Book of Common Prayer
To the director: With stringed instruments. A song of David.
61 God, hear my cry for help.
Listen to my prayer.
2 From a faraway land I call to you for help.
I feel so weak and helpless!
Carry me to a high rock
where no one can reach me.
3 You are my place of safety,
a strong tower that protects me from my enemies.
4 I want to live in your tent[a] forever.
I want to hide where you can protect me. Selah
5 God, you heard what I promised to give you,
but everything your worshipers have comes from you.
6 Give the king a long life.
Let him live forever!
7 Let him rule in your presence forever.
Protect him with your faithful love.
8 Then I will praise your name forever.
Every day I will do what I promised.
To the director, Jeduthun.[b] A song of David.
62 I must calm down and turn to God;
only he can rescue me.
2 He is my Rock, the only one who can save me.
He is my high place of safety, where no army can defeat me.
3 How long will you people attack me?
Do you all want to kill me?
I am like a leaning wall,
like a fence ready to fall.
4 You want only to destroy me,
to bring me down from my important position.
It makes you happy to tell lies about me.
In public, you say nice things,
but in private, you curse me. Selah
5 I must calm down and turn to God;
he is my only hope.
6 He is my Rock, the only one who can save me.
He is my high place of safety, where no army can defeat me.
7 My victory and honor come from God.
He is the mighty Rock, where I am safe.
8 People, always put your trust in God!
Tell him all your problems.
God is our place of safety. Selah
9 People cannot really help.
You cannot depend on them.
Compared to God, they are nothing—
no more than a gentle puff of air!
10 Don’t trust in your power to take things by force.
Don’t think you will gain anything by stealing.
And if you become wealthy,
don’t put your trust in riches.
11 God says there is one thing you can really depend on, and I believe it:
“Strength comes from God!”
12 My Lord, your love is real.
You reward all people for what they do.
To the director: A praise song of David.
68 God, get up and scatter your enemies!
May all your enemies run from you.
2 May your enemies be scattered
like smoke blown away by the wind.
May your enemies be destroyed
like wax melting in a fire.
3 But let good people be happy.
Let them gather before God and enjoy themselves together.
4 Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!
Prepare the way for the one who rides on the clouds.
His name is Yah.[a]
Worship before him with joy.
5 God, who lives in his holy palace, is a father to orphans,
and he takes care of widows.
6 God provides homes for those who are lonely.
He frees people from prison and makes them happy.
But those who turn against him will live in the desert.
7 God, you led your people out of Egypt.
You marched across the desert. Selah
8 The ground shook and rain poured from the sky
when God, the God of Israel, came to Sinai.
9 God, you sent the rain
to make a tired, old land strong again.
10 Your people[b] came back to live there,
and you provided good things for the poor.
11 My Lord gave the command,
and many people went to tell the good news:
12 “The armies of powerful kings ran away!
At home, the women divide the things brought from the battle.
13 Those who stayed home will share in the wealth—
metal doves with wings covered in silver and feathers sparkling with gold.”
14 God All-Powerful scattered the kings
like snow falling on Mount Zalmon.
15 Mount Bashan is a great mountain
with many high peaks.
16 But, Bashan, why are you jealous of Mount Zion?
That is where God has chosen to live.
The Lord will live there forever.
17 With his millions of chariots,
the Lord came from Sinai into the holy place.
18 You went up to your high place,
leading a parade of captives.
You received gifts from people,[c]
even those who turned against you.
The Lord God went up there to live.
19 Praise the Lord!
Every day he helps us with the loads we must carry.
He is the God who saves us. Selah
20 He is our God, the God who saves us.
My Lord God saves us from death.
21 God will smash the heads of his enemies.
He will punish those who fight against him.[d]
22 My Lord said, “If they run up to Bashan or down to the depths of the sea,
I will bring them back.
23 So you will march through pools of their blood,
and there will be plenty left for your dogs.”
24 God, everyone can see your victory parade—
the victory march of my God and King into his holy place![e]
25 Singers come marching in front, followed by the musicians;
they are surrounded by young girls playing tambourines.
26 Praise God in the meeting place.[f]
Praise the Lord, people of Israel!
27 There is the smallest tribe, Benjamin, leading them.
And there comes a large group of leaders from Judah.
Following them are the leaders of Zebulun and Naphtali.
28 God, show us your power!
Show us the power you used for us in the past.
29 Kings will bring their wealth to you,
to your Temple in Jerusalem.
30 Punish the people in Egypt.
They are like cattle in the marshes, like bulls among the calves.
You humiliated them.
You scattered them in war.
Now let them come crawling to you,
bringing their pieces of silver.
31 Messengers from Egypt will come bearing gifts.
Ethiopia will offer God their tribute.
32 Kings on earth, sing to God!
Sing songs of praise to our Lord! Selah
33 Sing to him who rides his chariot through the ancient skies.
Listen to his powerful voice!
34 Tell everyone how powerful he is!
He rules over Israel.
His power fills the skies.
35 God, you are awesome in your Temple!
The God of Israel is the one who gives strength and power to his people.
Praise God!
