Book of Common Prayer
This psalm is for Solomon.
A prayer for the king[a]
72 God, please help the king
to judge people in a right way.
Help the king's son to be honest and fair,
as you are.[b]
2 Then he will rule your people in a good way,
so that even poor people receive justice.
3 The mountains and the hills will bring peace,
so that the people can live honest lives.
4 Please help the king to judge poor people fairly.
May he save the children of weak people,
and destroy those cruel people who hurt them.
5 May people always respect your authority, God,
through all time,
as long as the sun and the moon remain in the sky.[c]
6 May the king be a blessing to his people,
like rain that falls on grass that lies in the fields.
May he be like rain
that brings water to the soil.
7 While he rules as king,
those people who serve God will do well.
There will be peace in all the land,
for as long as the moon remains in the sky.
8 May the king rule everywhere,
from sea to sea,
and from the Euphrates river to the ends of the earth.[d]
9 Then people who live in the desert
will bend down to respect him.
His enemies will fall down
with their faces in the dust.
10 Kings from Spain and from other far places
will pay taxes to him.
Kings from Sheba and from Seba
will bring gifts to him.
11 All kings will bend down in front of him.
People from all nations will serve him.
12 He will rescue the poor person
who calls out to him for help.
He will save weak people
who have nobody to help them.
13 He will be kind to people who are poor and weak.
He will save them from death.
14 He will rescue them from cruel people who hurt them.
Their lives are important to him.
15 Long live the king!
May people come from Sheba to give gold to him.
May people always pray for him.
May people praise him all the time.
16 May there always be plenty of grain
that grows in the land.
May the crops grow well
on the tops of the mountains.
May the fruit trees give a lot of fruit,
as they do in Lebanon.
May all the crops grow well,
like grass that grows in a field.
17 May the king be famous for ever!
May people remember him
for as long as the sun continues to shine.
May people from all nations use his name
when they bless one another.
May they all say that God has blessed the king!
18 Praise the Lord, Israel's God,
as he deserves.
Only he does such wonderful things.
19 Praise his great name for ever!
May his glory fill the whole earth!
Amen! May that all happen!
20 This is the end of the prayers of Jesse's son, David.[e]
YOD
73 You made me with your hands. You made me what I am.
Help me to understand things well,
so that I learn your commands.
74 People who respect you will be happy when they see me.
That is because I trust your word.
75 Lord, I know that your rules are good and fair.
When you sent trouble to me,
it was because you truly loved me.
76 Now, please use your faithful love
to comfort me.
That is what you promised to do for me, your servant.
77 Be kind to me so that I will live!
Your Law makes me really happy.
78 Proud men should be ashamed!
They have spoken lies against me.
79 Let the people who respect you come back to me.
Then they will learn to obey your rules.
80 Let me obey your commands completely.
Then I will not be ashamed.
KAPH
81 As I wait for you to save me,
I feel tired and weak.
I trust in your word.
82 As I wait for you to do what you have promised,
my eyes are too tired to stay open.
I ask, ‘When will you come to help me?’
83 I am like an old wineskin that has become useless.
But I have not forgotten your rules.
84 As your servant, help me to be patient.
Please punish the people who want to hurt me.
Please do it soon.
85 Proud people want to catch me in their traps.
That is against your Law!
86 I know that I can trust all your commands,
but people still give me trouble with their lies.
Quickly, help me!
87 People here on earth have almost destroyed me,
but I continue to obey your teaching.
88 Please use your faithful love to keep me alive.
Then I can continue to obey the rules that you have taught me.
LAMED
89 Lord, your teaching will always be there.
You keep it safe in heaven.
90 You continue to show that people can trust you,
from one century to the next.
You have fixed the earth in its place,
and it will remain.
91 It is by your command that all things continue.
You have put them there to serve you.
92 If your Law had not made me happy,
I would have been sad until I died.
93 I will never forget your rules,
because you have used them to give me life.
94 I belong to you. Please save me!
I have respected your rules.
95 Wicked people are ready to kill me,
but I think carefully about your teaching.
96 I have learned that all things will come to an end,
but your commands have no end.
Job replies to God[a]
42 Then Job replied to the Lord. He said this:
2 ‘I know that you can do all things.
You can do anything that you want to do.
Nobody can stop you.
