Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.
61 God, hear my cry.
Listen to my prayer.
2 I call to you from the ends of the earth.
I am afraid.
Carry me away to a high mountain.
3 You have been my protection,
like a strong tower against my enemies.
4 Let me live in your Holy Tent forever.
Protect me as a bird protects its young under its wings. Selah
5 God, you have heard my promises.
You have given me the things that belong to those who fear you.
6 Give the king a long life.
Let him live many years.
7 Let him rule in the presence of God forever.
Protect him with your love and truth.
8 Then I will praise your name forever.
And every day I will keep my promises.
Trust Only in God
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A song of David.
62 I wait patiently for God.
Only he can save me.
2 He is my rock, who saves me.
He protects me like a strong, walled city.
I will not be defeated.
3 How long will you attack me?
Will all of you throw me down?
I am like a leaning wall, like a fence ready to fall.
4 You are planning to make me fall.
You enjoy telling lies about me.
With your mouth you bless me.
But in your heart you curse me. Selah
5 I wait patiently for God to save me.
Only he gives me hope.
6 He is my rock, who saves me.
He protects me like a strong, walled city.
I will not be defeated.
7 My honor and salvation come from God.
He is my mighty rock and my protection.
8 People, trust God all the time.
Tell him all your problems.
God is our protection. Selah
9 People are only a breath.
Even the greatest men are just a lie.
On the scales, they weigh nothing.
Together they are only a breath.
10 Do not trust in force.
Stealing is of no use.
Even if you gain more riches,
don’t put your trust in them.
11 God has said this,
and I have heard it over and over:
God, you are strong.
12 Lord, you are loving.
You reward a person for what he does.
Honest People Are Blessed
112 Praise the Lord!
Happy is the person who fears the Lord.
He loves what the Lord commands.
2 His descendants will be powerful in the land.
The children of honest people will be blessed.
3 His house will be full of wealth and riches.
His goodness will continue forever.
4 A light shines in the dark for honest people.
It shines for those who are good and kind and merciful.
5 It is good to be kind and generous.
Whoever is fair in his business
6 will never be defeated.
A good person will be remembered from now on.
7 He won’t be afraid of bad news.
He is safe because he trusts the Lord.
8 That person is confident. He will not be afraid.
He will look down on his enemies.
9 He gives freely to the poor.
The things he does are right and will continue forever.
He will be given great honor.
10 The wicked will see this and become angry.
They will grind their teeth in anger and then disappear.
The wishes of the wicked will come to nothing.
The One True God
115 It does not belong to us, Lord.
The praise belongs to you
because of your love and loyalty.
2 Why do the nations ask,
“Where is their God?”
3 Our God is in heaven.
He does what he wants.
4 Their idols are made of silver and gold.
They are made by human hands.
5 They have mouths, but they cannot speak.
They have eyes, but they cannot see.
6 They have ears, but they cannot hear.
They have noses, but they cannot smell.
7 They have hands, but they cannot feel.
They have feet, but they cannot walk.
And no sounds come from their throats.
8 The people who make idols and trust them
are all like them.
9 Family of Israel, trust the Lord.
He is your helper and your protection.
10 Family of Aaron, trust the Lord.
He is your helper and your protection.
11 You people who fear the Lord should trust him.
He is your helper and your protection.
12 The Lord remembers us and will bless us.
He will bless the family of Israel.
He will bless the family of Aaron.
13 The Lord will bless those who fear him,
from the smallest to the greatest.
14 May the Lord give you many children.
And may he give them children also.
15 May the Lord bless you.
He made heaven and earth.
16 Heaven belongs to the Lord.
But he gave the earth to people.
17 Dead people do not praise the Lord.
Those in the grave are silent.
18 But we will praise the Lord
now and forever.
Praise the Lord!
The King of Peace Is Coming
11 A branch will grow
from a stump of a tree that was cut down.
