Book of Common Prayer
A Welcome for God into the Temple
A psalm of David.
24 The earth belongs to the Lord, and ·everything in it [L its fullness]—
the world and all its ·people [inhabitants].
2 He ·built [founded] it on the waters
and ·set [established] it on the rivers [Gen. 1:9–10; Is. 45:18].
3 Who may go up on the mountain of the Lord [C Zion, the location of the Temple]?
Who may stand in his holy ·Temple [L place]?
4 Only those with clean hands and pure hearts [C innocent in actions and thoughts],
who have not ·worshiped idols [L lifted their souls to false things],
who have not made promises ·in the name of a false god [or deceitfully].
5 They will receive a blessing from the Lord;
the God who ·saves [rescues; T delivers] them will ·declare them right [vindicate them].
6 ·They try to follow God [L This is the generation/people of those who seek him];
they ·look to the God of Jacob for help [L search for your face, O God of Jacob]. ·
7 ·Open up [L Lift up your heads], you gates.
·Open wide [L Be lifted up], you ·aged [ancient] doors
and the ·glorious King [King of glory] will come in.
8 Who is this ·glorious King [King of glory]?
The Lord, strong and mighty.
The Lord, ·the powerful warrior [mighty in battle].
9 ·Open up [L Lift up your heads], you gates.
·Open wide [L Be lifted up], you ·aged [ancient] doors
and the ·glorious King [King of glory] will come in.
10 Who is this ·glorious King [King of glory]?
The Lord ·All-Powerful [of Heaven’s Armies/T Hosts]—
he is the ·glorious King [King of glory]. ·
God in the Thunderstorm
A psalm of David.
29 ·Praise [T Ascribe to] the Lord, you ·angels [L sons of God; C God’s council];
·Praise the Lord’s [T Ascribe to the Lord] glory and power.
2 ·Praise the Lord for [T Ascribe to the Lord] the glory of his name;
worship the Lord ·because he is holy [L in the splendor of his holiness].
3 The Lord’s voice [C thunder] is heard over the ·sea [L waters; C a symbol of chaos].
The glorious God thunders;
the Lord thunders over the ·ocean [L many/mighty waters].
4 The Lord’s voice is powerful;
the Lord’s voice is ·majestic [splendid; awesome].
5 The Lord’s voice breaks the ·trees [L cedars];
the Lord breaks the cedars of Lebanon [C the most famous cedar forests].
6 He makes the land of Lebanon dance like a calf
and ·Mount Hermon [L Sirion] jump like a baby bull.
7 The Lord’s voice ·makes the lightning flash [strikes with flashes of lightning].
8 The Lord’s voice shakes the ·desert [wilderness];
the Lord shakes the ·Desert [Wilderness] of Kadesh.
9 The Lord’s voice ·shakes the oaks [or makes the deer give birth]
and strips the ·leaves off the trees [L forests bare].
In his Temple everyone says, “Glory!”
10 The Lord ·controls [L is enthroned over] the flood [C controls chaos].
The Lord ·will be [L is enthroned as] King forever.
11 The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.
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.
The King Is Coming
9 Rejoice greatly, ·people of Jerusalem [L Daughter Zion]!
Shout for joy, ·people of Jerusalem [L Daughter Jerusalem]!
[L Look; T Behold] Your king is coming to you.
He ·does what is right [is righteous/just], and he saves.
He is ·gentle [lowly; humble] and riding on a donkey,
on ·the colt [L a colt, the foal] of a donkey [Matt. 21:5; John 12:15].
10 I will ·take away [L cut off] the chariots from Ephraim
and the ·horses [warhorses] from Jerusalem.
The bows used in war will be broken.
The king will ·talk about [announce; bring] peace to the nations.
His ·kingdom [dominion; rule] will go from sea to sea,
and from the ·Euphrates River [L River] to the ends of the earth.
11 As for you, because of the blood of ·the agreement [my covenant/treaty] with you
I will set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.
12 You prisoners who have hope,
return to ·your place of safety [the fortress/stronghold].
Today I ·am telling you [announce; declare]
that I will ·give you back twice as much as before [return double what you lost].
9 ·At that time [L On that day] I will ·go [set out; begin] to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.
