near Endor,
and let their bodies rot.
11 (B) Treat their leaders as you did
Oreb and Zeeb,
Zebah and Zalmunna.
12 All of them said, “We'll take
God's valuable land!”
13 Our God, scatter them around
like dust in a whirlwind.
14 Just as flames destroy forests
on the mountains,
15 pursue and terrify them
with storms of your own.
16 Make them blush with shame,
until they turn and worship
you, our Lord.
17 Let them be forever ashamed
and confused.
Let them die in disgrace.
18 Make them realize that you
are the Lord Most High,
the only ruler of earth!
BOOK II
(Psalms 42–72)
(A special psalm by the clan of Korah and for the music leader.)
Longing for God
1 As a deer gets thirsty
for streams of water,
I truly am thirsty
for you, my God.
2 In my heart, I am thirsty
for you, the living God.
When will I see your face?
3 Day and night my tears
are my only food,
as everyone keeps asking,
“Where is your God?”
4 Sorrow floods my heart,
when I remember
leading the worshipers
to your house.[a]
I can still hear them shout
their joyful praises.
5 Why am I discouraged?
Why am I restless?
I should trust you, Lord.
I will praise you again
because you help me,
6 and you are my God.
I am deeply discouraged,
and so I think about you
here where the Jordan begins
at Mount Hermon
and at Mount Mizar.[b]
7 Your vicious waves
have swept over me
like an angry ocean
or a roaring waterfall.
8 Every day, you are kind,
and at night
you give me a song
as my prayer to you,
the God of my life.
9 You are my mighty rock.[c]
Why have you forgotten me?
Why must enemies mistreat me
and make me sad?
10 Even my bones are in pain,
while all day long
my enemies sneer and ask,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why am I discouraged?
Why am I restless?
I trust you, Lord!
And I will praise you again
because you help me,
and you are my God.
A Prayer in Times of Trouble
1 Show that I am right, God!
Defend me against everyone
who doesn't know you;
rescue me from each
of those deceitful liars.
2 I run to you for protection.
Why do you turn me away?
Why must enemies mistreat me
and make me sad?
3 Send your light and your truth
to guide me.
Let them lead me to your house
on your sacred mountain.
4 Then I will worship
at your altar because you
make me joyful.
You are my God,
and I will praise you.
Yes, I will praise you
as I play my harp.
5 Why am I discouraged?
Why am I restless?
I trust you, Lord!
And I will praise you again
because you help me,
and you are my God.
(A psalm by the clan of Korah for the music leader.)
A Prayer for Peace
1 Our Lord, you have blessed
your land
and made all go well
for Jacob's descendants.
2 You have forgiven the sin
and taken away the guilt
of your people.
3 Your fierce anger is no longer
aimed at us.
4 Our Lord and our God,
you save us!
Please bring us back home
and don't be angry.
5 Will you always be angry
with us and our families?
6 Won't you give us fresh life
and let your people be glad
because of you?
7 Show us your love
and save us!
8 I will listen to you, Lord God,
because you promise peace
to those who are faithful
and no longer foolish.
9 You are ready to rescue
everyone who worships you,
so that you will live with us
in all your glory.
10 Love and loyalty
will come together;
goodness and peace
will unite.
11 Loyalty will sprout
from the ground;
justice will look down
from the sky above.
12 Our Lord, you will bless us;
our land will produce
wonderful crops.
13 Justice will march in front,
making a path
for you to follow.
(A prayer by David.)
A Prayer for Help
1 Please listen, Lord,
and answer my prayer!
I am poor and helpless.
2 Protect me and save me
because you are my God.
I am your faithful servant,
and I trust you.
3 Be kind to me!
I pray to you all day.
4 Make my heart glad!
I serve you,
and my prayer is sincere.
5 You willingly forgive,
and your love is always there
for those who pray to you.
6 Please listen, Lord!
Answer my prayer for help.
7 When I am in trouble, I pray,
knowing you will listen.
8 No other gods are like you;
only you work miracles.
9 (A) You created each nation,
and they will all bow down
to worship and honor you.
10 You perform great wonders
because you alone are God.
11 Teach me to follow you,
and I will obey your truth.
Always keep me faithful.
12 With all my heart I thank you.
I praise you, Lord God.
13 Your love for me is so great
that you protected me
from death and the grave.
14 Proud and violent enemies,
who don't care about you,
have ganged up to attack
and kill me.
15 But you, the Lord God,
are kind and merciful.
You don't easily get angry,
and your love
can always be trusted.
16 I serve you, Lord,
and I am the child
of one of your servants.
Look on me with kindness.
Make me strong and save me.
17 Show that you approve of me!
Then my hateful enemies
will feel like fools,
because you have helped
and comforted me.
