Book of Common Prayer
A Cry for Help
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” A song of David.
69 God, save me.
The water has risen to my neck.
2 I’m sinking down into the mud.
There is nothing to stand on.
I am in deep water.
The flood covers me.
3 I am tired from calling for help.
My throat is sore.
My eyes are tired from waiting
for God to help me.
4 There are more people who hate me for no reason
than hairs on my head.
Those who want to destroy me are powerful.
My enemies are liars.
They make me pay back
what I did not steal.
5 God, you know what I have done wrong.
I cannot hide my guilt from you.
6 Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies,
do not let those who hope in you be ashamed because of me.
God of Israel,
do not let your worshipers
be disgraced because of me.
7 For you, I carry this shame.
My face is covered with disgrace.
8 I am like a stranger to my brothers.
I am like a foreigner to my mother’s sons.
9 My strong love for your Temple completely controls me.
When people insult you, it hurts me.
10 When I cry and go without food,
they make fun of me.
11 When I wear rough cloth to show my sadness,
they joke about me.
12 They make fun of me in public places.
The drunkards make up songs about me.
13 But I pray to you, Lord.
I pray that you will accept me.
God, because of your great love, answer me.
You are truly able to save.
14 Pull me from the mud.
Do not let me sink.
Save me from those who hate me
and from the deep water.
15 Do not let the flood drown me.
Do not let the deep water swallow me.
Do not let the grave close its mouth over me.
16 Lord, answer me because your love is so good.
Because of your great kindness, turn to me.
17 Do not hide from me, your servant.
I am in trouble. Hurry to help me!
18 Come near and save me.
Rescue me from my enemies.
19 You see my shame and disgrace.
You know all my enemies and what they have said.
20 Insults have broken my heart.
I am weak.
I looked for sympathy, but there was none.
I found no one to comfort me.
21 They put poison in my food.
They gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their own feasts cause their ruin.
Let their feasts trap them and pay them back.
23 Let their eyes be closed so they cannot see.
Let their backs be forever weak from troubles.
24 Pour your anger out on them.
Show them how angry you are.
25 May their place be empty.
Leave no one to live in their tents.
26 They chase after those you have hurt.
They talk about the pain of those you have wounded.
27 Charge them with crime after crime.
Do not let them have anything good.
28 Wipe their names from the book of life.
Do not list them with those who do what is right.
29 I am sad and hurting.
God, save me and protect me.
30 I will praise God in a song.
I will honor him by giving thanks.
31 That will please the Lord more than offering him cattle.
It will please him more than the sacrifice of a bull with horns and hooves.
32 People who are not proud will see this and be glad.
Be encouraged, you who worship God.
33 The Lord listens to those in need.
He does not look down on captives.
34 Heaven and earth should praise him.
The seas and everything in them should also.
35 God will save Jerusalem.
He will rebuild the cities of Judah.
Then people will live there and own the land.
36 The descendants of his servants will inherit that land.
Those who love him will live there.
Book 3
Psalms 73—89
Should the Wicked Be Rich?
A song of Asaph.
73 God is truly good to Israel,
to those who have pure hearts.
2 But I had almost stopped believing this truth.
I had almost lost my faith
3 because I was jealous of proud people.
I saw wicked people doing well.
4 They are not suffering.
They are healthy and strong.
5 They don’t have troubles like the rest of us.
They don’t have problems like other people.
6 So they wear pride like a necklace.
They put on violence as their clothing.
7 They are looking for profits.
They do not control their selfish desires.
8 They make fun of others and speak evil.
Proudly they speak of hurting others.
9 They brag to the sky.
Their mouths gossip on the earth.
10 So their people turn to them
and give them whatever they want.
11 They say, “How can God know?
What does God Most High know?”
12 These people are wicked,
always at ease and getting richer.
13 So why have I kept my heart pure?
Why have I kept my hands from doing wrong?
14 I have suffered all day long.
I have been punished every morning.
15 God, if I had decided to talk about this,
I would have let your people down.
16 I tried to understand all this.
But it was too hard for me to see
17 until I went to the Temple of God.
Then I understood what will happen to them.
18 You have put them in danger.
You cause them to be destroyed.
19 They are destroyed in a moment.
They are swept away by terrors.
20 It will be like waking from a dream.
Lord, when you come, they will disappear.
21 When my heart was sad and
I was angry,
22 I was senseless and stupid.
I acted like an animal toward you.
23 But I am always with you.
You have held my hand.
24 You guide me with your advice.
And later you will receive me in honor.
25 I have no one in heaven but you.
I want nothing on earth besides you.
26 My mind and my body may become weak.
But God is my strength.
He is mine forever.
27 Those who are far from God will die.
You destroy those who are unfaithful.
28 But I am close to God, and that is good.
The Lord God is my protection.
I will tell all that you have done.
A Wife for Isaac
24 Abraham was now very old. The Lord had blessed him in every way. 2 Abraham’s oldest servant was in charge of everything Abraham owned. Abraham called that servant to him and said, “Put your hand under my leg.[a] 3 Make a promise to me before the Lord, the God of heaven and earth. Don’t get a wife for my son from the Canaanite girls who live around here. 4 Instead, go back to my country, to the land of my relatives. Get a wife for my son Isaac from there.”
