Book of Common Prayer
Zain
49 Remember your promise to me, your servant.
It gives me hope.
50 You comfort me in my suffering,
because your promise gives me new life.
51 People full of pride are always making fun of me,
but I have not stopped following your teachings.
52 I remember the laws you gave us long ago, Lord,
and they bring me comfort.
53 I am overcome with anger when I see wicked people,
who have stopped following your teachings.
54 Your laws are the songs I sing
wherever I am living.
55 Lord, in the night I remembered your name,
and I obeyed your teachings.
56 This happened because I carefully obey your instructions.
Heth
57 Lord, I decided that my duty is to obey your commandments.
58 I beg you with all my heart,
be kind to me, as you promised.
59 I thought very carefully about my life,
and I decided to follow your rules.
60 Without wasting any time,
I hurried back to obey your commands.
61 The wicked tried to trap me,
but I have not forgotten your teachings.
62 In the middle of the night, I get up to thank you
because your laws are so fair.
63 I am a friend to everyone who worships you.
I am a friend to everyone who obeys your instructions.
64 Lord, your faithful love fills the earth.
Teach me your laws.
Teth
65 Lord, you did good things for me, your servant.
You did what you promised to do.
66 Give me the knowledge to make wise decisions.
I trust your commands.
67 Before I suffered, I did many wrong things.
But now I carefully obey everything you say.
68 You are good, and you do good things.
Teach me your laws.
69 People full of pride made up lies about me.
But I keep obeying your instructions with all my heart.
70 Those people are so stupid that they care for nothing,
but I enjoy studying your teachings.
71 Suffering was good for me;
I learned your laws.
72 Your teachings are worth more to me
than a thousand pieces of silver and gold.
To the director: A song from the Korah family.
49 Listen to this, all you nations.
Pay attention, all you people on earth.
2 Everyone, rich and poor, listen to me.
3 I have some very wise words for you.
My thoughts will give you understanding.
4 I listened to these sayings.
And now, with my harp, I will sing and make the hidden meaning clear.
5 Why should I be afraid when trouble comes?
There is no need to fear when evil enemies surround me.
6 They think their wealth will protect them.
They brag about how rich they are.
7 But no one has enough to buy back a life,
and you cannot bribe[a] God.
8 You will never get enough money
to pay for your own life.
9 You will never have enough
to buy the right to live forever
and keep your body out of the grave.
10 Look, the wise die the same as fools and stupid people.[b]
They die and leave their wealth to others.
11 The grave will be their new home forever.
And how much land they owned will not make any difference.
12 People might be wealthy, but they cannot stay here forever.
They will die like the animals.
13 That is what happens to all who trust in themselves
and to anyone who accepts their way of life. Selah
14 They are just like sheep, but the grave will be their pen.
Death will be their shepherd.
When morning comes, the good people will enjoy victory,
as the bodies of the proud slowly rot in the grave,
far away from their fancy houses.
15 But God will pay the price to save me from the grave.
He will take me to be with him. Selah
16 Don’t be afraid of people just because they are rich.
Don’t be afraid of people just because they have big, fancy houses.
17 They will not take anything with them when they die.
They will not take their wealth with them.
18 A wealthy man might tell himself how well he has done in life.
And other people might praise him.
19 But the time will come for him to die and go to his ancestors.
And he will never again see the light of day.
20 Wealthy people don’t seem to understand
that they will die like the animals.
To the director: Use the mahalath.[a] A maskil of David.
53 Only fools think there is no God.
People like that are evil and do terrible things.
They never do what is right.
2 God looks down from heaven to see
if there is anyone who is wise,
anyone who looks to him for help.
3 But everyone has turned away from him.
Everyone has become evil.
No one does anything good.
No, not one person!
4 Those who are evil treat my people like bread to be eaten.
And they never ask for God’s help.
Don’t they understand what they are doing?
5 They will be filled with fear—
a fear like they have never felt before!
People of Israel, you will defeat those who attacked you,
because God has rejected them.
And he will scatter their bones.
6 I wish the one who lives on Mount Zion
would bring victory to Israel!
