Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer About a False Friend
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David.
55 God, listen to my prayer.
Do not ignore my prayer.
2 Pay attention to me and answer me.
I am troubled and upset
3 by what the enemy says
and how the wicked look at me.
They bring troubles down on me.
In anger they attack me.
4 I am frightened inside.
The terror of death has attacked me.
5 I am scared and shaking.
Terror grips me.
6 I said, “I wish I had wings like a dove.
Then I would fly away and rest.
7 I would wander far away.
I would stay in the desert. Selah
8 I would hurry to my place of escape,
far away from the wind and storm.”
9 Lord, destroy and confuse their words.
I see violence and fighting in the city.
10 Day and night they are all around its walls.
Evil and trouble are everywhere inside.
11 Destruction is everywhere in the city.
Trouble and lying never leave its streets.
12 It was not an enemy insulting me.
I could stand that.
It was not someone who hated me.
I could hide from him.
13 But it is you, a person like me.
You were my companion and good friend.
14 We had a good friendship.
We went together to God’s Temple.
15 Let death take away my enemies.
Let them die while they are still young
because evil lives with them.
16 But I will call to God for help.
And the Lord will save me.
17 Morning, noon and night I am troubled and upset.
But he will listen to me.
18 Many are against me.
But he keeps me safe in battle.
19 God who lives forever
will hear me and punish them.
But they will not change.
They do not fear God. Selah
20 The one who was my friend attacks his friends.
He breaks his promises.
21 His words are slippery like butter.
But war is in his heart.
His words are smoother than oil,
but they cut like knives.
22 Give your worries to the Lord.
He will take care of you.
He will never let good people down.
23 But, God, you will bring down
the wicked to the grave.
Murderers and liars will live
only half a lifetime.
But I will trust in you.
A Hymn of Thanksgiving
A song of David.
138 Lord, I will thank you with all my heart.
I will sing to you before the false gods.
2 I will bow down facing your holy Temple.
And I will thank you for your love and loyalty.
You have made your name and your word
greater than anything.
3 On the day I called to you, you answered me.
You made me strong and brave.
4 Lord, let all the kings of the earth praise you.
They have heard the words you speak.
5 They will sing about what the Lord has done
because the Lord’s glory is great.
6 Though the Lord is supreme
he takes care of those who are not proud.
But he stays away from those who are proud.
7 Lord, even when I have trouble all around me,
you will keep me alive.
When my enemies are angry,
you will reach down and save me by your power.
8 Lord, you do everything for me.
Lord, your love continues forever.
You made us. Do not leave us.
God Knows Everything
For the director of music. A song of David.
139 Lord, you have examined me.
You know all about me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I get up.
You know my thoughts before I think them.
3 You know where I go and where I lie down.
You know well everything I do.
4 Lord, even before I say a word,
you already know what I am going to say.
5 You are all around me—in front and in back.
You have put your hand on me.
6 Your knowledge is amazing to me.
It is more than I can understand.
7 Where can I go to get away from your Spirit?
Where can I run from you?
8 If I go up to the skies, you are there.
If I lie down where the dead are, you are there.
9 If I rise with the sun in the east,
and settle in the west beyond the sea,
10 even there you would guide me.
With your right hand you would hold me.
11 I could say, “The darkness will hide me.
The light around me will turn into night.”
12 But even the darkness is not dark to you.
The night is as light as the day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
13 You made my whole being.
You formed me in my mother’s body.
14 I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way.
What you have done is wonderful.
I know this very well.
15 You saw my bones being formed
as I took shape in my mother’s body.
When I was put together there,
16 you saw my body as it was formed.
All the days planned for me
were written in your book
before I was one day old.
17 God, your thoughts are precious to me.
They are so many!
18 If I could count them,
they would be more than all the grains of sand.
When I wake up,
I am still with you.
19 God, I wish you would kill the wicked!
Get away from me, you murderers!
20 These men say evil things about you.
Your enemies use your name thoughtlessly.
21 Lord, I hate those who hate you.
I hate those who rise up against you.
22 I feel only hate for them.
They are my enemies.
23 God, examine me and know my heart.
Test me and know my thoughts.
