For more information on the translation by Rob Lacey, click here.
Genesis 12:1-3
The first "Jew" (Genesis 12:1-3)
1
God says to Abram, "Emigrate! Pack up and take off. I'll tell you where … en route."
2-3
"I'm going to make you the father-figure of a great nation. Your name's going to be a legend. You're going to be a vehicle bringing in good stuff for millions of people. If someone does you good, I'll reward them. If someone slaps you down, they'll pay for it. Every nation is going to benefit, because of the nation I'm kicking off through you."
Psalm 23
You comfort me (rock opera à la "Bohemian Rhapsody") ©David (Psalm 23:1—6)
1—3
(verse)
You're my guide and my guard, my minder, my mentor.
What more do I need? What's better at the centre?
You sit me down, put my best CD on,
And my soul remembers who I am again.
4
(chorus) (backing)
You're with me; you comfort me. (x2)
(lead)
And you hold my swaying heart — so soft, so strong.
(backing)
You're with me; you comfort me. (x2)
(lead)
You stop them tearing me apart — I fear no wrong.
You show me wham to go, without telling me;
You set a value on my life, without selling me.
(backing and lead)
You're with me; you comfort me. (x 2)
3
You call me to the streets; you show me such good things,
Right things with no hidden strings —
Just your name on, and its game on.
Your great repute, like a distant flute it comforts me.
(chorus)
4
(verse)
I crawl through the alley of the shadow of cancer;
I know you know the answer, and the battle won't rattle me.
You're around, and I've found there's something about your empathy,
Your symphony of sympathy, that comforts me.
(chorus)
5
(bridge)
You lay out a table; you sit me down;
My rivals arrive from the greatest to the least,
But my cup's kept full, and my head's held high
As you boast about me, your least priest,
And make them toast me right through the feast.
Boy, does it comfort me!
(chorus)
6
(end song)
I know that your good, your best, your love and passion
Will stalk me, steer me, stand alongside me,
Outlast every fad and fashion, through all eternity.
For I'm going to live with you,
See heaven's great views from my own cosmic mews;
No lease to renew, no terms to review,no one else to view
Just me and you, me and you, me and you,
Right through, to the end of time.
Isaiah 55:1-3
Gasping for it (Isaiah 55:1-3)
1—3
If you're gasping, if your mouth's like the Sahara in summer, get yourself to the reservoir. If you've got no cash – come buy good wine and full-fat milk without spending your last bit of cash. Where's the logic in spending money on plastic bread? What's the point in working your socks off for stuff that can't satisfy? Listen up! Fill your mouths with something worth chewing: food with 100 percent of daily vitamins for your soul. Clean out your ears, listen up and do your soul a favour: I'll make a permanent Contract with you in line with my loving vows to David.
Mark 1:9-11
Dove from above (Mark 1:9—11)
Jesus turns up from Nazareth (Galilee) and gets baptized by John. Jesus is just coming up out of the water; he sees the clouds split and God's Holy Spirit landing on him in the form of a dove. A voice comes booming through heaven's PA system, "You're my Son. I'm crazy about you and well into everything you do."
Jesus has to get into the desert alone and is there for forty days. No food, no home comforts, just Satan needling away at him, offering him the easy life of power and fame on his terms. Jesus swats him off with quotations from the ancient manuals. Heaven's a bit low on angel numbers; most of them seem to be in the desert backing Jesus up.
John 1:1-5
Intro (John 1:1-18)
1-2
Nothing. No light, no time, no substance, no matter — the Voice was there. Before anything moved, mutated or mated, Jesus, God's Voice, was there with God from the kick-off. How come? 'Cos Jesus, "God's Voice", is God. Before anything began, they had always been. Before there was even any-where to be, they were there.
3-5
Jesus got the name "God's Voice" because he just spoke and stuff started. From nothing to everything, sparked only by the Voice. There's noth-ing that doesn't have the phrase "made by Jesus" stamped on it somewhere. His words were life itself, and they lit up people's lives — his light could blast its way into the dingiest corner, and yet the people who preferred darkness still missed it.
