Book of Common Prayer
David wrote this prayer.
God will help me
16 Please keep me safe, God,
because I come to you for help.
2 I have said to the Lord,
‘You are my Lord.
All the good things that I have in my life
are gifts from you.’
3 When I think about your own people who live in this land,
it makes me happy!
They are truly great people!
4 But many troubles will come
to people who choose to worship other gods.
I will not join with them
to offer gifts of blood to their gods.
I will never use the names of their gods
to make promises.
5 You, Lord, are all that I need.
What you give to me is enough,
for me and for my descendants.
6 Yes, you have given to me a good way of life.
Your gifts are better than good fields
or valuable land.
7 I will praise the Lord,
who is my guide through life.
In the dark nights,
you help me to learn what is right.
8 I will always trust the Lord to be with me.
He is very near to me,
so I will not be upset.
9 I am truly happy and I thank God.
I know that my life is safe with God.
10 You, Lord, will not leave me
in the deep hole of death.
As one who belongs to you,
you will not leave my body to spoil in the grave.
11 You will lead me along the path of life.
Because you are with me,
I am very happy.
I know that I will be with you for ever,
and that makes me very happy!
David wrote this prayer.
A prayer for help
17 Lord, please listen to me.
I am asking you to do something that is right.
I am speaking what is true,
so please do what I ask you to do.
2 Say clearly that I am not guilty.
You can see for yourself that I am right.
3 You look deep into my mind.
You check my thoughts at night.
When you test me,
you find nothing that is wrong.
I have decided that I will never tell any lies.
4 I have watched people do bad things.
But I have obeyed your commands.
I have not joined with cruel people
to do what they do.
5 No, I carefully follow your ways.
I do not turn away from them.
6 I pray to you, God,
because you will answer me.
Please listen to me when I pray to you.
7 Do great things that show your faithful love!
You have the power to keep people safe from their enemies.
You help them when they trust you for help.
8 Please keep me safe,
in the same way that people take care of their eyes.
Keep me near to you,
in the way that birds protect their babies under their wings.
9 Keep me safe from the wicked men who attack me.
My enemies are all around me,
and they want to kill me!
10 They refuse to be kind to anyone.
They speak proud words.
11 Now they have found me. They are ready to attack!
They look for their chance
to knock me down to the ground.
12 They are like hungry lions.
They want to tear me into pieces.
They are hiding like young lions.
They are ready to jump out and catch me!
13 Lord, please do something!
Fight against them! Knock them down!
Take your sword and save me from those wicked men.
14 Lord, use your power to save me from them.
They only think about this world,
and they enjoy the good things that it gives them.
So give them all that you have ready for them.
Give them more than they want!
May their children also have plenty,
and enough left to give to their children too.
15 As for me, Lord, I am not guilty of sin.
So I will see your face.
When I wake up, I will see you clearly,
and I will be really happy!
The leader must use the music called ‘The Deer of the Dawn.’
This is a song that David wrote.
Please help me, God!
22 My God!
My God, why have you left me alone?
Why is my help far away?
I am crying out in great pain!
2 My God!
I call aloud to you for help every day,
all day and all night!
But you do not answer my prayers,
so I cannot sleep.
3 I know that you are the Holy God.
You sit on your throne as king,
and Israel's people praise you.
4 Our ancestors trusted in you.
When they trusted you, you saved them.
5 They called aloud to you and you saved them.
They trusted in you,
and you did not disappoint them.[a]
6 People insult me.
They think that I am worth nothing.
It seems that I am only a worm,
and I am not really a man.
7 Everyone that sees me laughs at me.
They laugh and they shake their heads.
8 They say, ‘He should trust in the Lord!
The Lord should save him.
If the Lord is really happy with him,
the Lord should rescue him.’
9 Lord, you brought me safely to birth.
You took care of me at my mother's breasts.
10 From the day that I was born,
I have always been in your care.
You have been my God since my mother gave birth to me.
11 So do not stay far from me now.
Trouble is near to me,
and there is nobody to help me.
12 There is danger all round me,
like the strong bulls of Bashan.[b]
I cannot move
because my enemies are very near, all around me.
13 They open their mouths like lions!
They are ready to eat me!
They are like lions that tear their food into pieces.
14 My strength has gone,
like water that is poured away.
My bones do not join together properly.
I feel weak inside
and hope has disappeared.
15 My mouth has become dry like a piece of a broken pot.
My tongue sticks to my mouth.
You have left me down in the dirt,
as good as dead!
16 Wicked people are everywhere around me.
They are ready to attack me,
like a group of wild dogs.
They tear apart my hands and my feet.
17 My body is so weak
I can count all my bones.
My enemies look at me and they laugh.
They are happy because I have pain.
18 They have taken my clothes,
and they choose what they want for themselves.
They throw dice to decide who receives each piece.
19 But Lord, please do not stay far away from me!
You can make me strong again.
