Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for God to Guide
Of David.
25 Lord, I ·give myself [L lift my soul] to you;
2 my God, I ·trust [have confidence in] you.
Do not let me be ·disgraced [shamed];
do not let my enemies ·laugh at [triumph/exult over] me.
3 No one who ·trusts [hopes in; waits on] you will be ·disgraced [shamed],
but those who ·sin [betray; are treacherous] without excuse will be ·disgraced [shamed].
4 Lord, ·tell me [make me know] your ways.
·Show [L Teach] me ·how to live [L your paths].
5 ·Guide [Lead] me in your truth,
and teach me, my God, my ·Savior [Helper; Victor].
I ·trust [hope in; wait on] you all day long.
6 Lord, remember your ·mercy [compassion] and ·love [loyalty; covenant love]
that you have shown since long ago.
7 Do not remember the sins
and ·wrong things I did when I was young [transgressions of my youth].
But remember ·to love me [L according to your love/loyalty/covenant love] always
·because you are good [on account of your goodness], Lord.
8 The Lord is good and ·right [upright; virtuous];
he ·points [instructs] sinners to the right way.
9 He shows those who are humble how to do right,
and he teaches them his ways.
10 All the Lord’s ·ways [paths] are ·loving [loyal] and ·true [reliable]
for those who ·follow [keep; guard] the demands of his ·agreement [covenant].
11 For the sake of your ·name [reputation], Lord,
forgive my many sins.
12 ·Are there [L Who are…?] those who ·respect [fear] the Lord [Prov. 1:7]?
He will ·point [teach] them ·to the best way [L the way they should choose].
13 ·They will enjoy a good life [L Their soul will dwell/lodge in goodness],
and their ·children [L seed] will inherit the ·land [or earth].
14 The Lord ·tells his secrets to [confides in; or makes friends with] those who ·respect [fear] him;
he ·tells them about [makes known to them] his ·agreement [covenant].
15 My eyes are always ·looking to the Lord for help [L toward the Lord].
He will ·keep me [L remove my feet] from any traps.
16 Turn to me and ·have mercy on [L be gracious to] me,
because I am lonely and hurting.
17 ·My troubles have [L The distress of my heart has] ·grown larger [widened];
·free me from [bring me out of] my ·problems [anguish; distress].
18 Look at my ·suffering [affliction] and troubles,
and ·take away [forgive] all my sins.
19 Look at how many enemies I have!
See how ·much [L violently] they hate me!
20 Protect me and ·save [rescue; T deliver] me.
I ·trust [find refuge in] you, so do not let me be ·disgraced [shamed].
21 My hope is in you,
so may ·goodness [blamelessness; innocence] and ·honesty [virtue] guard me.
22 God, ·save [redeem; ransom] Israel from all their ·troubles [distress]!
Thanksgiving for Victory
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A psalm of David.
9 I will ·praise [or give thanks to] you, Lord, with all my heart.
I will ·tell [recount] all ·the miracles you have done [your wonderful deeds].
2 I will be happy and rejoice because of you;
God Most High, I will sing praises to your name.
3 My enemies turn back;
they ·are overwhelmed [L stumble] and ·die [perish] ·because of [or before] you.
4 You have ·heard [upheld; maintained] my ·complaint [just cause; or right and my cause];
you sat on your throne and judged ·by what was right [righteously].
5 You ·spoke strongly against the [rebuked; reproved] foreign nations and destroyed the wicked;
you ·wiped out [blotted out; erased] their names forever and ever.
6 The enemy is ·gone [done; a ruin] forever.
You ·destroyed [uprooted] their cities;
·no one even remembers them [L their memory perishes].
7 But the Lord ·rules [is enthroned; L sits] forever.
He ·sits on his throne to judge [L has established his throne for justice/judgment],
8 and he will judge the world ·in fairness [with righteousness];
he will decide what is fair for the ·nations [peoples; 96:10; 98:9].
9 The Lord ·defends [L is a refuge for] those who ·suffer [are oppressed/exploited];
·he defends them [L a refuge] in times of ·trouble [distress].
10 Those who know ·the Lord [L your name] trust ·him [L you],
because ·he [L you] will not ·leave [abandon; forsake] those who ·come to him [L seek you; Deut. 31:6, 8; Matt. 28:20; Heb. 13:5].
11 Sing praises to the Lord who ·is king on Mount [L dwells on] Zion [C the location of the Temple].
Tell ·the nations [L among the peoples] what he has done.
12 ·He remembers who the murderers are [or The one who avenges blood remembers them; C God];
he will not forget the cries of those who suffer.
13 Lord, ·have mercy on [be gracious toward] me.
See how ·my enemies [L those who hate me] ·hurt [afflict; persecute] me.
·Do not let me go through [L Lift me up from] the gates of death.
14 Then, at the gates of ·Jerusalem [the daughter of Zion; C a name of Jerusalem], I will ·praise you [L declare your praises];
I will rejoice ·because you saved me [L in your salvation].
