Book of Common Prayer
A song of David for going up to the Temple.
131 Lord, I don’t feel proud.
I don’t see myself as better than others.
I am not thinking about doing great things
or reaching impossible goals.
2 No, right now I am calm and quiet,
like a child after nursing,
content in its mother’s arms.[a]
3 Israel, trust in the Lord.
Trust in him now and forever!
A song for going up to the Temple.
132 Lord, remember how David suffered.
2 He made a promise to you, Lord,
an oath to the Mighty God of Jacob.
3 He said, “I will not go into my house
or lie down on my bed.
4 I will not sleep
or let my eyes rest,
5 until I find a home for the Lord,
a tent for the Mighty God of Jacob!”
6 We heard about this in Ephrathah.[b]
We found the Box of the Agreement at Kiriath Jearim.[c]
7 Now, let’s go to the Lord’s house.
Let’s worship at his throne.[d]
8 Lord, get up[e] and go to your resting place;
go with the Box that shows your power.
9 May your priests be clothed in victory
and your loyal followers be filled with joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
don’t reject your chosen king.[f]
11 The Lord made a promise to David, an oath of loyalty to him:
“I will always put one of your descendants on your throne.
12 If your descendants obey my agreement and the laws I teach them,
then the king will always be someone from your family.”
13 The Lord has chosen Zion to be the place for his Temple,
the place he wanted for his home.
14 He said, “This will always be my place of rest.
This is where I want to sit on my throne.
15 I will bless this city with plenty of food.
Even the poor will have enough to eat.
16 I will clothe the priests with salvation,
and my followers will be filled with joy.
17 This is where I will make David’s family strong.
I will never let the lamp of my chosen king stop burning.
18 I will cover his enemies with shame,
and on his head will be a shining crown.”
A song of David for going up to the Temple.
133 Oh, how wonderful, how pleasing it is
when God’s people all come together as one[g]!
2 It is like the sweet-smelling oil that is poured over the high priest’s[h] head,
that runs down his beard flowing over his robes.
3 It is like a gentle rain[i] from Mount Hermon falling on Mount Zion.
It is there that the Lord has promised his blessing of eternal life.
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.
Jeremiah’s Lesson at the Temple
26 This message came from the Lord during the first year that Jehoiakim[a] son of Josiah was king of Judah. 2 The Lord said, “Jeremiah, stand in the Temple yard of the Lord. Give this message to all the people of Judah who are coming to worship at the Temple of the Lord. Tell them everything that I tell you to speak. Don’t leave out any part of my message. 3 Maybe they will listen and obey my message. Maybe they will stop living such evil lives. If they change, I will change my mind about my plans to punish them. I am planning this punishment because of the many evil things they have done. 4 You will say to them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I gave my teachings to you. You must obey me and follow my teachings. 5 You must listen to what my servants say to you. The prophets are my servants. I have sent my prophets to you again and again, but you did not listen to them. 6 If you don’t obey me, I will make my Temple in Jerusalem just like my Holy Tent at Shiloh.[b] People all over the world will think of Jerusalem when they ask for bad things to happen to other cities.’”
7 The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah say all these words at the Lord’s Temple. 8 Jeremiah finished speaking everything the Lord had commanded him to say to the people. Then the priests, the prophets, and all the people grabbed Jeremiah. They said, “You will die for saying such terrible things! 9 How dare you say such a thing in the name of the Lord! How dare you say that this Temple will be destroyed like the one at Shiloh! How dare you say that Jerusalem will become a desert with no one living in it!” All the people gathered around Jeremiah in the Temple of the Lord.
10 Now the rulers of Judah heard about everything that was happening. So they came out of the king’s palace. They went up to the Lord’s Temple. They took their places at the entrance of the New Gate. The New Gate is a gate leading to the Lord’s Temple. 11 Then the priests and the prophets spoke to the rulers and all the other people. They said, “Jeremiah should be killed. He said bad things about Jerusalem. You heard him say those things.”
