Book of Common Prayer
97 How I love your ·teachings [instructions; laws]!
I ·think about [ponder; meditate on] them all day long.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies,
because they are mine forever.
99 I am ·wiser [more insightful] than all my teachers,
because I ·think about [ponder; meditate on] your ·rules [decrees; testimonies].
100 I have more understanding than the elders,
because I ·follow [protect] your ·orders [precepts].
101 I have ·avoided [L kept my feet from] every evil way
so I could ·obey [keep; guard] your word.
102 I haven’t ·walked [turned] away from your ·laws [judgments],
because you yourself are my teacher.
103 ·Your promises are sweet to me [L How sweet your words slip/slide down my palate],
sweeter than honey in my mouth!
104 Your ·orders [precepts] give me understanding,
so I hate lying ways.
105 Your word is like a lamp for my feet
and a light for my path [C it shows how life should be lived].
106 I ·will do what I have promised [L have sworn and confirmed it]
and ·obey [keep; guard] your ·fair [righteous] ·laws [judgments].
107 I have suffered ·for a long time [or greatly].
Lord, ·give me [spare my] life by your word.
108 Lord, accept my ·willing [offering of] praise
and teach me your ·laws [judgments].
109 My life is always in ·danger [L my hand],
but I haven’t forgotten your ·teachings [instructions; laws].
110 Wicked people have set a trap for me,
but I haven’t ·strayed [wandered] from your ·orders [precepts].
111 ·I will follow your rules forever [L Your rules/decrees/precepts are my inheritance forever],
because they make ·me [L my heart] happy.
112 I will ·try [L incline my heart] to do ·what you demand [L your statutes/ordinances]
forever, until the end.
113 I hate ·disloyal [or double-minded] people,
but I love your ·teachings [instructions; laws].
114 You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.
115 Get away from me, you who do evil,
so I can ·keep [protect] my God’s commands.
116 ·Support [Uphold] me as you promised so I can live.
Don’t let me be embarrassed because of my hopes.
117 ·Help [Strengthen] me, and I will ·be saved [have victory].
I will always ·respect [care about] your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements].
118 You ·reject [treat as worthless] those who ·ignore [go astray from] your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements],
because their lies ·mislead them [leave them in the lurch].
119 You throw away the wicked of the world like ·trash [dross].
So I will love your ·rules [decrees; testimonies].
120 ·I [L My flesh] ·shake [shudder] in ·fear [dread] of you;
I ·respect [fear] your ·laws [judgments].
A Song for a Holiday
For the director of music. By the gittith [C perhaps a musical term or instrument]. A psalm of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
81 Sing for joy to God, our strength;
shout out loud to the God of Jacob [C another name for Israel].
2 ·Begin the music [Lift up a psalm]. ·Play [Sound; L Give] the tambourines [68:25; 149:3; 150:4; Ex. 15:20].
·Play pleasant music on the harps [L …the pleasant/sweet harps] and lyres.
3 Blow the ·trumpet [ram’s horn] at ·the time of the New Moon [L the month; C a monthly religious festival],
when the moon is full, when our feast begins.
4 This is the ·law [statute; ordinance; requirement] for Israel;
it is the ·command [judgment] of the God of Jacob [v. 1].
5 He ·gave [set] this ·rule [decree; testimony] to the people of Joseph [C reference to the northern tribes]
when they went out of the land of Egypt [C the exodus; Ex. 12–15].
I heard a ·language [L tongue] I did not know, saying [C God now speaks]:
6 “I ·took the load off [removed the burden from] their shoulders;
·I let them put down their baskets [L Their hands were removed from the baskets].
7 When you were in ·trouble [distress], you called, and I ·saved [rescued] you.
I answered you ·with thunder [L in the secret place of thunder; Ex. 19:18–19].
I tested you at the waters of Meribah [95:8; 106:32; Ex. 17:1–17; Num. 20:1–13]. ·
8 My people, listen. I ·am warning [bear testimony/witness against] you.
Israel, please listen to me!
9 You must not have ·foreign [strange] gods;
you must not worship any ·false [foreign] god.
