Book of Common Prayer
This is a song that David wrote for the music leader.
We trust God to help us[a]
20 May the Lord answer you
when you are in trouble and you call to him for help.
May Israel's great God keep you safe.
2 He will send help to you from his holy place,
from his temple in Zion.
3 He will remember the gifts that you have offered to him.
He will accept your burnt offerings
Selah
4 May God give to you
all the things that you really want.
He will help you to do everything that you want to do.
5 Then we will be happy and we will shout aloud
when you win against your enemies.
We will wave our flags to praise our God.
Yes, I pray that the Lord will do for you
everything that you ask him to do.
6 Now I know that the Lord will save
the king that he has chosen.
God will agree to help him from his holy place in heaven.
God will use his great power to make his king safe.
7 Some people hope that their chariots will keep them safe.
Other people trust their horses to save them.
But we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.
8 Those people will fall down,
and they will not get up again.
But we will get up and stand again,
and we will be strong.
9 Lord, help the king to win against his enemies!
Please answer us when we ask you for help.
This is a song that David wrote for the music leader.
We thank God for his help[b]
21 Lord, the king is happy,
because you help him with your great strength.
You have helped him to win against his enemies,
so he is very happy.[c]
2 You have given to him all the things
that he really wanted.
When he asked for them,
you have not refused to give them to him.
Selah.
3 You came to him,
and you blessed him with many good things:
You put a crown on his head.
It was made from the best gold.
4 He asked you to keep his life safe,
and you gave to him a long life.
His descendants will continue for ever.
5 People praise him,
because you have helped him to win against his enemies.
You have caused him to rule as a great king.
6 You will continue to bless him for ever.
Because you are very near to him,
he is very happy.
7 The king trusts in the Lord.
Because of the Most High God's faithful love,
the king will never fail.
8 You will use your strong power
to take hold of your enemies.[d]
You will catch everybody that hates you.
9 When you come out to fight against them,
you will destroy them like a hot fire.
The Lord destroys them,
because you are angry with them.
10 You will remove your enemies' children from the earth.
They will no longer have any descendants.
11 They decided to hurt you.
They thought how they would do that.
But they could not do anything bad against you.
12 No! You shoot your arrows at them,
so that they turn round and they run away!
13 Get up, Lord, and show your strength!
We will sing to praise you
because you have great power.
David wrote this psalm.
The Lord's great King[a]
110 The Lord God said to my Lord,[b]
‘Sit at my right side[c] until I win against your enemies.
Then you will be able to put your feet on them.’
2 The Lord will give you great authority,
as you rule from Zion.[d]
You will rule over all your enemies
that are round you.
3 When you go to fight your enemies,
your people will be happy to fight beside you.
As the sun rises on the day of battle,
your young men will be there,
on the hills round Zion.[e]
4 The Lord has made a strong promise.
He will not change it.
He has promised, ‘You will be a priest for ever,
in the same way that Melchizedek was my priest.’[f]
5 The Lord is standing at your right side.
When he becomes angry,
he will knock down kings!
6 He will punish the nations,
so that dead bodies cover the ground.
He will destroy kings everywhere on the earth.
7 He will drink from a stream at the side of the road.
With new strength, he will lift up his head.
God saved me from death[a]
116 I love the Lord,
because he heard me when I called to him.
2 He listened carefully to me.
When I need help, I will always pray to him,
for as long as I live.
3 The danger of death was very near to me.
I became afraid of the deep hole of death.
I was very sad and upset.
4 Then I called out to the Lord.
I said, ‘Lord, please save my life!’
5 The Lord is kind and fair.
Yes, our God is very kind.
6 The Lord takes care of weak people.
I was in danger of death,
and he saved me!
7 So now I know that I am safe again.
The Lord has been very good to me.
8 Yes, Lord, you saved me from death!
Because of that, my eyes no longer weep,
and I do not fall down to the ground.
