Book of Common Prayer
Wishing to Be Near God
A psalm of David when he was in the ·desert [wilderness] of Judah [C fleeing from a jealous Saul; 1 Sam. 21–31].
63 God, you are my God.
I ·search for [am intent on] you.
I thirst for you [42:1–2]
·like someone [or my flesh yearns for you] in a dry, ·empty [exhausted; weary] land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in ·the Temple [L the Holy Place; or holiness]
and have seen your strength and glory.
3 Because your ·love [loyalty] is better than life,
·I [L My lips] will praise you.
4 I will ·praise [bless] you ·as long as I live [L with my life].
I will lift up my hands in your name [C in prayer].
5 I will be ·content as if I had eaten the best foods [L satisfied as with fat and fatness].
My lips will sing, and my mouth will praise you.
6 I remember you while I’m lying in bed;
I ·think about [meditate on] you through the watches of the night [C the night was divided into four watches of three hours each].
7 You are my help.
·Because of your protection [L In the shadow of your wings; C an image of compassion or perhaps a reference to the cherubim whose wings covered the Ark of the Covenant; Ex. 25:20], I sing.
8 I ·stay close [cling] to you;
·you support me with your right hand [L your right hand sustains me].
9 ·Some people are trying to kill me [L They seek my life for ruin],
but they will go down to the ·grave [L underbelly of the earth].
10 They will be ·killed with swords [L handed over to the sword]
and ·eaten by wild dogs [L be the prey of jackals].
11 But the king will rejoice in his God.
All who ·make promises in his name [L swear by him] will praise him,
but the mouths of liars will be shut.
Praise to the Lord of Love
Of David.
103 ·All that I am [T O my soul], ·praise [bless] the Lord;
·everything in me [L all my inward parts], ·praise [bless] his holy name.
2 ·My whole being [T O my soul], ·praise [bless] the Lord
and do not forget all his ·kindnesses [gifts; benefits].
3 He forgives all ·my [or your] ·sins [iniquity]
and heals all ·my [or your] ·diseases [ills].
4 He ·saves [redeems] ·my [or your] life from the ·grave [L pit]
and ·loads [or crowns] ·me [or you] with ·love [loyalty] and ·mercy [compassion].
5 He satisfies ·me [or you] with good things [L as long as you live; or according to your desires]
and ·makes me young again [L renews your youth], like the eagle [Is. 40:31].
6 The Lord does what is ·right [righteous] and ·fair [just]
for all who are ·wronged by others [oppressed; exploited].
7 He ·showed [revealed] his ways to Moses [Ex. 34:5–7]
and his deeds to the ·people [sons] of Israel.
8 The Lord shows ·mercy [compassion] and ·is kind [grace].
He ·does not become angry quickly [is slow to anger], and he has great ·love [loyalty; 86:15; 145:8–9; Ex. 34:6–7; Neh. 9:17. 31; Joel 2:13; Jon. 4:2].
9 He will not always ·accuse [charge; contend with] us,
and he will not ·be angry forever [L keep watch forever].
10 He ·has not punished us as our sins should be punished [L does not act toward us according to our sins];
he has not repaid us ·for the evil we have done [L according to our iniquity].
11 As high as the ·sky [heaven] is above the earth,
so great is his ·love [loyalty] for those who ·respect [fear] him [Prov. 1:7].
12 He has taken our ·sins [transgressions] away from us
as far as the east is from west.
13 The Lord has ·mercy [compassion] on those who ·respect [fear] him [Prov. 1:7],
as a father has ·mercy [compassion] on his children.
14 He knows how we were ·made [formed];
he remembers that we are dust [Gen. 2:7; 3:19; Job 4:19; 10:9; 34:15; Eccl. 3:20; 12:7].
15 Human ·life [L days] is like grass [90:5–6; Is. 51:12];
we ·grow [sprout; flourish] like a flower in the field [Job 14:2; Is. 40:6–7].
16 After the wind ·blows [passes by], ·the flower [L it] is gone,
and ·there is no sign of where it was [L no one can recognize its place].
17 But the Lord’s ·love [loyalty] for those who ·respect [fear] him [Prov. 1:7]
continues forever and ever,
and his ·goodness [righteousness] continues to their ·grandchildren [L children’s children]
18 and to those who ·keep [observe; guard] his ·agreement [covenant; treaty; Ex. 19–24]
and who remember to ·obey [L do] his ·orders [precepts].
19 The Lord has ·set [established] his throne in heaven,
and his kingdom rules over everything [93:1; 96:10; 99:1].
20 You who are his ·angels [or messengers], ·praise [bless] the Lord.
You are the mighty warriors who do what he says
and who ·obey [listen to] his voice.
21 You, his ·armies [hosts; C perhaps the angelic army], ·praise [bless] the Lord;
you are his ·servants [ministers] who do what he ·wants [desires].
