Book of Common Prayer
A Cry for God to Help Quickly
For the director of music. A psalm of David. To help people remember.
70 God, come quickly and save me.
Lord, hurry to help me.
2 Let those who are trying to kill me
be ashamed and disgraced.
Let those who want to hurt me
run away in disgrace.
3 Let those who make fun of me
stop because of their shame.
4 But let all those who worship you
rejoice and be glad.
Let those who love your salvation
always say, “Praise the greatness of God.”
5 I am poor and helpless;
God, hurry to me.
You help me and save me.
Lord, do not wait.
An Old Person’s Prayer
71 In you, Lord, is my protection.
Never let me be ashamed.
2 Because you do what is right, save and rescue me;
listen to me and save me.
3 Be my place of safety
where I can always come.
Give the command to save me,
because you are my rock and my strong, walled city.
4 My God, save me from the power of the wicked
and from the hold of evil and cruel people.
5 Lord, you are my hope.
Lord, I have trusted you since I was young.
6 I have depended on you since I was born;
you helped me even on the day of my birth.
I will always praise you.
7 I am an example to many people,
because you are my strong protection.
8 I am always praising you;
all day long I honor you.
9 Do not reject me when I am old;
do not leave me when my strength is gone.
10 My enemies make plans against me,
and they meet together to kill me.
11 They say, “God has left him.
Go after him and take him,
because no one will save him.”
12 God, don’t be far off.
My God, hurry to help me.
13 Let those who accuse me
be ashamed and destroyed.
Let those who are trying to hurt me
be covered with shame and disgrace.
14 But I will always have hope
and will praise you more and more.
15 I will tell how you do what is right.
I will tell about your salvation all day long,
even though it is more than I can tell.
16 I will come and tell about your powerful works, Lord God.
I will remind people that only you do what is right.
17 God, you have taught me since I was young.
To this day I tell about the miracles you do.
18 Even though I am old and gray,
do not leave me, God.
I will tell the children about your power;
I will tell those who live after me about your might.
19 God, your justice reaches to the skies.
You have done great things;
God, there is no one like you.
20 You have given me many troubles and bad times,
but you will give me life again.
When I am almost dead,
you will keep me alive.
21 You will make me greater than ever,
and you will comfort me again.
22 I will praise you with the harp.
I trust you, my God.
I will sing to you with the lyre,
Holy One of Israel.
23 I will shout for joy when I sing praises to you.
You have saved me.
24 I will tell about your justice all day long.
And those who want to hurt me
will be ashamed and disgraced.
A Nation in Trouble Prays
A maskil of Asaph.
74 God, why have you rejected us for so long?
Why are you angry with us, the sheep of your pasture?
2 Remember the people you bought long ago.
You saved us, and we are your very own.
After all, you live on Mount Zion.
3 Make your way through these old ruins;
the enemy wrecked everything in the Temple.
4 Those who were against you shouted in your meeting place
and raised their flags there.
5 They came with axes raised
as if to cut down a forest of trees.
6 They smashed the carved panels
with their axes and hatchets.
7 They burned your Temple to the ground;
they have made the place where you live unclean.
8 They thought, “We will completely crush them!”
They burned every place where God was worshiped in the land.
9 We do not see any signs.
There are no more prophets,
and no one knows how long this will last.
10 God, how much longer will the enemy make fun of you?
Will they insult you forever?
11 Why do you hold back your power?
Bring your power out in the open and destroy them!
12 God, you have been our king for a long time.
You bring salvation to the earth.
13 You split open the sea by your power
and broke the heads of the sea monster.
14 You smashed the heads of the monster Leviathan
and gave it to the desert creatures as food.
15 You opened up the springs and streams
and made the flowing rivers run dry.
16 Both the day and the night are yours;
you made the sun and the moon.
17 You set all the limits on the earth;
you created summer and winter.
18 Lord, remember how the enemy insulted you.
Remember how those foolish people made fun of you.
19 Do not give us, your doves, to those wild animals.
Never forget your poor people.
20 Remember the agreement you made with us,
because violence fills every dark corner of this land.
21 Do not let your suffering people be disgraced.
Let the poor and helpless praise you.
22 God, arise and defend yourself.
Remember the insults that come from those foolish people all day long.
23 Don’t forget what your enemies said;
don’t forget their roar as they rise against you always.
