Book of Common Prayer
A Call to Praise and Obedience
95 Come, let’s sing for joy to the Lord.
Let’s shout praises to the Rock who saves us.
2 Let’s come to him with thanksgiving.
Let’s sing songs to him,
3 because the Lord is the great God,
the great King over all gods.
4 The deepest places on earth are his,
and the highest mountains belong to him.
5 The sea is his because he made it,
and he created the land with his own hands.
6 Come, let’s worship him and bow down.
Let’s kneel before the Lord who made us,
7 because he is our God
and we are the people he takes care of,
the sheep that he tends.
Today listen to what he says:
8 “Do not be stubborn, as your ancestors were at Meribah,
as they were that day at Massah in the desert.
9 There your ancestors tested me
and tried me even though they saw what I did.
10 I was angry with those people for forty years.
I said, ‘They are not loyal to me
and have not understood my ways.’
11 I was angry and made a promise,
‘They will never enter my rest.’”
A Cry for Help
A prayer of a person who is suffering when he is discouraged and tells the Lord his complaints.
102 Lord, listen to my prayer;
let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide from me
in my time of trouble.
Pay attention to me.
When I cry for help, answer me quickly.
3 My life is passing away like smoke,
and my bones are burned up with fire.
4 My heart is like grass
that has been cut and dried.
I forget to eat.
5 Because of my grief,
my skin hangs on my bones.
6 I am like a desert owl,
like an owl living among the ruins.
7 I lie awake.
I am like a lonely bird on a housetop.
8 All day long enemies insult me;
those who make fun of me use my name as a curse.
9 I eat ashes for food,
and my tears fall into my drinks.
10 Because of your great anger,
you have picked me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are like a passing shadow;
I am like dried grass.
12 But, Lord, you rule forever,
and your fame goes on and on.
13 You will come and have mercy on Jerusalem,
because the time has now come to be kind to her;
the right time has come.
14 Your servants love even her stones;
they even care about her dust.
15 Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings on earth will honor you.
16 The Lord will rebuild Jerusalem;
there his glory will be seen.
17 He will answer the prayers of the needy;
he will not reject their prayers.
18 Write these things for the future
so that people who are not yet born will praise the Lord.
19 The Lord looked down from his holy place above;
from heaven he looked down at the earth.
20 He heard the moans of the prisoners,
and he freed those sentenced to die.
21 The name of the Lord will be heard in Jerusalem;
his praise will be heard there.
22 People will come together,
and kingdoms will serve the Lord.
23 God has made me tired of living;
he has cut short my life.
24 So I said, “My God, do not take me in the middle of my life.
Your years go on and on.
25 In the beginning you made the earth,
and your hands made the skies.
26 They will be destroyed, but you will remain.
They will all wear out like clothes.
And, like clothes, you will change them
and throw them away.
27 But you never change,
and your life will never end.
28 Our children will live in your presence,
and their children will remain with you.”
God Saves from Many Dangers
107 Thank the Lord because he is good.
His love continues forever.
2 That is what those whom the Lord has saved should say.
He has saved them from the enemy
3 and has gathered them from other lands,
from east and west, north and south.
4 Some people had wandered in the desert lands.
They found no city in which to live.
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
and they were discouraged.
6 In their misery they cried out to the Lord,
and he saved them from their troubles.
7 He led them on a straight road
to a city where they could live.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his love
and for the miracles he does for people.
9 He satisfies the thirsty
and fills up the hungry.
10 Some sat in gloom and darkness;
they were prisoners suffering in chains.
11 They had turned against the words of God
and had refused the advice of God Most High.
12 So he broke their pride by hard work.
They stumbled, and no one helped.
13 In their misery they cried out to the Lord,
and he saved them from their troubles.
14 He brought them out of their gloom and darkness
and broke their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his love
and for the miracles he does for people.
16 He breaks down bronze gates
and cuts apart iron bars.
17 Some fools turned against God
and suffered for the evil they did.
18 They refused to eat anything,
so they almost died.
19 In their misery they cried out to the Lord,
and he saved them from their troubles.
20 God gave the command and healed them,
so they were saved from dying.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his love
and for the miracles he does for people.
22 Let them offer sacrifices to thank him.
With joy they should tell what he has done.
23 Others went out to sea in ships
and did business on the great oceans.
24 They saw what the Lord could do,
the miracles he did in the deep oceans.
25 He spoke, and a storm came up,
which blew up high waves.
26 The ships were tossed as high as the sky and fell low to the depths.
The storm was so bad that they lost their courage.
27 They stumbled and fell like people who were drunk.
They did not know what to do.
28 In their misery they cried out to the Lord,
and he saved them from their troubles.
29 He stilled the storm
and calmed the waves.
30 They were happy that it was quiet,
and God guided them to the port they wanted.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his love
and for the miracles he does for people.