3 You asked me, “Why do you ask questions about my wisdom,
when you do not understand anything?”
It is true. I was speaking about things that I do not understand.
They are things that are too wonderful for me to know.
4 You said to me, “Listen carefully to what I will say.
I will ask you questions and you must answer them.”
5 In the past, I had heard about you from other people.
Now I have seen you for myself.
6 So I am ashamed of the things that I said.
I sit here in dirt and in ashes
to show you that I am very sorry.’
The end of the story[b]
7 When the Lord had spoken to Job, he said this to Eliphaz, the man from Teman:
‘I am very angry with you and with your two friends. The things that my servant Job has said about me are true. But the things that you said were not right. 8 You three men must now go to Job. Take seven bulls and seven male sheep with you. Burn them as sacrifices for yourselves. After you have done that, my servant Job will pray for you. I will answer his prayer. Then I will not punish you as you deserve because of your foolish words. My servant Job has spoken the truth about me, but you have not.’
9 So Eliphaz, the man from Teman, Bildad, the man from Shuah, and Zophar, the man from Naamah, did what the Lord had told them to do. And the Lord answered Job's prayer.
10 After Job prayed for his three friends, the Lord made him a rich man again. He gave Job twice as many things as he had before. 11 Then Job's brothers and sisters came to eat a big meal with him in his house. People who had been Job's friends came also. They all told him that they were sad about his troubles. They were upset because the Lord had caused him to suffer. Each of them gave Job a piece of silver and a gold ring.
12 After this, the Lord blessed Job more than in the beginning of his life. All these animals belonged to Job: 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 pairs of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. 13 He had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The daughters' names were Jemimah, Keziah, and Keren-Happuch. 15 They were the most beautiful women in the whole land of Uz. Job said that they should receive some of his things after he died, along with their brothers.[c]
16 Job lived for 140 years after this. He was still alive when his grandchildren and their grandchildren were born. 17 So when Job died, he had lived for a long time.
The Roman rulers put Paul and Silas in prison
16 One day, we were going to the place where people prayed to God. On the way there, we met a slave girl. A bad spirit was living inside her. This spirit told her what would happen soon. People gave her masters a lot of money when she told them about these future things. 17 She followed Paul and all of us. She was shouting, ‘These men are servants of the powerful God who is over all! They are telling you how God can save you!’
18 The slave girl continued to do this for many days. After some time, Paul became angry. So he turned round and he said to the bad spirit, ‘I am using the authority of Jesus Christ! I command you to leave this woman!’ When Paul said that, the spirit left her immediately.
19 Her masters now knew that the girl could not get money for them any more. So they took hold of Paul and Silas and they pulled them to the market place of the city. They took them to stand in front of the leaders of the city. 20 They asked the important officers to judge them. They said, ‘These men are Jews. They are causing much trouble in our city. 21 They are teaching people to obey strange ideas. We are Roman people. We cannot agree with these laws. They are not right for us to do.’
22 A lot of people quickly came together there. They started to attack Paul and Silas. So the important officers said to their soldiers, ‘Tear the clothes off Paul and Silas. Then hit them with sticks!’ 23 The soldiers hit Paul and Silas many times. Then they took hold of them and they pushed them into the prison. The officers said to the prison guard, ‘Lock the prison door carefully so that these men cannot get free.’
24 The prison guard did what he had been told to do. He put Paul and Silas in a room in the middle of the prison. He put their feet between big heavy pieces of wood so that they could not move their legs.
Jesus says that he will soon die
20 There were some Greek people among the people at the festival. They also had come to worship God. 21 These Greek people came to Philip, who was from a town in Galilee called Bethsaida. They said to him, ‘Please sir, we want to meet Jesus.’ 22 Philip went and he told Andrew this. Then Philip and Andrew went to Jesus and they told him.
23 Jesus said to them, ‘God will show how great the Son of Man is. It is now time for that to happen. 24 I tell you this: A seed of wheat continues to be only a single seed unless it falls into the ground. It must fall into the ground and then it must die. If it dies like that, it will grow to give a lot of seeds.
25 Anyone who loves his own life will lose it. But anyone who hates his life in this world will have true life for ever with God. 26 Anyone who wants to be my servant must follow me. Then he will be with me, where I am. My Father will praise anyone who is my servant.
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