15 The nations have ·fallen [L sunk] into the pit they ·dug [L made].
Their feet are caught in the nets they ·laid [L hid].
16 The Lord has made himself known by ·his fair decisions [L the judgments he has made];
the wicked get trapped by ·what they do [L the deeds of their palms/hands]. ·
17 Wicked people will ·go [L return] to the ·grave [or underworld; L Sheol],
and so will all ·those who [L the nations that] forget God.
18 But those who ·have troubles [are afflicted] will not always be forgotten.
The hopes of the ·poor [oppressed; exploited] will never ·die [perish].
19 Lord, rise up and don’t let people ·think they are strong [L prevail].
Judge the nations in your presence.
20 ·Teach them to fear you [or Strike them with terror; Deut. 4:34; 28:8; 34:12], Lord.
The nations must learn that they are ·only human [mere mortals]. ·
What the Lord Demands
A psalm of David.
15 Lord, who may ·enter [dwell/abide/sojourn in] your Holy Tent [C the Tabernacle]?
Who may live on your holy mountain [C Mount Zion]?
2 Only those who ·are innocent [walk innocently]
and who do ·what is right [righteousness; 1:1; Job 1:1].
Such people speak the truth from their hearts
3 and do not ·tell lies about others [slander with their tongue].
They do no ·wrong [evil] to their neighbors
and do not ·gossip [L raise a reproachful matter with their associates].
4 ·They do not respect hateful people [L The wicked are despised in their eyes]
but honor those who ·honor [L fear] the Lord.
They keep their promises to their neighbors,
even when it hurts.
5 They do not charge interest on money they lend [Ex. 22:25–27; Lev. 25:35–36; Deut. 23:19]
and do not take ·money [a bribe] to hurt innocent people [Ex. 23:8; Deut. 16:19].
Whoever does all these things will never be ·destroyed [L moved].
The 144,000 People of Israel
7 After ·the vision of these things [L this] I saw four angels standing at the four corners [C from every direction] of the earth. The angels were ·holding [restraining] the four winds [Dan. 7:2; 8:8; 11:4] of the earth to keep them from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. 2 Then I saw another angel coming up from the ·east [L rising of the sun] who had the seal [5:1] of the living God. And he ·called out [cried out; shouted] in a loud voice to the four angels to whom God had given power to ·harm [damage] the earth and the sea. 3 He said to them, “Do not ·harm [damage] the land or the sea or the trees until we ·mark with a sign [place a seal upon] the foreheads [C to spare them from harm; Ezek. 9:4–6] of the ·people who serve [L the slaves/servants of] our God.” 4 Then I heard how many people were ·marked with the sign [sealed]. There were one hundred forty-four thousand [C the square of 12 multiplied by 1000; a symbolic number indicating completeness] from every tribe of the ·people [children; sons] of Israel.
5 From the tribe of Judah twelve thousand were ·marked with the sign [sealed],
from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand,
6 from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Manasseh [C one of the two sons of Joseph; he replaces Dan in the list, perhaps because the tribe of Dan fell into idolatry; Judg. 18] twelve thousand,
7 from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand,
from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand [C in OT lists Manasseh and Ephraim are named instead of their father Joseph; here Joseph replaces Ephraim, perhaps because of Ephraim’s bad reputation],
and from the tribe of Benjamin twelve thousand were ·marked with the sign [sealed].
A Town Rejects Jesus
51 When the time was coming near for Jesus to ·depart [ascend], he ·was determined to go to [resolutely set out for; L set his face toward] Jerusalem [Matt. 19:1–2; Mark 10:1]. 52 He sent some messengers ahead of him, who went into a town in Samaria to make everything ready for him. 53 But the people there would not ·welcome [receive] him, because he was ·set on going to [heading towards; L traveling with his face toward] Jerusalem [C Samaritans worshiped at Mount Gerizim, not in Jerusalem]. 54 When James and John, ·followers [disciples] of Jesus, saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and ·destroy [burn up; consume] those people[a] [2 Kin. 1:10]?”
55 But Jesus turned and ·scolded [rebuked] them. |And Jesus said, “You don’t know what kind of spirit you belong to. 56 The Son of Man [C a title for the Messiah; Dan. 7:13–14] did not come to destroy the ·souls [lives] of people but to save them.”|[b] Then they went to another town.
Following Jesus(A)
57 As they were going along the road, someone said to Jesus, “I will follow you ·any place [wherever] you go.”
58 Jesus said to them, “The foxes have ·holes [dens] to live in, and the ·birds [L birds of the sky] have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to ·rest [lay] his head.”
59 Jesus said to another man, “Follow me!”
But he said, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 But Jesus said to him, “Let the people who are [C spiritually] dead bury their own dead. You must go and ·tell about [proclaim] the kingdom of God.”
61 Another man said, “I will follow you, Lord, but first let me go and say good-bye to my family.”
62 Jesus said, “Anyone who ·begins to plow a field [L puts a hand to the plow] but keeps looking back is ·of no use in [or not fit for] the kingdom of God.”
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