32 Let them praise his greatness in the meeting of the people;
let them praise him in the meeting of the elders.
Baby Moses
2 Now a man from the family of Levi married a woman who was also from the family of Levi. 2 She became pregnant and gave birth to a son. When she saw how wonderful the baby was, she hid him for three months. 3 But after three months she was not able to hide the baby any longer, so she got a basket made of reeds and covered it with tar so that it would float. She put the baby in the basket. Then she put the basket among the tall stalks of grass at the edge of the Nile River. 4 The baby’s sister stood a short distance away to see what would happen to him.
5 Then the daughter of the king of Egypt came to the river to take a bath, and her servant girls were walking beside the river. When she saw the basket in the tall grass, she sent her slave girl to get it. 6 The king’s daughter opened the basket and saw the baby boy. He was crying, so she felt sorry for him and said, “This is one of the Hebrew babies.”
7 Then the baby’s sister asked the king’s daughter, “Would you like me to go and find a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for you?”
8 The king’s daughter said, “Go!” So the girl went and got the baby’s own mother.
9 The king’s daughter said to the woman, “Take this baby and nurse him for me, and I will pay you.” So the woman took her baby and nursed him. 10 When the child grew older, the woman took him to the king’s daughter, and she adopted the baby as her own son. The king’s daughter named him Moses,[a] because she had pulled him out of the water.
Moses Tries to Help
11 Moses grew and became a man. One day he visited his people and saw that they were forced to work very hard. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man, one of Moses’ own people. 12 Moses looked all around and saw that no one was watching, so he killed the Egyptian and hid his body in the sand.
13 The next day Moses returned and saw two Hebrew men fighting each other. He said to the one that was in the wrong, “Why are you hitting one of your own people?”
14 The man answered, “Who made you our ruler and judge? Are you going to kill me as you killed the Egyptian?”
Moses was afraid and thought, “Now everyone knows what I did.”
15 When the king heard what Moses had done, he tried to kill him. But Moses ran away from the king and went to live in the land of Midian. There he sat down near a well.
Moses in Midian
16 There was a priest in Midian who had seven daughters. His daughters went to that well to get water to fill the water troughs for their father’s flock. 17 Some shepherds came and chased the girls away, but Moses defended the girls and watered their flock.
18 When they went back to their father Reuel,[b] he asked them, “Why have you come home early today?”
19 The girls answered, “The shepherds chased us away, but an Egyptian defended us. He got water for us and watered our flock.”
20 He asked his daughters, “Where is this man? Why did you leave him? Invite him to eat with us.”
21 Moses agreed to stay with Jethro, and he gave his daughter Zipporah to Moses to be his wife. 22 Zipporah gave birth to a son. Moses named him Gershom,[c] because Moses was a stranger in a land that was not his own.
27 Together you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of that body. 28 In the church God has given a place first to apostles, second to prophets, and third to teachers. Then God has given a place to those who do miracles, those who have gifts of healing, those who can help others, those who are able to govern, and those who can speak in different languages.[a] 29 Not all are apostles. Not all are prophets. Not all are teachers. Not all do miracles. 30 Not all have gifts of healing. Not all speak in different languages. Not all interpret those languages. 31 But you should truly want to have the greater gifts.
Love Is the Greatest Gift
And now I will show you the best way of all.
13 I may speak in different languages[b] of people or even angels. But if I do not have love, I am only a noisy bell or a crashing cymbal. 2 I may have the gift of prophecy. I may understand all the secret things of God and have all knowledge, and I may have faith so great I can move mountains. But even with all these things, if I do not have love, then I am nothing. 3 I may give away everything I have, and I may even give my body as an offering to be burned.[c] But I gain nothing if I do not have love.
Jesus Talks with Moses and Elijah
2 Six days later, Jesus took Peter, James, and John up on a high mountain by themselves. While they watched, Jesus’ appearance was changed. 3 His clothes became shining white, whiter than any person could make them. 4 Then Elijah and Moses[a] appeared to them, talking with Jesus.
5 Peter said to Jesus, “Teacher, it is good that we are here. Let us make three tents—one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” 6 Peter did not know what to say, because he and the others were so frightened.
7 Then a cloud came and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!”
8 Suddenly Peter, James, and John looked around, but they saw only Jesus there alone with them.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them not to tell anyone about what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead.
10 So the followers obeyed Jesus, but they discussed what he meant about rising from the dead.
11 Then they asked Jesus, “Why do the teachers of the law say that Elijah must come first?”
12 Jesus answered, “They are right to say that Elijah must come first and make everything the way it should be. But why does the Scripture say that the Son of Man will suffer much and that people will treat him as if he were nothing? 13 I tell you that Elijah has already come. And people did to him whatever they wanted to do, just as the Scriptures said it would happen.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.