Book of Common Prayer
145 I call to you with all my heart.
Answer me, Lord, and I will ·keep [protect] your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements].
146 I call to you.
·Save me [Give me victory] so I can ·obey [keep; guard] your ·rules [decrees; testimonies].
147 I ·wake up early in the morning [get up before dawn] and cry out.
I hope in your word.
148 ·I stay awake all night [L My eyes awake in the watches of the night]
so I can ·think about [meditate on] your promises.
149 ·Listen to me [L Hear my voice] because of your ·love [loyalty];
Lord, ·give me [spare my] life by your ·laws [judgments].
150 Those who ·love evil [L pursue/persecute me with an evil plan] are near,
but they are far from your ·teachings [instructions; laws].
151 But, Lord, you are also near,
and all your commands are ·true [faithful].
152 Long ago I learned from your ·rules [decrees; testimonies]
that you made them ·to continue [foundational] forever.
153 See my ·suffering [affliction] and rescue me,
because I have not forgotten your ·teachings [instructions; laws].
154 Argue my case and ·save [redeem] me.
·Let me live [Spare my life] by your promises.
155 ·Wicked people are far from being saved [L Salvation/Victory is far from the wicked],
because they do not ·want [seek] your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements].
156 Lord, ·you are very kind [L your compassion/mercies are abundant];
give me life by your ·laws [judgments].
157 Many ·enemies [foes] ·are after [pursue; persecute] me,
but I have not ·rejected [swerved from] your ·rules [decrees; testimonies].
158 I see those traitors, and I ·hate [loathe; am disgusted by] them,
because they do not ·obey [keep; guard] what you say.
159 See how I love your ·orders [precepts].
Lord, give me life by your ·love [loyalty].
160 ·Your words are true from the start [L The head of your word is true/faithful],
and all your ·laws [judgments] will be ·fair [righteous] forever.
161 Leaders ·attack [pursue] me for no reason,
but ·I fear your law in my heart [L my heart fears your words].
162 I ·am as happy over [delight in] your promises
as if I had found ·a great treasure [much plunder].
163 I hate and ·despise [loathe] lies,
but I love your ·teachings [instructions; laws].
164 Seven times a day I praise you
for your ·fair laws [righteous judgments].
165 Those who love your ·teachings [instructions; laws] will find ·true peace [or much prosperity],
and nothing will ·defeat them [make them stumble].
166 I am ·waiting [hoping] for ·you to save me [L your salvation/victory], Lord.
I will ·obey [L do] your commands.
167 I ·obey [keep; guard] your ·rules [decrees; testimonies],
and I love them very much.
168 I ·obey [keep; guard] your ·orders [precepts] and ·rules [decrees; testimonies],
because ·you know everything I do [L all my ways are before you].
169 ·Hear my cry to you [L Let my shout of joy come near you], Lord.
Let your word help me understand.
170 Listen to my ·prayer [supplication];
·save [protect] me as you promised.
171 Let ·me [L my lips] ·speak [bubble forth] your praise,
because you have taught me your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements].
172 Let ·me [L my tongue] sing about your promises,
because all your commands are ·fair [righteous].
173 Give me your helping hand,
because I have chosen your ·commands [precepts].
174 I ·want you to save me [L desire your salvation/victory], Lord.
I ·love [delight in] your ·teachings [instructions; laws].
175 Let me live so I can praise you,
and let your ·laws [judgments] help me.
176 I have ·wandered [gone astray] like a lost sheep.
·Look for [Seek] your servant, because I have not forgotten your commands.
The Happy Home
A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover].
128 ·Happy [Blessed] are those who ·respect [fear] the Lord [Prov. 1:7] and ·obey him [L walk in his ways].
2 You will ·enjoy what you work for [L eat the labor of your hands],
and you will be ·blessed [happy] with ·good things [prosperity].
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine [C produce many children] in your house [Prov. 31:10–31].
Your children will be like olive branches [C bringing much good] around your table [Mic. 4:4; Zech. 3:10].
4 This is how the man who ·respects [fears] the Lord [Prov. 1:7]
will be blessed.
5 May the Lord bless you from Mount Zion [C the location of the Temple];
may you ·enjoy [experience; L see] the ·good things [prosperity] of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
6 May you see your grandchildren.
Let there be peace in Israel.
A Prayer Against the Enemies
A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover].