9 Now I will serve the Lord
here in this world where people live.
10 I trusted in the Lord
even when I said, ‘I have much pain.’
11 I was confused and I said,
‘Everybody tells lies.’
12 The Lord has done many kind things to help me.
What can I give back to him?
13 I will offer a cup of wine to the Lord,
to thank him because he saved me!
I will worship him.
14 I will give to the Lord
everything that I have promised.
I will do that when all his people meet together.
15 The Lord is sad when one of his servants dies,
because their lives are valuable to him.
16 Lord, I really am your servant.
I am like a slave in your house.
You have saved me from death.
17 I will offer to you a special sacrifice to say ‘thank you’.
I will worship you as Lord.
18 I will give to the Lord
everything that I have promised.
I will do that when all his people meet together,
19 in the yard of the Lord's temple.
Yes, I will worship you in your temple in Jerusalem.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord![b]
117 All you nations in the world,
praise the Lord!
People from every place,
praise him!
2 The Lord's faithful love for us is very strong.
He will always do what he has promised.
Praise the Lord!
51 King Solomon finished all the work for the Lord's temple. Then he brought into it all the holy things that belonged to his father, David. He stored all the valuable things in a safe place in the Lord's temple. They included silver things and gold things.
Solomon puts the Covenant Box in the temple
8 Then Solomon told all the leaders of Israel to come to him in Jerusalem. They were all the leaders of the Israelite tribes and families. He wanted them to bring the Lord's Covenant Box from Mount Zion, the City of David, to put it in the temple.[a] 2 So all the Israelite leaders came together to meet with King Solomon. This happened during the Festival of Huts in the seventh month of the year, called Ethanim.[b] 3 When all Israel's leaders had arrived, the priests lifted up the Covenant Box.
4 The priests and the Levites carried the Lord's Covenant Box, the Tent of Meeting and all the holy things that were in the tent.
5 King Solomon and all the Israelites who were with him walked in front of the Covenant Box. They offered many sheep and bulls as sacrifices. There were more animals than anyone could count.
6 Then the priests brought the Lord's Covenant Box to its proper place in the inside room of the temple. That was the Most Holy Place. They put it under the wings of the cherubs. 7 The wings of the cherubs touched each other above the place where the Covenant Box was. The cherubs covered the Covenant Box and the poles that the Levites used to carry it.[c] 8 The poles were very long. The priests could see their ends from the Holy Place, if they stood in front of the Most Holy Place. But nobody could see the poles from outside the temple. And they are still there today.
9 There was nothing in the Covenant Box, except the two flat stones that Moses had put there at Sinai. That was where the Lord made a covenant with the Israelites after they came out from Egypt.
10 When the priests came out from the Holy Place, a cloud filled the Lord's temple. 11 The priests could not do their work to serve the Lord, because of the cloud. The Lord's bright glory filled his temple.
12 Then Solomon prayed, ‘Lord, you have said that you live in a dark cloud. 13 Now I have built a great temple for you. It is a place where you can live for ever.’
Solomon speaks to his people
14 While all the Israelite people stood there, the king turned round towards them. He prayed that God would bless them. 15 He said, ‘Praise the Lord, Israel's God, as he deserves. He has used his power to do what he promised to do for my father David. 16 He told David, “I brought my people, the Israelites, out from Egypt. From that time, I have not chosen a city in any of Israel's tribes to build a temple where my people would worship me. Now I have chosen David to rule Israel, my people, as king.” 17 My father David wanted very much to build a temple to give honour to the Lord, Israel's God. 18 But the Lord said to my father David, “It was good that you wanted to build a temple to give me honour. 19 But you will not build the temple. Instead, one of your own sons will build it to give honour to me.” 20 Now the Lord has done what he promised to do. I now rule Israel as king on the throne of my father David, as the Lord promised. I have built this temple to give honour to the Lord, Israel's God. 21 I have made a place there for the Covenant Box. It contains the covenant that the Lord made with our ancestors when he brought them out of Egypt.’
