Book of Common Prayer
QOPH
145 With my whole being, I call to you,
‘Answer me, Lord!
I will obey your commands.’
146 I say to you, ‘Save me,
so that I can obey your rules.’
147 I wake up before dawn
and I cry to you for help.
I trust your promises to be true.
148 I am awake during each night,
and I think carefully about your message.
149 You love me with a faithful love,
so please listen to me!
Lord, do what is right,
and keep my life safe.
150 People who love to do evil things
are ready to attack me.
They have no interest in your Law.
151 Lord, you are near to me,
and I can trust all your commands.
152 I have studied your teaching since long ago.
I know that you have made it to remain for ever.
RESH
153 Look at my pain and trouble!
Please save me,
because I do not forget your Law.
154 Stand with me and make me free.
Keep me safe,
as you have promised to do.
155 Wicked people do not obey your rules,
so their lives will never be safe.
156 Lord, you are very kind.
Please do what is right,
and keep my life safe!
157 I have many enemies
who are ready to hurt me.
But I do not turn away from your teaching.
158 When I see people who have turned against you,
they make me very upset.
They do not obey your commands.
159 See how I love your teaching, Lord!
Please keep my life safe,
because of your faithful love for your people.
160 I can trust that your message is true.
All your righteous rules will continue for ever.
SHIN
161 Rulers want to hurt me for no good reason.
But it is your message that I respect with fear.
162 Your teaching makes me very happy.
I am like someone who has found great riches.
163 I hate all kinds of lies,
but I love your Law.
164 I praise you seven times each day,
because of your righteous rules.
165 People who love your Law have peace in their minds.
Nothing will cause them to fall down.
166 Lord, I trust you to save me,
as I obey your commands.
167 I will continue to obey your rules,
because I love them so much.
168 I obey your commands and your teaching,
because you know everything that I do.
TAW
169 Listen to me, Lord,
as I call to you for help!
Help me to understand your word.
170 I ask you to be kind to me,
so please listen!
Keep me safe,
as you have promised to do.
171 I will always speak aloud to praise you,
because you teach me your rules.
172 I will sing about your message,
because all your commands are righteous.
173 Please be ready to help me,
because I choose to obey your teaching.
174 Lord, I am waiting for you to save me.
Please do it soon!
Your Law makes me very happy.
175 Keep my life safe,
so that I can praise you.
Use your laws to give me help.
176 I have left the right way.
Come to make me safe again,
like a shepherd looks for his lost sheep.
Help me, your servant,
because I have not forgotten your commands.
A song to sing as we climb.
A happy family
128 If people respect the Lord
and they obey his commands,
God has blessed them!
2 You will eat the food that you have worked hard to grow.
You will have everything that you need.
You will be happy!
3 Your wife will be like a vine that grows in your home,
and it gives many grapes.
Your children will sit around your table,
like the branches of an olive tree that are around you.[a]
4 Yes, if a man respects the Lord,
that is how God blesses him.
5 The Lord rules from Zion,
and I pray that he will bless you.[b]
Then you will see that Jerusalem is a good place to live in
for as long as you live.
6 I pray that you will live to see your grandchildren.
May Israel have peace!
A song to sing as we climb.
129 Since I was young, my enemies have often attacked me.
Israel's people now answer:
2 ‘They have often attacked me since I was young,
but they have not won against me.
3 They hit my back with whips.
They made long marks on it,
like farmers who are ploughing their fields.
4 But the Lord is righteous.
He has made me free from those cruel people.’
5 I pray that everyone who hates Zion's people will be ashamed.
Then they will have to turn around and go back.
6 May they be useless, like grass that grows on a roof.
It dies before it can grow tall!
7 A gardener cannot use it.
A farmer will not keep it.[c]
8 People that go past will not say to them,
‘We will ask the Lord to bless you!’
Nobody will say to those who hate Zion's people,
‘Receive our blessing in the name of the Lord!’
A song to sing as we climb.
I have great trouble
130 Lord, I am crying aloud to you
because I have great trouble.
2 My Lord, please listen to me!
I am asking you to be kind and help me.
3 Lord, if you should write down all our sins,
nobody could stand as a righteous person.
4 But you forgive people for their sins,
and so we give you honour.
5 I will wait for the Lord to help me.
I trust him completely.
So I wait for him to do what he has promised.
6 I want my Lord to come and help me,
more than a guard at night wants the morning to come.
Yes, I want my Lord to come quickly, even more than that.
7 Israel's people, trust the Lord to help you.
The Lord has faithful love for his people.
He is always ready to save them.
8 He will save Israel's people from all their sins.
Samuel speaks for the last time
12 Samuel said to all the Israelites, ‘I have done everything that you asked me to do. I have given you a king to rule over you. 2 Listen! You now have a king to be your leader, instead of me. I am old and my hair is grey. My sons are here with you. I have been your leader from the time when I was young until now. 3 Look at me. I stand here where the Lord and his chosen king can see me. Speak now if I have done any wrong thing against you. Have I taken anyone's cow or anyone's donkey? Have I cheated anyone? Have I been cruel to anyone? Have I received bribes from anyone to say that they are not guilty? If I have done any of those things, tell me! Then I will pay back my debt.’
