Book of Common Prayer
To the director: A song of David to help people remember.
70 Please, God, rescue me!
Lord, hurry and help me!
2 People are trying to kill me.
Please disappoint them.
Humiliate them!
They want to hurt me.
Make them run away in shame.
3 May those who make fun of me
be too embarrassed to speak.
4 But may those who come to you
be happy and rejoice.
May those who love being saved by you
always be able to say, “Praise God!”[a]
5 I am only a poor, helpless man.
God, please hurry to me.
You are my helper, the one who can save me.
Lord, don’t be too late!
71 Lord, I depend on you for protection.
Don’t let me be disappointed.
2 You always do what is right, so come and save me.
Listen to me and save me.
3 Be my Rock, my place of safety.
Be my fortress, and protect me!
You are my Rock and my protection.
4 My God, save me from wicked people.
Save me from cruel, evil people.
5 Lord God, you are my hope.
I have trusted you since I was a young boy.
6 I depended on you even before I was born.
I relied on you even in my mother’s womb.
I have always prayed to you.[b]
7 You are my source of strength,
so I have been an example to others.
8 I am always singing about the wonderful things you do.
9 Don’t throw me away just because I am old.
Don’t leave me as I lose my strength.
10 My enemies make plans against me.
They have met together and are making plans to kill me.
11 They say, “Go get him!
God has left him, so there is no one to help him.”
12 God, don’t leave me!
My God, hurry and help me!
13 Defeat my enemies.
Destroy them completely!
They are trying to hurt me.
Let them suffer shame and disgrace.
14 Then I will always trust in you
and praise you more and more.
15 I will tell people how good you are.
I will tell about all the times you saved me—
too many times to count.
16 I will tell about your greatness, my Lord God.
I will talk only about you and your goodness.
17 God, you have taught me since I was a young boy.
And to this day I have told people about the wonderful things you do.
18 Now that I am old and my hair is gray, don’t leave me, God.
I must tell the next generation about your power and greatness.
19 God, your goodness reaches far above the skies.
You have done wonderful things.
God, there is no one like you.
20 You have let me see troubles and hard times,
but you will give me new life;
you will lift me up from this pit of death!
21 You will help me do even greater things.
You will comfort me again!
22 I will play the harp and praise you.
My God, I will sing about your faithfulness.
I will play songs on my lyre
for the Holy One of Israel.
23 I will shout for joy,
singing songs of praise to you for saving me.
24 My tongue will sing about your goodness all the time,
because those who wanted to kill me
have been defeated and disgraced.
A maskil of Asaph.
74 God, why have you turned away from us for so long?
Why are you still angry with us, your own flock?
2 Remember the people you bought so long ago.
You saved us, and we belong to you.
And remember Mount Zion, the place where you lived.
3 God, come walk through these ancient ruins.
Come back to the Holy Place that the enemy destroyed.
4 The enemy shouted their war cries in the Temple.
They put up their flags there to show they had won the war.
5 Their soldiers attacked the doors,
like workmen chopping down trees.
6 Using axes and hatchets,
they smashed the carved panels inside.
7 They burned down your Holy Place.
It was built to honor your name,
but they pulled it down to the ground.
8 The enemy decided to crush us completely.
They burned every holy place[a] in the country.
9 We do not see any of our signs.[b]
There are no more prophets.
And no one knows how long this will last.
10 God, how much longer will the enemy make fun of us?
Will you let them insult your name forever?
11 Why won’t you help us?
Use your power to defeat our enemies!
12 God, you have been our King for a long time.
You have saved us many times on this earth.
13 With your great power you split open the sea
and broke the heads of the sea monster.
14 Yes, you smashed the heads of Leviathan[c]
and left his body for animals to eat.
15 You make the springs and rivers flow,
and you make the rivers dry up.
16 You control the day and the night.
You made the sun and the moon.
17 You set the limits for everything on earth.
And you created summer and winter.
18 Lord, remember, the enemy insulted you!
Those foolish people hate your name!
19 Don’t give us like a helpless dove to those wild animals.
Never forget your poor, suffering people.
20 Remember the agreement you gave us,
because violence fills every dark place in this land.
21 Your people were treated badly.
Don’t let them be hurt anymore.
Let your poor, helpless people praise you.
22 God, get up and defend yourself!
Remember, those fools challenged you.
23 Don’t forget the shouts of your enemies.
They insulted you again and again.
The Value of Wisdom
28 “There are mines where people get silver
and places where people melt gold to make it pure.
2 Iron is dug out of the ground,
and copper is melted out of the rocks.
3 Miners carry lights deep into caves
to search for these rocks in the deepest darkness.
