Book of Common Prayer
Praise God for Answering Prayers
For the director of music. A song of praise.
66 Everything on earth, shout with joy to God!
2 Sing about his glory!
Make his praise glorious!
3 Say to God, “Your works are amazing!
Your power is great.
Your enemies fall before you.
4 All the earth worships you.
They sing praises to you.
They sing praises to your name.” Selah
5 Come and see what God has done.
See what amazing things he has done for people.
6 He turned the sea into dry land.
The people crossed the river on foot.
So let us rejoice because of what he did.
7 He rules forever with his power.
He keeps his eye on the nations.
So people should not turn against him. Selah
8 You people, praise our God.
Loudly sing his praise.
9 He protects our lives
and does not let us be defeated.
10 God, you have tested us.
You have purified us like silver.
11 You let us be trapped.
You put a heavy load on us.
12 You let our enemies walk on our heads.
We went through fire and flood.
But you brought us to a place with good things.
13 I will come to your Temple with burnt offerings.
I will give you what I promised.
14 I promised to give you these things
when I was in trouble.
15 I will bring you offerings of fat animals.
And I will offer male sheep, bulls and goats. Selah
16 All of you who fear God, come and listen.
I will tell you what he has done for me.
17 I cried out to him with my mouth.
I praised him with my tongue.
18 If I had known of any sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened to me.
19 But God has listened.
He has heard my prayer.
20 Praise God.
He did not ignore my prayer.
He did not hold back his love from me.
Everyone Should Praise God
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A song of praise.
67 God, have mercy on us and bless us.
Show your kindness to us. Selah
2 Then the world will learn your ways.
All nations will learn that you can save.
3 God, the people should praise you.
All people should praise you.
4 The nations should be glad and sing
because you judge people fairly.
You guide all the nations on earth. Selah
5 God, the people should praise you.
All people should praise you.
6 The land has given its crops.
God, our God, blesses us.
7 God blesses us
so people to the ends of the earth will fear him.
God’s Works and Word
For the director of music. A song of David.
19 The heavens tell the glory of God.
And the skies announce what his hands have made.
2 Day after day they tell the story.
Night after night they tell it again.
3 They have no speech or words.
They don’t make any sound to be heard.
4 But their message goes out through all the world.
It goes everywhere on earth.
The sky is like a home for the sun.
5 The sun comes out like a bridegroom from his bedroom.
It rejoices like an athlete eager to run a race.
6 The sun rises at one end of the sky,
and it follows its path to the other end.
Nothing hides from its heat.
7 The Lord’s teachings are perfect.
They give new strength.
The Lord’s rules can be trusted.
They make plain people wise.
8 The Lord’s orders are right.
They make people happy.
The Lord’s commands are pure.
They light up the way.
9 It is good to respect the Lord.
That respect will last forever.
The Lord’s judgments are true.
They are completely right.
10 They are worth more than gold,
even the purest gold.
They are sweeter than honey,
even the finest honey.
11 They tell your servant what to do.
Keeping them brings great reward.
12 No one can see all his own mistakes.
Forgive me for my secret sins.
13 Keep me from the sins that I want to do.
Don’t let them rule me.
Then I can be pure
and free from the greatest of sins.
14 I hope my words and thoughts please you.
Lord, you are my Rock, the one who saves me.
God Protects His People
For the director of music. By alamoth. A song of the sons of Korah.
46 God is our protection and our strength.
He always helps in times of trouble.
2 So we will not be afraid if the earth shakes,
or if the mountains fall into the sea.
3 We will not fear even if the oceans roar and foam,
or if the mountains shake at the raging sea. Selah
4 There is a river which brings joy to the city of God.
This is the holy place where God Most High lives.
5 God is in that city, and so it will not be shaken.
God will help her at dawn.
6 Nations tremble, and kingdoms shake.
God shouts, and the earth crumbles.
7 The Lord of heaven’s armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our protection. Selah
8 Come and see what the Lord has done.
He has done amazing things on the earth.
9 He stops wars everywhere on the earth.
He breaks all bows and spears
and burns up the chariots with fire.
