Book of Common Prayer
A Plea for Personal and National Help
A prayer of one afflicted, when he grows faint
and pours out his lament before Yahweh.[a]
102 O Yahweh, hear my prayer,
and let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your face from me
in the day of my trouble.
Incline your ear to me.
In the day I call, answer me quickly,
3 for my days vanish in smoke,
and my bones are charred like a hearth.
4 My heart is struck like grass and withers.
Indeed, I forget to eat[b] my bread.
5 Because of the sound of my groaning
my bones[c] cling to my skin.[d]
6 I am like an owl[e] of the wilderness;
I am like a little owl of the ruins.
7 I lie awake and I am
like a lone bird on a roof.
8 All the day my enemies reproach me;
those who mock me swear oaths against me.
9 Indeed, I eat ashes like bread
and mix my drink with tears[f]
10 because of your indignation and anger,
for you have picked me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are like a lengthened shadow,
and I wither like grass.
12 But you, O Yahweh, abide[g] forever,
and your remembrance[h] from generation to generation.[i]
13 You rise up and take pity on Zion,
because it is time to favor it,
for the appointed time has come.
14 Your servants take pleasure in her stones,
and show favor to its dust.
15 Then the nations will fear the name of Yahweh,
and all the kings of the earth your glory.
16 For Yahweh will rebuild Zion;
he will appear in his glory.
17 He will turn his attention to the prayer of the destitute
and will not despise their prayer.
18 Let this be written for the next generation,
so that a people yet to be created may praise Yah,[j]
19 that he looked down from his holy height.
Yahweh looked from heaven over the earth
20 to hear the groaning of the prisoner,
to liberate those destined to die,[k]
21 so that they[l] may make known in Zion the name of Yahweh,
and his praise in Jerusalem,
22 when the peoples assemble,
together with[m] kingdoms, to serve Yahweh.
23 He has broken my strength along the way;
he has cut short my days.
24 I say, “My God, do not carry me off
from my life in the middle of my days.”
Your years continue throughout all generations.
25 Long ago you laid the foundation of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
26 They will perish, but you will endure.
And like a garment they will all wear out,
you will replace them like clothing, and they will be set aside.
27 But you are the same,
and your years do not end.
28 The children of your servants will continue,
and their descendants[n] will be established before you.
A Prayer for Deliverance from Pursuers
A maskil of David.
When he was in the cave. A prayer.[a]
142 I cry out with my voice to Yahweh;
I implore favor with my voice to Yahweh.
2 I pour out my complaint before him;
I declare my trouble before him.
3 When my spirit faints within me,
you know my way.
On the path where I walk,
they have hidden a trap for me;
4 look to my right and see.
There is no one looking out for me;
there is no escape for me;[b]
no one cares for my soul.[c]
5 I cry out to you, O Yahweh.
I say, “You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living.”
6 Attend to my cry,
for I am brought very low.
Deliver me from my pursuers,
for they are stronger than I.
7 Bring me[d] out of prison,
that I may give thanks to your name.
The righteous will encircle me,
because you will deal bountifully with me.
A Prayer for Rescue from Enemies
A psalm of David.[e]
143 O Yahweh, hear my prayer;
listen to my supplications.
In your faithfulness answer me,
and in your righteousness.
2 And do not enter into judgment with your servant,
because no one alive is righteous before you.
3 For the enemy has pursued my soul;
he has crushed my life to the ground.
He has made me dwell in dark places
like those long dead.
4 And so my spirit grows faint within me;
my heart within[f] me is desolate.
5 I remember the days of long ago;
I meditate on all your doings.[g]
I muse on the labor of your hands.
6 I stretch out my hands to you;
my soul longs for you like a dry land. Selah
7 Quickly answer me, O Yahweh;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me,
or I will become
like those descending to the pit.
8 Cause me to hear your loyal love in the morning,
for I trust you.
Cause me to know the way that I should go,
for I lift up my soul to you.
