Book of Common Prayer
A Promise to Rule Well
A psalm of David.
101 I will sing of your love and fairness;
Lord, I will sing praises to you.
2 I will be careful to live an innocent life.
When will you come to me?
I will live an innocent life in my house.
3 I will not look at anything wicked.
I hate those who turn against you;
they will not be found near me.
4 Let those who want to do wrong stay away from me;
I will have nothing to do with evil.
5 If anyone secretly says things against his neighbor,
I will stop him.
I will not allow people
to be proud and look down on others.
6 I will look for trustworthy people
so I can live with them in the land.
Only those who live innocent lives
will be my servants.
7 No one who is dishonest will live in my house;
no liars will stay around me.
8 Every morning I will destroy the wicked in the land.
I will rid the Lord’s city of people who do evil.
A Prayer Against an Enemy
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
109 God, I praise you.
Do not be silent.
2 Wicked people and liars have spoken against me;
they have told lies about me.
3 They have said hateful things about me
and attack me for no reason.
4 They attacked me, even though I loved them
and prayed for them.
5 I was good to them, but they repay me with evil.
I loved them, but they hate me in return.
6 They say about me, “Have an evil person work against him,
and let an accuser stand against him.
7 When he is judged, let him be found guilty,
and let even his prayers show his guilt.
8 Let his life be cut short,
and let another man replace him as leader.
9 Let his children become orphans
and his wife a widow.
10 Make his children wander around, begging for food.
Let them be forced out of the ruins in which they live.
11 Let the people to whom he owes money take everything he owns,
and let strangers steal everything he has worked for.
12 Let no one show him love
or have mercy on his orphaned children.
13 Let all his descendants die
and be forgotten by those who live after him.
14 Lord, remember how wicked his ancestors were,
and don’t let the sins of his mother be wiped out.
15 Lord, always remember their sins.
Then make people forget about them completely.
16 “He did not remember to be loving.
He hurt the poor, the needy, and those who were sad
until they were nearly dead.
17 He loved to put curses on others,
so let those same curses fall on him.
He did not like to bless others,
so do not let good things happen to him.
18 He cursed others as often as he wore clothes.
Cursing others filled his body and his life,
like drinking water and using olive oil.
19 So let curses cover him like clothes
and wrap around him like a belt.”
20 May the Lord do these things to those who accuse me,
to those who speak evil against me.
21 But you, Lord God,
be kind to me so others will know you are good.
Because your love is good, save me.
22 I am poor and helpless
and very sad.
23 I am dying like an evening shadow;
I am shaken off like a locust.
24 My knees are weak from fasting,
and I have grown thin.
25 My enemies insult me;
they look at me and shake their heads.
26 Lord my God, help me;
because you are loving, save me.
27 Then they will know that your power has done this;
they will know that you have done it, Lord.
28 They may curse me, but you bless me.
They may attack me, but they will be disgraced.
Then I, your servant, will be glad.
29 Let those who accuse me be disgraced
and covered with shame like a coat.
30 I will thank the Lord very much;
I will praise him in front of many people.
121 I have done what is fair and right.
Don’t leave me to those who wrong me.
122 Promise that you will help me, your servant.
Don’t let proud people wrong me.
123 My eyes are tired from looking for your salvation
and for your good promise.
124 Show your love to me, your servant,
and teach me your demands.
125 I am your servant. Give me wisdom
so I can understand your rules.
126 Lord, it is time for you to do something,
because people have disobeyed your teachings.
127 I love your commands
more than the purest gold.
128 I respect all your orders,
so I hate lying ways.
129 Your rules are wonderful.
That is why I keep them.
130 Learning your words gives wisdom
and understanding for the foolish.
131 I am nearly out of breath.
I really want to learn your commands.
132 Look at me and have mercy on me
as you do for those who love you.
133 Guide my steps as you promised;
don’t let any sin control me.
134 Save me from harmful people
so I can obey your orders.
135 Show your kindness to me, your servant.
Teach me your demands.
136 Tears stream from my eyes,
because people do not obey your teachings.
137 Lord, you do what is right,
and your laws are fair.
138 The rules you commanded are right
and completely trustworthy.
139 I am so upset I am worn out,
because my enemies have forgotten your words.
140 Your promises are proven,
so I, your servant, love them.
141 I am unimportant and hated,
but I have not forgotten your orders.
142 Your goodness continues forever,
and your teachings are true.
143 I have had troubles and misery,
but I love your commands.
144 Your rules are always good.
Help me understand so I can live.