Abner Decides to Join David
6 As the families of Saul and David fought each other, Abner became more and more powerful in Saul’s army. 7 Saul had a slave woman named Rizpah daughter of Aiah. Ish Bosheth said to Abner, “Why did you have sexual relations with my father’s servant woman?”
8 This made Abner very angry. He said, “I have been loyal to Saul and his family. I did not give you to David. I am not a traitor working for Judah.[a] But now you are saying that I did this bad thing. 9-10 The Lord promised with an oath that he would take the kingdom away from Saul’s family and give it to David. And I swear I will make sure that happens. God will make David king of Judah and Israel. He will rule from Dan to Beersheba.[b]” 11 Ish Bosheth was too afraid of Abner to say anything in response.
12 Abner sent messengers to David and said, “Who do you think should rule this country? Make an agreement with me, and I will help you become the ruler of all the people of Israel.”
13 David answered, “Good! I will make an agreement with you. But I ask you only one thing: I will not meet with you until you bring Saul’s daughter Michal to me.”
14 David sent messengers to Saul’s son Ish Bosheth. David said, “Give me my wife Michal. She was promised to me. I killed 100 Philistines to get her.”[c]
15 Then Ish Bosheth told the men to go and take Michal from a man named Paltiel son of Laish. 16 Michal’s husband, Paltiel, followed them, crying all the way to Bahurim. Finally, Abner said to him, “Go back home.” So Paltiel went back home.
17 Abner sent this message to the leaders of Israel. He said, “For a long time you have wanted to make David your king. 18 Now do it! The Lord was talking about David when he said, ‘I will save my people the Israelites from the Philistines and all their other enemies. I will do this through my servant David.’”
19 Abner said these things to David in Hebron, and he said these things to the people of the tribe of Benjamin. The things Abner said sounded good to the tribe of Benjamin and to all the people of Israel.
20 Then Abner came up to David at Hebron. Abner brought 20 men with him. David gave a party for Abner and for all the men who came with him.
21 Abner said to David, “My lord and king, let me go bring all the Israelites to you. Then they will make an agreement with you, and you will rule over all Israel, as you wanted.”
So David let Abner leave in peace.
Paul Is Called to Macedonia
6 Paul and those with him went through the areas of Phrygia and Galatia because the Holy Spirit did not allow them to tell the Good News in the province of Asia. 7 When they reached the border of Mysia, they tried to go on into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not let them go there. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went to the city of Troas.
9 That night Paul saw a vision. In it, a man from Macedonia came to Paul. The man stood there and begged, “Come across to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we[a] immediately prepared to leave for Macedonia. We understood that God had called us to tell the Good News to those people.
The Conversion of Lydia
11 We left Troas in a ship and sailed to the island of Samothrace. The next day we sailed to the city of Neapolis. 12 Then we went to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city in that part of Macedonia. We stayed there for a few days.
13 On the Sabbath day we went out the city gate to the river. There we thought we might find a special place for prayer. Some women had gathered there, so we sat down and talked with them. 14 There was a woman there named Lydia from the city of Thyatira. Her job was selling purple cloth. She was a worshiper of the true God. Lydia was listening to Paul, and the Lord opened her heart to accept what Paul was saying. 15 She and all the people living in her house were baptized. Then she invited us into her home. She said, “If you think I am a true believer in the Lord Jesus, come stay in my house.” She persuaded us to stay with her.
Jesus Feeds More Than 5000(A)
30 The apostles Jesus had sent out came back to him. They gathered around him and told him about all they had done and taught. 31 Jesus and his followers were in a very busy place. There were so many people that he and his followers did not even have time to eat. He said to them, “Come with me. We will go to a quiet place to be alone. There we will get some rest.”
32 So Jesus and his followers went away alone. They went in a boat to a place where no one lived. 33 But many people saw them leave and knew who they were. So people from every town ran to the place where they were going and got there before Jesus. 34 As Jesus stepped out of the boat, he saw a large crowd waiting. He felt sorry for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd to care for them. So he taught the people many things.
35 It was now very late in the day. Jesus’ followers came to him and said, “No one lives around here, and it is already very late. 36 So send the people away. They need to go to the farms and towns around here to buy some food to eat.”
37 But Jesus answered, “You give them some food to eat.”
They said to Jesus, “We can’t buy enough bread to feed all these people. We would all have to work a month to earn enough to buy that much bread!”
38 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have now? Go and see.”
They counted their loaves of bread. They came to Jesus and said, “We have five loaves of bread and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus said to them, “Tell everyone to sit in groups on the green grass.” 40 So all the people sat in groups. There were about 50 or 100 people in each group.
41 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish. He looked up to the sky and thanked God for the food. Then he broke the bread into pieces, which he gave to his followers to distribute to the people. Then he divided the two fish among everyone there.
42 They all ate until they were full. 43 After they finished eating, the followers filled twelve baskets with the pieces of bread and fish that were left. 44 There were about 5000 men there who ate.
Jesus Walks on Water(B)
45 Then Jesus told the followers to get into the boat. He told them to go to the other side of the lake to Bethsaida. He said he would come later. He stayed there to tell everyone they could go home. 46 After he said goodbye to them, he went up into the hills to pray.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International