Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer of Someone Far from Home
A song for going up to worship.
120 When I was in trouble, I called to the Lord.
And he answered me.
2 Lord, save me from liars
and from those who plan evil.
3 You who plan evil, what will God do to you?
How will he punish you?
4 He will punish you with the sharp arrows of a warrior
and with burning coals of wood.
5 How terrible it is to live in the land of Meshech.
I have to live among the people of Kedar.
6 I have lived too long
with people who hate peace.
7 I want peace and try to talk peace,
but they want war.
The Lord Guards His People
A song for going up to worship.
121 I look up to the hills.
But where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord.
He made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let you be defeated.
He who guards you never sleeps.
4 He who guards Israel
never rests or sleeps.
5 The Lord guards you.
The Lord protects you as the shade protects you from the sun.
6 The sun cannot hurt you during the day.
And the moon cannot hurt you at night.
7 The Lord will guard you from all dangers.
He will guard your life.
8 The Lord will guard you as you come and go,
both now and forever.
Happy People in Jerusalem
A song for going up to worship. Of David.
122 I was happy when they said to me,
“Let’s go to the Temple of the Lord.”
2 Jerusalem, we are standing
at your gates.
3 Jerusalem is built as a city
where friends can come together.
4 The people from the tribes go up there.
The tribes belong to the Lord.
It is the rule to praise
the Lord at Jerusalem.
5 There the descendants of David
set their thrones to judge the people.
6 Pray for peace in Jerusalem:
“May those who love her be safe.
7 May there be peace within her walls
and safety within her strong towers.”
8 To help my relatives and friends,
I repeat, “Let Jerusalem have peace.”
9 For the sake of the Temple of the Lord our God,
I wish good for her.
A Prayer for Mercy
A song for going up to worship.
123 Lord, I look up to you.
You live in heaven.
2 Slaves depend on their masters.
And a female servant depends on her mistress.
In the same way, we depend on our God.
We wait for him to show us mercy.
3 Be kind to us, Lord. Be kind to us
because we have been insulted.
4 We have suffered many insults from lazy people
and much cruelty from the proud.
The Lord Saves His People
A song for going up to worship. Of David.
124 What if the Lord had not been on our side?
(Let Israel repeat this.)
2 What if the Lord had not been on our side
when men attacked us?
3 When they were angry with us,
they would have swallowed us alive.
4 They would have been like a flood drowning us.
They would have poured over us like a river.
5 They would have swept us away like a mighty stream.
6 Praise the Lord.
He did not let them chew us up.
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the hunter’s trap.
The trap has been broken,
and we have escaped.
8 Our help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
God Protects Those Who Trust Him
A song for going up to worship.
125 Those who trust the Lord are like Mount Zion.
It sits unmoved forever.
2 The mountains surround Jerusalem.
And the Lord surrounds his people
now and forever.
3 The wicked will not rule
over those who do right.
If they did, the people who do right
might use their power to do evil.
4 Lord, be good to those who are good,
whose hearts are honest.
5 But, Lord, when you punish those who do evil,
also punish those who stop following you.
Let there be peace in Israel.
Lord, Give Our Riches Back
A song for going up to worship.
126 When the Lord gave the riches back to Jerusalem,
it seemed as if we were dreaming.
2 Then we were filled with laughter,
and we sang happy songs.
Then the other nations said,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are very glad.
4 Lord, give us back our riches again.
Do this as you bring streams to the desert.
5 Those who cry as they plant crops
will sing at harvesttime.
6 Those who cry
as they carry out the seeds
will return singing
and carrying bundles of grain.
All Good Things Come from God
A song for going up to worship. Of Solomon.
127 If the Lord doesn’t build the house,
the builders are working for nothing.
If the Lord doesn’t guard the city,
the guards are watching for nothing.
2 It is no use for you to get up early
and stay up late,
working for a living.
The Lord gives sleep to those he loves.
3 Children are a gift from the Lord.
Babies are a reward.
4 Sons who are born to a young man
are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.
5 Happy is the man
who has his bag full of arrows.
They will not be defeated
when they fight their enemies in court.
Wisdom Is Important
4 My children, listen to your father’s teaching.
Pay attention so you will understand.
2 What I am telling you is good.
Do not forget what I teach you.