Please hurry to help me!
20 Keep me safe!
My enemies want to kill me with their swords.
Save my life from those wild dogs!
21 Do not let those lions eat me!
Keep me safe from the horns of those wild bulls!
I know that you have answered my prayer!
22 I will tell my people how great you are.
I will praise you when we meet together.
23 Everyone who serves the Lord must praise him!
All Jacob's descendants must respect him!
Yes, all Israel's people must worship him!
24 God did not forget to help the man who was in pain.
He did not turn away from the one who suffered.
When he called to God for help,
God answered his prayer.[c]
25 Yes, I will praise you, God,
in the great meeting of your people.
I will give to you what I have promised to give.
Everyone who serves you, Lord, will see that.
26 Poor people will have plenty of food to eat.
Those who come to the Lord will praise him.
May God help you to live well for ever!
27 People everywhere in the world will respect the Lord.
They will turn to him for help.
Families from all nations will worship you.
28 The Lord rules as king over all the nations.
29 All the rich people on earth will bend down,
and they will worship God.
Everyone will die one day.
They must all bend down in front of God.
Nobody can keep himself alive.
30 Our children will also serve God.
And they will tell their children about our Lord.
31 They will speak about all the great things that God has done
to save his people.
People who have not yet been born
will learn about the things that God has done.[d]
Paul on the island of Malta
28 So then we were on the shore and we were all safe. We discovered that the island was called Malta. 2 The people who lived on the island were very kind to us. Rain was falling and the weather was cold. So the people lit a fire and they helped all of us. 3 Paul picked up some small branches to put on the fire. When he did this, a dangerous snake came out from among the sticks. It had felt the heat from the fire. The snake bit Paul's hand and it held on to it. 4 The people who lived on the island saw the snake. They saw that it was hanging from Paul's hand. So they said to each other, ‘We know now that this man murdered someone. He did not die in the sea but now the snake will kill him. The god who punishes people for the bad things that they do will not let him live.’ 5 Then Paul waved his hand about so that the snake fell off into the fire. The snake had not hurt Paul in any way. 6 So the people watched Paul carefully. They thought that his body would become very sick. They thought that he might die suddenly. They waited for a long time. But they did not see anything bad happen to Paul. So then they thought something different about Paul. They said, ‘This man is certainly a god!’
7 There was an important officer who ruled the island. He was called Publius. He had some fields near to the shore where we had made the fire. He was very kind to us. He asked us to stay in his house. We stayed there for three days. 8 Publius's father was lying in bed because he was ill. His body was hot and he was very sick. Paul went into his room to see him. Paul prayed for him and he put his hands on the man's head. As a result, the man became well again. 9 After Paul did this, the other sick people on the island came to him. He caused them also to become well again. 10 The people gave us many gifts. Later, we got ready to leave the island on another ship. They gave us the things that we needed for the journey.
11 When we left Malta, we had been there for three months. We got on a ship that was called ‘The Twin Gods’.[a] It had come from Alexandria and it had stayed in Malta during the winter.
12 We sailed across the sea and we arrived at the city of Syracuse. We stayed there for three days.[b]
13 We left Syracuse and we sailed to the city of Rhegium. The next day, the wind began to blow from the south, so we sailed more quickly. The day after that, we arrived at the town of Puteoli.[c]
14 We found some believers there. They asked us to stay with them for one week. After this we travelled to Rome. 15 The believers in Rome had heard about us. So they came out of the city to meet us at ‘The Market of Appius’ and ‘The Three Hotels’.[d] When Paul saw the believers, he thanked God for them. He was very happy that they had come to meet him.
16 When we arrived in Rome, the Roman officer said to Paul, ‘You may live in a house by yourself, but a soldier will guard you there.’
28 About eight days after Jesus had said these things, he went up a mountain to pray. He took Peter, John and James with him. 29 While Jesus was praying, his face became different to look at.[a] His clothes also became very white. They were shining brightly.
30 Then two men appeared and they were talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah.[b] 31 They were very bright to look at. They talked with Jesus about how he would soon die in Jerusalem. This was how God wanted him to leave this world.
32 While this was happening, Peter and his friends were sleeping. Then they really woke up and they saw that Jesus was very great and beautiful. They also saw the two men that were standing near to him. 33 Then the two men began to leave. So Peter said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, it is good that we are here. Please, let us build three huts. One hut will be for you. One hut will be for Moses and one hut will be for Elijah.’ But Peter did not really know what he was saying.[c]
34 While Peter was speaking, a cloud appeared. It covered them all. When the cloud came over them, the three disciples were afraid. 35 Then a voice spoke from the cloud and it said, ‘This is my Son. He is the one that I have chosen. Listen to him.’
36 The voice stopped speaking. Then the three disciples saw that only Jesus was there with them now.
They did not tell anyone at this time about what they had seen.
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