Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Protection[a]
140 Save me, Lord, from evildoers;
keep me safe from violent people.
2 They are always plotting evil,
always stirring up quarrels.
3 (A)Their tongues are like deadly snakes;
their words are like a cobra's poison.
4 Protect me, Lord, from the power of the wicked;
keep me safe from violent people
who plot my downfall.
5 The proud have set a trap for me;
they have laid their snares,
and along the path they have set traps to catch me.
6 I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
Hear my cry for help, Lord!
7 My Sovereign Lord, my strong defender,
you have protected me in battle.
8 Lord, don't give the wicked what they want;
don't let their plots succeed.
9 Don't let my enemies be victorious;[b]
make their threats against me fall back on them.
10 May red-hot coals fall on them;
may they be thrown into a pit and never get out.
11 May those who accuse others falsely not succeed;
may evil overtake violent people and destroy them.
12 Lord, I know that you defend the cause of the poor
and the rights of the needy.
13 The righteous will praise you indeed;
they will live in your presence.
(A)A Prayer for Help[a]
142 I call to the Lord for help;
I plead with him.
2 I bring him all my complaints;
I tell him all my troubles.
3 When I am ready to give up,
he knows what I should do.
In the path where I walk,
my enemies have hidden a trap for me.
4 When I look beside me,
I see that there is no one to help me,
no one to protect me.
No one cares for me.
5 Lord, I cry to you for help;
you, Lord, are my protector;
you are all I want in this life.
6 Listen to my cry for help,
for I am sunk in despair.
Save me from my enemies;
they are too strong for me.
7 Set me free from my distress;[b]
then in the assembly of your people I will praise you
because of your goodness to me.
An Evening Prayer[a]
141 I call to you, Lord; help me now!
Listen to me when I call to you.
2 (A)Receive my prayer as incense,
my uplifted hands as an evening sacrifice.
3 Lord, place a guard at my mouth,
a sentry at the door of my lips.
4 Keep me from wanting to do wrong
and from joining evil people in their wickedness.
May I never take part in their feasts.
5 Good people may punish me and rebuke me in kindness,
but I will never accept honor from evil people,
because I am always praying against their evil deeds.
6 When their rulers are thrown down from rocky cliffs,
the people will admit that my words were true.
7 Like wood that is split and chopped into bits,
so their bones are scattered at the edge of the grave.[b]
8 But I keep trusting in you, my Sovereign Lord.
I seek your protection;
don't let me die!
9 Protect me from the traps they have set for me,
from the snares of those evildoers.
10 May the wicked fall into their own traps
while I go by unharmed.
A Prayer for Help[a]
143 Lord, hear my prayer!
In your righteousness listen to my plea;
answer me in your faithfulness!
2 (A)Don't put me, your servant, on trial;
no one is innocent in your sight.
3 My enemies have hunted me down
and completely defeated me.
They have put me in a dark prison,
and I am like those who died long ago.
4 So I am ready to give up;
I am in deep despair.
5 I remember the days gone by;
I think about all that you have done,
I bring to mind all your deeds.
6 I lift up my hands to you in prayer;
like dry ground my soul is thirsty for you.
7 Answer me now, Lord!
I have lost all hope.
Don't hide yourself from me,
or I will be among those who go down to the world of the dead.
8 Remind me each morning of your constant love,
for I put my trust in you.
My prayers go up to you;
show me the way I should go.
9 I go to you for protection, Lord;
rescue me from my enemies.
10 You are my God;
teach me to do your will.
Be good to me, and guide me on a safe path.
11 Rescue me, Lord, as you have promised;
in your goodness save me from my troubles!
12 Because of your love for me, kill my enemies
and destroy all my oppressors,
for I am your servant.
Jerusalem and the Nations
14 The day when the Lord will sit in judgment is near. Then Jerusalem will be looted, and the loot will be divided up before your eyes. 2 The Lord will bring all the nations together to make war on Jerusalem. The city will be taken, the houses looted, and the women raped. Half of the people will go into exile, but the rest of them will not be taken away from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he has fought in times past. 4 At that time he will stand on the Mount of Olives, to the east of Jerusalem. Then the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west by a large valley. Half of the mountain will move northward, and half of it southward. 5 You will escape through this valley that divides the mountain in two.[a] You will flee as your ancestors did when the earthquake struck in the time of King Uzziah of Judah. The Lord my God will come, bringing all the angels with him.
6 When that time comes, there will no longer be cold or frost,[b] 7 nor any darkness. There will always be daylight, even at nighttime. When this will happen is known only to the Lord.
8 (A)When that day comes, fresh water will flow from Jerusalem, half of it to the Dead Sea and the other half to the Mediterranean. It will flow all year long, in the dry season as well as the wet. 9 Then the Lord will be king over all the earth; everyone will worship him as God and know him by the same name.
10 The whole region, from Geba in the north to Rimmon in the south, will be made level. Jerusalem will tower above the land around it; the city will reach from the Benjamin Gate to the Corner Gate, where there had been an earlier gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the royal wine presses. 11 (B)The people will live there in safety, no longer threatened by destruction.
The Gospel to the Gentiles
7 Accept one another, then, for the glory of God, as Christ has accepted you. 8 For I tell you that Christ's life of service was on behalf of the Jews, to show that God is faithful, to make his promises to their ancestors come true, 9 (A)and to enable even the Gentiles to praise God for his mercy. As the scripture says,
“And so I will praise you among the Gentiles;
I will sing praises to you.”
10 (B)Again it says,
“Rejoice, Gentiles, with God's people!”
11 (C)And again,
“Praise the Lord, all Gentiles;
praise him, all peoples!”
12 (D)And again, Isaiah says,
“A descendant of Jesse will appear;
he will come to rule the Gentiles,
and they will put their hope in him.”
13 May God, the source of hope, fill you with all joy and peace by means of your faith in him, so that your hope will continue to grow by the power of the Holy Spirit.
The Triumphant Approach to Jerusalem(A)
28 After Jesus said this, he went on in front of them toward Jerusalem. 29 As he came near Bethphage and Bethany at the Mount of Olives, he sent two disciples ahead 30 with these instructions: “Go to the village there ahead of you; as you go in, you will find a colt tied up that has never been ridden. Untie it and bring it here. 31 If someone asks you why you are untying it, tell him that the Master[a] needs it.”
32 They went on their way and found everything just as Jesus had told them. 33 As they were untying the colt, its owners said to them, “Why are you untying it?”
34 “The Master needs it,” they answered, 35 and they took the colt to Jesus. Then they threw their cloaks over the animal and helped Jesus get on. 36 As he rode on, people spread their cloaks on the road.
37 When he came near Jerusalem, at the place where the road went down the Mount of Olives, the large crowd of his disciples began to thank God and praise him in loud voices for all the great things that they had seen: 38 (B)“God bless the king who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory to God!”
39 Then some of the Pharisees in the crowd spoke to Jesus. “Teacher,” they said, “command your disciples to be quiet!”
40 Jesus answered, “I tell you that if they keep quiet, the stones themselves will start shouting.”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.