Book of Common Prayer
Israelites in Captivity
137 By the rivers in Babylon we sat and cried
when we remembered Jerusalem.
2 On the poplar trees nearby
we hung our harps.
3 Those who captured us asked us to sing;
our enemies wanted happy songs.
They said, “Sing us a song about Jerusalem!”
4 But we cannot sing songs about the Lord
while we are in this foreign country!
5 Jerusalem, if I forget you,
let my right hand lose its skill.
6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not think about Jerusalem
as my greatest joy.
7 Lord, remember what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
They said, “Tear it down!
Tear it down to its foundations!”
8 People of Babylon, you will be destroyed.
The people who pay you back for what you did to us will be happy.
9 They will grab your babies
and throw them against the rocks.
A Prayer for Victory
Of David.
144 Praise the Lord, my Rock,
who trains me for war,
who trains me for battle.
2 He protects me like a strong, walled city, and he loves me.
He is my defender and my Savior,
my shield and my protection.
He helps me keep my people under control.
3 Lord, why are people important to you?
Why do you even think about human beings?
4 People are like a breath;
their lives are like passing shadows.
5 Lord, tear open the sky and come down.
Touch the mountains so they will smoke.
6 Send the lightning and scatter my enemies.
Shoot your arrows and force them away.
7 Reach down from above.
Save me and rescue me out of this sea of enemies,
from these foreigners.
8 They are liars;
they are dishonest.
9 God, I will sing a new song to you;
I will play to you on the ten-stringed harp.
10 You give victory to kings.
You save your servant David from cruel swords.
11 Save me, rescue me from these foreigners.
They are liars; they are dishonest.
12 Let our sons in their youth
grow like plants.
Let our daughters be
like the decorated stones in the Temple.
13 Let our barns be filled
with crops of all kinds.
Let our sheep in the fields have
thousands and tens of thousands of lambs.
14 Let our cattle be strong.
Let no one break in.
Let there be no war,
no screams in our streets.
15 Happy are those who are like this;
happy are the people whose God is the Lord.
Praise to God Who Made the World
104 My whole being, praise the Lord.
Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with glory and majesty;
2 you wear light like a robe.
You stretch out the skies like a tent.
3 You build your room above the clouds.
You make the clouds your chariot,
and you ride on the wings of the wind.
4 You make the winds your messengers,
and flames of fire are your servants.
5 You built the earth on its foundations
so it can never be moved.
6 You covered the earth with oceans;
the water was above the mountains.
7 But at your command, the water rushed away.
When you thundered your orders, it hurried away.
8 The mountains rose; the valleys sank.
The water went to the places you made for it.
9 You set borders for the seas that they cannot cross,
so water will never cover the earth again.
10 You make springs pour into the ravines;
they flow between the mountains.
11 They water all the wild animals;
the wild donkeys come there to drink.
12 Wild birds make nests by the water;
they sing among the tree branches.
13 You water the mountains from above.
The earth is full of the things you made.
14 You make the grass for cattle
and vegetables for the people.
You make food grow from the earth.
15 You give us wine that makes happy hearts
and olive oil that makes our faces shine.
You give us bread that gives us strength.
16 The Lord’s trees have plenty of water;
they are the cedars of Lebanon, which he planted.
17 The birds make their nests there;
the stork’s home is in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats.
The rocks are hiding places for the badgers.
19 You made the moon to mark the seasons,
and the sun always knows when to set.
20 You make it dark, and it becomes night.
Then all the wild animals creep around.
21 The lions roar as they attack.
They look to God for food.
22 When the sun rises, they leave
and go back to their dens to lie down.
23 Then people go to work
and work until evening.
24 Lord, you have made many things;
with your wisdom you made them all.
The earth is full of your riches.
25 Look at the sea, so big and wide,
with creatures large and small that cannot be counted.
26 Ships travel over the ocean,
and there is the sea monster Leviathan,
which you made to play there.
27 All these things depend on you
to give them their food at the right time.
28 When you give it to them,
they gather it up.
When you open your hand,
they are filled with good food.
29 When you turn away from them,
they become frightened.
When you take away their breath,
they die and turn to dust.
30 When you breathe on them,
they are created,
and you make the land new again.
31 May the glory of the Lord be forever.
May the Lord enjoy what he has made.
32 He just looks at the earth, and it shakes.
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.
34 May my thoughts please him;
I am happy in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be destroyed from the earth,
and let the wicked live no longer.
My whole being, praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
22 “I, wisdom, was with the Lord when he began his work,
long before he made anything else.
23 I was created in the very beginning,
even before the world began.
24 I was born before there were oceans,
or springs overflowing with water,
25 before the hills were there,
before the mountains were put in place.
26 God had not made the earth or fields,
not even the first dust of the earth.
27 I was there when God put the skies in place,
when he stretched the horizon over the oceans,
28 when he made the clouds above
and put the deep underground springs in place.
29 I was there when he ordered the sea
not to go beyond the borders he had set.
I was there when he laid the earth’s foundation.
30 I was like a child by his side.
I was delighted every day,
enjoying his presence all the time,
31 enjoying the whole world,
and delighted with all its people.
32 “Now, my children, listen to me,
because those who follow my ways are happy.
33 Listen to my teaching, and you will be wise;
do not ignore it.
34 Happy are those who listen to me,
watching at my door every day,
waiting at my open doorway.
35 Those who find me find life,
and the Lord will be pleased with them.
36 Those who do not find me hurt themselves.
Those who hate me love death.”
1 From Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. God sent me to tell about the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus.
2 To Timothy, a dear child to me:
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Encouragement for Timothy
3 I thank God as I always mention you in my prayers, day and night. I serve him, doing what I know is right as my ancestors did. 4 Remembering that you cried for me, I want very much to see you so I can be filled with joy. 5 I remember your true faith. That faith first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and I know you now have that same faith. 6 This is why I remind you to keep using the gift God gave you when I laid my hands on[a] you. Now let it grow, as a small flame grows into a fire. 7 God did not give us a spirit that makes us afraid but a spirit of power and love and self-control.
8 So do not be ashamed to tell people about our Lord Jesus, and do not be ashamed of me, in prison for the Lord. But suffer with me for the Good News. God, who gives us the strength to do that, 9 saved us and made us his holy people. That was not because of anything we did ourselves but because of God’s purpose and grace. That grace was given to us through Christ Jesus before time began, 10 but it is now shown to us by the coming of our Savior Christ Jesus. He destroyed death, and through the Good News he showed us the way to have life that cannot be destroyed. 11 I was chosen to tell that Good News and to be an apostle and a teacher. 12 I am suffering now because I tell the Good News, but I am not ashamed, because I know Jesus, the One in whom I have believed. And I am sure he is able to protect what he has trusted me with until that day.[b] 13 Follow the pattern of true teachings that you heard from me in faith and love, which are in Christ Jesus. 14 Protect the truth that you were given; protect it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Jesus Talks About His Death
20 There were some Greek people, too, who came to Jerusalem to worship at the Passover Feast. 21 They went to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and said, “Sir, we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip told Andrew, and then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.
23 Jesus said to them, “The time has come for the Son of Man to receive his glory. 24 I tell you the truth, a grain of wheat must fall to the ground and die to make many seeds. But if it never dies, it remains only a single seed. 25 Those who love their lives will lose them, but those who hate their lives in this world will keep true life forever. 26 Whoever serves me must follow me. Then my servant will be with me everywhere I am. My Father will honor anyone who serves me.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.