17 After three days, Paul asked the leaders of the Jews in Rome to meet with him. When they met together, Paul said to them, ‘Friends, I am a Jew as you are. I tell you that I have never done anything bad against our people. I have always obeyed the rules that our ancestors gave to us. But the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem took hold of me. They gave me to the Roman rulers so that they would judge me. 18 The Roman rulers asked me questions about what I had done. They discovered that I had not done anything wrong. There was no reason that they should kill me. So they wanted to let me go free. 19 But the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem did not agree with that. So then I asked the Roman rulers to send me here to Rome. I wanted Caesar himself to judge me. That was the only thing that I could do. I did not want to say anything bad against my own people. 20 That is why I want to talk with you now. I want to tell you why I am a prisoner here. It is because I believe in the one that God promised to send to us who are Jews.’
21 The Jewish leaders said to Paul, ‘We have not received any letters about you from Judea. Our Jewish friends who have come here from Judea have not told us this news. They have not said anything bad about you. 22 But we know that people everywhere are saying bad things about your new group. So we would like you to tell us your ideas.’
23 So the Jewish leaders in Rome chose a day to meet again with Paul. When that day arrived, a large number of Jews came to the house where Paul was staying. Paul talked to them from the morning until the evening. He explained his message about the kingdom of God. He showed them what Moses and the other prophets had written in the Bible. He tried to show them that Jesus was God's special Messiah. 24 Some of them believed that Paul's message was true. But other Jews who were there would not believe him. 25 They argued about it with each other. When they began to leave the house, Paul said, ‘The Holy Spirit spoke a true message to your ancestors. He gave this message to Isaiah, the prophet:
26 “Go and say to this people,
‘You will listen and listen. But you will not understand.
You will look and look. But you will not see anything.’
27 These people do not really want to understand.
They are like people who have shut their ears.
They are like people who have shut their eyes.
If they did want to look, then they would really see.
If they did want to listen, then they would really hear.
They would understand my message.
They would turn back to me and they would obey me.
Then I would forgive them and I would make them well.” ’
28 Paul then said to the Jews there, ‘You do not want to listen to God's message. But the Gentiles will listen! They will understand how God will save them.’
29 [After Paul had said this, the Jews left. They were still arguing with each other.][a]
30 Paul lived in a house in Rome for two years. He paid money to live in the house. Many people came to visit him there. He was very happy to see them all. 31 He told people clearly about the kingdom of God. He taught them about the Lord Jesus Christ. He was not afraid to speak strongly. Nobody tried to stop him.
Judas leads the men who will take Jesus away
43 Jesus was still speaking when, immediately, Judas arrived. He was one of Jesus' 12 apostles. A crowd came with him. They were carrying swords and heavy sticks. The leaders of the priests, the teachers of God's Law and the important Jews had sent these men.
44 Before this, Judas had told these men, ‘I will kiss one of the men. You must take hold of that man. Lead him away and do not let him go.’ 45 When they arrived, Judas went immediately to Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ he said to Jesus. Then he kissed Jesus in a friendly way. 46 So the men took hold of Jesus to lead him away. 47 But a certain man who was standing there took hold of his sword. He hit the servant of the leader of the priests with it and he cut off the servant's ear.
48 Then Jesus spoke to the crowd. He said, ‘You have come out here with swords and heavy sticks to take hold of me. Do you really think that I am leading people to fight against our country's rulers? 49 No! I was with you every day when I was teaching people in the yard of the temple. You did not try to take hold of me then. But this must happen in the way that the Bible says it would happen.’ 50 Then all Jesus' disciples left him and they ran away.
51 A certain young man was following Jesus.[a] He was wearing only one piece of linen cloth to cover himself. The men tried to take hold of this young man. 52 But the young man left the piece of cloth behind and he ran away. So when he ran away, he was not wearing anything.
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