29 So Ahab king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went to Ramoth in Gilead. 30 King Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, “I will go into battle, but I will wear other clothes so no one will recognize me. But you wear your royal clothes.” So Ahab wore other clothes and went into battle.
31 The king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, “Don’t fight with anyone—important or unimportant—except the king of Israel.” 32 When these commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought he was certainly the king of Israel, so they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat began shouting. 33 When they saw he was not King Ahab, they stopped chasing him.
34 By chance, a soldier shot an arrow, but he hit Ahab king of Israel between the pieces of his armor. King Ahab said to his chariot driver, “Turn around and get me out of the battle, because I am hurt!” 35 The battle continued all day. King Ahab was held up in his chariot and faced the Arameans. His blood flowed down to the bottom of the chariot. That evening he died. 36 Near sunset a cry went out through the army of Israel: “Each man go back to his own city and land.”
37 In that way King Ahab died. His body was carried to Samaria and buried there. 38 The men cleaned Ahab’s chariot at a pool in Samaria where prostitutes bathed, and the dogs licked his blood from the chariot. These things happened as the Lord had said they would.
39 Everything else Ahab did is written in the book of the history of the kings of Israel. It tells about the palace Ahab built and decorated with ivory and the cities he built. 40 So Ahab died, and his son Ahaziah became king in his place.
Jehoshaphat King of Judah
41 Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah during Ahab’s fourth year as king of Israel. 42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he ruled in Jerusalem for twenty-five years. His mother’s name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. 43 Jehoshaphat was good, like his father Asa, and he did what the Lord said was right. But Jehoshaphat did not destroy the places where gods were worshiped, so the people continued offering sacrifices and burning incense there. 44 Jehoshaphat was at peace with the king of Israel. 45 Jehoshaphat fought many wars, and these wars and his successes are written in the book of the history of the kings of Judah.
14 A person who does not have the Spirit does not accept the truths that come from the Spirit of God. That person thinks they are foolish and cannot understand them, because they can only be judged to be true by the Spirit. 15 The spiritual person is able to judge all things, but no one can judge him. The Scripture says:
16 “Who has known the mind of the Lord?
Who has been able to teach him?” Isaiah 40:13
But we have the mind of Christ.
Following People Is Wrong
3 Brothers and sisters, in the past I could not talk to you as I talk to spiritual people. I had to talk to you as I would to people without the Spirit—babies in Christ. 2 The teaching I gave you was like milk, not solid food, because you were not able to take solid food. And even now you are not ready. 3 You are still not spiritual, because there is jealousy and quarreling among you, and this shows that you are not spiritual. You are acting like people of the world. 4 One of you says, “I belong to Paul,” and another says, “I belong to Apollos.” When you say things like this, you are acting like people of the world.
5 Is Apollos important? No! Is Paul important? No! We are only servants of God who helped you believe. Each one of us did the work God gave us to do. 6 I planted the seed, and Apollos watered it. But God is the One who made it grow. 7 So the one who plants is not important, and the one who waters is not important. Only God, who makes things grow, is important. 8 The one who plants and the one who waters have the same purpose, and each will be rewarded for his own work. 9 We are God’s workers, working together; you are like God’s farm, God’s house.
10 Using the gift God gave me, I laid the foundation of that house like an expert builder. Others are building on that foundation, but all people should be careful how they build on it. 11 The foundation that has already been laid is Jesus Christ, and no one can lay down any other foundation. 12 But if people build on that foundation, using gold, silver, jewels, wood, grass, or straw, 13 their work will be clearly seen, because the Day of Judgment[a] will make it visible. That Day will appear with fire, and the fire will test everyone’s work to show what sort of work it was. 14 If the building that has been put on the foundation still stands, the builder will get a reward. 15 But if the building is burned up, the builder will suffer loss. The builder will be saved, but it will be as one who escaped from a fire.
Jesus Teaches the People
5 When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a hill and sat down. His followers came to him, 2 and he began to teach them, saying:
3 “They are blessed who realize their spiritual poverty,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
4 They are blessed who grieve,
for God will comfort them.
5 They are blessed who are humble,
for the whole earth will be theirs.
6 They are blessed who hunger and thirst after justice,
for they will be satisfied.
7 They are blessed who show mercy to others,
for God will show mercy to them.
8 They are blessed whose thoughts are pure,
for they will see God.
9 They are blessed who work for peace,
for they will be called God’s children.
10 They are blessed who are persecuted for doing good,
for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.