Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.
61 God, hear my cry;
listen to my prayer.
2 I call to you from the ends of the earth
when I am afraid.
Carry me away to a high mountain.
3 You have been my protection,
like a strong tower against my enemies.
4 Let me live in your Holy Tent forever.
Let me find safety in the shelter of your wings. Selah
5 God, you have heard my promises.
You have given me what belongs to those who fear you.
6 Give the king a long life;
let him live many years.
7 Let him rule in the presence of God forever.
Protect him with your love and truth.
8 Then I will praise your name forever,
and every day I will keep my promises.
Trust Only in God
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
62 I find rest in God;
only he can save me.
2 He is my rock and my salvation.
He is my defender;
I will not be defeated.
3 How long will you attack someone?
Will all of you kill that person?
Who is like a leaning wall, like a fence ready to fall?
4 They are planning to make that person fall.
They enjoy telling lies.
With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse. Selah
5 I find rest in God;
only he gives me hope.
6 He is my rock and my salvation.
He is my defender;
I will not be defeated.
7 My honor and salvation come from God.
He is my mighty rock and my protection.
8 People, trust God all the time.
Tell him all your problems,
because God is our protection. Selah
9 The least of people are only a breath,
and even the greatest are just a lie.
On the scales, they weigh nothing;
together they are only a breath.
10 Do not trust in force.
Stealing is of no use.
Even if you gain more riches,
don’t put your trust in them.
11 God has said this,
and I have heard it over and over:
God is strong.
12 The Lord is loving.
You reward people for what they have done.
Praise God Who Saved the Nation
For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song.
68 Let God rise up and scatter his enemies;
let those who hate him run away from him.
2 Blow them away as smoke
is driven away by the wind.
As wax melts before a fire,
let the wicked be destroyed before God.
3 But those who do right should be glad
and should rejoice before God;
they should be happy and glad.
4 Sing to God; sing praises to his name.
Prepare the way for him
who rides through the desert,
whose name is the Lord.
Rejoice before him.
5 God is in his holy Temple.
He is a father to orphans,
and he defends the widows.
6 God gives the lonely a home.
He leads prisoners out with joy,
but those who turn against God will live in a dry land.
7 God, you led your people out
when you marched through the desert. Selah
8 The ground shook
and the sky poured down rain
before God, the God of Mount Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
9 God, you sent much rain;
you refreshed your tired land.
10 Your people settled there.
God, in your goodness
you took care of the poor.
11 The Lord gave the command,
and a great army told the news:
12 “Kings and their armies run away.
In camp they divide the wealth taken in war.
13 Those who stayed by the campfires
will share the riches taken in battle.”
14 The Almighty scattered kings
like snow on Mount Zalmon.
15 The mountains of Bashan are high;
the mountains of Bashan have many peaks.
16 Why do you mountains with many peaks look with envy
on the mountain that God chose for his home?
The Lord will live there forever.
17 God comes with millions of chariots;
the Lord comes from Mount Sinai to his holy place.
18 When you went up to the heights,
you led a parade of captives.
You received gifts from the people,
even from those who turned against you.
And the Lord God will live there.
19 Praise the Lord, God our Savior,
who helps us every day. Selah
20 Our God is a God who saves us;
the Lord God saves us from death.
21 God will crush his enemies’ heads,
the hairy skulls of those who continue to sin.
22 The Lord said, “I will bring the enemy back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea.
23 Then you can stick your feet in their blood,
and your dogs can lick their share.”
24 God, people have seen your victory march;
God my King marched into the holy place.
25 The singers are in front and the instruments are behind.
In the middle are the girls with the tambourines.
26 Praise God in the meeting place;
praise the Lord in the gathering of Israel.
27 There is the smallest tribe, Benjamin, leading them.
And there are the leaders of Judah with their group.
There also are the leaders of Zebulun and of Naphtali.
28 God, order up your power;
show the mighty power you have used for us before.
29 Kings will bring their wealth to you,
to your Temple in Jerusalem.
30 Punish Egypt, the beast in the tall grass along the river.
Punish the leaders of nations, those bulls among the cows.
Defeated, they will bring you their silver.
Scatter those nations that love war.
31 Messengers will come from Egypt;
the people of Cush will pray to God.
32 Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
sing praises to the Lord. Selah
33 Sing to the one who rides through the skies, which are from long ago.
He speaks with a thundering voice.
34 Announce that God is powerful.
He rules over Israel,
and his power is in the skies.
35 God, you are wonderful in your Temple.
The God of Israel gives his people strength and power.