3 I was once a young boy in my father’s house.
I was like an only child to my mother.
4 And my father taught me and said,
“Hold on to my words with all your heart.
Keep my commands and you will live.
5 Get wisdom and understanding.
Don’t forget or ignore my words.
6 Use wisdom, and it will take care of you.
Love wisdom, and it will keep you safe.
7 Wisdom is the most important thing. So get wisdom.
If it costs everything you have, get understanding.
8 Believe in the value of wisdom, and it will make you great.
Use it, and it will bring honor to you.
9 Like flowers in your hair, it will beautify your life.
Like a crown, it will make you look beautiful.”
10 My child, listen and accept what I say.
Then you will have a long life.
11 I am guiding you in wisdom.
And I am leading you to do what is right.
12 Nothing will hold you back.
You will not be overwhelmed.
13 Always remember what you have been taught.
Don’t let go of it.
Keep safe all that you have learned.
It is the most important thing in your life.
14 Don’t follow the ways of the wicked.
Don’t do what evil people do.
15 Avoid their ways. Don’t go near what they do.
Stay away from them and keep on going.
16 They cannot sleep until they do evil.
They cannot rest until they hurt someone.
17 They fill themselves with wickedness and cruelty
as if they were eating bread and drinking wine.
18 The way of the good person is like the light of dawn.
It grows brighter and brighter until it is full daylight.
19 But the wicked are like those who stumble in the dark.
They can’t even see what has hurt them.
20 My child, pay attention to my words.
Listen closely to what I say.
21 Don’t ever forget my words.
Keep them deep within your heart.
22 These words are the secret to life for those who find them.
They bring health to the whole body.
23 Be very careful about what you think.
Your thoughts run your life.
24 Don’t use your mouth to tell lies.
Don’t ever say things that are not true.
25 Keep your eyes focused on what is right.
Keep looking straight ahead to what is good.
26 Be careful what you do.
Always do what is right.
27 Do not do anything unless it is right.
Stay away from evil.
Love Comes from God
7 Dear friends, we should love each other, because love comes from God. The person who loves has become God’s child and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love to us: He sent his only Son into the world to give us life through him. 10 True love is God’s love for us, not our love for God. God sent his Son to die in our place to take away our sins.
11 That is how much God loved us, dear friends! So we also must love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us. If we love each other, God’s love has reached its goal. It is made perfect in us.
13 We know that we live in God and God lives in us. We know this because God gave us his Spirit. 14 We have seen that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. That is what we teach. 15 If someone says, “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God,” then God lives in him. And he lives in God. 16 And so we know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him. 17 If God’s love is made perfect in us, then we can be without fear on the day God judges us. We will be without fear, because in this world we are like him. 18 Where God’s love is, there is no fear, because God’s perfect love takes away fear. It is punishment that makes a person fear. So love is not made perfect in the person who has fear.
19 We love because God first loved us. 20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. He can see his brother, but he hates him. So he cannot love God, whom he has never seen. 21 And God gave us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
30 Jesus had not yet come into the town. He was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 The Jews were with Mary in the house, comforting her. They saw Mary stand and leave quickly. They followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to cry there. 32 But Mary went to the place where Jesus was. When she saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 Jesus saw that Mary was crying and that the Jews who came with her were crying, too. Jesus felt very sad in his heart and was deeply troubled. 34 He asked, “Where did you bury him?”
“Come and see, Lord,” they said.
35 Jesus cried.
36 So the Jews said, “See how much he loved him.”
37 But some of them said, “If Jesus healed the eyes of the blind man, why didn’t he keep Lazarus from dying?”
Jesus Raises Lazarus
38 Again Jesus felt very sad in his heart. He came to the tomb. The tomb was a cave with a large stone covering the entrance. 39 Jesus said, “Move the stone away.”
Martha said, “But, Lord, it has been four days since he died. There will be a bad smell.” Martha was the sister of the dead man.
40 Then Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
41 So they moved the stone away from the entrance. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me. 42 I know that you always hear me. But I said these things because of the people here around me. I want them to believe that you sent me.” 43 After Jesus said this, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out. His hands and feet were wrapped with pieces of cloth, and he had a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take the cloth off of him and let him go.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.