Book of Common Prayer
This is a song that David wrote.
It is for the music leader.
Please help me, Lord
140 Lord, please save me from evil people.
Keep me safe from people who like to attack others.
2 They think of evil ideas to hurt people.
They only want to cause trouble!
3 Their words hurt people,
like the tongue of a snake.
They bite with poison,
like a dangerous snake.
Selah
4 Lord, keep me safe from the power of wicked people.
Keep me safe from violent people who want to attack me.
5 Proud people have prepared a trap to catch me.
They have put their nets across my path.[a]
Selah.
6 Lord, I say to you, ‘You are my God.’
Lord, hear my prayer for help!
7 Lord, my Lord, you are my strong helper.
You keep me safe when I fight in a battle.
8 Lord, do not let wicked people do what they want to do.
Stop them when they prepare to attack.
Selah.
9 Give trouble to the people who come round me to attack!
Let the bad things that they say against me
happen to them instead![b]
10 Drop burning coals on them like rain!
Throw those people into the fire!
Let them fall into deep holes that they cannot get out of!
11 People who tell cruel lies should not live in our land.
Trouble will happen to people who like to fight.
Bad trouble will knock them down!
12 I know that the Lord helps poor people.
He makes sure that they receive justice.
13 Your righteous people will always praise you.
Good, honest people will live near to you.
This is a special song that David wrote.
He prayed this when he was in the cave.[a]
Please help me, Lord!
142 I am calling to the Lord to help me.
I ask him to be kind to me.
2 I tell him about all my problems.
I tell him about all my troubles.
3 When I do not feel brave,
you are still my guide, Lord.
In the path where I walk,
my enemies have prepared a trap to catch me.
4 Look at me!
I have no friend to help me.
There is no safe place where I can go.
Nobody thinks about me.
5 Yes Lord, I am calling to you to help me.
You are my safe place where I can hide.
You are all that I need in this world where I live.
6 Please listen to me as I cry to you.
I am very upset!
My enemies are trying to catch me.
Save me from their power!
They are stronger than I am.
7 Please take me out of this prison.[b]
Then I will praise your name.
Your own good people will see how you have helped me.
They will meet round me to praise you.
David wrote this song.
An evening prayer[a]
141 Lord, I am calling to you for help.
Come to me quickly!
Please listen to what I am saying.
2 I offer my prayer to you like incense.
Please accept it when I raise my hands to you.
Accept it like a gift that I offer to you in the evening.
3 Lord, keep my mouth safe,
so that I do not speak bad things.
4 Do not let my mind want evil things.
Do not let me join with wicked people,
to do the same bad things that they do.
I do not even want to eat their good food.
5 If a good man hits me because he loves me,
he is being kind to me.
If he shows me that I have done a wrong thing,
that it is like special oil on my head.[b]
I would not refuse it.
I continue to pray against what wicked people do.
6 They will throw their rulers down
from high rocks.
Then they will agree that my words were true.
7 It will be like a farmer who ploughs his field,
and breaks the earth into pieces.
Just like that, they will break the bones of wicked people.
They will throw their bones on the ground
at the entrance to Sheol.
8 But I look to you for help, Almighty Lord.
I need you to keep me safe.
Do not let wicked people kill me.
9 They have prepared traps to catch me.
Do not let me fall into the traps of those evil people.
10 May those bad people fall into their own traps!
Then I will be free from their power.
This is a song that David wrote.
Please help me, Lord![a]
143 Lord, I pray to you for help.
Please listen to me.
Answer me, because you do what is right,
and I know that I can trust you.
2 Do not judge me, your servant.
Nobody is righteous when they stand in front of you.
3 My enemies are chasing me.
They knock me down to the ground.
They make me live in dark places,
like people who have been dead for a long time.
4 My strength is leaving me,
and I feel very upset.
5 I remember what happened many years ago.
I think carefully about all the good things that you have done.
6 I raise my hands to pray to you.
I need you to help me,
like dry ground needs rain.
Selah
7 Please answer me soon, Lord.
I am losing my strength.
Do not turn away from me.
If you do, I will join those people who are going down
into the deep hole of death.
8 Every morning, help me to remember your faithful love,
because I am trusting in you.
Show me how I should live to please you,
because I know that I belong to you.
