Book of Common Prayer
Wishing to Be Near God
A psalm of David when he was in the desert of Judah.
63 God, you are my God.
I search for you.
I thirst for you
like someone in a dry, empty land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the Temple
and have seen your strength and glory.
3 Because your love is better than life,
I will praise you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live.
I will lift up my hands in prayer to your name.
5 I will be content as if I had eaten the best foods.
My lips will sing, and my mouth will praise you.
6 I remember you while I’m lying in bed;
I think about you through the night.
7 You are my help.
Because of your protection, I sing.
8 I stay close to you;
you support me with your right hand.
9 Some people are trying to kill me,
but they will go down to the grave.
10 They will be killed with swords
and eaten by wild dogs.
11 But the king will rejoice in his God.
All who make promises in his name will praise him,
but the mouths of liars will be shut.
The Lord of Power and Justice
A psalm.
98 Sing to the Lord a new song,
because he has done miracles.
By his right hand and holy arm
he has won the victory.
2 The Lord has made known his power to save;
he has shown the other nations his victory for his people.
3 He has remembered his love
and his loyalty to the people of Israel.
All the ends of the earth have seen
God’s power to save.
4 Shout with joy to the Lord, all the earth;
burst into songs and make music.
5 Make music to the Lord with harps,
with harps and the sound of singing.
6 Blow the trumpets and the sheep’s horns;
shout for joy to the Lord the King.
7 Let the sea and everything in it shout;
let the world and everyone in it sing.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands;
let the mountains sing together for joy.
9 Let them sing before the Lord,
because he is coming to judge the world.
He will judge the world fairly;
he will judge the peoples with fairness.
Praise to the Lord of Love
Of David.
103 All that I am, praise the Lord;
everything in me, praise his holy name.
2 My whole being, praise the Lord
and do not forget all his kindnesses.
3 He forgives all my sins
and heals all my diseases.
4 He saves my life from the grave
and loads me with love and mercy.
5 He satisfies me with good things
and makes me young again, like the eagle.
6 The Lord does what is right and fair
for all who are wronged by others.
7 He showed his ways to Moses
and his deeds to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord shows mercy and is kind.
He does not become angry quickly, and he has great love.
9 He will not always accuse us,
and he will not be angry forever.
10 He has not punished us as our sins should be punished;
he has not repaid us for the evil we have done.
11 As high as the sky is above the earth,
so great is his love for those who respect him.
12 He has taken our sins away from us
as far as the east is from west.
13 The Lord has mercy on those who respect him,
as a father has mercy on his children.
14 He knows how we were made;
he remembers that we are dust.
15 Human life is like grass;
we grow like a flower in the field.
16 After the wind blows, the flower is gone,
and there is no sign of where it was.
17 But the Lord’s love for those who respect him
continues forever and ever,
and his goodness continues to their grandchildren
18 and to those who keep his agreement
and who remember to obey his orders.
19 The Lord has set his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over everything.
20 You who are his angels, praise the Lord.
You are the mighty warriors who do what he says
and who obey his voice.
21 You, his armies, praise the Lord;
you are his servants who do what he wants.
22 Everything the Lord has made
should praise him in all the places he rules.
My whole being, praise the Lord.
15 On the seventh day they got up at dawn and marched around the city, just as they had on the days before. But on that day they marched around the city seven times. 16 The seventh time around the priests blew their trumpets. Then Joshua gave the command: “Now, shout! The Lord has given you this city! 17 The city and everything in it are to be destroyed as an offering to the Lord. Only Rahab the prostitute and everyone in her house should remain alive. They must not be killed, because Rahab hid the two spies we sent out. 18 Don’t take any of the things that are to be destroyed as an offering to the Lord. If you take them and bring them into our camp, you yourselves will be destroyed, and you will bring trouble to all of Israel. 19 All the silver and gold and things made from bronze and iron belong to the Lord and must be saved for him.”
20 When the priests blew the trumpets, the people shouted. At the sound of the trumpets and the people’s shout, the walls fell, and everyone ran straight into the city. So the Israelites defeated that city. 21 They completely destroyed with the sword every living thing in the city—men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep, and donkeys.
22 Joshua said to the two men who had spied out the land, “Go into the prostitute’s house. Bring her out and bring out those who are with her, because of the promise you made to her.” 23 So the two men went into the house and brought out Rahab, her father, mother, brothers, and all those with her. They put all of her family in a safe place outside the camp of Israel.
24 Then Israel burned the whole city and everything in it, but they did not burn the things made from silver, gold, bronze, and iron. These were saved for the Lord. 25 Joshua saved Rahab the prostitute, her family, and all who were with her, because Rahab had helped the men he had sent to spy out Jericho. Rahab still lives among the Israelites today.
26 Then Joshua made this oath:
“Anyone who tries to rebuild this city of Jericho
will be cursed by the Lord.
The one who lays the foundation of this city
will lose his oldest son,
and the one who sets up the gates
will lose his youngest son.”
27 So the Lord was with Joshua, and Joshua became famous through all the land.
Paul Speaks to Leaders
30 The next day the commander decided to learn why the Jews were accusing Paul. So he ordered the leading priests and the council to meet. The commander took Paul’s chains off. Then he brought Paul out and stood him before their meeting.
23 Paul looked at the council and said, “Brothers, I have lived my life without guilt feelings before God up to this day.” 2 Ananias,[a] the high priest, heard this and told the men who were standing near Paul to hit him on the mouth. 3 Paul said to Ananias, “God will hit you, too! You are like a wall that has been painted white. You sit there and judge me, using the law of Moses, but you are telling them to hit me, and that is against the law.”
4 The men standing near Paul said to him, “You cannot insult God’s high priest like that!”
5 Paul said, “Brothers, I did not know this man was the high priest. It is written in the Scriptures, ‘You must not curse a leader of your people.’”[b]
6 Some of the men in the meeting were Sadducees, and others were Pharisees. Knowing this, Paul shouted to them, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, and my father was a Pharisee. I am on trial here because I believe that people will rise from the dead.”
7 When Paul said this, there was an argument between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the group was divided. 8 (The Sadducees do not believe in angels or spirits or that people will rise from the dead. But the Pharisees believe in them all.) 9 So there was a great uproar. Some of the teachers of the law, who were Pharisees, stood up and argued, “We find nothing wrong with this man. Maybe an angel or a spirit did speak to him.”
10 The argument was beginning to turn into such a fight that the commander was afraid some evil people would tear Paul to pieces. So he told the soldiers to go down and take Paul away and put him in the army building.
11 The next night the Lord came and stood by Paul. He said, “Be brave! You have told people in Jerusalem about me. You must do the same in Rome.”
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
2 A few days later, when Jesus came back to Capernaum, the news spread that he was at home. 2 Many people gathered together so that there was no room in the house, not even outside the door. And Jesus was teaching them God’s message. 3 Four people came, carrying a paralyzed man. 4 Since they could not get to Jesus because of the crowd, they dug a hole in the roof right above where he was speaking. When they got through, they lowered the mat with the paralyzed man on it. 5 When Jesus saw the faith of these people, he said to the paralyzed man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Some of the teachers of the law were sitting there, thinking to themselves, 7 “Why does this man say things like that? He is speaking as if he were God. Only God can forgive sins.”
8 Jesus knew immediately what these teachers of the law were thinking. So he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to tell this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Stand up. Take your mat and walk’? 10 But I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, 11 “I tell you, stand up, take your mat, and go home.” 12 Immediately the paralyzed man stood up, took his mat, and walked out while everyone was watching him.
The people were amazed and praised God. They said, “We have never seen anything like this!”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.