So a new king will come
from the family of Jesse.[a]
2 The Spirit of the Lord will rest upon that king.
The Spirit gives him wisdom, understanding, guidance and power.
And the Spirit teaches him to know and respect the Lord.
3 This king will be glad to obey the Lord.
He will not judge by the way things look.
He will not judge by what people say.
4 He will judge the poor honestly.
He will be fair in his decisions for the poor people of the land.
At his command evil people will be punished.
By his words the wicked will be put to death.
5 Goodness and fairness will give him strength.
They will be like a belt around his waist.
6 Then wolves will live in peace with lambs.
And leopards will lie down to rest with goats.
Calves, lions and young bulls will eat together.
And a little child will lead them.
7 Cows and bears will eat together in peace.
Their young will lie down together.
Lions will eat hay as oxen do.
8 A baby will be able to play near a cobra’s hole.
A child will be able to put his hand into the nest of a poisonous snake.
9 They will not hurt or destroy each other
on all my holy mountain.
The earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord,
as the sea is full of water.
The 1,000 Years
20 I saw an angel coming down from heaven. He had the key to the bottomless pit. He also held a large chain in his hand. 2 The angel grabbed the dragon, that old snake who is the devil. The angel tied him up for 1,000 years. 3 Then he threw him into the bottomless pit and closed it and locked it over him. The angel did this so that he could not trick the people of the earth anymore until the 1,000 years were ended. After 1,000 years he must be set free for a short time.
4 Then I saw some thrones and people sitting on them. They had been given the power to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been killed because they were faithful to the truth of Jesus and the message from God. They had not worshiped the beast or his idol. They had not received the mark of the beast on their foreheads or on their hands. They came back to life and ruled with Christ for 1,000 years. 5 (The others that were dead did not live again until the 1,000 years were ended.) This is the first raising of the dead. 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in this first raising of the dead. The second death has no power over them. They will be priests for God and for Christ. They will rule with him for 1,000 years.
7 When the 1,000 years are over, Satan will be set free from his prison. 8 He will go out to trick the nations in all the earth—Gog and Magog. Satan will gather them for battle. There will be so many people that they will be like sand on the seashore. 9 And Satan’s army marched across the earth and gathered around the camp of God’s people and the city that God loves. But fire came down from heaven and burned them up. 10 And Satan, who tricked them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur with the beast and the false prophet. There they will be punished day and night forever and ever.
Jesus Is God’s Son
30 “I can do nothing alone. I judge only the way I am told, so my judgment is right. I don’t try to please myself. I try to please the One who sent me.
31 “If I tell people about myself, then they will not accept what I say about myself. 32 But there is another who tells about me. And I know that the things he says about me are true.
33 “You have sent men to John. And he has told you about the truth. 34 But I don’t need a man to tell about me. I tell you this so that you can be saved. 35 John was like a burning and shining lamp. And you were happy to enjoy his light for a while.
36 “But I have a proof about myself that is greater than that of John. The things I do are my proof. These are the things my Father gave me to do. They show that the Father sent me. 37 And the Father who sent me has given proof about me himself. You have never heard his voice. You have never seen what he looks like. 38 His teaching does not live in you because you don’t believe in the One that the Father sent. 39 You carefully study the Scriptures because you think that they give you eternal life. Those are the same Scriptures that tell about me! 40 But you refuse to come to me to have that life.
41 “I don’t want praise from men. 42 But I know you—I know that you don’t have God’s love in you. 43 I have come from my Father—I speak for him. But you don’t accept me. But when another person comes, speaking only for himself, you will accept him. 44 You like to have praise from each other. But you never try to get the praise that comes from the only God. So how can you believe? 45 Don’t think that I will stand before the Father and say that you are wrong. Moses is the one who says that you are wrong. And he is the one that you hoped would save you. 46 If you really believed Moses, you would believe me because Moses wrote about me. 47 But you don’t believe what Moses wrote. So how can you believe what I say?”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.