Book of Common Prayer
Praise God Who Helps the Weak
146 Praise the Lord!
My whole being, praise the Lord.
2 I will praise the Lord all my life.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.
3 Do not put your trust in princes
or other people, who cannot save you.
4 When people die, they are buried.
Then all of their plans come to an end.
5 Happy are those who are helped by the God of Jacob.
Their hope is in the Lord their God.
6 He made heaven and earth,
the sea and everything in it.
He remains loyal forever.
7 The Lord does what is fair for those who have been wronged.
He gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free.
8 The Lord gives sight to the blind.
The Lord lifts up people who are in trouble.
The Lord loves those who do right.
9 The Lord protects the foreigners.
He defends the orphans and widows.
But he overthrows the wicked.
10 The Lord will be King forever.
Jerusalem, your God is everlasting.
Praise the Lord!
Praise God Who Helps His People
147 Praise the Lord!
It is good to sing praises to our God.
It is good and pleasant to praise him.
2 The Lord rebuilds Jerusalem.
He brings back the scattered Israelites who were taken captive.
3 He heals the brokenhearted.
He bandages their wounds.
4 He counts the stars
and names each one.
5 Our Lord is great and very powerful.
There is no limit to what he knows.
6 The Lord defends those who are not proud.
But he throws the wicked to the ground.
7 Sing praises to the Lord.
Praise our God with harps.
8 He fills the sky with clouds.
He sends rain to the earth.
He makes grass grow on the hills.
9 He gives food to cattle
and to the little birds that call.
10 He is not pleased by the strength of a horse
or the power of a man.
11 The Lord is pleased with those who fear him,
with those who trust his love.
12 Jerusalem, praise the Lord.
Jerusalem, praise your God.
13 He makes your city gates strong.
He blesses the people inside.
14 He brings peace to your country.
He fills you with the finest grain.
15 He gives a command to the earth,
and it quickly obeys him.
16 He spreads the snow like wool.
He scatters the frost like ashes.
17 He throws down hail like rocks.
No one can stand the cold he sends.
18 Then he gives a command, and it melts.
He sends the breezes, and the waters flow.
19 He gave his word to Jacob.
He gave his laws and demands to Israel.
20 He didn’t do this for any other nation.
They don’t know his laws.
Praise the Lord!
Praise for God’s Goodness
111 Praise the Lord!
I will thank the Lord with all my heart
in the meeting of his good people.
2 The Lord does great things.
Those people who love them think about them.
3 What he does is glorious and splendid.
His goodness continues forever.
4 His miracles are unforgettable.
The Lord is kind and merciful.
5 He gives food to those who fear him.
He remembers his agreement forever.
6 He has shown his people his power
when he gave them the lands of other nations.
7 Everything he does is good and fair.
All his orders can be trusted.
8 They will continue forever.
They were made true and right.
9 He sets his people free.
He made his agreement everlasting.
He is holy and wonderful.
10 Wisdom begins with respect for the Lord.
Those who obey his orders have good understanding.
He should be praised forever.
Honest People Are Blessed
112 Praise the Lord!
Happy is the person who fears the Lord.
He loves what the Lord commands.
2 His descendants will be powerful in the land.
The children of honest people will be blessed.
3 His house will be full of wealth and riches.
His goodness will continue forever.
4 A light shines in the dark for honest people.
It shines for those who are good and kind and merciful.
5 It is good to be kind and generous.
Whoever is fair in his business
6 will never be defeated.
A good person will be remembered from now on.
7 He won’t be afraid of bad news.
He is safe because he trusts the Lord.
8 That person is confident. He will not be afraid.
He will look down on his enemies.
9 He gives freely to the poor.
The things he does are right and will continue forever.
He will be given great honor.
10 The wicked will see this and become angry.
They will grind their teeth in anger and then disappear.
The wishes of the wicked will come to nothing.
Praise for God’s Kindness
113 Praise the Lord!
Praise him, you servants of the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord.
2 The Lord’s name should be praised
now and forever.
3 The Lord’s name should be praised
from where the sun rises to where it sets.
4 The Lord is supreme over all the nations.
His glory reaches to the skies.
5 No one is like the Lord our God.
He rules from heaven.
6 He bends down to look
at the skies and the earth.
7 The Lord lifts the poor from the dirt.
He takes the helpless from the ashes.
8 And he seats them with princes,
the princes of his people.
9 He gives children to the woman who has none.
He makes her a happy mother.
Praise the Lord!
The Lord’s Complaint
6 Now hear what the Lord says:
“Get up; plead your case in front of the mountains.
Let the hills hear your story.
2 Mountains, listen to the Lord’s complaint.
Foundations of the earth, listen to the Lord.
The Lord has a complaint against his people.
He will prove that Israel is wrong.”
3 The Lord says, “My people, did I do something wrong to you?
How did I make you tired of me?
Tell me.
4 I brought you from the land of Egypt.
I freed you from slavery.
I sent Moses, Aaron and Miriam to you.
5 My people, remember
the evil plans of Balak king of Moab.
Remember what Balaam son of Beor told Balak.
Remember what happened from Acacia to Gilgal.
Then you will know the Lord does what is right!”
6 You say, “What can I bring with me
when I come before the Lord?
What can I bring
when I bow before God on high?
Should I come before the Lord with burnt offerings,
with year-old calves?
7 Will the Lord be pleased with 1,000 male sheep?
Will he be pleased with 10,000 rivers of oil?
Should I give my first child for the evil I have done?
Should I give my very own child for my sin?”
8 The Lord has told you what is good.
He has told you what he wants from you:
Do what is right to other people.
Love being kind to others.
And live humbly, trusting your God.
9 But it seems to me that God has given me and the other apostles the last place. We are like men sentenced to die. We are like a show for the whole world to see—angels and people. 10 We are fools for Christ’s sake. But you think you are very wise in Christ. We are weak, but you think you are strong. You receive honor, but we are hated. 11 Even now we still do not have enough to eat or drink or enough clothes. We are often beaten. We have no homes. 12 We work hard with our own hands for our food. People curse us, but we bless them. They hurt us, and we accept it. 13 They say evil things against us, but we say only kind things to them. Even today, we are treated as though we are the garbage of the world—the dirt of the earth.
14 I am not trying to make you feel ashamed. I am writing this to give you a warning as if you were my own dear children. 15 For though you may have 10,000 teachers in Christ, you do not have many fathers. Through the Good News I became your father in Christ Jesus. 16 So I beg you, please be like me.
Jesus Helps a Non-Jewish Woman
21 Jesus left that place and went to the area of Tyre and Sidon. 22 A Canaanite woman from that area came to Jesus. The woman cried out, “Lord, Son of David, please help me! My daughter has a demon, and she is suffering very much.”
23 But Jesus did not answer the woman. So the followers came to Jesus and begged him, “Tell the woman to go away. She is following us and shouting.”
24 Jesus answered, “God sent me only to the lost sheep, the people of Israel.”
25 Then the woman came to Jesus again. She bowed before him and said, “Lord, help me!”
26 Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and give it to the dogs.”
27 The woman said, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs eat the pieces of food that fall from their masters’ table.”
28 Then Jesus answered, “Woman, you have great faith! I will do what you asked me to do.” And at that moment the woman’s daughter was healed.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.