Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer to Bring Israel Back
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies of the Agreement.” A song of Asaph.
80 Shepherd of Israel, listen to us.
You lead the people of Joseph like a flock.
You sit on your throne between the gold creatures with wings.
Show your greatness 2 to the people of Ephraim, Benjamin and Manasseh.
Use your strength.
Come and save us.
3 God, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
4 Lord God of heaven’s armies,
how long will you be angry
at the prayers of your people?
5 You have fed your people tears.
You have made them drink many tears.
6 You made those around us fight over us.
Our enemies make fun of us.
7 God of heaven’s armies, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
8 You brought us out of Egypt as if we were a vine.
You forced out other nations and planted us in the land.
9 You cleared the land for us.
Like a vine, we took root and filled the land.
10 We covered the mountains with our shade.
We had limbs like the mighty cedar tree.
11 Our branches reached the Mediterranean Sea.
And our shoots went to the Euphrates River.
12 So why did you pull down our walls?
Now everyone who passes by steals from us.
13 Like wild pigs they walk over us.
Like wild animals they feed on us.
14 God of heaven’s armies, come back.
Look down from heaven and see.
Take care of us, your vine.
15 You planted this shoot with your own hands.
You raised and strengthened this child.
16 Now it is cut down and burned with fire.
You destroyed us by your angry looks.
17 Help the man you have chosen.
Make this human being strong for your service.
18 Then we will not turn away from you.
Give us life again, and we will call to you for help.
19 Lord God of heaven’s armies, take us back.
Show us your kindness so we can be saved.
Remembering God’s Help
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A song of Asaph.
77 I cry out loud to God.
I call to God, and he will hear me.
2 I looked for the Lord on the day of trouble.
All night long I reached out my hands.
I cannot be comforted.
3 When I remember God, I become upset.
When I think, I become afraid. Selah
4 You keep my eyes from closing.
I am too upset to say anything.
5 I keep thinking about the old days,
the years of long ago.
6 At night I remember my songs.
I think, and I ask myself:
7 “Will the Lord reject us forever?
Will he never be kind to us again?
8 Is his love gone forever?
Has he stopped speaking for all time?
9 Has God forgotten mercy?
Is he too angry to pity us?” Selah
10 Then I said, “This is what makes me sad:
For years the power of God Most High was with us.”
11 I remember what the Lord did.
I remember the miracles you did long ago.
12 I think about all the things you did.
I think about what you have done.
13 God, your ways are holy.
No god is as great as our God.
14 You are the God who did miracles.
You showed people your power.
15 By your power you have saved your people,
the descendants of Jacob and Joseph. Selah
16 God, the waters saw you.
They saw you and became afraid.
The deep waters shook with fear.
17 The clouds poured down their rain.
The sky thundered.
Your lightning flashed back and forth.
18 Your thunder sounded in the whirlwind.
Lightning lit up the world.
The earth trembled and shook.
19 You made a way through the sea
and paths through the deep waters.
But your footprints were not seen.
20 You led your people like a flock of sheep.
You led them by using Moses and Aaron.
The Nation Cries for Jerusalem
A song of Asaph.
79 God, nations have come against your people.
They have ruined your holy Temple.
They have turned Jerusalem into ruins.
2 They have given the bodies of your servants
as food to the wild birds.
They have given the bodies of those who worship you
to the wild animals.
3 They have spilled blood like water
all around Jerusalem.
No one was left to bury the dead.
4 We are a bad joke to the other nations.
They laugh and make fun of us.
5 Lord, how long will this last? Will you be angry forever?
How long will your jealousy burn like a fire?
6 Be angry with the nations that do not know you.
Be angry with the kingdoms that do not honor you.
7 They have destroyed the people of Jacob.
Those nations have destroyed the people’s land.
8 Don’t punish us for the sins of our ancestors.
Show your mercy to us soon.
We are helpless!
9 God our Savior, help us
so people will praise you.
Save us and forgive our sins
so people will honor you.
10 Why should the nations say,
“Where is their God?”
Tell the other nations in our presence
that you punish those who kill your servants.
11 Hear the moans of the prisoners.
Use your great power
to save those sentenced to die.
12 Repay those around us seven times over
for their insults to you, Lord.
13 We are your people, the sheep of your flock.
We will thank you always.
Forever and ever we will praise you.
Samuel’s Birth
1 There was a man named Elkanah son of Jeroham. He was from Ramathaim in the mountains of Ephraim. Elkanah was from the family of Zuph. (Jeroham was Elihu’s son. Elihu was Tohu’s son. And Tohu was the son of Zuph from the family group of Ephraim.) 2 Elkanah had two wives. One was named Hannah, and the other was named Peninnah. Peninnah had children, but Hannah had none.