When God makes Israel successful again,
the people of Jacob will be very happy;
the people of Israel will be glad.
Job Continues His Speech
29 Job continued to speak:
30 “But now men younger than I make fun of me—
men whose fathers were too worthless to put with my sheep dogs.
2 Their fathers are still too weak to be of any use to me.
All their strength is gone.
16 “Now my life is almost gone, and soon I will die.
Days of suffering have grabbed me.
17 All my bones ache at night.
Pain never stops chewing on me.
18 God grabbed the collar of my coat
and twisted my clothes out of shape.
19 He threw me into the mud,
and I became like dust and ashes.
20 “God, I cry out to you for help, but you don’t answer.
I stand up and pray, but you don’t pay attention to me.
21 You have become cruel to me;
you use your power to hurt me.
22 You let the strong wind blow me away.
You throw me around in the storm.
23 I know you will lead me to my death,
to that place where all the living must go.
24 “Surely no one would attack a man who is already ruined,
when he is hurt and crying for help.
25 God, you know that I cried for those who were in trouble.
You know that I mourned for the poor.
26 But when I hoped for good, trouble came instead.
When I looked for light, darkness came.
27 I constantly feel upset.
And my suffering has only just begun.
28 I am always sad and depressed, without any relief.
I stand up in the public meeting and cry for help,
29 making sad sounds like the wild dogs,
like the ostriches in the desert.
30 My skin is burned and peeling away.
My body is hot with fever.
31 My harp is tuned to play songs of sorrow.
My flute makes sad sounds like someone crying.
19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and persuaded the people to turn against Paul. So they threw stones at him and dragged him out of the town. They thought they had killed him. 20 But when the followers of Jesus gathered around him, he got up and went back into the town. The next day he and Barnabas left and went to the city of Derbe.
The Return to Antioch in Syria
21 They also told the Good News in the city of Derbe, and many people became followers of Jesus. Then Paul and Barnabas returned to the cities of Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. 22 In those cities they helped the followers grow stronger in their faith and encouraged them to continue trusting God. They told them, “We must suffer many things on our way into God’s kingdom.” 23 They also chose elders for each church and stopped eating for a period of time to pray for them. These elders were men who had put their trust in the Lord Jesus, so Paul and Barnabas put them in his care.
24 Paul and Barnabas went through the country of Pisidia. Then they came to the country of Pamphylia. 25 They told people the message of God in the city of Perga, and then they went down to the city of Attalia. 26 And from there they sailed away to Antioch in Syria. This is the city where the believers had put them into God’s care and sent them to do this work. Now they had finished it.
27 When Paul and Barnabas arrived, they gathered the church together. They told them everything God had used them to do. They said, “God opened a door for the non-Jewish people to believe!” 28 And they stayed there a long time with the Lord’s followers.
The Death of Lazarus
11 There was a man named Lazarus who was sick. He lived in the town of Bethany, where Mary and her sister Martha lived. 2 (Mary is the same woman who put perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) Mary’s brother was Lazarus, the man who was now sick. 3 So Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, “Lord, your dear friend Lazarus is sick.”
4 When Jesus heard this he said, “The end of this sickness will not be death. No, this sickness is for the glory of God. This has happened to bring glory to the Son of God.” 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days 7 and then said to his followers, “We should go back to Judea.”
8 They answered, “But Teacher, those Jews there tried to stone you to death. That was only a short time ago. Now you want to go back there?”
9 Jesus answered, “There are twelve hours of light in the day. Whoever walks in the day will not stumble and fall because they can see with the light from the sun.[a] 10 But whoever walks at night will stumble because there is no light.”
11 Then Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus is now sleeping, but I am going there to wake him.”
12 The followers answered, “But, Lord, if he can sleep, he will get well.” 13 They thought Jesus meant that Lazarus was literally sleeping, but he really meant that Lazarus was dead.
14 So then Jesus said plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad I was not there. I am happy for you because now you will believe in me. We will go to him now.”
16 Then Thomas, the one called “Twin,” said to the other followers, “We will go too. We will die there with Jesus.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International