129 ·They have treated me badly all my life [L Many are my foes from my youth].
(Let Israel ·repeat this [L say].)
2 ·They have treated me badly all my life [L Many are my foes from my youth],
but they have not ·defeated [overcome; prevailed over] me.
3 ·Like farmers plowing, they plowed over my back [L The plowers plowed my back],
making ·long wounds [L their furrows long].
4 But the Lord does what is right;
he has ·set me free from those [L cut the cords of] wicked people.
5 Let those who hate ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple]
be ·turned back in shame [L humiliated and turn back].
6 Let them be like the grass on the roof
that dries up before it has grown.
7 There is not enough of it ·to [L for the harvester to] fill a hand
or ·to make into a bundle [those who bind sheaves] to fill one’s arms.
8 Let those who pass by them not say,
“May the Lord bless you.
We bless you by the ·power [L name] of the Lord.”
A Prayer for Mercy
A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover].
130 Lord, ·I am in great trouble [L from the depths],
so I ·call out [pray] to you.
2 Lord, hear my voice;
·listen to my prayer for help [L let your ear pay attention to the sound of my supplication].
3 Lord, if you ·punished people for all their sins [L observed/watched/guarded against iniquity],
·no one would be left [L who could stand…?], Lord.
4 But you forgive ·us [L your people],
so you are ·respected [feared; Prov. 1:7].
5 I ·wait [hope] for the Lord ·to help me [L my soul hopes],
and I ·trust [hope in] his word.
6 I ·wait for the Lord to help me [hope for the Lord]
more than night watchmen wait for the ·dawn [morning],
more than night watchmen wait for the ·dawn [morning].
7 People of Israel, put your hope in the Lord
because he is ·loving [loyal]
and ·able to save [L with him is abundant redemption].
8 He will ·save [redeem] Israel
from all their ·sins [iniquities].
16 The six hundred ·Danites [L men who were of the sons/descendants of Dan] stood at the entrance gate, wearing their weapons of war. 17 The five spies went into the house and took the ·idol [carved image], the ·holy vest [ephod], the household idols, and the ·statue [cast-metal image]. The priest and the six hundred men armed ·for [L with weapons of] war stood by the entrance gate.
18 When the spies went into Micah’s house and took the [carved] image, the ·holy vest [ephod], the household idols, and the ·statue [cast-metal image], the priest asked them, “What are you doing?”
19 They answered, “Be quiet! ·Don’t say a word [L Put your hand over your mouth]. Come with us and be our father [C meaning an advisor or counselor; 17:10; Gen. 45:8] and priest. Is it better for you to be a priest for one man’s house or for a tribe and ·family group [clan] in Israel?” 20 This ·made the priest happy [L pleased the heart of the priest]. So he took the ·holy vest [ephod], the household idols [17:5], and the ·idol [carved image] and went with the ·Danites [people]. 21 They left Micah’s house, putting their little children, their animals, and everything they owned in front of them [C for protection in case of attack; Gen. 33:2–3].
22 When they had gone a little way from Micah’s house, the men who lived near Micah ·were called out [assembled] and caught up with them. 23 The men with Micah shouted at the ·Danites [L sons/descendants of Dan], who turned around and said to Micah, “What’s the matter with you? Why have you ·been called out to [assembled for a] fight?”
24 Micah answered, “You took my gods that I made and my priest. What do I have left? How can you ask me, ‘What’s the matter?’”
25 The ·Danites [L sons/descendants of Dan] answered, “·You should not argue with [or Don’t say another word to; L Don’t let your voice be heard among] us. Some of our ·angry [bitter] men might attack you, ·killing you [and you will lose your life] and your ·family [L household].” 26 Then the ·Danites [L sons/descendants of Dan] went on their way. Micah knew they were too strong for him, so he turned and went back home.
27 Then the Danites took what Micah had made and his priest and went on to Laish. They attacked those ·peaceful [quiet] and ·unsuspecting [secure] people and killed them with their swords and then burned the city. 28 There was no one to ·save [rescue; T deliver] the people of Laish. They lived too far from Sidon, and they had no dealings with anyone else. Laish was in a valley near Beth Rehob.
The people of Dan rebuilt the city and lived there. 29 They named the city Dan after their ancestor Dan, one of the sons of Israel; the city’s original name was Laish.