9 Deliver me from my enemies, O Yahweh.
I take refuge in you.[h]
10 Teach me to do your will, for you are my God;
your Spirit is good.
Lead me onto level ground.
11 For your name’s sake, O Yahweh, preserve my life;
in your righteousness bring me[i] out of trouble.
12 And in your loyal love destroy my enemies,
and exterminate all the adversaries of my soul,
for I am your servant.
Jeremiah’s Lament
7 You have persuaded me, O Yahweh, and I was persuaded.
You have overpowered me, and you have prevailed.
I have become a laughingstock all day long.
Everyone[a] is mocking me.
8 For as often as[b] I speak,
I must cry out violence and destruction.
I must shout, for the word of Yahweh has become for me
a disgrace and derision all day long.
9 But if I say, “I will not mention him
and I will no longer speak in his name,”
then it becomes in my heart like a fire burning,
locked up in my bones,
and I struggle to contain it,[c]
and I am not able.
10 For I hear the rumor of many,
“Terror is from all around, denounce him,[d]
yes, let us denounce him!”
All my close friends[e] are watchers of my stumbling,
saying, “perhaps he can be persuaded,
and we can prevail over him,
and we can take our revenge on him.”
11 But Yahweh is with me like a powerful warrior.
Therefore[f] my persecutors will stumble and will not prevail.
They will be very ashamed, for they will not achieve success.
Their everlasting insult[g] will not be forgotten.
Warning Against Idolatry
14 Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry. 15 I am speaking as to sensible people; you judge what I am saying. 16 The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? 17 Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all share from the one bread.
27 So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 But let a person examine himself, and in this way let him eat from the bread and let him drink from the cup. 29 For the one who eats and drinks, if he[a] does not recognize the body, eats and drinks judgment against himself. 30 Because of this, many are weak and sick among you, and quite a few have died[b]. 31 But if we were evaluating ourselves, we would not be judged. 32 But if we[c] are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined, in order that we will not be condemned with the world.
Jesus Prays to be Glorified
17 Jesus said these things, and lifting up his eyes to heaven he said, “Father, the hour has come! Glorify your Son, in order that your Son may glorify you— 2 just as you have given him authority over all flesh, in order that he would give eternal life to them—everyone whom you have given him. 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. 4 I have glorified you on earth by[a] completing the work that you have given me to do.[b] 5 And now, Father, you glorify me at your side[c] with the glory that I had at your side[d] before the world existed.
Jesus Prays for His Disciples
6 “I have revealed your name to the men whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours, and you have given them to me, and they have kept your word. 7 Now they understand that all the things that[e] you have given me are from you, 8 because the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they received them[f] and know truly that I have come from you, and they have believed that you have sent me. 9 I am asking on behalf of them. I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you have given me, because they are yours, 10 and all my things are yours, and your things are mine, and I have been glorified in[g] them. 11 And I am no longer in the world, and they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given to me, so that they may be one, just as we are. 12 When I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given to me, and guarded them,[h] and none of them has perished except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture would be fulfilled. 13 And now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world so that they may have my joy completed in themselves. 14 I have given them your word, and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world just as I am not of the world. 15 I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth—your word is truth. 18 Just as you sent me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. 19 And for them I sanctify myself, so that they themselves also may be sanctified in the truth.
Jesus Prays for the Unity of Believers
20 “And I do not ask on behalf of these only, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their word, 21 that they all may be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you, that they also may be in us, in order that the world may believe that you sent me. 22 And the glory that you have given to me, I have given to them, in order that they may be one, just as we are one— 23 I in them, and you in me, in order that they may be completed in one, so that the world may know that you sent me, and you have loved them just as you have loved me.
24 “Father, those whom you have given to me—I want that those also may be with me where I am, in order that they may see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 Righteous Father, although the world does not know you, yet I have known you, and these men have come to know that you sent me. 26 And I made known to them your name, and will make it[i] known, in order that the love with which you loved me may be in them, and I may be in them.”
2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software