Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Deliverance
145 With all my heart I call to you;
answer me, Lord, and I will obey your commands!
146 I call to you;
save me, and I will keep your laws.
147 Before sunrise I call to you for help;
I place my hope in your promise.
148 All night long I lie awake,
to meditate on your instructions.
149 Because your love is constant, hear me, O Lord;
show your mercy, and preserve my life!
150 My cruel persecutors are coming closer,
people who never keep your law.
151 But you are near to me, Lord,
and all your commands are permanent.
152 Long ago I learned about your instructions;
you made them to last forever.
A Plea for Help
153 Look at my suffering, and save me,
because I have not neglected your law.
154 Defend my cause, and set me free;
save me, as you have promised.
155 The wicked will not be saved,
for they do not obey your laws.
156 But your compassion, Lord, is great;
show your mercy and save me!
157 I have many enemies and oppressors,
but I do not fail to obey your laws.
158 When I look at those traitors, I am filled with disgust,
because they do not keep your commands.
159 See how I love your instructions, Lord.
Your love never changes, so save me!
160 The heart of your law is truth,
and all your righteous judgments are eternal.
Dedication to the Law of the Lord
161 Powerful people attack me unjustly,
but I respect your law.
162 How happy I am because of your promises—
as happy as someone who finds rich treasure.
163 I hate and detest all lies,
but I love your law.
164 Seven times each day I thank you
for your righteous judgments.
165 Those who love your law have perfect security,
and there is nothing that can make them fall.
166 I wait for you to save me, Lord,
and I do what you command.
167 I obey your teachings;
I love them with all my heart.
168 I obey your commands and your instructions;
you see everything I do.
A Prayer for Help
169 Let my cry for help reach you, Lord!
Give me understanding, as you have promised.
170 Listen to my prayer,
and save me according to your promise!
171 I will always praise you,
because you teach me your laws.
172 I will sing about your law,
because your commands are just.
173 Always be ready to help me,
because I follow your commands.
174 How I long for your saving help, O Lord!
I find happiness in your law.
175 Give me life, so that I may praise you;
may your instructions help me.
176 I wander about like a lost sheep;
so come and look for me, your servant,
because I have not neglected your laws.
The Reward of Obedience to the Lord
128 Happy are those who obey the Lord,
who live by his commands.
2 Your work will provide for your needs;
you will be happy and prosperous.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in your home,
and your children will be like young olive trees around your table.
4 A man who obeys the Lord
will surely be blessed like this.
5 May the Lord bless you from Zion!
May you see Jerusalem prosper
all the days of your life!
6 May you live to see your grandchildren!
Peace be with Israel!
A Prayer against Israel's Enemies
129 Israel, tell us how your enemies have persecuted you
ever since you were young.
2 “Ever since I was young,
my enemies have persecuted me cruelly,
but they have not overcome me.
3 They cut deep wounds in my back
and made it like a plowed field.
4 But the Lord, the righteous one,
has freed me from slavery.”
5 May everyone who hates Zion
be defeated and driven back.
6 May they all be like grass growing on the housetops,
which dries up before it can grow;
7 no one gathers it up
or carries it away in bundles.
8 No one who passes by will say,
“May the Lord bless you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
A Prayer for Help
130 From the depths of my despair I call to you, Lord.
2 Hear my cry, O Lord;
listen to my call for help!
3 If you kept a record of our sins,
who could escape being condemned?
4 But you forgive us,
so that we should stand in awe of you.
5 I wait eagerly for the Lord's help,
and in his word I trust.
6 I wait for the Lord
more eagerly than sentries wait for the dawn—
than sentries wait for the dawn.
7 Israel, trust in the Lord,
because his love is constant
and he is always willing to save.
8 (A)He will save his people Israel
from all their sins.
30 “You, Jeremiah, must proclaim everything I have said. You must tell these people,
‘The Lord will roar from heaven
and thunder from the heights of heaven.
He will roar against his people;
he will shout like a man treading grapes.
Everyone on earth will hear him,
31 and the sound will echo to the ends of the earth.
The Lord has a case against the nations.
He will bring all people to trial
and put the wicked to death.
The Lord has spoken.’”
32 The Lord Almighty says that disaster is coming on one nation after another, and a great storm is gathering at the far ends of the earth. 33 On that day the bodies of those whom the Lord has killed will lie scattered from one end of the earth to the other. No one will mourn for them, and they will not be taken away and buried. They will lie on the ground like piles of manure.
34 Cry, you leaders, you shepherds of my people, cry out loud! Mourn and roll in the dust. The time has come for you to be slaughtered,[a] and you will be butchered like rams.[b] 35 There will be no way for you to escape. 36-37 You moan and cry out in distress because the Lord in his anger has destroyed your nation and left your peaceful country in ruins. 38 The Lord has abandoned his people[c] like a lion that leaves its cave. The horrors of war and the Lord's fierce anger have turned the country into a desert.
14 But how can they call to him for help if they have not believed? And how can they believe if they have not heard the message? And how can they hear if the message is not proclaimed? 15 (A)And how can the message be proclaimed if the messengers are not sent out? As the scripture says, “How wonderful is the coming of messengers who bring good news!” 16 (B)But not all have accepted the Good News. Isaiah himself said, “Lord, who believed our message?” 17 So then, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message comes through preaching Christ.
18 (C)But I ask: Is it true that they did not hear the message? Of course they did—for as the scripture says:
“The sound of their voice went out to all the world;
their words reached the ends of the earth.”
19 (D)Again I ask: Did the people of Israel not understand? Moses himself is the first one to answer:
“I will use a so-called nation
to make my people jealous;
and by means of a nation of fools
I will make my people angry.”
20 (E)And Isaiah is even bolder when he says,
“I was found by those who were not looking for me;
I appeared to those who were not asking for me.”
21 (F)But concerning Israel he says, “All day long I held out my hands to welcome a disobedient and rebellious people.”
The Parable of the Shepherd
10 Jesus said, “I am telling you the truth: the man who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The man who goes in through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him; the sheep hear his voice as he calls his own sheep by name, and he leads them out. 4 When he has brought them out, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. 5 They will not follow someone else; instead, they will run away from such a person, because they do not know his voice.”
6 Jesus told them this parable, but they did not understand what he meant.
Jesus the Good Shepherd
7 So Jesus said again, “I am telling you the truth: I am the gate for the sheep. 8 All others who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. 9 I am the gate. Those who come in by me will be saved; they will come in and go out and find pasture. 10 The thief comes only in order to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come in order that you might have life—life in all its fullness.
11 (A)“I am the good shepherd, who is willing to die for the sheep. 12 When the hired man, who is not a shepherd and does not own the sheep, sees a wolf coming, he leaves the sheep and runs away; so the wolf snatches the sheep and scatters them. 13 The hired man runs away because he is only a hired man and does not care about the sheep. 14-15 (B)I am the good shepherd. As the Father knows me and I know the Father, in the same way I know my sheep and they know me. And I am willing to die for them. 16 There are other sheep which belong to me that are not in this sheep pen. I must bring them, too; they will listen to my voice, and they will become[a] one flock with one shepherd.
17 “The Father loves me because I am willing to give up my life, in order that I may receive it back again. 18 No one takes my life away from me. I give it up of my own free will. I have the right to give it up, and I have the right to take it back. This is what my Father has commanded me to do.”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.