Joshua Says Good-bye
23 The Lord gave Israel peace from their enemies around them. He made Israel safe. Many years passed, and Joshua became very old. 2 So he called a meeting of all the elders, heads of families, judges and officers of the Israelites. He said, “I am now very old. 3 You have seen what the Lord has done to our enemies. He did it to help us. The Lord your God fought for you. 4 Remember that your people have been given their land. It’s the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea in the west. It’s the land I promised to give you. But you don’t control that land yet. 5 The Lord your God will make the people living there leave. You will enter the land. And the Lord will force them out ahead of you. He has promised you this.
6 “Be strong. You must be careful to obey everything the Lord has commanded. Obey everything written in the Book of the Teachings of Moses. Do exactly as it says. 7 There are still some people living among us who are not Israelites. They worship their own gods. Don’t become friends with them. Don’t serve or worship their gods. 8 You must continue to follow the Lord your God. You have done this in the past. And you must continue to do it.
9 “The Lord has helped you defeat many great and powerful nations. He has forced them to leave ahead of you. No nation has been able to defeat you. 10 With his help, one Israelite could defeat a thousand enemies. This is because the Lord your God fights for you, as he promised to do. 11 So you must be careful to love the Lord your God.
12 “Don’t turn away from the way of the Lord. Don’t become friends with these people who are not part of Israel. Don’t marry them. If you do become their friends, 13 the Lord your God will not help you defeat your enemies. So they will become like traps for you. They will cause you pain like a whip on your back and thorns in your eyes. And none of you will be left in this good land the Lord your God has given you.
14 “It’s almost time for me to die. You know and fully believe that the Lord has done great things for you. You know that he has not failed in any of his promises. He has kept every promise he has given. 15 Every good promise that the Lord your God made has come true. And in the same way, his other promises will come true. He promised that evil will come to you. He will destroy you from this good land that he gave you. 16 This will happen if you don’t keep your agreement with the Lord your God. You will lose this land if you go and serve other gods. You must not worship them. If you do, the Lord will become very angry with you. Then none of you will be left in this good land he has given you.”
25 Now I am going to Jerusalem to help God’s people. 26 The believers in Macedonia and Southern Greece were happy to give their money to help the poor among God’s people at Jerusalem. 27 They were happy to do this, and really they owe it to them. These non-Jews have shared in the Jews’ spiritual blessings. So they should use their material possessions to help the Jews. 28 I must be sure that the poor in Jerusalem get the money that has been given for them. After I do this, I will leave for Spain and stop and visit you. 29 I know that when I come to you, I will bring Christ’s full blessing.
30 Brothers, I beg you to help me in my work by praying for me to God. Do this because of our Lord Jesus and the love that the Holy Spirit gives us. 31 Pray that I will be saved from the non-believers in Judea. And pray that this help I bring to Jerusalem will please God’s people there. 32 Then, if God wants me to, I will come to you. I will come with joy, and together you and I will have a time of rest. 33 The God who gives peace be with you all. Amen.
Pilate Questions Jesus
11 Jesus stood before Pilate the governor. Pilate asked him, “Are you the King of the Jews?”
Jesus answered, “Yes, I am.”
12 When the leading priests and the elders accused Jesus, he said nothing.
13 So Pilate said to Jesus, “Don’t you hear these people accusing you of all these things?”
14 But Jesus said nothing in answer to Pilate. Pilate was very surprised at this.
Pilate Tries to Free Jesus
15 Every year at the time of Passover the governor would free one person from prison. This was always a person the people wanted to be set free. 16 At that time there was a man in prison who was known to be very bad. His name was Barabbas.[a] 17 All the people gathered at Pilate’s house. Pilate said, “Which man do you want me to free: Barabbas,[b] or Jesus who is called the Christ?” 18 Pilate knew that they gave Jesus to him because they were jealous.
19 Pilate said these things while he was sitting on the judge’s seat. While he was sitting there, his wife sent a message to him. The message said, “Don’t do anything to that man. He is not guilty. Today I had a dream about him, and it troubled me very much.”
20 But the leading priests and elders told the crowd to ask for Barabbas to be freed and for Jesus to be killed.
21 Pilate said, “I have Barabbas and Jesus. Which do you want me to set free for you?”
The people answered, “Barabbas!”
22 Pilate asked, “What should I do with Jesus, the one called the Christ?”
They all answered, “Kill him on a cross!”
23 Pilate asked, “Why do you want me to kill him? What wrong has he done?”
But they shouted louder, “Kill him on a cross!”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.