Praise God!
The Angel of the Lord at Bokim
2 The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said, “I brought you up from Egypt and led you to the land I promised to give your ancestors. I said, ‘I will never break my agreement with you. 2 But you must not make an agreement with the people who live in this land. You must destroy their altars.’ But you did not obey me. How could you do this? 3 Now I tell you, ‘I will not force out the people in this land. They will be your enemies, and their gods will be a trap for you.’”
4 After the angel gave Israel this message from the Lord, they cried loudly. 5 So they named the place Bokim.[a] There they offered sacrifices to the Lord.
11 So they did what the Lord said was wrong, and they worshiped the Baal idols. 12 They quit following the Lord, the God of their ancestors who had brought them out of Egypt. They began to worship the gods of the people who lived around them, and that made the Lord angry. 13 The Israelites quit following the Lord and worshiped Baal and Ashtoreth. 14 The Lord was angry with the people of Israel, so he handed them over to robbers who took their possessions. He let their enemies who lived around them defeat them; they could not protect themselves. 15 When the Israelites went out to fight, they always lost, because the Lord was not with them. The Lord had sworn to them this would happen. So the Israelites suffered very much.
God Chooses Judges
16 Then the Lord chose leaders called judges,[a] who saved the Israelites from the robbers. 17 But the Israelites did not listen to their judges. They were not faithful to God but worshiped other gods instead. Their ancestors had obeyed the Lord’s commands, but they quickly turned away and did not obey. 18 When their enemies hurt them, the Israelites cried for help. So the Lord felt sorry for them and sent judges to save them from their enemies. The Lord was with those judges all their lives. 19 But when the judges died, the Israelites again sinned and worshiped other gods. They became worse than their ancestors. The Israelites were very stubborn and refused to change their evil ways.
20 So the Lord became angry with the Israelites. He said, “These people have broken the agreement I made with their ancestors. They have not listened to me. 21 I will no longer defeat the nations who were left when Joshua died. 22 I will use them to test Israel, to see if Israel will keep the Lord’s commands as their ancestors did.” 23 In the past the Lord had permitted those nations to stay in the land. He did not quickly force them out or help Joshua’s army defeat them.
17 Brothers and sisters, I ask you to look out for those who cause people to be against each other and who upset other people’s faith. They are against the true teaching you learned, so stay away from them. 18 Such people are not serving our Lord Christ but are only doing what pleases themselves. They use fancy talk and fine words to fool the minds of those who do not know about evil. 19 All the believers have heard that you obey, so I am very happy because of you. But I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.
20 The God who brings peace will soon defeat Satan and give you power over him.
The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.
21 Timothy, a worker together with me, sends greetings, as well as Lucius, Jason, and Sosipater, my relatives.
22 I am Tertius, and I am writing this letter from Paul. I send greetings to you in the Lord.
23 Gaius is letting me and the whole church here use his home. He also sends greetings to you, as do Erastus, the city treasurer, and our brother Quartus. [24 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you. Amen.][a]
25 Glory to God who can make you strong in faith by the Good News that I tell people and by the message about Jesus Christ. The message about Christ is the secret that was hidden for long ages past but is now made known. 26 It has been made clear through the writings of the prophets. And by the command of the eternal God it is made known to all nations that they might believe and obey.
27 To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ! Amen.
Jesus Is Crucified
32 As the soldiers were going out of the city with Jesus, they forced a man from Cyrene, named Simon, to carry the cross for Jesus. 33 They all came to the place called Golgotha, which means the Place of the Skull. 34 The soldiers gave Jesus wine mixed with gall[a] to drink. He tasted the wine but refused to drink it. 35 When the soldiers had crucified him, they threw lots to decide who would get his clothes.[b] 36 The soldiers sat there and continued watching him. 37 They put a sign above Jesus’ head with a charge against him. It said: this is jesus, the king of the jews. 38 Two robbers were crucified beside Jesus, one on the right and the other on the left. 39 People walked by and insulted Jesus and shook their heads, 40 saying, “You said you could destroy the Temple and build it again in three days. So save yourself! Come down from that cross if you are really the Son of God!”
41 The leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the Jewish elders were also making fun of Jesus. 42 They said, “He saved others, but he can’t save himself! He says he is the king of Israel! If he is the king, let him come down now from the cross. Then we will believe in him. 43 He trusts in God, so let God save him now, if God really wants him. He himself said, ‘I am the Son of God.’” 44 And in the same way, the robbers who were being crucified beside Jesus also insulted him.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.