Book of Common Prayer
Wishing to Be Near God
A song of David when he was in the desert of Judah.
63 God, you are my God.
I want to follow you.
My whole being
thirsts for you,
like a man in a dry, empty land
where there is no water.
2 I have seen you in the Temple.
I have seen your strength and glory.
3 Your love is better than life.
I will praise you.
4 I will praise you as long as I live.
I will lift up my hands in prayer to your name.
5 I will be content as if I had eaten the best foods.
My lips will sing. My mouth will praise you.
6 I remember you while I’m lying in bed.
I think about you through the night.
7 You are my help.
Because of your protection, I sing.
8 I stay close to you.
You support me with your right hand.
9 Some people are trying to kill me.
But they will go down to the grave.
10 They will be killed with swords.
They will be eaten by wild dogs.
11 But the king will rejoice in his God.
All who make promises in his name will praise him.
But the mouths of liars will be shut.
Praise to the God of Love
Of David.
103 All that I am, praise the Lord.
Everything in me, praise his holy name.
2 My whole being, praise the Lord.
Do not forget all his kindnesses.
3 The Lord forgives me for all my sins.
He heals all my diseases.
4 He saves my life from the grave.
He loads me with love and mercy.
5 He satisfies me with good things.
He makes me young again, like the eagle.
6 The Lord does what is right and fair
for all who are wronged by others.
7 He showed his ways to Moses
and his miracles to the people of Israel.
8 The Lord shows mercy and is kind.
He does not become angry quickly, and he has great love.
9 He will not always scold us.
He will not be angry forever.
10 He has not punished us as our sins should be punished.
He has not repaid us for the evil we have done.
11 As high as the sky is above the earth,
so great is his love for those who respect him.
12 He has taken our sins away from us
as far as the east is from west.
13 The Lord has mercy on those who fear him,
as a father has mercy on his children.
14 He knows how we were made.
He remembers that we are dust.
15 Human life is like grass.
We grow like a flower in the field.
16 After the wind blows, the flower is gone.
There is no sign of where it was.
17 But the Lord’s love for those who fear him
continues forever and ever.
And his goodness continues to their grandchildren
18 and to those who keep his agreement
and who remember to obey his orders.
19 The Lord has set his throne in heaven.
And his kingdom rules over everything.
20 You who are his angels, praise the Lord.
You are the mighty warriors who do what he says.
Listen to what he says.
21 You, his armies, praise the Lord.
You are his servants who do what he wants.
22 Everything the Lord has made
should praise him in all the places he rules.
My whole being, praise the Lord.
21 When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he gathered the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. This was an army of 180,000 men. Rehoboam wanted to fight against the people of Israel. He wanted to take back his kingdom.
22 But God spoke his word to Shemaiah, a man of God. The Lord said, 23 “Talk to Solomon’s son Rehoboam, the king of Judah. Talk also to all the people of Judah and Benjamin and to the rest of the people. 24 Say to them, ‘The Lord says you must not go to war against your brothers, the Israelites. Every one of you should go home. I made all these things happen!’” So the men in Rehoboam’s army obeyed the Lord’s command. They all went home as the Lord had commanded.
25 Then Jeroboam made Shechem a very strong city. It is in the mountains of Ephraim. And Jeroboam lived there. He also went to the city of Peniel and made it stronger.
Jeroboam Builds Golden Calves
26 Jeroboam said to himself, “The kingdom will probably go back to David’s family. 27 The people will continue going to the Temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. If they do, they will want to be ruled again by Rehoboam. Then they will kill me and follow Rehoboam king of Judah.”
28 King Jeroboam asked his men for advice. So he made two golden calves. He said to the people, “It is too hard for you to go to Jerusalem to worship. Israel, here are your gods who brought you out of Egypt.” 29 King Jeroboam put one golden calf in the city of Bethel. And he put the other in the city of Dan. 30 And this became a very great sin. The people traveled as far as Dan to worship the calf there.
31 Jeroboam built temples on the places of worship. He chose priests from all the people. (He did not choose priests only from the tribe of Levi.) 32 And he started a new festival. It was the fifteenth day of the eighth month. This was like the festival in Judah. During that time the king offered sacrifices on the altar. He offered sacrifices to the calves in Bethel he had made. He also chose priests in Bethel to serve at the places of worship he had made. 33 So Jeroboam chose his own time for a festival for the Israelites. It was the fifteenth day of the eighth month. During that time he offered sacrifices on the altar he had built in Bethel. So he set up a festival for the Israelites. And he offered sacrifices on the altar.
18 So they called Peter and John in again. They told them not to speak or to teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “What do you think is right? What would God want? Should we obey you or God? 20 We cannot keep quiet. We must speak about what we have seen and heard.” 21-22 The Jewish leaders could not find a way to punish them because all the people were praising God for what had been done. (This miracle was a proof from God. The man who was healed was more than 40 years old!) So the Jewish leaders warned the apostles again and let them go free.
The Believers’ Prayer
23 Peter and John left the meeting of Jewish leaders and went to their own group. They told them everything that the leading priests and the Jewish elders had said to them. 24 When the believers heard this, they prayed to God with one purpose. They prayed, “Lord, you are the One who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and everything in the world. 25 Our father David was your servant. With the help of the Holy Spirit he said:
‘Why are the nations so angry?
Why are the people making useless plans?
26 The kings of the earth prepare to fight.
Their leaders make plans together
against the Lord
and against his Christ.’ Psalm 2:1-2
27 These things really happened when Herod, Pontius Pilate, the non-Jewish people, and the Jewish people all came together against Jesus here in Jerusalem. Jesus is your holy Servant. He is the One you made to be the Christ. 28 These people made your plan happen; it happened because of your power and your will. 29 And now, Lord, listen to what they are saying. They are trying to make us afraid! Lord, we are your servants. Help us to speak your word without fear. 30 Help us to be brave by showing us your power; make sick people well, give proofs, and make miracles happen by the power of Jesus, your holy servant.”
31 After they had prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke God’s word without fear.
31 Again the Jews picked up stones to kill Jesus. 32 But Jesus said to them, “I have done many good works from the Father. Which of these good works are you killing me for?”
33 The Jews answered, “We are not killing you for any good work you did. But you say things that are against God. You are only a man, but you say you are the same as God!”
34 Jesus answered, “It is written in your law that God said, ‘I have said you are gods!’[a] 35 This Scripture called those people gods, the people who received God’s message. And Scripture is always true. 36 So why do you say that I speak against God because I said, ‘I am God’s Son’? I am the one God chose and sent into the world. 37 If I don’t do what my Father does, then don’t believe me. 38 But if I do what my Father does, even though you don’t believe in me, believe what I do. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
39 They tried to take Jesus again, but he escaped from them.
40 Then Jesus went back across the Jordan River to the place where John had first baptized. Jesus stayed there, 41 and many people came to him. They said, “John never did a miracle. But everything John said about this man is true.” 42 And in that place many believed in Jesus.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.