Book of Common Prayer
A song of David for going up to the Temple.
131 Lord, I don’t feel proud.
I don’t see myself as better than others.
I am not thinking about doing great things
or reaching impossible goals.
2 No, right now I am calm and quiet,
like a child after nursing,
content in its mother’s arms.[a]
3 Israel, trust in the Lord.
Trust in him now and forever!
A song for going up to the Temple.
132 Lord, remember how David suffered.
2 He made a promise to you, Lord,
an oath to the Mighty God of Jacob.
3 He said, “I will not go into my house
or lie down on my bed.
4 I will not sleep
or let my eyes rest,
5 until I find a home for the Lord,
a tent for the Mighty God of Jacob!”
6 We heard about this in Ephrathah.[b]
We found the Box of the Agreement at Kiriath Jearim.[c]
7 Now, let’s go to the Lord’s house.
Let’s worship at his throne.[d]
8 Lord, get up[e] and go to your resting place;
go with the Box that shows your power.
9 May your priests be clothed in victory
and your loyal followers be filled with joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
don’t reject your chosen king.[f]
11 The Lord made a promise to David, an oath of loyalty to him:
“I will always put one of your descendants on your throne.
12 If your descendants obey my agreement and the laws I teach them,
then the king will always be someone from your family.”
13 The Lord has chosen Zion to be the place for his Temple,
the place he wanted for his home.
14 He said, “This will always be my place of rest.
This is where I want to sit on my throne.
15 I will bless this city with plenty of food.
Even the poor will have enough to eat.
16 I will clothe the priests with salvation,
and my followers will be filled with joy.
17 This is where I will make David’s family strong.
I will never let the lamp of my chosen king stop burning.
18 I will cover his enemies with shame,
and on his head will be a shining crown.”
A song of David for going up to the Temple.
133 Oh, how wonderful, how pleasing it is
when God’s people all come together as one[g]!
2 It is like the sweet-smelling oil that is poured over the high priest’s[h] head,
that runs down his beard flowing over his robes.
3 It is like a gentle rain[i] from Mount Hermon falling on Mount Zion.
It is there that the Lord has promised his blessing of eternal life.
A song for going up to the Temple.
134 Praise the Lord, all his servants
who serve in the Temple at night.
2 Lift your hands toward the Temple,
and praise the Lord.
3 May the Lord, who made heaven and earth,
bless you from Zion.
135 Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord!
Praise him, you servants of the Lord,
2 you who serve in the Lord’s Temple,
in the courtyard of the Temple of our God.
3 Praise the Lord, because he is good.
Praise his name, because it brings such joy!
4 The Lord chose Jacob to be his own.
Yes, he chose Israel to be his own people.
5 I know the Lord is great!
Our Lord is greater than all the gods!
6 The Lord does whatever he wants,
in heaven and on earth, in the seas and the deep oceans.
7 He brings the clouds from the other side of the earth.
He sends the lightning and the rain,
and he opens the doors to release the winds.
8 He destroyed the firstborn males of the people in Egypt and their animals.
9 He did great wonders and miracles in Egypt.
He used them against Pharaoh and his officials.
10 He defeated many nations
and killed powerful kings.
11 He defeated Sihon, king of the Amorites,
Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms in Canaan.
12 Then he gave their land to Israel, his people.
13 Lord, your name will be famous forever!
Lord, people will remember you forever and ever.
14 The Lord defends his people;
he is kind to his servants.
15 The gods of other nations are only gold and silver idols
that people have made.
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak.
They have eyes, but cannot see.
17 They have ears, but cannot hear.
They have mouths, but no breath.
18 Those who make idols and trust in them
will become just like the idols they have made.
19 Family of Israel, praise the Lord!
Aaron’s family, praise the Lord!
20 Levi’s family, praise the Lord!
All you who worship the Lord, praise the Lord!
21 The Lord should be praised from Zion,
from Jerusalem, his home.
Praise the Lord!
The Leaders of Israel Are Guilty of Evil
3 Then I said, “Listen, leaders of Jacob and officers of the nation[a] of Israel!
You should know what justice is.
2 But you hate good and love evil.
You tear the skin off the people
and tear the flesh off their bones.
3 You are destroying my people.[b]
You take their skin off them and break their bones.
You chop their bones up like meat to put in the pot!
4 Then you will pray to the Lord,
but he will not answer you.
No, he will hide his face from you,
because what you do is evil.”
False Prophets
5 Some false prophets are telling lies to the Lord’s people. This is what the Lord says about them:
“These prophets are led by their stomachs.
