Book of Common Prayer
The Word of God
119 Happy are the people who live pure lives.
They follow the Lord’s teachings.
2 Happy are the people who keep his rules.
They ask him for help with their whole heart.
3 They don’t do what is wrong.
They follow his ways.
4 Lord, you gave your orders
to be followed completely.
5 I wish I were more loyal
in meeting your demands.
6 Then I would not be ashamed
when I think of your commands.
7 When I learned that your laws are fair,
I praised you with an honest heart.
8 I will meet your demands.
So please don’t ever leave me.
9 How can a young person live a pure life?
He can do it by obeying your word.
10 With all my heart I try to obey you, God.
Don’t let me break your commands.
11 I have taken your words to heart
so I would not sin against you.
12 Lord, you should be praised.
Teach me your demands.
13 My lips will tell about
all the laws you have spoken.
14 I enjoy living by your rules
as people enjoy great riches.
15 I think about your orders
and study your ways.
16 I enjoy obeying your demands.
And I will not forget your word.
17 Do good to me, your servant, so I can live,
so I can obey your word.
18 Open my eyes to see the wonderful things
in your teachings.
19 I am a stranger on earth.
Do not hide your commands from me.
20 I want to study
your laws all the time.
21 You scold proud people.
Those who ignore your commands are cursed.
22 Don’t let me be insulted and hated
because I obey your rules.
23 Even if princes speak against me,
I, your servant, will think about your demands.
24 Your rules give me pleasure.
They give me good advice.
A Prayer Against Liars
For the director of music. By the sheminith. A song of David.
12 Save me, Lord, because the good people are all gone.
No true believers are left on earth.
2 Everyone lies to his neighbors.
They say one thing and mean another.
3 The Lord will stop those lying lips.
He will cut off those bragging tongues.
4 They say, “Our tongues will help us win.
We can say what we wish. No one is our master.”
5 But the Lord says,
“I will now rise up
because the poor are being hurt.
Because of the moans of the helpless,
I will give them the help they want.”
6 The Lord’s words are pure.
They are like silver purified by fire,
like silver purified seven times over.
7 Lord, keep us safe.
Always protect us from such people.
8 The wicked are all around us.
Everyone loves what is wrong.
A Prayer for God to Be Near
For the director of music. A song of David.
13 How long will you forget me, Lord?
How long will you hide from me? Forever?
2 How long must I worry?
How long must I feel sad in my heart?
How long will my enemy win over me?
3 Lord, look at me.
Answer me, my God.
Tell me, or I will die.
4 Otherwise my enemy will say, “I have won!”
Those against me will rejoice that I’ve been defeated.
5 I trust in your love.
My heart is happy because you saved me.
6 I sing to the Lord
because he has taken care of me.
The Unbelieving Fool
For the director of music. Of David.
14 A wicked fool says to himself,
“There is no God.”
Fools are evil. They do terrible things.
None of them does anything good.
2 The Lord looked down from heaven at all the people.
He looked to see if anyone was wise,
if anyone was looking to God for help.
3 But all have turned away.
Together, everyone has become evil.
None of them does anything good.
4 Don’t the wicked understand?
They destroy my people as if they were eating bread.
They do not ask the Lord for help.
5 But the wicked are filled with terror
because God is with those who do what is right.
6 The wicked upset the plans of the poor.
But the Lord will protect the poor.
7 I pray that victory will come to Israel from Mount Zion!
May the Lord give them back their riches.
Then the people of Jacob will rejoice.
And the people of Israel will be glad.
The Message About Jerusalem
2 Isaiah son of Amoz saw this message about Judah and Jerusalem.
2 In the last days
the mountain on which the Lord’s Temple stands
will become the most important of all mountains.
It will be raised above the hills.
And people from all nations will come streaming to it.
3 Many nations will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord.
Let us go to the Temple of the God of Jacob.
Then God will teach us his ways.
And we will obey his teachings.”
The Lord’s teachings will go out from Jerusalem.
The Lord’s message will go out from Jerusalem.
4 Then the Lord will settle arguments among many nations.
He will make decisions for strong nations that are far away.
Then the nations will make their swords into plows.
They will make their spears into hooks for trimming trees.
Nations will no longer fight other nations.
They will not even train for war anymore.
5 Come, family of Jacob.
We should follow the way of the Lord.
A Terrible Day Is Coming
6 Lord, you have left your people,
the family of Jacob.
They have become filled with wrong ideas from people in the East.
Your people try to tell the future like the Philistines.
They have completely accepted those foreign ideas.
7 Their land has been filled with silver and gold.
There are a great many treasures there.
Their land has been filled with horses.
There are many chariots there.
8 Their land is full of idols.
The people worship these idols that they made with their own hands.
They worship statues shaped by their fingers.
9 People will not be proud any longer.
They will bow low with shame.
God, do not forgive them.
10 Go into the caves of the cliffs.
Dig holes and hide in the ground.
Hide from the anger of the Lord
and from his great power!
11 Proud people will stop being proud.
They will bow low with shame.
At that time only the Lord will still be praised.
13 Also, we always thank God because of the way you accepted his message. You heard his message from us, and you accepted it as the word of God, not the words of men. And it really is God’s message. And that message works in you who believe. 14 Brothers, you have been like God’s churches in Christ that are in Judea.[a] God’s people suffered bad things from the other Jews there. And you suffered the same bad things from the people of your own country. 15 Those Jews killed both the Lord Jesus and the prophets. And they forced us to leave that country. They do not please God. They are against all people. 16 They try to stop us from teaching the non-Jews so that they may be saved. But those Jews are adding more and more sins to the sins they already have. The anger of God has come to them at last.
Paul Wants to Visit Them Again
17 Brothers, we were separated from you for a short time, but our thoughts were still with you. We wanted very much to see you, and tried very hard to do so. 18 I, Paul, tried to come many times, but Satan stopped us. 19 For you are our hope, our joy, and the crown we will be proud of when our Lord Jesus Christ comes. 20 Truly you are our glory and our joy.
19 The teachers of the law and the priests heard this story that Jesus told. They knew the story was about them. So they wanted to arrest Jesus at once. But they were afraid of what the people would do.
The Leaders Try to Trap Jesus
20 So they waited for the right time to get Jesus. They sent some spies who acted as if they were good men. They wanted to trap Jesus in what he said so they could hand him over to the authority and power of the governor. 21 So the spies asked Jesus, “Teacher, we know that what you say and teach is true. You teach the same to all people. You always teach the truth about God’s way. 22 Tell us, is it right that we pay taxes to Caesar or not?”
23 But Jesus knew that these men were trying to trick him. He said, 24 “Show me a coin. Whose name is on the coin? And whose picture is on it?”
They said, “Caesar’s.”
25 Jesus said to them, “Then give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s. And give to God the things that are God’s.”
26 The men were amazed at his answer. They could say nothing. They were not able to trap Jesus in anything he said before the people.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.