Book of Common Prayer
145 Lord, I call to you with all my heart.
Answer me,
and I will keep your demands.
146 I call to you. Save me
so I can obey your rules.
147 I wake up early in the morning and cry out.
I trust your word.
148 I stay awake all night
so I can think about your promises.
149 Listen to me because of your love.
Lord, give me life by your laws.
150 Those who love evil are near.
They are far from your teachings.
151 But, Lord, you are also near.
And all your commands are true.
152 Long ago I learned from your rules
that you made them to continue forever.
153 See my suffering and save me
because I have not forgotten your teachings.
154 Argue my case and save me.
Let me live by your promises.
155 Wicked people are far from being saved
because they do not want to obey your demands.
156 Lord, you are very kind.
Give me life by your laws.
157 Many enemies are after me.
But I have not rejected your rules.
158 I see those traitors, and I hate them
because they do not obey what you say.
159 See how I love your orders.
Lord, give me life by your love.
160 Your words are true from the start.
And all your laws will be fair forever.
161 Leaders attack me for no reason.
But I fear your law in my heart.
162 I am as happy over your promises
as if I had found a great treasure.
163 I hate and despise lies.
But I love your teachings.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
for your fair laws.
165 Those who love your teachings will find true peace.
Nothing will defeat them.
166 I am waiting for you to save me, Lord.
I will obey your commands.
167 I keep your rules.
I love them very much.
168 I keep your orders and rules.
You know everything I do.
169 Hear my cry to you, Lord.
Let your word help me understand.
170 Listen to my prayer.
Save me as you promised.
171 Let me speak your praise.
You have taught me your demands.
172 Let me sing about your promises.
All your commands are fair.
173 Always be ready to help me
because I have chosen to obey your commands.
174 I want you to save me, Lord.
I love your teachings.
175 Let me live so I can praise you.
Your laws will help me.
176 I have wandered like a lost sheep.
Look for your servant because I have not forgotten your commands.
The Happy Home
A song for going up to worship.
128 Happy are those who respect the Lord
and obey him.
2 You will enjoy what you work for.
You will be blessed with good things.
3 Your wife will give you many children.
She will be like a vine that produces a lot of fruit.
Your children will bring you much good.
They will be like olive branches that produce many olives.
4 This is how the man who respects the Lord
will be blessed.
5 May the Lord bless you from Mount Zion.
May you enjoy the good things of Jerusalem all 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.
129 They have treated me badly all my life.
(Let Israel repeat this.)
2 They have treated me badly all my life.
But they have not defeated me.
3 Like farmers plowing, they plowed over my back,
making long wounds.
4 But the Lord does what is right.
He has set me free from those wicked people.
5 Let those who hate Jerusalem
be turned back in shame.
6 Let them be like the grass on the roof.
It dries up before it has grown.
7 There is not enough of it to fill a man’s hand
or to make into a bundle to fill his arms.
8 Let those who pass by them not say,
“May the Lord bless you.
We bless you by the power of the Lord.”
A Prayer for Mercy
A song for going up to worship.
130 Lord, I am in great trouble.
So I call out to you for help.
2 Lord, hear my voice.
Listen to my prayer for help.
3 Lord, if you punished people for all their sins,
no one would be left.
4 But you forgive us.
So you are respected.
5 I wait for the Lord to help me.
I trust his word.
6 I wait for the Lord to help me
more than night watchmen wait for the dawn,
more than night watchmen wait for the dawn.
7 People of Israel, put your hope in the Lord
because he is loving
and able to save.
8 He will save Israel
from all their sins.
Jerusalem Will Be Saved
12 This message is the word of the Lord to Israel. The Lord stretched out the skies. He laid the foundations of the earth. He put man’s spirit in him. And the Lord says this: 2 “I will make Jerusalem like a cup of poison to the nations around her. They will come and attack Jerusalem and Judah. 3 One day all the nations on earth will come together to attack Jerusalem. But I will make Jerusalem like a heavy rock. Anyone who tries to move it will get hurt. 4 At that time I will scare every horse. And its rider will panic,” says the Lord. “I will watch over Judah. But I will blind all the horses of the enemies. 5 Then the leaders of Judah will say to themselves, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong. This is because the Lord of heaven’s armies is their God.’
6 “At that time I will make the leaders of Judah like a fire burning a stack of wood. They will be like a fire burning straw. They will destroy all the people around them left and right. But Jerusalem will remain safe.
7 “The Lord will save the people of Judah first. Then the people in Jerusalem, David’s city, won’t have more honor than Judah. 8 At that time the Lord will protect the people in Jerusalem. Then even the weakest of them will be strong like David. And the family of David will be like God. They will be like an angel of the Lord leading the people. 9 At that time I will go to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.
Crying for the One They Stabbed
10 “I will give David’s family and people in Jerusalem a spirit of kindness and mercy. They will look at me, the one they have stabbed. And they will cry like someone crying over the death of an only child. They will be as sad as someone who has lost a firstborn son.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ, God has given us every spiritual blessing in heaven. 4 In Christ, he chose us before the world was made. In his love he chose us to be his holy people—people without blame before him. 5 And before the world was made, God decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. That was what he wanted and what pleased him. 6 This brings praise to God because of his wonderful grace. God gave that grace to us freely, in Christ, the One he loves. 7 In Christ we are set free by the blood of his death. And so we have forgiveness of sins because of God’s rich grace. 8 God gave us that grace fully and freely. God, with full wisdom and understanding, 9 let us know his secret purpose. This was what God wanted, and he planned to do it through Christ. 10 His goal was to carry out his plan when the right time came. He planned that all things in heaven and on earth would be joined together in Christ as the head.
11 In Christ we were chosen to be God’s people. God had already chosen us to be his people, because that is what he wanted. And God is the One who makes everything agree with what he decides and wants. 12 We are the first people who hoped in Christ. And we were chosen so that we would bring praise to God’s glory. 13 So it is with you. You heard the true teaching—the Good News about your salvation. When you heard it, you believed in Christ. And in Christ, God put his special mark on you by giving you the Holy Spirit that he had promised. 14 That Holy Spirit is the guarantee that we will get what God promised for his people. This will bring full freedom to the people who belong to God, to bring praise to God’s glory.
Zacchaeus
19 Jesus was going through the city of Jericho. 2 In Jericho there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a wealthy, very important tax collector. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but he was too short to see above the crowd. 4 He ran ahead to a place where he knew Jesus would come. He climbed a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus. 5 When Jesus came to that place, he looked up and saw Zacchaeus in the tree. He said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down! I must stay at your house today.”
6 Zacchaeus came down quickly. He was pleased to have Jesus in his house. 7 All the people saw this and began to complain, “Look at the kind of man Jesus stays with. Zacchaeus is a sinner!”
8 But Zacchaeus said to the Lord, “I will give half of my money to the poor. If I have cheated anyone, I will pay that person back four times more!”
9 Jesus said, “Salvation has come to this house today. This man truly belongs to the family of Abraham. 10 The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.