Book of Common Prayer
A Song of Victory
For the director of music. By the Lord’s servant, David. David sang this song to the Lord. He sang it when the Lord had saved him from Saul and all his other enemies.
18 I love you, Lord. You are my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my protection, my Savior.
My God is my rock.
I can run to him for safety.
He is my shield and my saving strength, my high tower.
3 I will call to the Lord.
He is worthy of praise.
And I will be saved from my enemies.
4 The ropes of death bound me.
The deadly rivers overwhelmed me.
5 The ropes of death wrapped around me.
The traps of death were before me.
6 In my trouble I called to the Lord.
I cried out to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice.
My call for help reached his ears.
7 The earth trembled and shook.
The foundations of the mountains began to shake.
They shook because the Lord was angry.
8 Smoke came out of his nose.
Burning fire came out of his mouth.
Burning coals went before him.
9 He tore open the sky and came down.
Dark clouds were under his feet.
10 He rode a creature with wings and flew.
He flew on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his shelter around him,
surrounded by fog and clouds.
12 Out of the brightness of his presence came clouds.
They came with hail and lightning.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven.
God Most High raised his voice.
And there was hail and lightning.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies.
His many bolts of lightning confused them with fear.
15 Lord, you spoke strongly.
The wind blew from your nose.
The valleys of the sea appeared.
The foundations of the earth were seen.
16 The Lord reached down from above and took me.
He pulled me from the deep water.
17 He saved me from my powerful enemies.
Those who hated me were too strong for me.
18 They attacked me at my time of trouble.
But the Lord supported me.
19 He took me to a safe place.
Because he delights in me, he saved me.
20 The Lord spared me because I did what was right.
Because I have not done evil, he has rewarded me.
21 I have followed the ways of the Lord.
I have not done evil by turning away from my God.
22 I remember all his laws.
I have not broken his rules.
23 I am innocent before him.
I have kept myself from doing evil.
24 The Lord rewarded me because I did what was right.
I did what the Lord said was right.
25 Lord, you are loyal to those who are loyal.
You are good to those who are good.
26 You are pure to those who are pure.
But you are against those who are bad.
27 You save those who are not proud.
But you make humble those who are proud.
28 Lord, you give light to my lamp.
My God brightens the darkness around me.
29 With your help I can attack an army.
With God’s help I can jump over a wall.
30 The ways of God are without fault.
The Lord’s words are pure.
He is a shield to those who trust him.
31 Who is God? Only the Lord.
Who is the Rock? Only our God.
32 God is my protection.
He makes my way free from fault.
33 He makes me like a deer, which does not stumble.
He helps me stand on the steep mountains.
34 He trains my hands for battle.
So my arms can bend a bronze bow.
35 You protect me with your saving shield.
You support me with your right hand.
You have stooped to make me great.
36 You give me a wide path on which to walk.
My feet have not slipped.
37 I chased my enemies and caught them.
I did not quit till they were destroyed.
38 I crushed them so they couldn’t rise up again.
They fell beneath my feet.
39 You gave me strength in battle.
You made my enemies bow before me.
40 You made my enemies turn back.
I destroyed those who hated me.
41 They called for help,
but no one came to save them.
They called to the Lord,
but he did not answer them.
42 I beat my enemies into pieces.
They were like dust in the wind.
I poured them out like mud in the streets.
43 You saved me when the people attacked me.
You made me the leader of nations.
People I never knew serve me.
44 As soon as they hear me, they obey me.
Foreigners obey me.
45 They all become afraid.
They tremble in their hiding places.
46 The Lord lives!
May my Rock be praised.
Praise the God who saves me!
47 God gives me victory over my enemies.
He brings people under my rule.
48 He saves me from my enemies.
You set me over those who hate me.
You saved me from cruel men.
49 So I will praise you, Lord, among the nations.
I will sing praises to your name.
50 The Lord gives great victories to his king.
He is loyal to his appointed king,
to David and his descendants forever.
