Book of Common Prayer
145 Lord, I call to you with all my heart.
Answer me,
and I will keep your demands.
146 I call to you. Save me
so I can obey your rules.
147 I wake up early in the morning and cry out.
I trust your word.
148 I stay awake all night
so I can think about your promises.
149 Listen to me because of your love.
Lord, give me life by your laws.
150 Those who love evil are near.
They are far from your teachings.
151 But, Lord, you are also near.
And all your commands are true.
152 Long ago I learned from your rules
that you made them to continue forever.
153 See my suffering and save me
because I have not forgotten your teachings.
154 Argue my case and save me.
Let me live by your promises.
155 Wicked people are far from being saved
because they do not want to obey your demands.
156 Lord, you are very kind.
Give me life by your laws.
157 Many enemies are after me.
But I have not rejected your rules.
158 I see those traitors, and I hate them
because they do not obey what you say.
159 See how I love your orders.
Lord, give me life by your love.
160 Your words are true from the start.
And all your laws will be fair forever.
161 Leaders attack me for no reason.
But I fear your law in my heart.
162 I am as happy over your promises
as if I had found a great treasure.
163 I hate and despise lies.
But I love your teachings.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
for your fair laws.
165 Those who love your teachings will find true peace.
Nothing will defeat them.
166 I am waiting for you to save me, Lord.
I will obey your commands.
167 I keep your rules.
I love them very much.
168 I keep your orders and rules.
You know everything I do.
169 Hear my cry to you, Lord.
Let your word help me understand.
170 Listen to my prayer.
Save me as you promised.
171 Let me speak your praise.
You have taught me your demands.
172 Let me sing about your promises.
All your commands are fair.
173 Always be ready to help me
because I have chosen to obey your commands.
174 I want you to save me, Lord.
I love your teachings.
175 Let me live so I can praise you.
Your laws will help me.
176 I have wandered like a lost sheep.
Look for your servant because I have not forgotten your commands.
The Happy Home
A song for going up to worship.
128 Happy are those who respect the Lord
and obey him.
2 You will enjoy what you work for.
You will be blessed with good things.
3 Your wife will give you many children.
She will be like a vine that produces a lot of fruit.
Your children will bring you much good.
They will be like olive branches that produce many olives.
4 This is how the man who respects the Lord
will be blessed.
5 May the Lord bless you from Mount Zion.
May you enjoy the good things of Jerusalem all your life.
6 May you see your grandchildren.
Let there be peace in Israel.
A Prayer Against the Enemies
A song for going up to worship.
129 They have treated me badly all my life.
(Let Israel repeat this.)
2 They have treated me badly all my life.
But they have not defeated me.
3 Like farmers plowing, they plowed over my back,
making long wounds.
4 But the Lord does what is right.
He has set me free from those wicked people.
5 Let those who hate Jerusalem
be turned back in shame.
6 Let them be like the grass on the roof.
It dries up before it has grown.
7 There is not enough of it to fill a man’s hand
or to make into a bundle to fill his arms.
8 Let those who pass by them not say,
“May the Lord bless you.
We bless you by the power of the Lord.”
A Prayer for Mercy
A song for going up to worship.
130 Lord, I am in great trouble.
So I call out to you for help.
2 Lord, hear my voice.
Listen to my prayer for help.
3 Lord, if you punished people for all their sins,
no one would be left.
4 But you forgive us.
So you are respected.
5 I wait for the Lord to help me.
I trust his word.
6 I wait for the Lord to help me
more than night watchmen wait for the dawn,
more than night watchmen wait for the dawn.
7 People of Israel, put your hope in the Lord
because he is loving
and able to save.
8 He will save Israel
from all their sins.
Dangers of Being Foolish
6 My child, be careful about giving a guarantee for somebody else.
Be careful about promising to pay what someone else owes.
2 You might get trapped by what you say.
You might be caught by your own words.
3 My child, you might do this and be under somebody’s control.
Then here is how to get free.
Go to your neighbor and don’t be proud.
Beg him to free you from your promise.
4 Don’t go to sleep.
Don’t even rest your eyes.
5 But free yourself like a deer running from a hunter.
Free yourself like a bird flying away from a trapper.
6 Go watch the ants, you lazy person.
Watch what they do and be wise.
7 Ants have no commander.
They have no leader or ruler.
8 But they store up food in the summer.
They gather their supplies at harvest.
9 How long will you lie there, you lazy person?
When will you get up from sleeping?
10 You sleep a little; you take a nap.
You fold your hands and rest.
11 So you will be as poor as if you had been robbed.
You will have as little as if you had been held up.
12 Some people are wicked and no good.
They go around telling lies.
13 They wink with their eyes and signal with their feet.
They make signs with their fingers.
14 They make evil plans in their hearts.
They are always causing trouble.
15 So trouble will strike them in an instant.
Suddenly they will be hurt beyond cure.
16 There are six things the Lord hates.
There are seven things he cannot stand:
17 a proud look,
a lying tongue,
hands that kill innocent people,
18 a mind that thinks up evil plans,
feet that are quick to do evil,
19 a witness who tells lies
and a man who causes trouble among brothers.
Faith in the Son of God
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is God’s child. The person who loves the Father also loves the Father’s children. 2 How do we know that we love God’s children? We know because we love God and we obey his commands. 3 Loving God means obeying his commands. And God’s commands are not too hard for us. 4 Everyone who is a child of God has the power to win against the world. It is our faith that wins the victory against the world. 5 So the one who conquers the world is the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
6 Jesus Christ is the One who came with water[a] and with blood.[b] He did not come by water only. He came by both water and blood. And the Spirit says that this is true. The Spirit is the truth. 7 So there are three witnesses:[c] 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood. These three witnesses agree. 9 We believe people when they say something is true. But what God says is more important. And he has told us the truth about his own Son. 10 Anyone who believes in the Son of God has the truth that God told us. Anyone who does not believe makes God a liar. He does not believe what God told us about his Son. 11 This is what God told us: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life. But the person who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
The Leaders Plan to Kill Jesus
45 There were many Jews who had come to visit Mary. They saw what Jesus did. And many of them believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees. They told the Pharisees what Jesus had done. 47 Then the leading priests and Pharisees called a meeting of the Jewish council. They asked, “What should we do? This man is doing many miracles. 48 If we let him continue doing these things, everyone will believe in him. Then the Romans will come and take away our Temple and our nation.”
49 One of the men there was Caiaphas. He was the high priest that year. Caiaphas said, “You people know nothing! 50 It is better for one man to die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed. But you don’t realize this.”
51 Caiaphas did not think of this himself. He was high priest that year. So he was really prophesying that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation 52 and for God’s scattered children. This would bring them all together and make them one.
53 That day they started planning to kill Jesus. 54 So Jesus no longer traveled openly among the Jews. He left there and went to a place near the desert. He went to a town called Ephraim and stayed there with his followers.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.