Book of Common Prayer
20 In your day of trouble, may the Lord be with you! May the God of Jacob keep you from all harm. 2 May he send you aid from his sanctuary in Zion. 3 May he remember with pleasure the gifts you have given him, your sacrifices and burnt offerings. 4 May he grant you your heart’s desire and fulfill all your plans. 5 May there be shouts of joy when we hear the news of your victory, flags flying with praise to God for all that he has done for you. May he answer all your prayers!
6 “God save the king”—I know he does! He hears me from highest heaven and sends great victories. 7 Some nations boast of armies and of weaponry, but our boast is in the Lord our God. 8 Those nations will collapse and perish; we will arise to stand firm and sure!
9 Give victory to our king, O Lord; oh, hear our prayer.
21 How the king rejoices in your strength, O Lord! How he exults in your salvation. 2 For you have given him his heart’s desire, everything he asks you for!
3 You welcomed him to the throne with success and prosperity. You set a royal crown of solid gold upon his head. 4 He asked for a long, good life, and you have granted his request; the days of his life stretch on and on forever. 5 You have given him fame and honor. You have clothed him with splendor and majesty. 6 You have endowed him with eternal happiness. You have given him the unquenchable joy of your presence. 7 And because the king trusts in the Lord, he will never stumble, never fall; for he depends upon the steadfast love of the God who is above all gods.
8 Your hand, O Lord, will find your enemies, all who hate you. 9-10 When you appear, they will be destroyed in the fierce fire of your presence. The Lord will destroy them and their children. 11 For these men plot against you, Lord, but they cannot possibly succeed. 12 They will turn and flee when they see your arrows aimed straight at them.
13 Accept our praise, O Lord, for all your glorious power. We will write songs to celebrate your mighty acts!
110 Jehovah said to my Lord the Messiah,[a] “Rule as my regent—I will subdue your enemies and make them bow low before you.”
2 Jehovah has established your throne[b] in Jerusalem to rule over your enemies. 3 In that day of your power your people shall come to you willingly, dressed in holy altar robes.[c] And your strength shall be renewed day by day like morning dew. 4 Jehovah has taken oath and will not rescind his vow that you are a priest forever like[d] Melchizedek. 5 God stands beside you to protect you. He will strike down many kings in the day of his anger. 6 He will punish the nations and fill them with their dead. He will crush many heads. 7 But he himself shall be refreshed from springs along the way.
116 I love the Lord because he hears my prayers and answers them. 2 Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I breathe!
3 Death stared me in the face—I was frightened and sad. 4 Then I cried, “Lord, save me!” 5 How kind he is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours! 6 The Lord protects the simple and the childlike; I was facing death, and then he saved me. 7 Now I can relax. For the Lord has done this wonderful miracle for me. 8 He has saved me from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling. 9 I shall live! Yes, in his presence—here on earth!
10-11 In my discouragement I thought, “They are lying when they say I will recover.”[a] 12 But now what can I offer Jehovah for all he has done for me? 13 I will bring him an offering of wine[b] and praise his name for saving me. 14 I will publicly bring him the sacrifice I vowed I would. 15 His loved ones are very precious to him, and he does not lightly let them die.[c]
16 O Lord, you have freed me from my bonds, and I will serve you forever. 17 I will worship you and offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving. 18-19 Here in the courts of the Temple in Jerusalem, before all the people, I will pay everything I vowed to the Lord. Praise the Lord.
117 Praise the Lord, all nations everywhere. Praise him, all the peoples of the earth. 2 For he loves us very dearly, and his truth endures. Praise the Lord.
15 Be patient and you will finally win, for a soft tongue can break hard bones.
16 Do you like honey? Don’t eat too much of it, or it will make you sick!
17 Don’t visit your neighbor too often, or you will outwear your welcome!
18 Telling lies about someone is as harmful as hitting him with an ax, or wounding him with a sword, or shooting him with a sharp arrow.
19 Putting confidence in an unreliable man is like chewing with a sore tooth, or trying to run on a broken foot.
20 Being happy-go-lucky around a person whose heart is heavy is as bad as stealing his jacket in cold weather or rubbing salt in his wounds.[a]
21-22 If your enemy is hungry, give him food! If he is thirsty, give him something to drink! This will make him feel ashamed of himself, and God will reward you.
23 As surely as a wind from the north brings cold,[b] just as surely a retort causes anger!
24 It is better to live in a corner of an attic than in a beautiful home with a cranky, quarrelsome woman.
25 Good news from far away is like cold water to the thirsty.
26 If a godly man compromises with the wicked, it is like polluting a fountain or muddying a spring.
27 Just as it is harmful to eat too much honey, so also it is bad for men to think about all the honors they deserve!
28 A man without self-control is as defenseless as a city with broken-down walls.
1 From: Paul and Timothy, slaves of Jesus Christ.
To: The pastors and deacons and all the Christians in the city of Philippi.
2 May God bless you all. Yes, I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will give each of you his fullest blessings and his peace in your hearts and your lives.
3 All my prayers for you are full of praise to God! 4 When I pray for you, my heart is full of joy 5 because of all your wonderful help in making known the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now. 6 And I am sure that God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns.
7 How natural it is that I should feel as I do about you, for you have a very special place in my heart. We have shared together the blessings of God, both when I was in prison and when I was out, defending the truth and telling others about Christ. 8 Only God knows how deep is my love and longing for you—with the tenderness of Jesus Christ. 9 My prayer for you is that you will overflow more and more with love for others, and at the same time keep on growing in spiritual knowledge and insight, 10 for I want you always to see clearly the difference between right and wrong, and to be inwardly clean, no one being able to criticize you from now until our Lord returns. 11 May you always be doing those good, kind things that show you are a child of God, for this will bring much praise and glory to the Lord.
18 After saying these things Jesus crossed the Kidron ravine with his disciples and entered a grove of olive trees. 2 Judas, the betrayer, knew this place, for Jesus had gone there many times with his disciples.
3 The chief priests and Pharisees had given Judas a squad of soldiers and police to accompany him. Now with blazing torches, lanterns, and weapons they arrived at the olive grove.
4-5 Jesus fully realized all that was going to happen to him. Stepping forward to meet them he asked, “Whom are you looking for?”
“Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.
“I am he,” Jesus said. 6 And as he said it, they all fell backwards to the ground!
7 Once more he asked them, “Whom are you searching for?”
And again they replied, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
8 “I told you I am he,” Jesus said; “and since I am the one you are after, let these others go.” 9 He did this to carry out the prophecy he had just made, “I have not lost a single one of those you gave me. . . . ”
10 Then Simon Peter drew a sword and slashed off the right ear of Malchus, the High Priest’s servant.
11 But Jesus said to Peter, “Put your sword away. Shall I not drink from the cup the Father has given me?”
12 So the Jewish police, with the soldiers and their lieutenant, arrested Jesus and tied him. 13 First they took him to Annas, the father-in-law of Caiaphas, the High Priest that year. 14 Caiaphas was the one who told the other Jewish leaders, “Better that one should die for all.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.