10 So Aaron spoke to the whole community of the Israelites. While he was speaking, they looked toward the desert. There the greatness of the Lord appeared in a cloud.
11 The Lord said to Moses, 12 “I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel. So tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat. And every morning you will eat all the bread you want. Then you will know I am the Lord, your God.’”
13 That evening, quail came and covered the camp. And in the morning dew lay around the camp. 14 When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost were on the desert ground. 15 When the Israelites saw it, they asked each other, “What is that?” They asked this question because they did not know what it was.
So Moses told them, “This is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. 16 The Lord has commanded, ‘Each one of you must gather what he needs. Gather about two quarts for every person in your family.’”
17 So the people of Israel did this. Some people gathered much, and some gathered little. 18 Then they measured it. The person who gathered more did not have too much. The person who gathered less did not have too little. Each person gathered just as much as he needed.
19 Moses said to them, “Don’t keep any of it to eat the next day.” 20 But some of the people did not listen to Moses. They kept part of it to eat the next morning. But it became full of worms and began to stink. So Moses was angry with these people.
21 Every morning each person gathered as much food as he needed. But when the sun became hot, it melted away.
22 On the sixth day the people gathered twice as much food. They gathered four quarts for every person. So all the leaders of the community came and told this to Moses.
Live for God
11 Dear friends, you are like visitors and strangers in this world. So I beg you to stay away from the evil things your bodies want to do. These things fight against your soul. 12 People who do not believe are living all around you. They might say that you are doing wrong. So live good lives. Then they will see the good things you do, and they will give glory to God on the day when Christ comes again.
Obey Every Human Authority
13 Obey the people who have authority in this world. Do this for the Lord. Obey the king, who is the highest authority. 14 And obey the leaders who are sent by the king. They are sent to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. 15 So when you do good, you stop foolish people from saying stupid things about you. This is what God wants. 16 Live as free men. But do not use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Live as servants of God. 17 Show respect for all people. Love the brothers and sisters of God’s family. Respect God. Honor the king.
Follow Christ’s Example
18 Slaves, accept the authority of your masters. Do this with all respect. You should obey masters who are good and kind, and you should obey masters who are bad. 19 A person might have to suffer even when he has done nothing wrong. But if he thinks of God and bears the pain, this pleases God. 20 If you are punished for doing wrong, there is no reason to praise you for bearing punishment. But if you suffer for doing good, and you are patient, then that pleases God. 21 That is what you were called to do. Christ suffered for you. He gave you an example to follow. So you should do as he did.
22 “He did no sin.
He never lied.” Isaiah 53:9
23 People insulted Christ, but he did not insult them in return. Christ suffered, but he did not threaten. He let God take care of him. God is the One who judges rightly. 24 Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross. He did this so that we would stop living for sin and start living for what is right. And we are healed because of his wounds. 25 You were like sheep that went the wrong way. But now you have come back to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
12 “This is my command: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 The greatest love a person can show is to die for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 I don’t call you servants now. A servant does not know what his master is doing. But now I call you friends because I have made known to you everything I heard from my Father. 16 You did not choose me; I chose you. And I gave you this work, to go and produce fruit. I want you to produce fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you anything you ask for in my name. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
Jesus Warns His Followers
18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first. 19 If you belonged to the world, then it would love you as it loves its own. But I have chosen you out of the world. So you don’t belong to it. That is why the world hates you. 20 Remember what I told you: A servant is not greater than his master. If people did wrong to me, they will do wrong to you, too. And if they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours, too. 21 They will do all this to you because of me. They don’t know the One who sent me. 22 If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have no excuse for their sin. 23 He who hates me also hates my Father. 24 I did works among them that no one else has ever done. If I had not done those works, they would not be guilty of sin. But now they have seen what I did, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. 25 But this happened so that what is written in their law would be true: ‘They hated me for no reason.’[a]
26 “I will send you the Helper[b] from the Father. He is the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father. When he comes, he will tell about me. 27 And you also must tell people about me because you have been with me from the beginning.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.