Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. A song of David.
140 Lord, rescue me from evil people.
Save me from cruel men.
2 They make evil plans.
They always start fights.
3 They make their tongues sharp as a snake’s.
Their words are like snake poison. Selah
4 Lord, guard me from the power of wicked people.
Save me from cruel men
who plan to trip me up.
5 Proud men have hidden a trap for me.
They have spread out a net beside the road.
They have set traps for me. Selah
6 I said to the Lord, “You are my God.”
Lord, listen to my prayer for help.
7 Lord God, my mighty savior,
you protect me in battle.
8 Lord, do not give the wicked what they want.
Don’t let their plans succeed,
or they will become proud. Selah
9 Those around me have planned trouble.
Now let it come to them.
10 Let burning coals fall on them.
Throw them into the fire
or into pits from which they cannot escape.
11 Don’t let liars settle in the land.
Let evil quickly hunt down cruel men.
12 I know the Lord will get justice for the poor.
He will defend the needy in court.
13 Good people will praise his name.
Honest people will live in his presence.
A Prayer for Safety
A maskil of David when he was in the cave. A prayer.
142 I cry out to the Lord.
I pray to the Lord for mercy.
2 I pour out my problems to him.
I tell him my troubles.
3 When I am afraid,
you, Lord, know the way out.
In the path where I walk,
a trap is hidden for me.
4 Look around me and see.
No one cares about me.
I have no place of safety.
No one cares if I live.
5 Lord, I cry out to you.
I say, “You are my protection.
You are all I want in this life.”
6 Listen to my cry
because I am helpless.
Save me from those who are chasing me.
They are too strong for me.
7 Free me from my prison.
Then I will praise your name.
Then the good people will surround me
because you have taken care of me.
A Prayer Not to Sin
A song of David.
141 Lord, I call to you. Come quickly.
Listen to me when I call to you.
2 Let my prayer be like incense placed before you.
Let my praise be like the evening sacrifice.
3 Lord, help me control my tongue.
Help me be careful about what I say.
4 Don’t let me want to do evil
or join others in doing wrong.
Don’t let me eat
with those who do evil.
5 If a good man punished me, that would be kind.
If he corrected me,
that would be like having perfumed oil on my head.
I shouldn’t refuse it.
But I pray against those who do evil.
6 Let their leaders be thrown down the cliffs.
Then people will know that I have spoken the truth:
7 “The ground is plowed and broken up.
In the same way, our bones have been scattered at the grave.”
8 Lord God, I look to you for help.
I trust in you. Don’t let me die.
9 Protect me from the traps they set for me
and from the net evil people have spread.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own pits.
And let me pass by safely.
A Prayer Not to Be Killed
A song of David.
143 Lord, hear my prayer.
Listen to my cry for mercy.
Come to help me
because you are loyal and good.
2 Don’t judge me, your servant,
because no one alive is right before you.
3 My enemies are chasing me.
They have crushed me to the ground.
They have made me live in darkness
like those who are long dead.
4 I am afraid.
My courage is gone.
5 I remember what happened long ago.
I recall everything you have done.
I think about all you have made.
6 I lift my hands to you in prayer.
As a dry land needs rain, I thirst for you. Selah
7 Lord, answer me quickly.
I am getting weak.
Don’t turn away from me,
or I will be like those who are dead.
8 Tell me in the morning about your love.
I trust you.
Show me what I should do
because my prayers go up to you.
9 Lord, save me from my enemies.
I come to you for safety.
10 Teach me to do what you want,
because you are my God.
Let your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.
11 Lord, let me live
so people will praise you.
In your goodness
save me from my troubles.
12 In your love defeat my enemies.
Destroy all those who trouble me
because I am your servant.
19 The whole land of Israel had no blacksmith. This is because the Philistines had said, “The Hebrews might make swords and spears.” 20 So all the Israelites went down to the Philistines. They went to have their plows, hoes, axes and sickles sharpened. 21 The Philistine blacksmiths charged about one-fourth of an ounce of silver for sharpening plows and hoes. And they charged one-eighth of an ounce of silver for sharpening picks, axes and the sticks used to guide oxen.