36 The Lord said to Moses, 37 “Tell Eleazar son of Aaron, the priest, to take all the incense pans out of the fire. Have him scatter the coals a long distance away. But the incense pans are still holy. 38 Take the pans of these men who sinned and lost their lives, and hammer them into flat sheets that will be used to cover the altar. They are holy, because they were presented to the Lord, and they will be a sign to the Israelites.”
39 So Eleazar the priest gathered all the bronze pans that had been brought by the men who were burned up. He had the pans hammered into flat sheets to put on the altar, 40 as the Lord had commanded him through Moses. These sheets were to remind the Israelites that only descendants of Aaron should burn incense before the Lord. Anyone else would die like Korah and his followers.
Aaron Saves the People
41 The next day all the Israelites complained against Moses and Aaron and said, “You have killed the Lord’s people.”
42 When the people gathered to complain against Moses and Aaron, they turned toward the Meeting Tent, and the cloud covered it. The glory of the Lord appeared. 43 Then Moses and Aaron went in front of the Meeting Tent.
44 The Lord said to Moses, 45 “Move away from these people so I can destroy them quickly.” So Moses and Aaron bowed facedown.
46 Then Moses said to Aaron, “Get your pan, and put fire from the altar and incense in it. Hurry to the people and remove their sin. The Lord is angry with them; the sickness has already started.” 47 So Aaron did as Moses said. He ran to the middle of the people, where the sickness had already started among them. So Aaron offered the incense to remove their sin. 48 He stood between the dead and the living, and the sickness stopped there. 49 But 14,700 people died from that sickness, in addition to those who died because of Korah. 50 Then Aaron went back to Moses at the entrance to the Meeting Tent. The terrible sickness had been stopped.
God Keeps His Promise
13 Abraham[a] and his descendants received the promise that they would get the whole world. He did not receive that promise through the law, but through being right with God by his faith. 14 If people could receive what God promised by following the law, then faith is worthless. And God’s promise to Abraham is worthless, 15 because the law can only bring God’s anger. But if there is no law, there is nothing to disobey.
16 So people receive God’s promise by having faith. This happens so the promise can be a free gift. Then all of Abraham’s children can have that promise. It is not only for those who live under the law of Moses but for anyone who lives with faith like that of Abraham, who is the father of us all. 17 As it is written in the Scriptures: “I am making you a father of many nations.”[b] This is true before God, the God Abraham believed, the God who gives life to the dead and who creates something out of nothing.
18 There was no hope that Abraham would have children. But Abraham believed God and continued hoping, and so he became the father of many nations. As God told him, “Your descendants also will be too many to count.”[c] 19 Abraham was almost a hundred years old, much past the age for having children, and Sarah could not have children. Abraham thought about all this, but his faith in God did not become weak. 20 He never doubted that God would keep his promise, and he never stopped believing. He grew stronger in his faith and gave praise to God. 21 Abraham felt sure that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 So, “God accepted Abraham’s faith, and that faith made him right with God.”[d] 23 Those words (“God accepted Abraham’s faith”) were written not only for Abraham 24 but also for us. God will accept us also because we believe in the One who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. 25 Jesus was given to die for our sins, and he was raised from the dead to make us right with God.
A Story About Workers
20 “The kingdom of heaven is like a person who owned some land. One morning, he went out very early to hire some people to work in his vineyard. 2 The man agreed to pay the workers one coin[a] for working that day. Then he sent them into the vineyard to work. 3 About nine o’clock the man went to the marketplace and saw some other people standing there, doing nothing. 4 So he said to them, ‘If you go and work in my vineyard, I will pay you what your work is worth.’ 5 So they went to work in the vineyard. The man went out again about twelve o’clock and three o’clock and did the same thing. 6 About five o’clock the man went to the marketplace again and saw others standing there. He asked them, ‘Why did you stand here all day doing nothing?’ 7 They answered, ‘No one gave us a job.’ The man said to them, ‘Then you can go and work in my vineyard.’
8 “At the end of the day, the owner of the vineyard said to the boss of all the workers, ‘Call the workers and pay them. Start with the last people I hired and end with those I hired first.’
9 “When the workers who were hired at five o’clock came to get their pay, each received one coin. 10 When the workers who were hired first came to get their pay, they thought they would be paid more than the others. But each one of them also received one coin. 11 When they got their coin, they complained to the man who owned the land. 12 They said, ‘Those people were hired last and worked only one hour. But you paid them the same as you paid us who worked hard all day in the hot sun.’ 13 But the man who owned the vineyard said to one of those workers, ‘Friend, I am being fair to you. You agreed to work for one coin. 14 So take your pay and go. I want to give the man who was hired last the same pay that I gave you. 15 I can do what I want with my own money. Are you jealous because I am good to those people?’
16 “So those who are last now will someday be first, and those who are first now will someday be last.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.