5 The servant said to him, “What if this woman does not want to return with me to this land? Then, should I take your son with me back to your homeland?”
6 Abraham said to him, “No! Don’t take my son back there. 7 The Lord is the God of heaven. He brought me from the home of my father and the land of my relatives. But the Lord promised me, ‘I will give this land to your descendants.’ The Lord will send his angel before you. The angel will help you get a wife for my son there. 8 But if the girl won’t come back with you, you will be free from this promise. But you must not take my son back there.” 9 So the servant put his hand under his master’s leg. He made a promise to Abraham about this.
10 The servant took ten of Abraham’s camels and left. He carried with him many different kinds of beautiful gifts. He went to Northwest Mesopotamia to Nahor’s city. 11 He made the camels kneel down at the well outside the city. It was in the evening when the women come out to get water.
12 The servant said, “Lord, you are the God of my master Abraham. Allow me to find a wife for his son today. Please show this kindness to my master Abraham. 13 Here I am, standing by the spring of water. The girls from the city are coming out to get water. 14 I will say to one of the girls, ‘Please put your jar down so I can drink.’ Then let her say, ‘Drink, and I will also give water to your camels.’ If that happens, I will know she is the right one for your servant Isaac. And I will know that you have shown kindness to my master.”
15 Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out of the city. She was the daughter of Bethuel. (Bethuel was the son of Milcah and Nahor, Abraham’s brother.) Rebekah was carrying her water jar on her shoulder. 16 She was very pretty. She was a virgin; she had never had physical relations with a man. She went down to the spring and filled her jar. Then she came back up. 17 The servant ran to her and said, “Please give me a little water from your jar.”
18 Rebekah said, “Drink, sir.” She quickly lowered the jar from her shoulder and gave him a drink. 19 After he finished drinking, Rebekah said, “I will also pour some water for your camels.” 20 So she quickly poured all the water from her jar into the drinking trough for the camels. Then she kept running to the well until she had given all the camels enough to drink.
21 The servant quietly watched her. He wanted to be sure the Lord had made his trip successful. 22 After the camels had finished drinking, he gave Rebekah a gold ring weighing one-fifth of an ounce. He also gave her two gold arm bracelets weighing about four ounces each. 23 The servant asked, “Who is your father? Is there a place in his house for me and my men to spend the night?”
24 Rebekah answered, “My father is Bethuel. He is the son of Milcah and Nahor.” 25 Then she said, “And, yes, we have straw for your camels. We have a place for you to spend the night.”
26 The servant bowed and worshiped the Lord. 27 He said, “Blessed is the Lord, the God of my master Abraham. The Lord has been kind and truthful to him. He has led me to my master’s relatives.”
3 Think about Jesus. He held on patiently while sinful men were doing evil things against him. Look at Jesus’ example so that you will not get tired and stop trying.
God Is Like a Father
4 You are struggling against sin, but your struggles have not yet caused you to be killed. 5 You have forgotten his encouraging words for his sons:
“My son, don’t think the Lord’s discipline of you is worth nothing.
And don’t stop trying when the Lord corrects you.
6 The Lord corrects those he loves.
And he punishes everyone he accepts as his child.” Proverbs 3:11-12
7 So accept your sufferings as if they were a father’s punishment. God does these things to you as a father punishing his sons. All sons are punished by their fathers. 8 If you are never punished (and every son must be punished), you are not true children and not really sons. 9 We have all had fathers here on earth who punished us. And we respected our fathers. So it is even more important that we accept punishment from the Father of our spirits. If we do this, we will have life. 10 Our fathers on earth punished us for a short time. They punished us the way they thought was best. But God punishes us to help us, so that we can become holy as he is. 11 We do not enjoy punishment. Being punished is painful at the time. But later, after we have learned from being punished, we have peace, because we start living in the right way.
Jesus and His Brothers
7 After this, Jesus traveled around Galilee. He did not want to travel in Judea, because the Jews there wanted to kill him. 2 It was time for the Jewish Feast of Shelters. 3 So Jesus’ brothers said to him, “You should leave here and go to Judea. Then your followers there can see the miracles you do. 4 Anyone who wants to be well known does not hide what he does. If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” 5 (Even Jesus’ brothers did not believe in him.)
6 Jesus said to his brothers, “The right time for me has not yet come. But any time is right for you. 7 The world cannot hate you. But it hates me, because I tell about the evil things it does. 8 So you go to the feast. I will not go now. The right time for me has not yet come.” 9 After saying this, Jesus stayed in Galilee.
10 So Jesus’ brothers left to go to the feast. When they had gone, Jesus went, too. But he did not let people see him. 11 At the feast the Jews were looking for him. They said, “Where is that man?”
12 There was a large crowd of people there. Many of them were whispering to each other about Jesus. Some said, “He is a good man.”
Others said, “No, he fools the people.” 13 But no one was brave enough to talk about Jesus openly. They were afraid of the Jews.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.