22 So when the battle came, the soldiers with Saul and Jonathan had no swords or spears. Only Saul and his son Jonathan had them.
Israel Defeats the Philistines
23 A group from the Philistine army had gone out to the mountain pass at Micmash.
14 One day Jonathan, Saul’s son, spoke to the officer who carried his armor. Jonathan said, “Come, let’s go over to the Philistine camp on the other side.” But Jonathan did not tell his father.
2 Saul was sitting under a pomegranate tree at the threshing floor near Gibeah. He had about 600 men with him. 3 One man was Ahijah, who was a son of Ichabod’s brother Ahitub. Ichabod was the son of Phinehas, Eli’s son. Eli was the Lord’s priest in Shiloh. He wore the holy vest. No one knew Jonathan had left.
4 There was a steep slope on each side of the pass. Jonathan planned to go through the pass to the Philistine camp. The cliff on one side was named Bozez. The other cliff was named Seneh. 5 One cliff faced north toward Micmash. The other faced south toward Geba.
6 Jonathan said to his officer who carried his armor, “Come. Let’s go to the camp of those men who are not circumcised. Maybe the Lord will help us. It doesn’t matter if we have many people, or just a few. Nothing can keep the Lord from giving us victory.”
7 The officer who carried Jonathan’s armor said to him, “Do whatever you think is best. Go ahead. I’m with you.”
8 Jonathan said, “Then come. We will cross over to the Philistines. We will let them see us. 9 They may say to us, ‘Stay there until we come to you.’ If they do, we will stay where we are. We won’t go up to them. 10 But they may say, ‘Come up to us.’ If so, we will climb up. And the Lord will allow us to defeat them. This will be the sign for us.”
11 Both Jonathan and his officer let the Philistines see them. The Philistines said, “Look! The Hebrews are crawling out of the holes they were hiding in!” 12 The Philistines in the camp shouted to Jonathan and his officer, “Come up to us. We’ll teach you a lesson!”
Jonathan said to his officer, “Climb up behind me. The Lord has given the Philistines to Israel!” 13 So Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet. His officer climbed just behind him. Jonathan cut down the Philistines as he went. And his officer killed them as he followed behind Jonathan. 14 In that first fight Jonathan and his officer killed about 20 Philistines.
15 All the Philistine soldiers panicked. Those in the camp and those in the raiding party were frightened. The ground itself shook! God caused the panic.
Saul Is Converted
9 In Jerusalem Saul was still trying to frighten the followers of the Lord by saying he would kill them. So he went to the high priest 2 and asked him to write letters to the synagogues in the city of Damascus. Saul wanted the high priest to give him the authority to find people in Damascus who were followers of Christ’s Way. If he found any there, men or women, he would arrest them and bring them back to Jerusalem.
3 So Saul went to Damascus. As he came near the city, a bright light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. 4 Saul fell to the ground. He heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul! Why are you doing things against me?”
5 Saul said, “Who are you, Lord?”
The voice answered, “I am Jesus. I am the One you are trying to hurt. 6 Get up now and go into the city. Someone there will tell you what you must do.”
7 The men traveling with Saul stood there, but they said nothing. They heard the voice, but they saw no one. 8 Saul got up from the ground. He opened his eyes, but he could not see. So the men with Saul took his hand and led him into Damascus. 9 For three days Saul could not see, and he did not eat or drink.
Jesus Is Killed on a Cross
26 The soldiers led Jesus away. At that time, there was a man coming into the city from the fields. His name was Simon, and he was from the city of Cyrene. The soldiers forced Simon to carry Jesus’ cross and walk behind him.
27 A large crowd of people was following Jesus. Some of the women were sad and crying. 28 But Jesus turned and said to them, “Women of Jerusalem, don’t cry for me. Cry for yourselves and for your children too! 29 The time is coming when people will say, ‘Happy are the women who cannot have children! Happy are the women who have no babies to nurse.’ 30 Then people will say to the mountains, ‘Fall on us!’ And they will say to the hills, ‘Cover us!’ 31 If they act like this now when life is good, what will happen when bad times come?”[a]
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.