Book of Common Prayer
(A)A Prayer of Trust in God[a]
56 Be merciful to me, O God,
because I am under attack;
my enemies persecute me all the time.
2 All day long my opponents attack me.
There are so many who fight against me.
3 When I am afraid, O Lord Almighty,
I put my trust in you.
4 I trust in God and am not afraid;
I praise him for what he has promised.
What can a mere human being do to me?
5 My enemies make trouble for me all day long;
they are always thinking up some way to hurt me!
6 They gather in hiding places
and watch everything I do,
hoping to kill me.
7 Punish[b] them, O God, for their evil;
defeat those people in your anger!
8 You know how troubled I am;
you have kept a record of my tears.
Aren't they listed in your book?
9 The day I call to you,
my enemies will be turned back.
I know this: God[c] is on my side—
10 the Lord, whose promises I praise.
11 In him I trust, and I will not be afraid.
What can a mere human being do to me?
12 O God, I will offer you what I have promised;
I will give you my offering of thanksgiving,
13 because you have rescued me from death
and kept me from defeat.
And so I walk in the presence of God,
in the light that shines on the living.
(B)A Prayer for Help[d]
57 Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful,
because I come to you for safety.
In the shadow of your wings I find protection
until the raging storms are over.
2 I call to God, the Most High,
to God, who supplies my every need.
3 He will answer from heaven and save me;
he will defeat my oppressors.
God will show me his constant love and faithfulness.
4 I am surrounded by enemies,
who are like lions hungry for human flesh.
Their teeth are like spears and arrows;
their tongues are like sharp swords.
5 Show your greatness in the sky, O God,
and your glory over all the earth.
6 My enemies have spread a net to catch me;
I am overcome with distress.
They dug a pit in my path,
but fell into it themselves.
7 I have complete confidence, O God;
I will sing and praise you!
8 Wake up, my soul!
Wake up, my harp and lyre!
I will wake up the sun.
9 I will thank you, O Lord, among the nations.
I will praise you among the peoples.
10 Your constant love reaches the heavens;
your faithfulness touches the skies.
11 Show your greatness in the sky, O God,
and your glory over all the earth.
A Prayer for God to Punish the Wicked[e]
58 Do you rulers[f] ever give a just decision?
Do you judge everyone fairly?
2 No! You think only of the evil you can do,
and commit crimes of violence in the land.
3 Evildoers go wrong all their lives;
they tell lies from the day they are born.
4 They are full of poison like snakes;
they stop up their ears like a deaf cobra,
5 which does not hear the voice of the snake charmer,
or the chant of the clever magician.
6 Break the teeth of these fierce lions, O God.
7 May they disappear like water draining away;
may they be crushed like weeds on a path.[g]
8 May they be like snails that dissolve into slime;
may they be like a baby born dead that never sees the light.
9 Before they know it, they are cut down like weeds;
in his fierce anger God will blow them away
while they are still living.[h]
10 The righteous will be glad when they see sinners punished;
they will wade through the blood of the wicked.
11 People will say, “The righteous are indeed rewarded;
there is indeed a God who judges the world.”
A Prayer for Protection[a]
64 I am in trouble, God—listen to my prayer!
I am afraid of my enemies—save my life!
2 Protect me from the plots of the wicked,
from mobs of evil people.
3 They sharpen their tongues like swords
and aim cruel words like arrows.
4 They are quick to spread their shameless lies;
they destroy good people with cowardly slander.
5 They encourage each other in their evil plots;
they talk about where they will place their traps.
“No one can see them,” they say.
6 They make evil plans and say,
“We have planned a perfect crime.”
The human heart and mind are a mystery.
7 But God shoots his arrows at them,
and suddenly they are wounded.
8 He will destroy them because of those words;[b]
all who see them will shake their heads.
9 They will all be afraid;
they will think about what God has done
and tell about his deeds.
10 All righteous people will rejoice
because of what the Lord has done.
They will find safety in him;
all good people will praise him.
Praise and Thanksgiving[c]
65 O God, it is right for us to praise you in Zion
and keep our promises to you,
2 because you answer prayers.
People everywhere will come to you
3 on account of their sins.
Our faults defeat us,[d]
but you forgive them.
4 Happy are those whom you choose,
whom you bring to live in your sanctuary.
We shall be satisfied with the good things of your house,
the blessings of your sacred Temple.
5 You answer us by giving us victory,
and you do wonderful things to save us.
People all over the world
and across the distant seas trust in you.
6 You set the mountains in place by your strength,
showing your mighty power.
7 You calm the roar of the seas
and the noise of the waves;
you calm the uproar of the peoples.
8 The whole world stands in awe
of the great things that you have done.
Your deeds bring shouts of joy
from one end of the earth to the other.
9 You show your care for the land by sending rain;
you make it rich and fertile.
You fill the streams with water;
you provide the earth with crops.
This is how you do it:
10 you send abundant rain on the plowed fields
and soak them with water;
you soften the soil with showers
and cause the young plants to grow.
11 What a rich harvest your goodness provides!
Wherever you go there is plenty.
12 The pastures are filled with flocks;
the hillsides are full of joy.
13 The fields are covered with sheep;
the valleys are full of wheat.
Everything shouts and sings for joy.
