Book of Common Prayer
A song for going up to the Temple.
120 I was in trouble.
I called to the Lord for help,
and he answered me!
2 I said, “Lord, save me from liars,
from those who say things that are not true.”
3 Liars, do you know what the Lord has for you?
Do you know what you will get?
4 You will get a soldier’s sharp arrow
and hot coals to punish you.
5 How I hate living here among these people!
It’s like living in Meshech or in the tents of Kedar.[a]
6 I have lived too long
with those who hate peace.
7 I ask for peace,
but they want war.
A song for going up to the Temple.
121 I look up to the hills,
but where will my help really come from?
2 My help will come from the Lord,
the Creator of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let you fall.
Your Protector will not fall asleep.
4 Israel’s Protector does not get tired.
He never sleeps.
5 The Lord is your Protector.
The Lord stands by your side, shading and protecting you.
6 The sun cannot harm you during the day,
and the moon cannot harm you at night.
7 The Lord will protect you from every danger.
He will protect your soul.
8 The Lord will protect you as you come and go,[b]
both now and forever!
A song of David for going up to the Temple.
122 I was happy when the people said,
“Let us go to the Lord’s Temple.”
2 Here we are, standing at the gates of Jerusalem.
3 This is New Jerusalem!
The city has been rebuilt as one united city.
4 This is where the tribes come, the tribes who belong to the Lord.
The people of Israel come here to praise the Lord’s name.
5 The kings from David’s family put their thrones here.
They set up their thrones to judge the people.
6 Pray for peace in Jerusalem:
“May those who love you find peace.
7 May there be peace within your walls.
May there be safety in your great buildings.”
8 For the good of my family and neighbors,
I pray that there will be peace here.
9 For the good of the Temple of the Lord our God,
I pray that good things will happen to this city.
A song for going up to the Temple.
123 Lord, I look up and pray to you.
You sit as King in heaven.
2 A slave looks to his master to provide what he needs,
and a servant girl depends on the woman she serves.
So we depend on the Lord our God,
waiting for him to have mercy on us.
3 Lord, be merciful to us,
because we have been insulted much too long.
4 We have had enough of the hateful words of those proud people
who make fun of us and show us no respect.
A song of David for going up to the Temple.
124 What would have happened to us if the Lord had not been on our side?
Tell us about it, Israel.
2 What would have happened to us if the Lord had not been on our side
when people attacked us?
3 They would have swallowed us alive
when they became angry with us.
4 Their armies would have been
like a flood washing over us,
like a river drowning us.
5 Those proud people would have been
like water rising up to our mouth and drowning us.
6 Praise the Lord!
He did not let our enemies tear us apart.
7 We escaped like a bird from the net of a hunter.
The net broke, and we escaped!
8 Our help came from the Lord,
the one who made heaven and earth!
A song for going up to the Temple.
125 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion.
They will never be shaken.
They will continue forever.
2 Like the mountains that surround Jerusalem,
the Lord surrounds and protects his people now and forever.
3 The wicked will not always control the land of those who do right.
If they did, even those who do right might start doing wrong.
4 Lord, be good to those who are good,
to those who have pure hearts.
5 But, Lord, when you punish those who do evil,
also punish those who have stopped following your way.
Let Israel always enjoy peace!
A song for going up to the Temple.
126 It will be like a dream
when the Lord comes back with the captives of Zion.[c]
2 We will laugh and sing happy songs!
Then the other nations will say,
“The Lord did a great thing for Zion!”
3 Yes, we will be happy
because the Lord did a great thing for us.
4 So, Lord, bring back the good times,
like a desert stream filled again with flowing water.
5 Then those who were sad when they planted
will be happy when they gather the harvest!
6 Those who cried as they carried the seeds[d]
will be happy when they bring in the crops!
A song from Solomon for going up to the Temple.
127 If it is not the Lord who builds a house,
the builders are wasting their time.
If it is not the Lord who watches over the city,
the guards are wasting their time.
2 It is a waste of time to get up early and stay up late,
trying to make a living.
The Lord provides for those he loves,
even while they are sleeping.
Dan Captures the City of Laish
18 At that time the Israelites did not have a king. And the tribe of Dan was still looking for a place to live. They did not have their own land yet. The other tribes of Israel already had their land, but the tribe of Dan had not taken their land yet.
2 So the tribe of Dan sent five soldiers to look for some land. They went to search for a good place to live. These five men were from the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol. They were chosen because they were from all the families of Dan. They were told, “Go, look for some land.”
The five men came to the hill country of Ephraim. They came to Micah’s house and spent the night there. 3 When the five men came close to Micah’s house, they heard the voice of the young Levite. They recognized his voice, so they stopped at Micah’s house. They asked the young man, “Who brought you to this place? What are you doing? Why are you here?”