3 Every year Elkanah left his town Ramah and went up to Shiloh. There he worshiped the Lord of heaven’s armies and offered sacrifices to him. Shiloh was where Hophni and Phinehas served as priests of the Lord. They were the sons of Eli. 4 When Elkanah offered sacrifices, he always gave a share of the meat to his wife Peninnah. He also gave shares of the meat to her sons and daughters. 5 But Elkanah always gave a special share of the meat to Hannah. He did this because he loved Hannah and because the Lord had made Hannah unable to have children. 6 Peninnah would upset Hannah and make her feel bad. She did this because the Lord had made Hannah unable to have children. 7 This happened every year when they went up to the Tent of the Lord at Shiloh. Peninnah would upset Hannah until Hannah would cry and not eat anything. 8 Her husband Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, why are you crying? Why won’t you eat? Why are you sad? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?”
9 Once, after they had eaten their meal in Shiloh, Hannah got up. Now Eli the priest was sitting on a chair near the entrance to the Lord’s Holy Tent. 10 Hannah was very sad. She cried much and prayed to the Lord. 11 She made a promise. She said, “Lord of heaven’s armies, see how bad I feel. Remember me! Don’t forget me. If you will give me a son, I will give him back to you all his life. And no one will ever use a razor to cut his hair.”[a]
12 While Hannah kept praying, Eli watched her mouth. 13 She was praying in her heart. Her lips moved, but her voice was not heard. So Eli thought she was drunk. 14 He said to her, “Stop getting drunk! Throw away your wine!”
15 Hannah answered, “No, master, I have not drunk any wine or beer. I am a woman who is deeply troubled. I was telling the Lord about all my problems. 16 Don’t think of me as an evil woman. I have been praying because of my many troubles and much sadness.”
17 Eli answered, “Go in peace. May the God of Israel give you what you asked of him.”
18 Hannah said, “I want to be pleasing to you always.” Then she left and ate something. She was not sad anymore.
19 Early the next morning Elkanah’s family got up and worshiped the Lord. Then they went back home to Ramah. Elkanah had intimate relations with his wife Hannah. And the Lord remembered her. 20 So Hannah became pregnant, and in time she gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel.[b] She said, “His name is Samuel because I asked the Lord for him.”
Luke Writes Another Book
1 To Theophilus,
The first book I wrote was about everything that Jesus did and taught. 2 I wrote about the whole life of Jesus, from the beginning until the day he was taken up into heaven. Before this, Jesus talked to the apostles he had chosen. With the help of the Holy Spirit, Jesus told them what they should do. 3 After his death, he showed himself to them and proved in many ways that he was alive. The apostles saw Jesus during the 40 days after he was raised from death. He spoke to them about the kingdom of God. 4 Once when he was eating with them, he told them not to leave Jerusalem. He said, “The Father has made you a promise which I told you about before. Wait here to receive this promise. 5 John baptized people with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Jesus Is Taken Up into Heaven
6 The apostles were all together. They asked Jesus, “Lord, are you at this time going to give the kingdom back to Israel?”
7 Jesus said to them, “The Father is the only One who has the authority to decide dates and times. These things are not for you to know. 8 But the Holy Spirit will come to you. Then you will receive power. You will be my witnesses—in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world.”
9 After he said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up. A cloud hid him from their sight. 10 As he was going, they were looking into the sky. Suddenly, two men wearing white clothes stood beside them. 11 They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing here looking into the sky? You saw Jesus taken away from you into heaven. He will come back in the same way you saw him go.”
A New Apostle Is Chosen
12 Then they went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. (This mountain is about half a mile from Jerusalem.) 13 When they entered the city, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon (known as the Zealot), and Judas son of James were there. 14 They all continued praying together. Some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers were also there with the apostles.
God Sends His Son
9 Then Jesus told the people this story: “A man planted a vineyard. The man leased the land to some farmers. Then he went away for a long time. 10 Later, it was time for the grapes to be picked. So the man sent a servant to those farmers to get his share of the grapes. But they beat the servant and sent him away with nothing. 11 Then he sent another servant. They beat this servant too. They showed no respect for him and sent him away with nothing. 12 So the man sent a third servant. The farmers hurt this servant badly and threw him out. 13 The owner of the vineyard said, ‘What will I do now? I will send my son whom I love very much. Maybe they will respect him!’ 14 When they saw the son, they said to each other, ‘This is the owner’s son. This vineyard will be his. If we kill him, then it will be ours!’ 15 So the farmers threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What will the owner of this vineyard do? 16 He will come and kill those farmers! Then he will give the vineyard to other farmers.”
The people heard this story. They said, “No! Let this never happen!”
17 But Jesus looked at them and said, “Then what does this verse mean:
‘The stone that the builders did not want
became the cornerstone’? Psalm 118:22
18 Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken. If that stone falls on you, it will crush you!”
19 The teachers of the law and the priests heard this story that Jesus told. They knew the story was about them. So they wanted to arrest Jesus at once. But they were afraid of what the people would do.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.