Solomon Prays for Wisdom
9 (A) God of my ancestors, merciful Lord, by your word you created everything.
7 You chose me over everyone else to be the king of your own people, to judge your sons and daughters. 8 You told me to build a temple on your sacred mountain, an altar in Jerusalem, the city you chose as your home. It is a copy of that temple in heaven, which you prepared at the beginning. 9 Wisdom is with you and knows your actions; she was present when you made the world. She knows what pleases you, what is right and in accordance with your commands. 10 Send her from the holy heavens, down from your glorious throne, so that she may work at my side, and I may learn what pleases you. 11 She knows and understands everything, and will guide me intelligently in what I do. Her glory will protect me. 12 Then I will judge your people fairly, and be worthy of my father's throne. My actions will be acceptable.
13 Who can ever learn the will of God? 14 Human reason is not adequate for the task, and our philosophies tend to mislead us, 15 because our mortal bodies weigh our souls down. The body is a temporary structure made of earth, a burden to the active mind. 16 All we can do is make guesses about things on earth; we must struggle to learn about things that are close to us. Who, then, can ever hope to understand heavenly things? 17 No one has ever learned your will, unless you first gave him Wisdom, and sent your holy spirit down to him. 18 In this way people on earth have been set on the right path, have learned what pleases you, and have been kept safe by Wisdom.
Personal Relations in the New Life
18 (A)Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, for that is what you should do as Christians.
19 (B)Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
20 (C)Children, it is your Christian duty to obey your parents always, for that is what pleases God.
21 (D)Parents, do not irritate your children, or they will become discouraged.
22 (E)Slaves, obey your human masters in all things, not only when they are watching you because you want to gain their approval; but do it with a sincere heart because of your reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for people. 24 Remember that the Lord will give you as a reward what he has kept for his people. For Christ is the real Master you serve. 25 (F)And all wrongdoers will be repaid for the wrong things they do, because God judges everyone by the same standard.
4 (G)Masters, be fair and just in the way you treat your slaves. Remember that you too have a Master in heaven.
Instructions
2 Be persistent in prayer, and keep alert as you pray, giving thanks to God. 3 At the same time pray also for us, so that God will give us a good opportunity to preach his message about the secret of Christ. For that is why I am now in prison. 4 Pray, then, that I may speak, as I should, in such a way as to make it clear.
5 (H)Be wise in the way you act toward those who are not believers, making good use of every opportunity you have. 6 (I)Your speech should always be pleasant and interesting, and you should know how to give the right answer to everyone.
Final Greetings
7 (J)Our dear friend Tychicus, who is a faithful worker and fellow servant in the Lord's work, will give you all the news about me. 8 That is why I am sending him to you, in order to cheer you up by telling you how all of us are getting along. 9 (K)With him goes Onesimus, that dear and faithful friend, who belongs to your group. They will tell you everything that is happening here.
10 (L)Aristarchus, who is in prison with me, sends you greetings, and so does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have already received instructions to welcome Mark if he comes your way.) 11 Joshua, also called Justus, sends greetings too. These three are the only Jewish believers who work with me for the Kingdom of God, and they have been a great help to me.
12 (M)Greetings from Epaphras, another member of your group and a servant of Christ Jesus. He always prays fervently for you, asking God to make you stand firm, as mature and fully convinced Christians, in complete obedience to God's will. 13 I can personally testify to his hard work for you and for the people in Laodicea and Hierapolis. 14 (N)Luke, our dear doctor, and Demas send you their greetings.
15 Give our best wishes to the believers in Laodicea and to Nympha and the church that meets in her house.[a] 16 After you read this letter, make sure that it is read also in the church at Laodicea. At the same time, you are to read the letter that the believers in Laodicea will send you. 17 (O)And tell Archippus, “Be sure to finish the task you were given in the Lord's service.”
18 With my own hand I write this: Greetings from Paul Do not forget my chains!
May God's grace be with you.
Jesus at the Home of Simon the Pharisee
36 A Pharisee invited Jesus to have dinner with him, and Jesus went to his house and sat down to eat. 37 (A)In that town was a woman who lived a sinful life. She heard that Jesus was eating in the Pharisee's house, so she brought an alabaster jar full of perfume 38 and stood behind Jesus, by his feet, crying and wetting his feet with her tears. Then she dried his feet with her hair, kissed them, and poured the perfume on them. 39 When the Pharisee saw this, he said to himself, “If this man really were a prophet, he would know who this woman is who is touching him; he would know what kind of sinful life she lives!”
40 Jesus spoke up and said to him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Yes, Teacher,” he said, “tell me.”
41 “There were two men who owed money to a moneylender,” Jesus began. “One owed him five hundred silver coins, and the other owed him fifty. 42 Neither of them could pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Which one, then, will love him more?”
43 “I suppose,” answered Simon, “that it would be the one who was forgiven more.”
“You are right,” said Jesus. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your home, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You did not welcome me with a kiss, but she has not stopped kissing my feet since I came. 46 You provided no olive oil for my head, but she has covered my feet with perfume. 47 I tell you, then, the great love she has shown proves that her many sins have been forgiven. But whoever has been forgiven little shows only a little love.”
48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The others sitting at the table began to say to themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?”
50 But Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
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.