10 I, the Lord, am your God,
who brought you out of Egypt.
·Open [L Widen] your mouth and I will feed you [Deut. 29:6; 32:10–14].
11 “But my people did not listen to ·me [L my voice];
Israel did not ·want [accept] me.
12 So I ·let them go their stubborn way [L threw them away because of their stubborn hearts]
and ·follow [walk according to] their own advice.
13 I wish my people would listen to me;
I wish Israel would ·live [L walk on] my way.
14 Then I would quickly ·defeat [subdue; quell] their enemies
and turn my hand against their foes.
15 Those who hate the Lord would ·bow [cringe; cower] before him.
Their ·punishment [doom] would continue forever.
16 But I would give you the finest wheat [Deut. 32:14]
and fill you with honey from the rocks [Deut. 32:13].”
A Cry for Justice
A psalm of Asaph [C a Levitical musician, a descendant of Gershon, at the time of David; 1 Chr. 6:39; 15:17; 2 Chr. 5:12].
82 God ·is in charge of the great meeting [L takes his place/presides in the great assembly/or the assembly of the gods/divine council; C the angels (powers and authorities; Eph. 6:12) are here called “gods”];
he judges among the “gods” [John 10:35–36].
2 He says, “How long will you ·defend evil people [or judge unfairly]?
How long will you show ·greater kindness [favor; preference] to the wicked? ·
3 ·Defend [Judge] the ·weak [or poor] and the orphans;
·defend the rights of [vindicate] the poor and ·suffering [needy].
4 ·Save [Rescue] the ·weak [or poor] and helpless;
·free [protect] them from the ·power [L hand] of the wicked.
5 “You know nothing. You don’t understand.
You walk in the dark,
while the ·world is falling apart [L foundations of the earth are tottering].
6 I said, ‘You are “gods.”
You are all sons of God Most High.’
7 But you will die like any other person;
you will fall like all the ·leaders [princes; C God will punish these evil angels].”
8 God, ·come [rise up] and judge the earth,
because you ·own [inherit] all the nations.
Jeremiah’s Sadness
18 God, ·you are my comfort when I am very sad [L my cheerfulness is gone; grief has come on me]
and ·when I am afraid [L my heart is sick].
19 Listen to the ·sound [L cry of distress] of ·my people [L the daughter of my people].
They cry from a faraway land:
“Isn’t the Lord still in ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple]?
Isn’t ·Jerusalem’s [L its] king still there?”
But God says, “Why did the people make me angry ·by worshiping idols [L with their images],
useless foreign idols?”
20 And the people say, “Harvest time is over;
summer has ended,
and we have not been ·saved [rescued].”
21 Because my people are ·crushed [broken; fractured], I am ·crushed [broken; fractured].
I ·cry loudly [mourn; lament; wail] and ·am afraid for them [L horror has seized me].
22 Isn’t there balm [C the resin of the storax tree used as medicine] in the land of Gilead [C southern section of the Transjordan region]?
Isn’t there a doctor there?
So why ·aren’t the hurts of my people healed [L is there no new skin on the wound of the daughter of my people]?
9 ·I wish [Oh that] my head were like a spring of water
and my eyes like a fountain of tears!
Then I could cry day and night
for ·my people who have been killed [L the corpses of the daughter of my people].
2 ·I wish [Oh that] I had a place in the ·desert [wilderness]—
a house where travelers spend the night—
so I could ·leave [abandon; forsake] my people.
I could go away from them,
because they are all adulterers [C unfaithful to God; 2:20, 23–24; 3:1–5; Hos. 7:4];
·they are all turning against him [L a band of traitors].
Judah’s Failures
3 “They ·use [L bend] their tongues like a bow [C shooting lies from their mouths like arrows; Ps. 64:3–4].
Lies, not truth,
have grown strong in the land.
They go from one evil thing to another.
They do not know ·who I am [L me],” says the Lord.
4 “·Watch out [Be on guard] for your ·friends [or neighbors],
and don’t ·trust [have confidence in] your own ·relatives [L brothers],
because every ·relative [L brother] is a ·cheater [L Jacob, who supplants; Gen. 25:19—35:29],
and every ·friend [or neighbor] ·tells lies about [L goes around slandering] you.