Jacob and His Family Go to Egypt
46 Jacob packed up everything he owned and left for Egypt. On the way he stopped near the town of Beersheba and offered sacrifices to the God his father Isaac had worshiped. 2 That night, God spoke to him in a dream and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”
“Here I am,” Jacob answered.
3 God said, “I am God, the same God your father worshiped. Don't be afraid to go to Egypt. I will give you so many descendants that one day they will become a nation. 4 I will go with you to Egypt, and later I will bring your descendants back here. Your son Joseph will be at your side when you die.”
5-7 (A) Jacob and his family set out from Beersheba and headed for Egypt. His sons put him in the wagon that the king[a] had sent for him, and they put their small children and their wives in the other wagons. Jacob's whole family went to Egypt, including his sons, his grandsons, his daughters, and his granddaughters. They took along their animals and everything else they owned.
28 Jacob had sent his son Judah ahead of him to ask Joseph to meet them in Goshen. 29 So Joseph got in his chariot and went to meet his father. When they met, Joseph hugged his father around the neck and cried for a long time. 30 Jacob said to Joseph, “Now that I have seen you and know you are still alive, I am ready to die.”
31 Then Joseph said to his brothers and to everyone who had come with them:
I must go and tell the king[a] that you have arrived from Canaan. 32 I will tell him that you are shepherds and that you have brought your sheep, goats, cattle, and everything else you own. 33 The king will call you in and ask what you do for a living. 34 When he does, be sure to say, “We are shepherds. Our families have always raised sheep.” If you tell him this, he will let you settle in the region of Goshen.
Joseph wanted them to say this to the king, because the Egyptians did not like to be around anyone who raised sheep.
The Rights of an Apostle
9 I am free. I am an apostle. I have seen the Lord Jesus and have led you to have faith in him. 2 Others may think that I am not an apostle, but you are proof that I am an apostle to you.
3 When people question me, I tell them 4 that Barnabas and I have the right to our food and drink. 5 We each have the right to marry one of the Lord's followers and to take her along with us, just as the other apostles and the Lord's brothers and Peter[a] do. 6 Are we the only ones who have to support ourselves by working at another job? 7 Do soldiers pay their own salaries? Don't people who raise grapes eat some of what they grow? Don't shepherds get milk from their own goats?
8-9 (A) I am not saying this on my own authority. The Law of Moses tells us not to muzzle an ox when it is grinding grain. But was God concerned only about an ox? 10 No, he wasn't! He was talking about us. This was written in the Scriptures so that all who plow and all who grind the grain will look forward to sharing in the harvest.
11 (B) When we told the message to you, it was like planting spiritual seed. So we have the right to accept material things as our harvest from you. 12 If others have the right to do this, we have an even greater right. But we haven't used this right of ours. We are willing to put up with anything to keep from causing trouble for the message about Christ.
13 (C) Don't you know that people who work in the temple make their living from what is brought to the temple? Don't you know that a person who serves at the altar is given part of what is offered? 14 (D) In the same way, the Lord wants everyone who preaches the good news to make a living from preaching this message.
15 But I have never used these privileges of mine, and I am not writing this because I want to start now. I would rather die than have someone rob me of the right to take pride in this.
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
(Matthew 14.13-21; Luke 9.10-17; John 6.1-14)
30 After the apostles returned to Jesus,[a] they told him everything they had done and taught. 31 But so many people were coming and going that Jesus and the apostles did not even have a chance to eat. Then Jesus said, “Let's go to a place[b] where we can be alone and get some rest.” 32 They left in a boat for a place where they could be alone. 33 But many people saw them leave and figured out where they were going. So people from every town ran on ahead and got there first.
34 (A) When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw the large crowd that was like sheep without a shepherd. He felt sorry for the people and started teaching them many things.
35 That evening the disciples came to Jesus and said, “This place is like a desert, and it's already late. 36 Let the crowds leave, so they can go to the farms and villages near here and buy something to eat.”
37 Jesus replied, “You give them something to eat.”
But they asked him, “Don't you know it would take almost a year's wages[c] to buy all of these people something to eat?”
38 Then Jesus said, “How much bread do you have? Go and see!”
They found out and answered, “We have five small loaves of bread[d] and two fish.” 39 Jesus told his disciples to tell the people to sit down on the green grass. 40 They sat down in groups of 100 and groups of 50.
41 Jesus took the five loaves and the two fish. He looked up toward heaven and blessed the food. Then he broke the bread and handed it to his disciples to give to the people. He also divided the two fish, so everyone could have some.
42 After everyone had eaten all they wanted, 43 Jesus' disciples picked up twelve large baskets of leftover bread and fish.
44 There were 5,000 men who ate the food.
Jesus Walks on the Water
(Matthew 14.22-33; John 6.15-21)
45 At once, Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and start back across to Bethsaida. But he stayed until he had sent the crowds away. 46 Then he told them goodbye and went up on the side of a mountain to pray.
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