4 Far from where people live, they dig deep into the ground,
down where no one else has been before.
There they work all alone, hanging from ropes.
5 Food grows on the ground above.
But underground it is different,
as if everything were melted by fire.
6 In the rocks there are sapphires
and grains of pure gold.
7 Wild birds know nothing about the way to these places.
No falcon[a] has ever seen it.
8 Wild animals have never been there.
Lions have not traveled that way.
9 Miners dig the hardest rocks.
They dig away at the mountains and make them bare.
10 They cut tunnels through the rocks
and see all the treasures they hold.
11 They even find places where rivers begin.
They bring to light what once was hidden.
12 “But where can anyone find wisdom?
Where can we get understanding?
13 People don’t know where wisdom is.
It cannot be found by anyone on earth.
14 The deep ocean says, ‘It’s not here with me.’
The sea says, ‘It’s not here with me.’
15 You cannot buy wisdom with even the purest gold.
There’s not enough silver in the world to pay for it.
16 You cannot buy it with gold from Ophir
or with precious onyx or sapphires.
17 Wisdom is worth more than gold or crystal.
It cannot be bought with expensive jewels set in gold.
18 It is far more valuable than coral and jasper,
more precious than rubies.
19 The topaz from Ethiopia cannot match its value,
which is greater than the purest gold.
20 “So where does wisdom come from?
Where can we find understanding?
21 Wisdom is hidden from every living thing on earth.
Even birds in the sky cannot see it.
22 Death and destruction[b] say,
‘We have never seen wisdom;
we have only heard rumors about it.’
23 “Only God knows the way to wisdom.
Only he knows where wisdom is.
24 He can see to the very ends of the earth.
He sees everything under the sky.
25 God gave the wind its power.
He decided how big to make the oceans.
26 He decided where to send the rain
and where the thunderstorms should go.
27 He looked at wisdom and discussed it.
He examined it and saw how much it is worth.
28 Then he said to humans,
‘To fear and respect the Lord is wisdom.
To turn away from evil is understanding.’”
25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God. The other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was an earthquake so strong that it shook the foundation of the jail. All the doors of the jail opened, and the chains on all the prisoners fell off. 27 The jailer woke up and saw that the jail doors were open. He thought that the prisoners had already escaped, so he got his sword and was ready to kill himself.[a] 28 But Paul shouted, “Don’t hurt yourself! We are all here!”
29 The jailer told someone to bring a light. Then he ran inside and, shaking with fear, fell down in front of Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them outside and said, “Men, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They said to him, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved—you and all who live in your house.” 32 So Paul and Silas told the message of the Lord to the jailer and all the people who lived in his house. 33 It was late at night, but the jailer took Paul and Silas and washed their wounds. Then the jailer and all his people were baptized. 34 After this the jailer took Paul and Silas home and gave them some food. All the people were very happy because they now believed in God.
35 The next morning the Roman officials sent some soldiers to tell the jailer, “Let these men go free.”
36 The jailer said to Paul, “The officials have sent these soldiers to let you go free. You can leave now. Go in peace.”
37 But Paul said to the soldiers, “Those officials did not prove that we did anything wrong, but they beat us in public and put us in jail. And we are Roman citizens.[b] Now they want us to go away quietly. No, they must come here themselves and lead us out!”
38 The soldiers told the officials what Paul said. When they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were afraid. 39 So they came and told them they were sorry. They led them out of the jail and asked them to leave the city. 40 But when Paul and Silas came out of the jail, they went to Lydia’s house. They saw some of the believers there and encouraged them. Then they left.
Jesus Talks About His Death
27 “Now I am very troubled. What should I say? Should I say, ‘Father save me from this time of suffering’? No, I came to this time so that I could suffer. 28 Father, do what will bring you glory!”
Then a voice came from heaven, “I have already brought glory to myself. I will do it again.”
29 The people standing there heard the voice. They said it was thunder.
But others said, “An angel spoke to him!”
30 Jesus said, “That voice was for you and not for me. 31 Now is the time for the world to be judged. Now the ruler of this world will be thrown out. 32 I will be lifted up[a] from the earth. When that happens, I will draw all people to myself.” 33 Jesus said this to show how he would die.
34 The people said, “But our law says that the Messiah will live forever. So why do you say, ‘The Son of Man must be lifted up’? Who is this ‘Son of Man’?”
35 Then Jesus said, “The light[b] will be with you for only a short time more. So walk while you have the light. Then the darkness will not catch you. People who walk in the darkness don’t know where they are going. 36 So put your trust in the light while you still have it. Then you will be children of light.” When Jesus finished saying these things, he went away to a place where the people could not find him.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International