30 The ·people [L sons; descendants] of Dan set up the ·idol [carved image] in the city of Dan. Jonathan son of Gershom, Moses’ son, and his sons served as priests for the tribe of Dan until the ·land was captured [captivity of the land; time of the exile]. 31 The people of Dan set up the ·idols [carved images] Micah had made as long as the ·Holy Tent [Tabernacle; L House] of God was in Shiloh.
14 When the apostles who were still in Jerusalem heard that the people of Samaria [8:1] had ·accepted [received] the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them. 15 When Peter and John arrived, they prayed that the Samaritan believers might receive the Holy Spirit. 16 These people had [L only] been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, but the Holy Spirit had not yet ·come [L fallen] upon any of them. 17 Then, when ·the two apostles [L they] began ·laying [placing] their hands on the people [C a ritual of blessing and/or conferring of authority], they received the Holy Spirit.
18 Simon saw that the Spirit was given to people when the apostles ·laid [placed] their hands on them. So he offered the apostles money, 19 saying, “Give me also this power so that anyone on whom I ·lay [place] my hands will receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 Peter said to him, “·You and your money should both be destroyed [L May your silver perish with you], because you thought you could ·buy [get; obtain] God’s gift with money. 21 You ·cannot [L have no part or] share with us in this ·work [ministry; L thing; word] since your heart is not right before God. 22 ·Change your heart! Turn away from [L Repent of] this evil thing you have done, and pray to the Lord. Maybe he will forgive you for ·thinking this [L the intent of your heart]. 23 [L For] I see that you are full of ·bitter jealousy [L the gall/bile of bitterness; C a metaphor; gall is a bitter fluid; Deut. 29:18] and ·ruled by sin [L in bondage to wickedness/unrighteousness].”
24 Simon answered, “Both of you pray for me to the Lord so the things you have said will not happen to me.”
25 After ·Peter and John [L they] ·told the people what they had seen Jesus do [L testified; bore witness] and after they had spoken the ·message [word] of the Lord, they went back to Jerusalem. On the way, they went through many Samaritan ·towns [villages] and preached the ·Good News [Gospel] to the people.
More than Five Thousand Fed(A)
6 After this, Jesus went ·across [to the other side of] ·Lake [T the Sea of] Galilee (or, Lake Tiberias). 2 Many people followed him because they saw the ·miracles [L signs; 2:11] he did ·to heal [L for; on behalf of] the sick. 3 Jesus went up on a ·hill [or mountain] and sat down there with his ·followers [disciples]. 4 It was almost the time for the Jewish Passover Feast [C the annual festival that celebrates God’s rescue of Israel from Egypt; Ex. 12; John 2:13].
5 When Jesus ·looked up [L raised his eyes] and saw a large crowd coming toward him, he said to Philip [C one of the twelve disciples; 1:43], “Where can we buy enough bread for all these people to eat?” 6 (Jesus asked Philip this question to test him, because Jesus already knew what he ·planned [was going] to do.)
7 Philip answered [L him], “·Someone would have to work almost a year to buy enough bread [L Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not enough; C a denarius was a unit of money worth about a day’s wages] for each person to have only a little piece.”
8 Another one of his ·followers [disciples], Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, 9 “Here is a boy with five loaves of barley bread and two little fish, but ·that is not enough [L what are these…?] for so many people.”
10 Jesus said, “·Tell [L Make] the people to sit down.” There was plenty of grass there, and about five thousand men sat down there. 11 Then Jesus took the loaves of bread, ·thanked God [L gave thanks] for them, and ·gave [distributed] them to the people who were sitting there. He did the same with the fish, giving as much as the people wanted.
12 When they ·had all had enough to eat [L were filled/satisfied], Jesus said to his ·followers [disciples], “Gather the leftover ·pieces of fish and bread [L pieces] so that nothing is wasted.” 13 So they gathered up the pieces and filled twelve baskets with the pieces left from the five barley loaves [2 Kin. 4:42–44; C Jesus’ miracle surpasses that of Elisha].
14 When the people saw this ·miracle [L sign] that Jesus did, they said, “He must truly be the Prophet [1:21; C probably the “prophet like Moses” of Deut. 18:15–18] who is coming into the world.”
15 Jesus knew that the people ·planned [intended; were about] to come and take him by force and make him their king, so he ·left [withdrew] and went into the ·hills [or mountains] alone.
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