Book of Common Prayer
To the director: A praise song of David.
140 Lord, save me from people who are evil.
Protect me from those who are cruel,
2 from those who plan to do evil
and always cause trouble.
3 Their words are as harmful as the fangs of a snake,
as deadly as its venom. Selah
4 Lord, save me from the wicked!
Protect me from these cruel people who plan to hurt me.
5 These proud people are trying to trap me.
They spread nets to catch me;
they set traps in my path. Selah
6 Lord, you are my God.
Lord, listen to my prayer.
7 My Lord God, you are the powerful one who saves me.
You protect my head in battle.
8 Lord, don’t let the wicked have what they want.
Don’t let their plans succeed. Selah
9 My enemies are planning trouble for me.
Lord, make that trouble fall on them.
10 Pour burning coals on their heads.
Throw them into the fire.
Throw them into pits they can never escape.
11 Don’t let those cruel liars enjoy success here.
Let disaster hunt them down.
12 I know the Lord will provide justice for the poor
and will defend the helpless.
13 Those who do what is right will praise your name;
those who are honest will live in your presence.
A maskil of David written when he was in the cave. A prayer.
142 I cry out to the Lord.
I beg the Lord to help me.
2 I tell him my problems;
I tell him about my troubles.
3 I am ready to give up.
But you, Lord, know the path I am on,
and you know that my enemies have set a trap for me.
4 I look around,
and I don’t see anyone I know.
I have no place to run.
There is no one to save me.
5 Lord, I cry out to you for help:
“You are my place of safety.
You are all I need in life.”
6 Listen to my prayer.
I am so weak.
Save me from those who are chasing me.
They are stronger than I am.
7 Help me escape this trap,[a]
so that I can praise your name.
Then good people will celebrate with me,
because you took care of me.
A praise song of David.
141 Lord, I call to you for help.
Listen to me as I pray.
Please hurry and help me!
2 Accept my prayer like a gift of burning incense,
the words I lift up like an evening sacrifice.
3 Lord, help me control what I say.
Don’t let me say anything bad.
4 Take away any desire to do evil.
Keep me from joining the wicked in doing wrong.
Help me stay away from their feasts.
5 If good people correct me,
I will consider it a good thing.
If they criticize me,
I will accept it like a warm welcome.[a]
But my prayer will always be against the wicked and the evil they do.
6 Let their judges be put to death.[b]
Then everyone will know that I told the truth.
7 Like rocks in a field that a farmer has plowed,
so our bones will be scattered in the grave.
8 My Lord God, I look to you for help.
I look to you for protection; don’t let me die.
9 Those evil people are trying to trap me.
Don’t let me fall into their traps.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own traps,
while I walk away unharmed.
A praise song of David.
143 Lord, hear my prayer.
Listen to my call for help and answer my prayer.
Show me how good and loyal you are.
2 Don’t judge me, your servant.
No one alive could be judged innocent by your standards.
3 My enemies are chasing me.
They have crushed me into the dirt.
They are pushing me into the dark grave,
like people who died long ago.
4 I am ready to give up.
I am losing my courage.
5 But I remember what happened long ago.
I am thinking about all you have done.
I am talking about what you made with your hands!
6 I lift my hands in prayer to you.
I am waiting for your help, like a dry land waiting for rain. Selah
7 Hurry and answer me, Lord!
I have lost my courage.
Don’t turn away from me.
Don’t let me die and become like the people lying in the grave.
8 Show me your faithful love this morning.
I trust in you.
Show me what I should do.
I put my life in your hands!
9 Lord, I come to you for protection.
Save me from my enemies.
10 Show me what you want me to do.
You are my God.
Let your good Spirit lead me over level ground.
11 Lord, let me live
so that people will praise your name.
Show me how good you are
and save me from my trouble.
12 Show me your love
and defeat my enemies.
Destroy those who are trying to kill me
because I am your servant.
The Day of Judgment
14 Look, the Lord has a special day of judgment coming, when the riches you have taken will be divided in your city. 2 I will bring all the nations together to fight against Jerusalem. They will capture the city and destroy the houses. The women will be raped, and half of the people will be taken away as prisoners. But the rest of the people will not be taken from the city. 3 Then the Lord will go to war with those nations. It will be a real battle. 4 At that time he will stand on the Mount of Olives, the hill east of Jerusalem. The Mount of Olives will split in half. Part of the mountain will move to the north, and part to the south. A deep valley will open up, from the east to the west. 5 You will try to run away as that mountain valley comes closer and closer to you. You will run away like the time you ran from the earthquake during the time of King Uzziah of Judah. But the Lord my God will come, and all his holy ones[a] will be with him.
6-7 That will be a very special day. There will not be any light, cold, or frost. Only the Lord knows how, but there will not be any day or night. Then, when darkness usually comes, there will still be light. 8 At that time water will flow continually from Jerusalem.[b] That stream will split and part of it will flow east, and part of it will flow west to the Mediterranean Sea. And it will flow all year long, in the summer as well as in the winter. 9 And the Lord will be the King of the whole world. At that time all people will worship him as the only Lord with only one name. 10 And the whole land from Geba in the north to Rimmon in the south past Jerusalem will become a flat plain. The city of Jerusalem will stay in the same place, but it will be built high above the land around it. It will reach from the Benjamin Gate to the First Gate (that is, the Corner Gate) and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses. 11 People will move to Jerusalem because it will be a safe place to live. It will never again be destroyed.
7 Christ accepted you, so you should accept each other. This will bring honor[a] to God. 8 I tell you that Christ became a servant of the Jews to show that God has done what he promised their great ancestors. 9 Christ also did this so that the non-Jewish people could praise God for the mercy he gives to them. The Scriptures say,
“So I will give thanks to you among the people of other nations;
I will sing praise to your name.” (A)
10 And the Scriptures say,
“You people of other nations should be happy together with God’s people.” (B)
11 The Scriptures also say,
“Praise the Lord all you people of other nations;
all people should praise the Lord.” (C)
12 And Isaiah says,
“Someone will come from Jesse’s family.[b]
He will come to rule over the nations,
and they will put their hope in him.” (D)
13 I pray that the God who gives hope will fill you with much joy and peace as you trust in him. Then you will have more and more hope, and it will flow out of you by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Enters Jerusalem Like a King(A)
28 After Jesus said these things, he continued traveling toward Jerusalem. 29 He came near Bethphage and Bethany, towns near the hill called the Mount of Olives. He sent out two of his followers. 30 He said, “Go into the town you can see there. When you enter the town, you will find a young donkey tied there that no one has ever ridden. Untie it, and bring it here to me. 31 If anyone asks you why you are taking the donkey, you should say, ‘The Master needs it.’”
32 The two followers went into town. They found the donkey exactly like Jesus told them. 33 They untied it, but its owners came out. They said to the followers, “Why are you untying our donkey?”
34 The followers answered, “The Master needs it.” 35 So the followers brought the donkey to Jesus. They put their coats on its back. Then they put Jesus on the donkey. 36 He rode along the road toward Jerusalem. The followers spread their coats on the road before him.
37 Jesus was coming close to Jerusalem. He was already near the bottom of the Mount of Olives. The whole group of followers was happy. They were very excited and praised God. They thanked God for all the powerful things they had seen. 38 They said,
“‘Welcome! God bless the king who comes in the name of the Lord.’ (B)
Peace in heaven and glory to God!”
39 Some of the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Teacher, tell your followers not to say these things.”
40 But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if my followers didn’t say them, these stones would shout them.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International