9 Lord, save me from my enemies.
I run to you to keep me safe.
10 Teach me to do what pleases you,
because you are my God.
Let your kind Spirit lead me,
so that I can walk in a safe place.
11 Your name is great, Lord,
so please keep my life safe.
You do what is right,
so bring me out of my troubles.
12 I am your servant and you always love me.
Please show how much you love me,
and destroy my enemies.
Yes, kill all those who want to kill me!
21 I will show my glory to all the nations. They will see that I can punish people. And they will know that I decide how and when to punish them. 22 From that time and for all the time after that, Israel's people will know that I am the Lord their God. 23 And the nations will know that I sent Israel's people away from their country. They will know that I punished my people because of their sin. They had not been faithful to me so I turned away from them. I let their enemies take them and kill them with swords. 24 I punished them because they had not kept themselves clean from sin. I hid myself from them because they had done so many evil things.’
25 So this is what the Lord God says. ‘Now I will bring back Jacob (Israel) from the countries where his people are prisoners. I will be kind to all Israel's people. And I will make them see that I am holy. 26 They will forget that they were ashamed. They will forget that they failed to keep their promises to me. That was when they lived in a safe country. In that country, nobody made them afraid. 27 I will bring them back from the lands where their enemies took them. The nations will see what I have done. So all the nations will know that I am holy. 28 Then Israel will know that I am the Lord their God. I sent my people away to far countries. But I will bring them all back to their own country. I will not leave any behind. 29 No longer will I turn away from them. I will pour my Spirit over Israel's people, says the Lord God.’
We are God's children
3 Think about how much God the Father loves us. He calls us his children! God loves us so much that we really have become his children. The people who belong to this world do not understand who God is. Because of that, they do not understand who we are. 2 My friends, we are already children of God. We do not yet know clearly what we will become. But we do know this: when Christ returns to this world, we will become like him. We will be like him because we will see him as he really is. 3 Christ is completely good. So all of us who hope to see him then must keep ourselves clean from sin.
4 If a person continues to do wrong things, he is choosing not to obey God's rules. Sin is when we do not obey God's rules. 5 You know that Jesus came into the world so that he might take away our sins. He himself is completely clean from sin. 6 Anyone who lives together with Christ does not continue to do wrong things. If anyone continues to do wrong things, that person has not understood who Christ is. He does not know Christ.
7 My little children, do not let anyone deceive you about sin. It is people who live in a good way that God accepts as right. In the same way, Jesus did only what is good and right. 8 People who continue to do wrong things show that they belong to the Devil. The Devil has always been doing wrong things from the beginning. This is why the Son of God came to the world. He came to destroy everything that the Devil has done.
9 Everybody who is a child of God does not continue to do wrong things. This is because God has given them a new life. He has caused them to become his children. So they cannot continue to do wrong things. 10 In this way, we can see clearly who are God's children and who are the Devil's children. Anyone who does not live in a way that is good and right does not belong to God. People like that do not love other believers.
24 A student is not more important than his teacher is. A servant is not more important than his master is. 25 A student should be happy if he becomes like his teacher. A servant should be happy if he becomes like his master. People have called me, the master of the house, Beelzebul. You are like those people who live in my house. So do not be surprised when people call you even worse names than they call me.
26 So do not be afraid of these people. They hide the things that they do. But there will be a time when other people will see those things. Everyone will know all their secrets. 27 I tell you things secretly, like people do in the dark. But you must tell people these things clearly in the light of day. I have said things very quietly into your ears. But now you must shout those things loudly from the tops of the houses.[a]
28 Do not be afraid of those people who can kill only your body. These people cannot kill your soul. No, it is God that you should be afraid of. He can kill your body, and then he can also destroy your soul in hell. 29 Think about this. People sell two birds for just one small coin. But God takes care of these little birds. Not one of them can fall to the ground unless God lets it happen. 30 God even knows how many hairs there are on your head. 31 So do not be afraid of those people who are against you. You are more valuable to God than many little birds.
32 You should say clearly to other people, “I believe in Jesus.” If you do that, I will say to my Father in heaven, “This is someone who is my disciple.” 33 But if you say to other people, “I do not believe in Jesus,” I will then say to my Father in heaven, “I do not know that person. He is not one of my disciples.”
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