4 The Israelites answered, ‘You have not cheated us. You have not been cruel to us. You have not robbed any of us.’
5 Samuel said to them, ‘The Lord and his chosen king have heard what you have said today. They know that I have not done a wrong thing against any of you.’
The people replied, ‘Yes, the Lord knows what we have said.’
6 Then Samuel said to the people, ‘The Lord chose Moses and Aaron to lead his people. He brought your ancestors out from Egypt.
16 Now stand where you are and watch! The Lord will do a great thing and you will see it. 17 This is the time of the wheat harvest.[a] I will ask the Lord to send thunder and rain. Then you will understand that you have done an evil thing against the Lord. You asked for a king to rule over you.’
18 Samuel prayed to the Lord. That same day the Lord sent thunder and rain. All the people became afraid of the Lord and of Samuel. 19 They said to Samuel, ‘Please pray to the Lord your God for us. We do not want to die! We realize that we have done many bad things in past times. Now we have added to those sins when we asked to have a king.’
20 Samuel said to the people, ‘Do not be afraid. It is true that you have done an evil thing. But do not turn away from the Lord. Instead, serve him with all your strength. 21 Do not worship idols. They are useless things. They cannot help you. They will never save you. 22 The Lord was pleased to choose you to be his own people. He will show that he is faithful and he will not leave you alone. 23 As for me, I will not stop praying for you. That would be a sin against the Lord. I will teach you how to live in the right way. 24 But you must respect and obey the Lord. You must serve him faithfully with all your strength. Remember the great things that he has done for you. 25 If you continue to do evil things, that will be the end of you and your king.’
14 The apostles who were in Jerusalem heard about all this. They heard that many people in Samaria had believed God's word. So they sent Peter and John to Samaria. 15 When these two apostles arrived in Samaria, they prayed for the people who now believed in Jesus. They asked God to give the new believers the Holy Spirit. 16 The Holy Spirit had not yet come to any of these people. When Philip had baptized them, he had just used the name of the Lord Jesus. 17 So Peter and John put their hands on the head of each believer, and they each received the Holy Spirit.
18 Simon saw that God gave the Holy Spirit to people when the apostles put their hands on them. So he said to Peter and John, ‘Here is some money for you. 19 Please give me this same power. I want to put my hands on other people, so that they will receive the Holy Spirit.’
20 Peter answered Simon, ‘I pray that God will destroy you and your money! You think that you can buy this gift with your money! It is very wrong for you to think that. It is God who gives that gift. 21 You cannot do the work which we are doing. God knows that you are not thinking the right things. 22 You must turn away from those very bad thoughts. Turn to the Lord and pray that he will forgive you. Then perhaps he will forgive you for these bad thoughts. 23 You are very upset because you are jealous. I can see that sin rules your life.’
24 Then Simon said to Peter and John, ‘Please, pray to the Lord God for me. Then none of these bad things that you have spoken about will happen to me.’
25 Peter and John told the people about the Lord Jesus and they spoke God's message to them. Then they returned to Jerusalem. On their way, they went through many villages in Samaria and they told the people the good news about Jesus.
Pilate asks Jesus questions
23 All the people at the meeting stood up to leave. They took Jesus to stand in front of Pilate.[a] 2 Then they all started to tell Pilate that Jesus had done bad things. They said, ‘We found this man when he was telling our people wrong things. He said that we must not pay taxes to the Roman government. He also said that he himself is the Messiah, that is, a king.’
3 Pilate asked Jesus, ‘Are you the king of the Jews?’ Jesus replied, ‘You have said it.’
4 Pilate then said to the leaders of the priests and to all the crowd of people, ‘I cannot find any reason to say that this man is guilty.’ 5 But they continued to speak strongly to him. They said, ‘He makes the people angry and ready to fight against the government. He has taught these bad things everywhere in Judea. He started in Galilee and now he has come to Jerusalem.’
6 When Pilate heard this, he asked if Jesus came from Galilee. 7 He discovered that he was from the country where Herod ruled. So Pilate sent Jesus to stand in front of Herod. Herod was also in Jerusalem at that time.[b]
Herod asks Jesus questions
8 Herod was very happy to see Jesus. He had heard about him and he had wanted to meet him for a long time. He wanted to see Jesus do something to show God's power. 9 He asked Jesus many questions, but Jesus did not answer any of them. 10 The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law stood there. They were shouting out that Jesus had done many bad things. 11 Then Herod and his soldiers started to laugh at Jesus. They were saying things to make him feel bad. They put a beautiful coat on him. Then they sent him back to Pilate. 12 That same day, Herod and Pilate became friends. Until then, they had not liked each other.
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