Book of Common Prayer
A Hymn About God’s Power
97 The Lord is king. Let the earth rejoice.
Faraway lands should be glad.
2 Thick, dark clouds surround him.
His kingdom is built on what is right and fair.
3 A fire goes before him
and burns up his enemies all around.
4 His lightning flashes in the sky.
When the people see it, they tremble.
5 The mountains melt like wax before the Lord.
He is Lord of all the earth.
6 The skies tell about his goodness.
And all the people see his glory.
7 Those who worship idols should be ashamed.
They brag about their false gods.
All the gods should worship the Lord.
8 When Jerusalem hears this, she is glad.
The towns of Judah rejoice.
They are happy because of your judgments, Lord.
9 You are the Lord Most High over all the earth.
You are supreme over all gods.
10 People who love the Lord should hate evil.
The Lord watches over those who follow him.
He frees them from the power of the wicked.
11 Light shines on those who do right.
Joy belongs to those who are honest.
12 Rejoice in the Lord, you who do right.
Praise his holy name.
God the Fair and Holy King
99 The Lord is king.
Let the nations shake with fear.
He sits between the gold creatures with wings.
Let the earth shake.
2 The Lord in Jerusalem is great.
He is supreme over all the nations.
3 Let them praise your name.
It is great, holy and to be feared.
4 The King is powerful and loves justice.
Lord, you made things fair.
You have done what is fair and right
for the people of Jacob.
5 Praise the Lord our God.
Worship at the Temple, his footstool.
He is holy.
6 Moses and Aaron were among his priests.
And Samuel was among his worshipers.
They called to the Lord,
and he answered them.
7 He spoke to them from the pillar of cloud.
They kept the rules and laws he gave them.
8 Lord our God, you answered them.
You showed them that you are a forgiving God.
But you punished them for their wrongs.
9 Praise the Lord our God.
Worship at his holy mountain.
The Lord our God is holy.
A Call to Praise God
A song of thanks.
100 Shout to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Serve the Lord with joy.
Come before him with singing.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
He made us, and we belong to him.
We are his people, the sheep he tends.
4 Come into his city with songs of thanksgiving.
Come into his courtyards with songs of praise.
Thank him, and praise his name.
5 The Lord is good. His love continues forever.
His loyalty continues from now on.
God Will Pay Back His Enemies
94 The Lord is a God who gives people what they should get.
God, show your greatness and punish!
2 Rise up, Judge of the earth.
Give the proud what they should get.
3 How long will the wicked be happy?
How long, Lord?
4 They are full of proud words.
Those who do evil brag about what they have done.
5 Lord, they crush your people.
They make your children suffer.
6 They kill widows and foreigners.
They murder orphans.
7 They say, “The Lord doesn’t see.
The God of Jacob doesn’t notice.”
8 You stupid ones among the people, pay attention.
You fools, when will you understand?
9 Can’t the creator of ears hear?
Can’t the maker of eyes see?
10 Won’t the one who corrects nations punish you?
Doesn’t the teacher of men know everything?
11 The Lord knows what people think.
He knows they are just a puff of wind.
12 Lord, those you correct are happy.
You give them your teachings.
13 You give them rest from times of trouble
until a grave is dug for the wicked.
14 The Lord won’t leave his people.
He will not give up his children.
15 Judgment will again be fair.
And all who are honest will follow it.
16 Who will help me fight against the wicked?
Who will stand with me against those who do evil?
17 If the Lord had not helped me,
I would have died soon.
18 I said, “I am about to be overwhelmed.”
But, Lord, your love kept me safe.
19 I was very worried.
But you comforted me and made me happy.
20 Crooked leaders cannot be your friends.
They use the law to cause suffering.
21 They join forces against people who do right.
They sentence to death the innocent.
22 But the Lord protects me like a strong, walled city.
My God is the rock of my protection.
23 God will pay them back for their sins.
He will destroy them for their evil.
The Lord our God will destroy them.
A Call to Praise and Obedience
95 Come, let’s sing for joy to the Lord.
Let’s shout praises to the Rock who saves us.
2 Let’s come to him with thanksgiving.
Let’s sing songs to him.
3 The Lord is the great God.
He is the great King over all gods.
4 The deepest places on earth are his.
And the highest mountains belong to him.
5 The sea is his because he made it.
He created the land with his own hands.
6 Come, let’s bow down and worship him.
Let’s kneel before the Lord who made us.
7 He is our God.
And we are the people he takes care of
and the sheep that he tends.
Today listen to what he says:
8 “Do not be stubborn, as your ancestors were at Meribah,
as they were that day at Massah in the desert.
9 There your ancestors tested me.
They put me to the test even though they saw what I did.
10 I was angry with those people for 40 years.
I said, ‘They are not loyal to me.
They have not understood my ways.’
11 I was angry and made a promise,
‘They will never enter my land of rest.’”
