Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer Against the Enemies
A song of Asaph.
83 God, do not keep quiet.
God, do not be silent or still.
2 Your enemies are making plans.
Those who hate you are getting ready to attack.
3 They are making plans against your people.
They plan to hurt those you love.
4 They say, “Come, let’s destroy them as a nation.
Then no one will remember the name ‘Israel’ anymore.”
5 They are united in their plan.
These have made an agreement against you:
6 the families of Edom and the Ishmaelites,
Moab and the Hagrites,
7 the people of Byblos, Ammon, Amalek,
Philistia and Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has joined them
to help Ammon and Moab, the descendants of Lot. Selah
9 God, do to them what you did to Midian.
Do what you did to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.
10 They died at Endor.
Their bodies rotted on the ground.
11 Do to their important leaders what you did to Oreb and Zeeb.
Do to their princes what you did to Zebah and Zalmunna.
12 They said, “Let’s take for ourselves
the pasturelands that belong to God.”
13 My God, make them like the tumbleweed,
like chaff blown away by the wind.
14 Be like a fire that burns a forest
or like flames that blaze through the hills.
15 Chase them with your storm.
Frighten them with your wind.
16 Cover them with shame.
Then people will look for you, Lord.
17 Make them afraid and ashamed forever.
Disgrace them and destroy them.
18 Then they will know that you are the Lord.
They will know that only you are God Most High over all the earth.
Praise to God the King
A song of praise. Of David.
145 I praise your greatness, my God the King.
I will praise you forever and ever.
2 I will praise you every day.
I will praise you forever and ever.
3 The Lord is great. He is worthy of our praise.
No one can understand how great he is.
4 Parents will tell their children what you have done.
They will retell your mighty acts,
5 wonderful majesty and glory.
And I will think about your miracles.
6 They will tell about the amazing things you do.
I will tell how great you are.
7 They will remember your great goodness.
They will sing about your fairness.
8 The Lord is kind and shows mercy.
He does not become angry quickly but is full of love.
9 The Lord is good to everyone.
He is merciful to all he has made.
10 Lord, everything you have made will praise you.
Those who belong to you will bless you.
11 They will tell about the glory of your kingdom.
They will speak about your power.
12 Then everyone will know what powerful things you do.
They will know about the glory and majesty of your kingdom.
13 Your kingdom will continue forever.
And you will be King from now on.
The Lord will keep his promises.
With love he takes care of all he has made.
14 The Lord helps those who have been defeated.
He takes care of those who are in trouble.
15 All living things look to you for food.
And you give it to them at the right time.
16 You open your hand,
and you satisfy all living things.
17 Everything the Lord does is right.
With love he takes care of all he has made.
18 The Lord is close to everyone who prays to him,
to all who truly pray to him.
19 He gives those who fear him what they want.
He listens when they cry, and he saves them.
20 The Lord protects everyone who loves him.
But he will destroy the wicked.
21 I will praise the Lord.
Let everyone praise his holy name forever.
A Prayer for the Nation
For the director of music. A song of the sons of Korah.
85 Lord, you have been kind to your land.
You gave the people of Jacob back their riches.
2 You forgave the guilt of the people.
You covered all their sins. Selah
3 You stopped all your anger.
You stopped your strong anger.
4 God our Savior, bring us back again.
Stop being angry with us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you stay angry from now on?
6 Won’t you give us life again?
Your people would rejoice in you.
7 Lord, show us your love.
Save us.
8 I will listen to God the Lord.
He has ordered peace for his people who worship him.
Don’t let them go back to foolishness.
9 God will soon save those who respect him.
And his greatness will be seen in our land.
10 Love and truth will belong to God’s people.
Goodness and peace will be theirs.
11 On earth people will be loyal to God.
And God’s goodness will shine down from heaven.
12 The Lord will give his goodness.
And the land will give its crops.
13 Goodness will go before God
and prepare the way for him.
A Cry for Help
A prayer of David.
86 Lord, listen to me and answer me.
I am poor and helpless.
2 Protect me, because I worship you.
My God, save me, your servant.
I trust in you.
3 Lord, be merciful to me.
I have called to you all day.
4 Give happiness to me, your servant.
Lord, I give my life to you.
5 Lord, you are kind and forgiving.
You have great love for those who call to you.
6 Lord, hear my prayer.
Listen when I ask for mercy.
7 I call to you in times of trouble.
You certainly will answer me.
8 Lord, there is no god like you.
There are no works like yours.
9 Lord, all the nations you have made
will come and worship you.
They will honor you.
10 You are great, and you do miracles.
Only you are God.
11 Lord, teach me what you want me to do.
And I will live by your truth.
Teach me to respect you completely.