22 Everything the Lord has made
should ·praise [bless] him in all the places he rules.
·My whole being [T O my soul], ·praise [bless] the Lord.
Bildad Answers
25 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered:
2 “·God rules and he must be honored [L Rule/Dominion and dread are with him];
he ·set up order [establishes peace] in his high heaven.
3 ·No one can count God’s armies [L Is there a number to his troops?].
·His light shines on all people [L Upon whom does his light not rise?].
4 ·So no one can be good [What mortal can be righteous…?] in the presence of God,
and ·no one [who…?] born to a woman can be pure.
5 Even the moon is not bright
and the stars are not pure in his eyes.
6 People are much less! They are like ·insects [L maggots].
They are only worms!”
27 And Job continued ·speaking [L his discourse]:
2 “·As surely as God lives [By the living God], who has ·taken away [turned aside] my rights,
·the Almighty [Shaddai], who has made me ·unhappy [bitter],
3 as long as ·I am alive [my breath is in me]
and God’s ·breath of life [L spirit; breath; Gen. 2:7; Eccl. 12:7] is in my nose,
4 my lips will not speak ·evil [or falsehood],
and my tongue will not ·tell [L mutter] ·a lie [deceit].
5 ·I will never [Far be it from me to] ·agree [concede] you are right;
until I ·die [expire], I will never ·stop saying I am innocent [L turn aside my innocence].
6 I will ·insist that I am right [L embrace my righteousness]; I will not ·back down [weaken].
·My conscience will never bother me [L My heart will not reproach my days].
The Song of the Saved
14 Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb standing on Mount Zion [C a mountain near Jerusalem where the temple was located, representing the presence of God]. With him were one hundred forty-four thousand people [7:4] who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads [13:16]. 2 And I heard a sound from heaven like the noise of ·flooding water [rushing water; L many waters; 1:15] and like the ·sound [peal] of loud thunder [19:6]. The sound I heard was like ·people [L harpists] playing harps. 3 And they sang a new song [C a song celebrating divine deliverance; 5:9; Ps. 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1] before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders [4:4]. No one could learn the new song except the one hundred forty-four thousand [7:4] who had been ·bought [redeemed] from the earth. 4 These are the ones who did not ·do sinful things [defile themselves] with women, because they ·kept themselves pure [L are virgins]. They follow the Lamb every place he goes. ·These one hundred forty-four thousand [L They] were ·bought [redeemed] from ·among the people of the earth [L humanity; mankind] as ·people to be offered [L firstfruits; C the earliest part of the harvest was offered to God] to God and the Lamb. 5 ·They were not guilty of telling lies [L No lie was found in their mouth]; they are ·without fault [blameless].
The Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying ·high in the air [L in mid-heaven; 8:13]. He had the eternal ·Good News [Gospel] to preach to those who ·live [dwell] on earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 He ·preached [L spoke] in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him ·praise [glory], because the ·time has come for God to judge all people [L hour of his judgment has come]. So worship God who made the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the springs of water.”
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write this: ·Blessed [or Happy] are the dead who die from now on in the Lord.”
The Spirit says, “Yes, they will rest from their hard work, ·and the reward of all they have done stays with them [L for their deeds will follow them].”
You Are Like Salt and Light(A)
13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt ·loses its salty taste [becomes tasteless], ·it cannot [L how can it…?] be made salty again. It is good for nothing, except to be thrown out and ·walked on [trampled].
14 “You are the light ·that gives light to [for; L of] the world. A city that ·is built [stands; is set] on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 And people don’t light a lamp and then hide it under a ·bowl [or basket]. They put it on a lampstand so the light shines for all the people in the house. 16 In the same way let your light shine ·before others [for people to see], so that they will see ·the good things you do [L your good deeds/works] and will ·praise [glorify; give honor to] your Father in heaven.
The Importance of the Law and the Prophets(B)
17 “Don’t think that I have come to ·destroy [abolish; do away with] ·the law of Moses or the teaching of the prophets [L the Law and the Prophets; C referring to the OT]. I have not come to destroy them but to ·bring about what they said [fulfill/complete them]. 18 I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth ·are gone [pass away; disappear], not even ·the smallest letter [T one jot; L one iota; C the smallest Greek letter] or the smallest ·part [stroke; T tittle] of a letter will ·be lost [pass away; disappear] until everything ·has happened [is accomplished/achieved]. 19 [L Therefore] Whoever ·refuses to obey [ignores; breaks; annuls] ·any command [L one of the least of these commands] and teaches other people ·not to obey that command [L to do likewise] will be ·the least important [L called/considered least] in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever ·obeys [keeps; practices] the commands and teaches other people to obey them will be [considered; L called] great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 [L For] I tell you that ·if you are no more obedient than [L unless your righteousness surpasses/exceeds that of] the ·teachers of the law [scribes] and the Pharisees, you will ·never [or certainly not] enter the kingdom of heaven.
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