Book of Common Prayer
(For the music leader. To the tune “A Silent Dove in the Distance.”[a] A special psalm by David when the Philistines captured him in Gath.)
A Prayer of Trust in God
1 (A) Have pity, God Most High!
My enemies chase me all day.
2 Many of them are pursuing
and attacking me,
3 but even when I am afraid,
I keep on trusting you.
4 I praise your promises!
I trust you and am not afraid.
No one can harm me.
5 Enemies spend the whole day
finding fault with me;
all they think about
is how to do me harm.
6 They attack from ambush,
watching my every step
and hoping to kill me.
7 They won't get away[b]
with these crimes, God,
because when you get angry,
you destroy people.
8 You have kept record
of my days of wandering.
You have stored my tears
in your bottle
and counted each of them.
9 When I pray, Lord God,
my enemies will retreat,
because I know for certain
that you are with me.
10 I praise your promises!
11 I trust you and am not afraid.
No one can harm me.
12 I will keep my promises
to you, my God,
and bring you gifts.
13 You protected me from death
and kept me from stumbling,
so that I would please you
and follow the light
that leads to life.
(For the music leader. To the tune “Don't Destroy.”[c] A special psalm by David when he was in the cave while running from Saul.)
Praise and Trust in Times of Trouble
1 (B) God Most High, have pity on me!
Have mercy. I run to you
for safety.
In the shadow of your wings,
I seek protection
till danger dies down.
2 I pray to you, my protector.
3 You will send help from heaven
and save me,
but you will bring trouble
on my attackers.
You are faithful,
and you can be trusted.
4 My enemies are fierce,
much worse than lions!
They have spears and arrows
instead of teeth,
and they have sharp swords
instead of tongues.
5 May you, my God, be honored
above the heavens;
may your glory be seen
everywhere on earth.
6 (C) Enemies set traps for my feet
and struck me down.
They dug a pit in my path,
but fell in it themselves.
7 I am faithful to you,
and you can trust me.
I will sing and play music
for you, my God.
8 I feel wide awake!
I will wake up my harp
and wake up the sun.
9 I will praise you, Lord,
for everyone to hear,
and I will sing hymns to you
in every nation.
10 Your love reaches higher
than the heavens;
your loyalty extends
beyond the clouds.
11 May you, my God, be honored
above the heavens;
may your glory be seen
everywhere on earth.
(A special psalm by David for the music leader. To the tune “Don't Destroy.”[d])
A Prayer When All Goes Wrong
1 Do you mighty people[e] talk
only to oppose justice?[f]
Don't you ever judge fairly?
2 You are always planning evil,
and you are brutal.
3 You have done wrong and lied
from the day you were born.
4 Your words spread poison
like the bite of a cobra
5 that refuses to listen
to the snake charmer.
6 My enemies are fierce
as lions, Lord God!
Shatter their teeth.
Snatch out their fangs.
7 Make them disappear
like leaking water,
and make their arrows miss.
8 Let them dry up like snails
or be like a child that dies
before seeing the sun.
9 Wipe them out quicker
than a pot can be heated
by setting thorns on fire.[g]
10 Good people will be glad
when they see the wicked
getting what they deserve,
and they will wash their feet
in their enemies' blood.
11 Everyone will say, “It's true!
Good people are rewarded.
God does indeed rule the earth
with justice.”
(A psalm by David for the music leader.)
Celebrate because of the Lord
1 Listen to my concerns, God,
and protect me
from my enemies' threats.
2 Keep me safe from secret plots
of corrupt and evil gangs.
3 Their words cut like swords,
and their cruel remarks
sting like sharp arrows.
4 They fearlessly ambush
and shoot innocent people.
5 They are determined to do evil,
and they tell themselves,
“Let's set traps!
No one can see us.”[a]
6 They make evil plans and say,
“We'll commit a perfect crime.
No one knows our thoughts.”[b]
7 But God will shoot his arrows
and quickly wound them.
8 They will be destroyed
by their own words,
and everyone who sees them
will tremble with fear.[c]
9 They will be afraid and say,
“Look at what God has done
and keep it all in mind.”
10 May the Lord bless his people
with peace and happiness
and let them celebrate.
(A psalm by David and a song for the music leader.)
God Answers Prayer
1 Our God, you deserve[d] praise
in Zion, where we keep
our promises to you.
2 Everyone will come to you
because you answer prayer.
3 When our sins get us down,
you forgive us.
4 You bless your chosen ones,
and you invite them
to live near you
in your temple.
We will enjoy your house,
the sacred temple.
5 Our God, you save us,
and your fearsome deeds answer
our prayers for justice!
You give hope to people
everywhere on earth,
even those across the sea.
6 You are strong,
and your mighty power
put the mountains in place.
7 You silence the roaring waves
and the noisy shouts
of the nations.
8 People far away marvel
at your fearsome deeds,
and all who live under the sun
celebrate and sing
because of you.
9 You take care of the earth
and send rain to help the soil
grow all kinds of crops.
Your rivers never run dry,
and you prepare the earth
to produce abundant grain.
10 You water all its fields
and level the lumpy ground.
You send showers of rain
to soften the soil
and help the plants sprout.
11 Wherever your footsteps
touch the earth,
a rich harvest is gathered.
12 Desert pastures blossom,
and mountains celebrate.
13 Meadows are filled
with sheep and goats;
valleys overflow with grain
and echo with joyful songs.
The Evil City of Sodom
19 That evening, while Lot was sitting near the city gate,[a] the two angels[b] arrived in Sodom. When Lot saw them, he got up, bowed down low, 2 and said, “Gentlemen, I am your servant. Please come to my home. You can wash your feet, spend the night, and be on your way in the morning.”