10 God says, “Be still and know that I am God.
I will be praised in all the nations.
I will be praised throughout the earth.”
11 The Lord of heaven’s armies is with us.
The God of Jacob is our protection. Selah
The Burning Bush
3 One day Moses was taking care of Jethro’s sheep. Jethro was the priest of Midian and also Moses’ father-in-law. Moses led the sheep to the west side of the desert. He came to Sinai, the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to Moses in flames of fire coming out of a bush. Moses saw that the bush was on fire, but it was not burning up. 3 So Moses said, “I will go closer to this strange thing. How can a bush continue burning without burning up?”
4 The Lord saw Moses was coming to look at the bush. So God called to him from the bush, “Moses, Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
5 Then God said, “Do not come any closer. Take off your sandals. You are standing on holy ground. 6 I am the God of your ancestors. I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” Moses covered his face because he was afraid to look at God.
7 The Lord said, “I have seen the troubles my people have suffered in Egypt. And I have heard their cries when the Egyptian slave masters hurt them. I am concerned about their pain. 8 I have come down to save them from the Egyptians. I will bring them out of that land. I will lead them to a good land with lots of room. This is a land where much food grows. This is the land of these people: the Canaanites, Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 9 I have heard the cries of the people of Israel. I have seen the way the Egyptians have made life hard for them. 10 So now I am sending you to the king of Egypt. Go! Bring my people, the Israelites, out of Egypt!”
11 But Moses said to God, “I am not a great man! Why should I be the one to go to the king and lead the Israelites out of Egypt?”
12 God said, “I will be with you. This will be the proof that I am sending you: You will lead the people out of Egypt. Then all of you will worship me on this mountain.”
18 You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire. You have not come to darkness, sadness and storms. 19 You have not come to the noise of a trumpet or to the sound of a voice. When the people of Israel heard the voice, they begged not to have to hear another word. 20 They did not want to hear the command: “If anything, even an animal, touches the mountain, it must be put to death with stones.”[a] 21 What they saw was so terrible that Moses said, “I am shaking with fear.”[b]
22 But you have not come to that kind of place. The new place you have come to is Mount Zion.[c] You have come to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands of angels gathered together with joy. 23 You have come to the meeting of God’s firstborn[d] children. Their names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the judge of all people. And you have come to the spirits of good people who have been made perfect. 24 You have come to Jesus, the One who brought the new agreement from God to his people. You have come to the sprinkled blood[e] that has a better message than the blood of Abel.[f]
25 So be careful and do not refuse to listen when God speaks. They refused to listen to him when he warned them on earth. And they did not escape. Now God is warning us from heaven. So it will be worse for us if we refuse to listen to him. 26 When he spoke before, his voice shook the earth. But now he has promised, “Once again I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.”[g] 27 The words “once again” clearly show us that everything that was made will be destroyed. These are the things that can be shaken. And only the things that cannot be shaken will remain.
28 So let us be thankful because we have a kingdom that cannot be shaken. We should worship God in a way that pleases him. So let us worship him with respect and fear, 29 because our God is like a fire that burns things up.
Satan Falls
17 When the 72[a] men came back from their trip, they were very happy. They said, “Lord, even the demons obeyed us when we used your name!”
18 Jesus said to the men, “I saw Satan falling like lightning from the sky. 19 Listen! I gave you power to walk on snakes and scorpions. I gave you more power than the Enemy has. Nothing will hurt you. 20 You should be happy, but not because the spirits obey you. You should be happy because your names are written in heaven.”
Jesus Prays to the Father
21 Then the Holy Spirit made Jesus rejoice. He said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the people who are wise and smart. But you have shown them to those who are like little children. Yes, Father, you did this because this is what you really wanted.
22 “My Father has given me all things. No one knows the Son—only the Father knows. And only the Son knows the Father. The only people who will know about the Father are those whom the Son chooses to tell.”
23 Then Jesus turned to his followers and said privately, “You are blessed to see what you now see! 24 I tell you, many prophets and kings wanted to see what you now see. But they did not see these things. And many prophets and kings wanted to hear what you now hear. But they did not hear these things.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.