Crying for the One They Pierced
10 “I will pour out on ·David’s family [L the house of David] and the ·people in [inhabitants of] Jerusalem a spirit of ·kindness [grace] and ·mercy [prayer; supplication]. They will look at me, the one they have ·stabbed [pierced], and they will ·cry [L mourn/lament for him] like someone ·crying [mourning; lamenting] over the death of an only ·child [son]. They will ·be as sad [grieve bitterly] as someone who has lost a firstborn son. 11 ·At that time [L On that day] there will be much crying in Jerusalem, like the crying for Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo [C either where Judah mourned the death of king Josiah (2 Chr. 35:25), or ritualistic mourning associated with the Canaanite storm god (Ezek. 8:14; 2 Kin. 5:18)].
13 “·At that time [L In that day] a fountain will be open for ·David’s descendants [L the house of David] and for the ·people [inhabitants] of Jerusalem to cleanse them of their sin and ·uncleanness [impurity; defilement].”
The Shepherd Is Killed
7 “·Sword, hit the [L Awake, Sword, against my] shepherd.
·Attack [L …against] the man who is my ·friend [associate],”
says the Lord ·All-Powerful [Almighty; of Heaven’s Armies; T of hosts].
“·Kill [Strike] the shepherd,
and the sheep will scatter [Matt. 26:31; Mark 14:27],
and I will ·punish [L turn my hand against] the little ones.”
8 The Lord says, “Two-thirds of the people
through all the land will die. They will be ·gone [struck down; L cut off],
and one-third will be left.
9 The third that is left I will ·test with [L bring into the] fire,
·purifying [refining] them like silver,
testing them like gold.
Then they will call on ·me [my name],
and I will answer them.
I will say, ‘These are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”
12 ·Fight the good fight [or Run the good race] of faith, grabbing hold of ·the life that continues forever [eternal life]. You were called to have that life when you confessed the good confession before many witnesses [1:18]. 13 ·In the sight of [In the presence of; L Before] God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, I ·give you a command [exhort/encourage/charge you]. Christ Jesus made the good confession when he stood before Pontius Pilate [Matt. 27:11–26; Mark 15:1–15; Luke 23:1–24; John 18:28—19:16]. 14 ·Do what you were commanded to do [Keep/Obey the command] without ·wrong [spot; stain] or blame until our Lord Jesus Christ ·comes again [returns; appears]. 15 God will ·make that happen [L reveal it] at ·the right [the appointed; his own] time. He is the blessed and only ·Ruler [Sovereign], the King of all kings and the Lord of all lords. 16 He is the only One who ·never dies [has immortality]. He lives in light ·so bright no one can go near it [unapproachable]. No one has ever seen God, or can see him. May honor and power belong to God forever. Amen.
Jesus Goes to the Temple(A)
12 Jesus went into the ·Temple [temple complex; C the large temple area, not the inner building where only the priests could go] and ·threw [drove] out all the people who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables of ·those who were exchanging different kinds of money [L the moneychangers], and he upset the benches of those who were selling doves [or pigeons; C moneychangers provided particular coins needed for the temple tax; doves or pigeons were sold for sacrifices; Lev. 5:7]. 13 Jesus said to ·all the people there [L them], “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My ·Temple [L House] will be called a house for prayer [Is. 56:7].’ But you are ·changing [making] it into a ·hideout for robbers [T den of thieves; Jer. 7:11].”
14 The blind and ·crippled people [lame] came to Jesus in the Temple [courts; v. 12], and he healed them. 15 [L But when] The ·leading [T chief] priests and the ·teachers of the law [scribes] saw that Jesus was doing wonderful things and that the children were praising him in the Temple [courts; v. 12], saying, “·Praise [L Hosanna; v. 9] to the Son of David [C a title for the Messiah; v. 9].” All these things made the priests and the ·teachers of the law [scribes] ·very angry [indignant].
16 They asked Jesus, “Do you hear the things these children are saying?”
Jesus answered, “Yes. Haven’t you read in the Scriptures, ·‘You have taught children and babies to sing praises’ [L ‘From the mouths of infants and nursing babes you have prepared/created praise’; Ps. 8:2 LXX]?”
17 Then Jesus left and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
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