They told him, “No, we'll spend the night in the city square.” 3 But Lot kept insisting, until they finally agreed and went home with him. He quickly baked some bread,[c] cooked a meal, and they ate.
4 Before Lot and his guests could go to bed, every man in Sodom, young and old, came and stood outside his house 5 (A) and started shouting, “Where are your visitors? Send them out, so we can have sex with them!”
6 Lot went outside and shut the door behind him. 7 Then he said, “Friends, please don't do such a terrible thing! 8 I have two daughters who have never had sex. I'll bring them out, and you can do what you want with them. But don't harm these men. They are guests in my home.”
9 “Don't get in our way,” the crowd answered. “You're a foreigner. What right do you have to order us around? We'll do worse things to you than we're going to do to them.”
The crowd kept arguing with Lot. Finally, they rushed toward the door to break it down. 10 But the two angels in the house reached out and pulled Lot safely inside. 11 (B) Then they struck blind everyone in the crowd, and none of them could even find the door.
12-13 The two angels said to Lot, “The Lord has heard many terrible things about the people of Sodom, and he has sent us here to destroy the city. Take your family and leave. Take every relative you have in the city, as well as the men your daughters are going to marry.”
14 Lot went to the men who were engaged to his daughters and said, “Hurry up and get out of here! The Lord is going to destroy this city.” But they thought he was joking, and they laughed at him.
15 Early the next morning the two angels tried to make Lot hurry and leave. They said, “Take your wife and your two daughters and get away from here as fast as you can! If you don't, every one of you will be killed when the Lord destroys the city.” 16 (C) At first, Lot just stood there. But the Lord wanted to save him. So the angels took Lot, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand and led them out of the city. 17 When they were outside, one of the angels said, “Run for your lives! Don't even look back. And don't stop in the valley. Run to the hills, where you'll be safe.”
18-19 Lot answered, “You have done us a great favor, sir. You have saved our lives, but please don't make us go to the hills. That's too far away. The city will be destroyed before we can get there, and we will be killed when it happens. 20 There's a town near here. It's only a small place, but my family and I will be safe, if you let us go there.”
21 “All right, go there,” he answered. “I won't destroy that town. 22 Hurry! Run! I can't do anything until you are safely there.”
The town was later called Zoar[d] because Lot had said it was small.
Sodom and Gomorrah Are Destroyed
23 The sun was coming up as Lot reached the town of Zoar, 24 (D) and the Lord sent burning sulfur down like rain on Sodom and Gomorrah. 25 He destroyed those cities and everyone who lived in them, as well as their land and the trees and grass that grew there.
26 (E) On the way, Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a block of salt.
27 That same morning Abraham got up and went to the place where he had stood and spoken with the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and saw smoke rising from all over the land—it was like a flaming furnace.
29 When God destroyed the cities of the valley where Lot lived, he remembered his promise to Abraham and saved Lot from the terrible destruction.
The Great Faith of God's People
11 Faith makes us sure of what we hope for and gives us proof of what we cannot see. 2 (A) It was their faith that made our ancestors pleasing to God.
3 (B) Because of our faith, we know that the world was made at God's command. We also know that what can be seen was made out of what cannot be seen.
4 (C) Because Abel had faith, he offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. God was pleased with him and his gift, and even though Abel is now dead, his faith still speaks for him.
5 (D) Enoch had faith and did not die. He pleased God, and God took him up to heaven. This is why his body was never found. 6 But without faith no one can please God. We must believe that God is real and rewards everyone who searches for him.
7 (E) Because Noah had faith, he was warned about something that had not yet happened. He obeyed and built a boat that saved him and his family. In this way the people of the world were judged, and Noah was given the blessings that come to everyone who pleases God.
8 (F) Abraham had faith and obeyed God. He was told to go to the land that God had said would be his, and he left for a country he had never seen. 9 (G) Because Abraham had faith, he lived as a stranger in the promised land. He lived there in a tent, and so did Isaac and Jacob, who were later given the same promise. 10 Abraham did this, because he was waiting for the eternal city God had planned and built.
11 (H) Even when Sarah was too old to have children, she had faith that God would do what he had promised, and she had a son. 12 (I) Her husband Abraham was almost dead, but he became the ancestor of many people. In fact, there are as many of them as there are stars in the sky or grains of sand along the seashore.
27 (A) Don't work for food that spoils. Work for food that gives eternal life. The Son of Man will give you this food, because God the Father has given him the right to do so.”
28 “What exactly does God want us to do?” the people asked.
29 Jesus answered, “God wants you to have faith in the one he sent.”
30 They replied, “What miracle will you work, so that we can have faith in you? What will you do? 31 (B) For example, when our ancestors were in the desert, they were given manna[a] to eat. It happened just as the Scriptures say, ‘God gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ”
32 Jesus then told them, “I tell you for certain that Moses wasn't the one who gave you bread from heaven. My Father is the one who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 And the bread that God gives is the one who came down from heaven to give life to the world.”
34 The people said, “Sir, give us this bread and don't ever stop!”
35 Jesus replied:
I am the bread that gives life! No one who comes to me will ever be hungry. No one who has faith in me will ever be thirsty. 36 I have told you already that you have seen me and still do not have faith in me. 37 Everything and everyone that the Father has given me will come to me, and I won't turn any of them away.
38 I didn't come from heaven to do what I want! I came to do what the Father wants me to do. He sent me, 39 and he wants to make certain that none of the ones he has given me will be lost. Instead, he wants me to raise them to life on the last day.[b] 40 My Father wants everyone who sees the Son to have faith in him and to have eternal life. Then I will raise them to life on the last day.
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.