12 Then Jeremiah spoke to all the rulers of Judah and all the other people. He said, “The Lord sent me to say these things about this Temple and this city. Everything that you have heard is from the Lord. 13 You people, change your lives! You must start doing good! You must obey the Lord your God. If you do that, he will change his mind. He will not do the bad things he told you about. 14 As for me, I am in your power. Do to me what you think is good and right. 15 But if you kill me, be sure of one thing. You will be guilty of killing an innocent person. You will make this city and everyone living in it guilty too. The Lord really did send me to you. The message you heard really is from the Lord.”
16 Then the rulers and all the people spoke. They said to the priests and the prophets, “Jeremiah must not be killed. What he told us comes from the Lord our God.”
God Has Not Forgotten His People
11 So I ask, “Did God force his people to leave him?” Of course not. I myself am an Israelite. I am from the family of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God chose the Israelites to be his people before they were born. And he did not force them to leave. Surely you know what the Scriptures say about Elijah. The Scriptures tell about Elijah praying to God against the people of Israel. He said, 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets and destroyed your altars. I am the only prophet still living, and they are trying to kill me now.”[a] 4 But what answer did God give to Elijah? God said, “I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have never given worship to Baal.”[b]
5 It is the same now. God has chosen a few people by his grace. 6 And if he chose them by grace, then it is not what they have done that made them his people. If they could be made his people by what they did, his gift of grace would not really be a gift.
7 So this is what has happened: The people of Israel wanted God’s blessing, but they did not all get it. The people he chose did get his blessing, but the others became hard and refused to listen to him. 8 As the Scriptures say,
“God caused the people to fall asleep.” (A)
“God closed their eyes so that they could not see,
and he closed their ears so that they could not hear.
This continues until now.” (B)
9 And David says,
“Let those people be caught and trapped at their own feasts.
Let them fall and be punished.
10 Let their eyes be closed so that they cannot see.
And let them be troubled forever.” (C)
11 So I ask: When the Jews fell, did that fall destroy them? No! But their mistake brought salvation to those who are not Jews. The purpose of this was to make the Jews jealous. 12 Their mistake brought rich blessings to the world. And what they lost brought rich blessings to the non-Jewish people. So surely the world will get much richer blessings when enough Jews become the kind of people God wants.
19 Again the Jews were divided over what Jesus was saying. 20 Many of them said, “A demon has come into him and made him crazy. Why listen to him?”
21 But others said, “These aren’t the words of someone controlled by a demon. A demon cannot heal the eyes of a blind man.”
The Jewish Leaders Against Jesus
22 It was winter, and the time came for the Festival of Dedication[a] at Jerusalem. 23 Jesus was in the Temple area at Solomon’s Porch. 24 The Jewish leaders gathered around him. They said, “How long will you make us wonder about you? If you are the Messiah, then tell us clearly.”
25 Jesus answered, “I told you already, but you did not believe. I do miracles in my Father’s name. These miracles show who I am. 26 But you do not believe, because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice. I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give my sheep eternal life. They will never die, and no one can take them out of my hand. 29 My Father is the one who gave them to me, and he is greater than all.[b] No one can steal my sheep out of his hand. 30 The Father and I are one.”
31 Again the Jews there picked up stones to kill Jesus. 32 But he said to them, “The many wonderful things you have seen me do are from the Father. Which of these good things are you killing me for?”
33 They answered, “We are not killing you for any good thing you did. But you say things that insult God. You are only a man, but you say you are the same as God! That is why we are trying to kill you!”
34 Jesus answered, “It is written in your law that God said, ‘I said you are gods.’[c] 35 This Scripture called those people gods—the people who received God’s message. And Scripture is always true. 36 So why do you accuse me of insulting God for saying, ‘I am God’s Son’? I am the one God chose and sent into the world. 37 If I don’t do what my Father does, then don’t believe what I say. 38 But if I do what my Father does, you should believe in what I do. You might not believe in me, but you should believe in the things I do. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
39 They tried to get Jesus again, but he escaped from them.
40 Then he went back across the Jordan River to the place where John began his work of baptizing people. Jesus stayed there, 41 and many people came to him. They said, “John never did any miraculous signs, but everything John said about this man is true.” 42 And many people there believed in Jesus.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International