The Lord’s Word Against Israel
4 People of Israel, listen to the Lord’s message.
The Lord says he has this
against you who live in this country:
“The people are not true, not loyal to God.
They do not even know him.
2 They curse. They lie. They kill. They steal.
They are guilty of adultery.
They break all my laws.
One murder follows another.
3 Because of this the land dries up,
and all its people are dying off.
Even the wild animals are dying.
Even the birds of the air and the fish of the sea are dying.
God’s Case Against the Priests
4 “No one should accuse
or blame another person.
Don’t blame the people, you priests,
when they quarrel with you.
5 You will be ruined one of these days.
And your prophets will be ruined with you one of these nights.
I will also destroy your mother, the nation of Israel.
6 My people will be destroyed
because they have no knowledge.
You priests have refused to learn.
So I will refuse to let you be priests to me.
You have forgotten the teachings of your God.
So I will reject your children.
7 The more priests there are,
the more they sin against me.
I will take away their honor
and give them nothing but shame.
8 The priests live off the sin offerings of the people.
So they want the people to sin more and more.
9 The priests are as wrong as the people.
I will punish them both for what they have done.
I will repay them for the wrong they have done.
10 “They will eat
but not have enough.
They will sin sexually with the prostitutes.
But they will not have children.
This is because they left the Lord.
Paul Goes to Jerusalem
21 We all said good-bye to them and left. We sailed straight to Cos island. The next day, we reached Rhodes, and from Rhodes we went to Patara. 2 There we found a ship that was going to Phoenicia. We went aboard and sailed away. 3 We sailed near the island of Cyprus. We could see it to the north, but we sailed on to Syria. We stopped at Tyre because the ship needed to unload its cargo there. 4 We found some followers in Tyre, and we stayed with them for seven days. Through the Holy Spirit they warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem. 5 When we finished our visit, we left and continued our trip. All the followers, even the women and children, came outside the city with us. We all knelt down on the beach and prayed. 6 Then we said good-bye and got on the ship. The followers went back home.
7 We continued our trip from Tyre and arrived at Ptolemais. We greeted the believers there and stayed with them for a day. 8 We left Ptolemais and went to the city of Caesarea. There we went into the home of Philip and stayed with him. Philip had the work of telling the Good News. He was one of the seven helpers.[a] 9 He had four unmarried daughters who had the gift of prophesying. 10 After we had been there for some time, a prophet named Agabus arrived from Judea. 11 He came to us and borrowed Paul’s belt. Then he used the belt to tie his own hands and feet. He said, “The Holy Spirit says, ‘This is how the Jews in Jerusalem will tie up the man who wears this belt. Then they will give him to the non-Jewish people.’”
12 We all heard these words. So we and the people there begged Paul not to go to Jerusalem. 13 But he said, “Why are you crying and making me so sad? I am ready to be tied up in Jerusalem. And I am ready to die for the Lord Jesus!”
14 We could not persuade him to stay away from Jerusalem. So we stopped begging him and said, “We pray that what the Lord wants will be done.”
Jesus Heals a Sick Man
12 One time Jesus was in a town where a very sick man lived. The man was covered with a harmful skin disease. When he saw Jesus, he bowed before Jesus and begged him, “Lord, heal me. I know you can if you want to.”
13 Jesus said, “I want to. Be healed!” And Jesus touched the man. Immediately the disease disappeared. 14 Then Jesus said, “Don’t tell anyone about what happened. But go show yourself to the priest.[a] And offer a gift to God for your healing as Moses commanded.[b] This will prove to everyone that you are healed.”
15 But the news about Jesus was spreading more and more. Many people came to hear Jesus and to be healed of their sicknesses. 16 But Jesus often slipped away to other places to be alone so that he could pray.
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
17 One day Jesus was teaching the people. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were there, too. They had come from every town in Galilee and from Judea and Jerusalem. The Lord was giving Jesus the power to heal people. 18 There was a man who was paralyzed. Some men were carrying him on a mat. They tried to bring him in and put him down before Jesus. 19 But because there were so many people there, they could not find a way to Jesus. So the men went up on the roof and made a hole in the ceiling. They lowered the mat so that the paralyzed man was lying right before Jesus. 20 Jesus saw that these men believed. So he said to the sick man, “Friend, your sins are forgiven.”
21 The Jewish teachers of the law and the Pharisees thought to themselves, “Who is this man? He is saying things that are against God! Only God can forgive sins.”
22 But Jesus knew what they were thinking. He said, “Why do you have thoughts like that in your hearts? 23 Which is easier: to tell this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Stand up and walk’? 24 But I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “I tell you, stand up! Take your mat and go home.”
25 Then the man stood up before the people there. He picked up his mat and went home, praising God. 26 All the people were fully amazed and began to praise God. They were filled with much respect and said, “Today we have seen amazing things!”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.