4 The young man told them what Micah had done for him. “Micah hired me,” he said. “I am his priest.”
5 So they said to him, “Please ask God if our search for a place to live will be successful.”
6 The priest said to the five men, “Yes. Go in peace. The Lord will lead you on your way.”
7 So the five men left. They came to the city of Laish and saw that the people of that city lived in safety. They were ruled by the people of Sidon. Everything was peaceful and quiet. The people had plenty of everything, and they didn’t have any enemies nearby to hurt them. Also they lived a long way from the city of Sidon, and they did not have any agreements with the people of Aram.[a]
8 The five men went back to the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol. Their relatives asked them, “What did you learn?”
9 The five men answered, “We have found some land, and it is very good. We should attack them. Don’t wait! Let’s go and take that land! 10 When you come to that place, you will see that there is plenty of land. There is plenty of everything there. You will also see that the people are not expecting an attack. Surely God has given that land to us.”
11 So 600 men from the tribe of Dan left the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol. They were ready for war. 12 On their way to the city of Laish, they stopped near the city of Kiriath Jearim in the land of Judah. They set up a camp there. That is why the place west of Kiriath Jearim is named Mahaneh Dan[b] to this very day. 13 From there the 600 men traveled on to the hill country of Ephraim. Then they came to Micah’s house.
14 So the five men who had explored the land around Laish spoke. They said to their relatives, “There is an ephod in one of these houses. And there are also household gods, a carved statue, and a silver idol. You know what to do.” 15 So they stopped at Micah’s house, where the young Levite lived. They asked the young man how he was.
8 Saul agreed that the killing of Stephen was a good thing. Some godly men buried Stephen and cried loudly for him.
Trouble for the Believers
On that day the Jews began to persecute the church in Jerusalem, making them suffer very much. Saul was also trying to destroy the group. He went into their houses, dragged out men and women, and put them in jail. All the believers left Jerusalem. Only the apostles stayed. The believers went to different places in Judea and Samaria. 4 They were scattered everywhere, and in every place they went, they told people the Good News.
Philip Tells the Good News in Samaria
5 Philip[a] went to the city of Samaria and told people about the Messiah. 6 The people there heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he was doing. They all listened carefully to what he said. 7 Many of these people had evil spirits inside them, but Philip made the evil spirits leave them. The spirits made a lot of noise as they came out. There were also many weak and crippled people there. Philip made these people well too. 8 What a happy day this was for that city!
9 Now there was a man named Simon who lived in that city. Before Philip came there, Simon had been doing magic and amazing all the people of Samaria. He bragged and called himself a great man. 10 All the people—the least important and the most important—believed what he said. They said, “This man has the power of God that is called ‘the Great Power.’” 11 Simon amazed the people with his magic for so long that the people became his followers. 12 But Philip told the people the Good News about God’s kingdom and the power of Jesus Christ. Men and women believed Philip and were baptized. 13 Simon himself also believed, and after he was baptized, he stayed close to Philip. When he saw the miraculous signs and powerful things Philip did, he was amazed.
30 “I can do nothing alone. I judge only the way I am told. And my judgment is right, because I am not trying to please myself. I want only to please the one who sent me.
Jesus Says More to the Jewish Leaders
31 “If I tell people about myself, they cannot be sure that what I say is true. 32 But there is someone else who tells people about me, and I know that what he says about me is true.
33 “You sent men to John, and he told you what is true. 34 I don’t need anyone to tell people about me, but I remind you of what John said so that you can be saved. 35 John was like a lamp that burned and gave light, and you were happy to enjoy his light for a while.
36 “But I have a proof about myself that is greater than anything John said. The things I do are my proof. These are what my Father gave me to do. They show that the Father sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has given proof about me himself. But you have never heard his voice. You have never seen what he looks like. 38 The Father’s teaching does not live in you, because you don’t believe in the one the Father sent. 39 You carefully study the Scriptures. You think that they give you eternal life. These same Scriptures tell about me! 40 But you refuse to come to me to have that life.
41 “I don’t want praise from you or any other human. 42 But I know you—I know that you have no love for God. 43 I have come from my Father and speak for him, but you don’t accept me. But when other people come speaking only for themselves, you accept them. 44 You like to have praise from each other. But you never try to get the praise that comes from the only God. So how can you believe? 45 Don’t think that I will be the one to stand before the Father and accuse you. Moses is the one to accuse you. And he is the one you hoped would save you. 46 If you really believed Moses, you would believe me, because he wrote about me. 47 But you don’t believe what he wrote, so you can’t believe what I say.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International