They promise peace for those who give them food,
but they promise war to those who do not give them food.
6 “This is why it is like night for you
and you don’t have visions.
You cannot see what will happen in the future,
so it is like darkness to you.
The sun has gone down on the prophets.
They cannot see what will happen in the future,
so it is like darkness to them.
7 The seers are ashamed.
The fortunetellers are embarrassed.
None of them will say anything,
because God will not speak to them.”
Micah Is an Honest Prophet of God
8 But the Lord’s Spirit has filled me
with power, goodness, and strength.
So I can tell Jacob about his crimes,
and so I can tell Israel about his sins!
Some Jews Accuse Paul
24 Five days later Ananias, the high priest, went to the city of Caesarea. He brought with him some of the older Jewish leaders and a lawyer named Tertullus. They went to Caesarea to make charges against Paul before the governor. 2-3 Paul was called into the meeting, and Tertullus began to make his accusations.
Tertullus said, “Most Honorable Felix, our people enjoy much peace because of you, and many wrong things in our country are being made right through your wise help. For this we all continue to be very thankful. 4 But I don’t want to take any more of your time. So I will say only a few words. Please be patient. 5 This man is a troublemaker. He causes trouble with the Jews everywhere in the world. He is a leader of the Nazarene group. 6-8 Also, he was trying to make the Temple unclean, but we stopped him.[a] You can decide if all this is true. Ask him some questions yourself.” 9 The other Jews agreed and said it was all true.
Paul Defends Himself Before Felix
10 The governor made a sign for Paul to speak. So Paul answered, “Governor Felix, I know that you have been a judge over this nation for a long time. So I am happy to defend myself before you. 11 I went to worship in Jerusalem only twelve days ago. You can learn for yourself that this is true. 12 These Jews who are accusing me did not find me arguing with anyone at the Temple or making trouble with the people. And I was not making trouble or arguing in the synagogues or any other place in the city. 13 These men cannot prove the things they are saying against me now.
14 “But I will tell you this: I worship the God of our fathers as a follower of the Way, which these Jews say is not the right way, and I believe everything that is taught in the Law of Moses and all that is written in the books of the prophets. 15 I have the same hope in God that these Jews have—the hope that all people, good and bad, will be raised from death. 16 This is why I always try to do what I believe is right before God and before everyone.
17-18 “I was away from Jerusalem for many years. I went back there to take money to help my people. I also had some gifts to offer at the Temple. I was doing this when some Jews saw me there. I had finished the cleansing ceremony.[b] I had not made any trouble, and no one was gathering around me. 19 But some Jews from Asia were there. They should be here, standing before you. If I have really done anything wrong, they are the ones who should accuse me. They were there! 20 Ask these men here if they found any wrong in me when I stood before the high council meeting in Jerusalem. 21 I did say one thing when I stood before them and shouted, ‘You are judging me today because I believe that people will rise from death!’”
22 Felix already understood a lot about the Way. He stopped the trial and said, “When commander Lysias comes here, I will decide what to do with you.” 23 Felix told the army officer to keep Paul guarded but to give him some freedom and to let his friends bring whatever he needed.
Simon the Pharisee
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him. Jesus went into the Pharisee’s house and took a place at the table.
37 There was a sinful woman in that town. She knew that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house. So the woman brought some expensive perfume in an alabaster jar. 38 She stood at Jesus’ feet, crying. Then she began to wash his feet with her tears. She dried his feet with her hair. She kissed his feet many times and rubbed them with the perfume.
39 When the Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this, he thought to himself, “If this man were a prophet,[a] he would know that the woman who is touching him is a sinner!”
40 In response, Jesus said to the Pharisee, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
Simon said, “Let me hear it, Teacher.”
41 Jesus said, “There were two men. Both men owed money to the same banker. One man owed him 500 silver coins. The other man owed him 50 silver coins. 42 The men had no money, so they could not pay their debt. But the banker told the men that they did not have to pay him. Which one of those two men will love him more?”
43 Simon answered, “I think it would be the one who owed him the most money.”
Jesus said to him, “You are right.” 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet. But she washed my feet with her tears and dried my feet with her hair. 45 You did not greet me with a kiss, but she has been kissing my feet since I came in. 46 You did not honor me with oil for my head, but she rubbed my feet with her sweet-smelling oil. 47 I tell you that her many sins are forgiven. This is clear, because she showed great love. People who are forgiven only a little will love only a little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The people sitting at the table began to think to themselves, “Who does this man think he is? How can he forgive sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Because you believed, you are saved from your sins. Go in peace.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International