5 Everyone ·lies to [deceives] his ·friend [or neighbor],
and no one speaks ·the truth [honestly].
They [C the people of Judah] have taught their tongues to ·lie [L tell falsehoods].
They have become tired from ·sinning [their iniquity].
6 You [C Jeremiah] live in the middle of lies.
The people refuse to know me,” says the Lord.
Right with God
5 [L Therefore,] Since we have been ·made right with God [declared righteous; justified] by our faith, we have[a] peace with God. This happened through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 ·who through our faith[b] has brought us into that blessing of [L through whom we have access by faith to] God’s grace ·that we now enjoy [L in which we stand/live]. And we ·are happy [rejoice; boast] because of the hope we have ·of sharing [or of experiencing; L of] God’s glory. 3 [L Not only this, but] We also ·have joy [rejoice; boast] ·with our troubles [through suffering/trials/persecution], because we know that ·these troubles [suffering; trials; persecution] produce ·patience [endurance]. 4 And ·patience [endurance] produces [tested and proven] character, and [tested and proven] character produces hope. 5 And this hope will never ·disappoint us [let us down; or put us to shame; dishonor us; C honor and shame were among the most important values in first century culture], because God has ·poured out his love to fill our hearts [or flooded our hearts with his love]. He gave us his love through the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to us.
6 [L For] When we were ·unable to help ourselves [L still helpless/weak], at the ·right [or appointed] time, Christ died for ·us sinners [L the ungodly/wicked]. 7 ·Very few people will [or Rarely/Scarcely will anyone] die for a ·righteous [just; pious] person. Although perhaps for a ·good [truly good; noble] person someone might possibly die [C the “righteous” person may be someone who is outwardly religious, while the “good” person is genuinely generous and loving]. 8 But God ·shows [demonstrates; proves] his ·great [L own] love for us in this way: Christ died for us while we were still sinners.
9 And since we have now been ·made right with God [declared righteous; justified] by ·the blood of Christ’s death [L his blood], ·we will surely also [L how much more shall we…!] be saved through Christ from ·God’s anger [final punishment; L the wrath]. 10 [L For if] While we were God’s enemies, ·he made us his friends [L we were reconciled to God] through the death of his Son. ·Surely [L How much more…?], ·now that we are his friends [L having been reconciled], he will save us through his Son’s life. 11 And not only that, but now we ·are also very happy [also rejoice/boast] in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we ·are now God’s friends again [have now received reconciliation].
Jesus Is the Light of the World
12 Later, Jesus talked to the people again, saying, “I am the light of the world [C the Feast of Shelters included a lamp lighting ritual that Jesus may be alluding to; 7:37–39]. The person who follows me will never ·live [L walk] in darkness but will have the light ·that gives life [L of life].”
13 The Pharisees [see 1:24] said to Jesus, “When you ·talk [testify; witness] about yourself, ·you are the only one to say these things are true. We cannot accept what you say [L your testimony/witness is not true/valid; 5:31].”
14 Jesus answered, “Yes, I am ·saying these things [witnessing; testifying] about myself, but they are true [valid]. I know where I came from [C from the Father or “from above”] and where I am going. But you don’t know where I came from or where I am going. 15 You judge ·by human standards [T according to the flesh; C rather than guided by the Spirit]. I am not judging anyone. 16 But ·when [if] I do judge, ·I judge truthfully [L my judgment is true], because I am not alone. The Father who sent me is with me. 17 Your own law says that ·when two witnesses say the same thing, you must accept what they say [L the testimony of two witnesses is true/valid; Deut. 17:6; 19:15]. 18 I am one of the witnesses who speaks about myself, and the Father who sent me is the other witness.”
19 [L Therefore] They asked him, “Where is your father?”
Jesus answered, “You don’t know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father, too.” 20 Jesus said these things while he was teaching in the Temple [courts], near ·where the money is kept [the treasury; offering box]. But no one ·arrested [seized] him, because ·the right time for him [L his hour; see 2:4] had not yet come.
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