Book of Common Prayer
97 The Lord rules. Let the earth be glad.
Let countries that are far away be full of joy.
2 Clouds and thick darkness surround him.
His rule is built on what is right and fair.
3 The Lord sends fire ahead of him.
It burns up his enemies all around him.
4 His lightning lights up the world.
The earth sees it and trembles.
5 The mountains melt like wax when the Lord is near.
He is the Lord of the whole earth.
6 The heavens announce that what he does is right.
All people everywhere see his glory.
7 All who worship statues of gods or brag about them are put to shame.
All you gods, worship the Lord!
8 Zion hears about it and is filled with joy.
Lord, the villages of Judah are glad
because of how you judge.
9 Lord, you are the Most High God.
You rule over the whole earth.
You are honored much more than all gods.
10 Let those who love the Lord hate evil.
He guards the lives of those who are faithful to him.
He saves them from the power of sinful people.
11 Good things come to those who do what is right.
Joy comes to those whose hearts are honest.
12 You who are godly, be glad because of what the Lord has done.
Praise him, because his name is holy.
99 The Lord rules.
Let the nations tremble.
He sits on his throne between the cherubim.
Let the earth shake.
2 Great is the Lord in Zion.
He is honored over all the nations.
3 Let them praise his great and wonderful name.
He is holy.
4 The King is mighty and loves justice.
He has set up the rules for fairness.
He has done what is right and fair
for the people of Jacob.
5 Honor the Lord our God.
Worship at his feet.
He is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron were two of his priests.
Samuel was one of those who worshiped him.
They called out to the Lord.
And he answered them.
7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud.
They obeyed his laws and the orders he gave them.
8 Lord our God, you answered them.
You showed Israel that you are a God who forgives.
But when they did wrong, you punished them.
9 Honor the Lord our God.
Worship at his holy mountain.
The Lord our God is holy.
A psalm for giving grateful praise.
100 Shout for joy to the Lord, everyone on earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness.
Come to him with songs of joy.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
He made us, and we belong to him.
We are his people.
We are the sheep belonging to his flock.
4 Give thanks as you enter the gates of his temple.
Give praise as you enter its courtyards.
Give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 The Lord is good. His faithful love continues forever.
It will last for all time to come.
94 The Lord is a God who punishes.
Since you are the one who punishes, come and show your anger.
2 Judge of the earth, rise up.
Pay back proud people for what they have done.
3 Lord, how long will those who are evil be glad?
How long will they be full of joy?
4 Proud words pour out of their mouths.
All those who do evil are always bragging.
5 Lord, they crush your people.
They treat badly those who belong to you.
6 They kill outsiders. They kill widows.
They murder children whose fathers have died.
7 They say, “The Lord doesn’t see what’s happening.
The God of Jacob doesn’t pay any attention to it.”
8 You who aren’t wise, pay attention.
You foolish people, when will you become wise?
9 Does he who made the ear not hear?
Does he who formed the eye not see?
10 Does he who corrects nations not punish?
Does he who teaches human beings not know anything?
11 The Lord knows what people think.
He knows that their thoughts don’t amount to anything.
12 Lord, blessed is the person you correct.
Blessed is the person you teach from your law.
13 You give them rest from times of trouble,
until a pit is dug to trap sinners.
14 The Lord won’t say no to his people.
He will never desert those who belong to him.
15 He will again judge people in keeping with what is right.
All those who have honest hearts will follow the right way.
16 Who will rise up for me against sinful people?
Who will stand up for me against those who do evil?
17 Suppose the Lord had not helped me.
Then I would soon have been lying quietly in the grave.
18 I said, “My foot is slipping.”
But Lord, your faithful love kept me from falling.
19 I was very worried.
But your comfort brought me joy.
20 Can you have anything to do with rulers who aren’t fair?
Can those who make laws that cause suffering be friends of yours?
21 Evil people join together against those who do what is right.
They sentence to death those who aren’t guilty of doing anything wrong.
22 But the Lord has become like a fort to me.
My God is my rock. I go to him for safety.
23 He will pay them back for their sins.
He will destroy them for their evil acts.
The Lord our God will destroy them.
95 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord.
Let us give a loud shout to the Rock who saves us.
2 Let us come to him and give him thanks.
Let us praise him with music and song.
3 The Lord is the great God.
He is the greatest King.
He rules over all the gods.
4 He owns the deepest parts of the earth.
The mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The ocean is his, because he made it.
He formed the dry land with his hands.
6 Come, let us bow down and worship him.
Let us fall on our knees in front of the Lord our Maker.
7 He is our God.
We are the sheep belonging to his flock.
We are the people he takes good care of.
If only you would listen to his voice today.
8 He says, “Don’t be stubborn as you were at Meribah.
Don’t be stubborn as you were that day at Massah in the desert.
9 There your people of long ago really tested me.
They did it even though they had seen what I had done for them.
10 For 40 years I was angry with them.
I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray.
They do not know how I want them to live.’
11 So when I was angry, I made a promise.
I said, ‘They will never enjoy the rest I planned for them.’ ”
Absalom Returns to Jerusalem
14 Joab, the son of Zeruiah, knew that the king longed to see Absalom. 2 So Joab sent someone to Tekoa to have a wise woman brought back from there. Joab said to her, “Pretend you are filled with sadness. Put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. Don’t use any makeup. Act like a woman who has spent many days mourning for someone who has died. 3 Then go to the king. Give him the message I’m about to give you.” And Joab told her what to say.