12 Lord, my God, I will praise you with all my heart.
I will honor your name forever.
13 You have great love for me.
You have saved me from death.
14 God, proud men turn against me.
A gang of cruel men are trying to kill me.
They do not respect you.
15 But Lord, you are a God who shows mercy and is kind.
You don’t become angry quickly.
You have great love and faithfulness.
16 Turn to me and be merciful.
Give me, your servant, strength.
Save me, the son of your female servant.
17 Show me a sign of your goodness.
When my enemies look, they will be ashamed.
You, Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
Gideon Makes an Idol
22 The people of Israel said to Gideon, “You saved us from the Midianites. So now, rule over us. We want you, your son and your grandson to rule over us.”
23 But Gideon told them, “The Lord will be your ruler. I will not rule over you. And my son will not rule over you.” 24 He said, “I want you to do this one thing for me. I want each of you to give me a gold earring from the things you took in the fighting.” (The Ishmaelite men wore gold earrings. And some Ishmaelites had been defeated in the battle.)
25 So the people of Israel said to Gideon, “We will gladly give you what you want.” So they put a coat down on the ground. Each man threw an earring onto the coat. 26 The gold earrings weighed about 43 pounds. This did not count the weight of the other gifts the people gave to Gideon. They gave him decorations, necklaces and purple robes. These were things that the kings of Midian had worn. The people also gave him chains from the camels of the kings of Midian. 27 Gideon used the gold to make an idol. He put the idol in his hometown of Ophrah. All the people of Israel were unfaithful to God and worshiped the idol. It became a trap that caused Gideon and his family to sin.
The Death of Gideon
28 So Midian was forced to be under the rule of Israel. Midian did not cause trouble anymore. And the land had peace for 40 years, as long as Gideon was alive.
29 Gideon son of Joash went to his home to live. 30 He had 70 sons of his own. He had many sons because he had many wives. 31 Gideon had a slave woman who lived in Shechem. He also had a son by her. He named that son Abimelech. 32 So Gideon son of Joash died at a good old age. He was buried in the tomb of Joash, his father. That tomb is in Ophrah, where the Abiezrites live.
33 As soon as Gideon died, the people of Israel were again unfaithful to God. They followed the Baal gods. They made Baal-of-the-Agreement their god. 34 The Israelites did not remember the Lord their God. He had saved them from all their enemies who were living all around them. 35 And Jerub-Baal, also called Gideon, had done many good things for Israel. But Israel was not kind to the family of Gideon for these things.
Peter and John at the Council
4 While Peter and John were speaking to the people, a group of men came up to them. There were Jewish priests, the captain of the soldiers that guarded the Temple, and some Sadducees. 2 They were upset because the two apostles were teaching the people. Peter and John were preaching that people will rise from death through the power of Jesus. 3 The Jewish leaders grabbed Peter and John and put them in jail. It was already night, so they kept them in jail until the next day. 4 But many of those who heard Peter and John preach believed the things they said. There were now about 5,000 men in the group of believers.
5 The next day the Jewish rulers, the Jewish elders, and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander were there. Everyone from the high priest’s family was there. 7 They made Peter and John stand before them. The Jewish leaders asked them: “By what power or authority did you do this?”
8 Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit. He said to them, “Rulers of the people and you elders, 9 are you questioning us about a good thing that was done to a crippled man? Are you asking us who made him well? 10 We want all of you and all the Jewish people to know that this man was made well by the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth! You nailed him to a cross, but God raised him from death. This man was crippled, but he is now well and able to stand here before you because of the power of Jesus! 11 Jesus is
‘the stone[a] that you builders did not want.
It has become the cornerstone.’ Psalm 118:22
12 Jesus is the only One who can save people. No one else in the world is able to save us.”
43 The next day Jesus decided to go to Galilee. He found Philip and said to him, “Follow me.” 44 Philip was from the town of Bethsaida, where Andrew and Peter lived. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “Remember that Moses wrote in the law about a man who was coming, and the prophets also wrote about him. We have found him. He is Jesus, the son of Joseph. He is from Nazareth.”
46 But Nathanael said to Philip, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Philip answered, “Come and see.”
47 Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him. He said, “Here is truly a person of Israel. There is nothing false in him.”
48 Nathanael asked, “How do you know me?”
Jesus answered, “I saw you when you were under the fig tree. That was before Philip told you about me.”
49 Then Nathanael said to Jesus, “Teacher, you are the Son of God. You are the King of Israel.”
50 Jesus said to Nathanael, “You believe in me because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. But you will see greater things than that!” 51 And Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth. You will all see heaven open. You will see ‘angels of God going up and coming down’[a] on the Son of Man.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.