4 The woman from Tekoa went to the king. She bowed down with her face toward the ground. She did it to show him respect. She said, “Your Majesty, please help me!”
5 The king asked her, “What’s bothering you?”
She said, “I’m a widow. My husband is dead. 6 I had two sons. They got into a fight with each other in a field. No one was there to separate them. One of my sons struck down the other one and killed him. 7 Now my whole family group has risen up against me. They say, ‘Hand over the one who struck down his brother. Then we can put him to death for killing his brother. That will also get rid of the one who will receive the family property.’ They want to kill the only living son I have left, just as someone would put out a burning coal. That would leave my husband without any son on the face of the earth to carry on the family name.”
8 The king said to the woman, “Go home. I’ll give an order to make sure you are taken care of.”
9 But the woman from Tekoa said to him, “You are my king and master. Please pardon me and my family. You and your royal family won’t be guilty of doing anything wrong.”
10 The king replied, “If people give you any trouble, bring them to me. They won’t bother you again.”
11 She said, “Please pray to the Lord your God. Pray that he will keep our nearest male relative from killing my other son. Then my son won’t be destroyed.”
“You can be sure that the Lord lives,” the king said. “And you can be just as sure that not one hair of your son’s head will fall to the ground.”
12 Then the woman said, “King David, please let me say something else to you.”
“Go ahead,” he replied.
13 The woman said, “You are the king. So why have you done something that brings so much harm on God’s people? When you do that, you hand down a sentence against yourself. You won’t let the son you drove away come back. 14 All of us must die. We are like water spilled on the ground. It can’t be put back into the jar. But that is not what God desires. Instead, he finds a way to bring back anyone who was driven away from him.
15 “King David, I’ve come here to say this to you now. I’ve done it because people have made me afraid. I thought, ‘I’ll go and speak to the king. Perhaps he’ll do what I’m asking. 16 A man is trying to separate me and my son from the property God gave us. Perhaps the king will agree to save me from that man.’
17 “So now I’m saying, ‘May what you have told me prevent that man from doing what he wants. You are like an angel of God. You know what is good and what is evil. May the Lord your God be with you.’ ”
18 Then the king said to the woman, “I’m going to ask you a question. I want you to tell me the truth.”
“Please ask me anything you want to,” the woman said.
19 The king asked, “Joab told you to say all of this, didn’t he?”
The woman answered, “What you have told me is exactly right. And that’s just as sure as you are alive. It’s true that Joab directed me to do this. He told me everything he wanted me to say. 20 He did it to change the way things now are. You are as wise as an angel of God. You know everything that happens in the land.”
Paul Continues His Journey to Jerusalem
21 After we had torn ourselves away from the Ephesian elders, we headed out to sea. We sailed straight to Kos. The next day we went to Rhodes. From there we continued on to Patara. 2 We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia. So we went on board and headed out to sea. 3 We came near Cyprus and passed to the south of it. Then we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre. There our ship was supposed to unload. 4 We looked for the believers there and stayed with them for seven days. The believers tried to keep Paul from going on to Jerusalem. They were led by the Holy Spirit to do this. 5 When it was time to leave, we continued on our way. All the believers, including their whole families, went with us out of the city. There on the beach we got down on our knees to pray. 6 We said goodbye to each other. Then we went on board the ship. And they returned home.
7 Continuing on from Tyre, we landed at Ptolemais. There we greeted the brothers and sisters. We stayed with them for a day. 8 The next day we left and arrived at Caesarea. We stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist. He was one of the seven deacons. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
10 We stayed there several days. Then a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 He came over to us. Then he took Paul’s belt and tied his own hands and feet with it. He said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘This is how the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will tie up the owner of this belt. They will hand him over to the Gentiles.’ ”
12 When we heard this, we all begged Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 He asked, “Why are you crying? Why are you breaking my heart? I’m ready to be put in prison. In fact, I’m ready to die in Jerusalem for the Lord Jesus.” 14 We couldn’t change his mind. So we gave up. We said, “May what the Lord wants to happen be done.”
Jesus Teaches About Divorce
10 Jesus left that place and went into the area of Judea and across the Jordan River. Again crowds of people came to him. As usual, he taught them.
2 Some Pharisees came to test Jesus. They asked, “Does the Law allow a man to divorce his wife?”
3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.
4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a letter of divorce and send her away.”
5 “You were stubborn. That’s why Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation, God ‘made them male and female.’ (Genesis 1:27) 7 ‘That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. 8 The two of them will become one.’ (Genesis 2:24) They are no longer two, but one. 9 So no one should separate what God has joined together.”
10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, “What if a man divorces his wife and gets married to another woman? He commits adultery against her. 12 And what if she divorces her husband and gets married to another man? She commits adultery.”
Little Children Are Brought to Jesus
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus. They wanted him to place his hands on them to bless them. But the disciples told them to stop. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was angry. He said to his disciples, “Let the little children come to me. Don’t keep them away. God’s kingdom belongs to people like them. 15 What I’m about to tell you is true. Anyone who will not receive God’s kingdom like a little child will never enter it.” 16 Then he took the children in his arms. He placed his hands on them to bless them.
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