Book of Common Prayer
A Call to Praise and Obedience
95 Come, let’s sing for joy to the Lord.
Let’s shout praises to the Rock who saves us.
2 Let’s come to him with thanksgiving.
Let’s sing songs to him.
3 The Lord is the great God.
He is the great King over all gods.
4 The deepest places on earth are his.
And the highest mountains belong to him.
5 The sea is his because he made it.
He created the land with his own hands.
6 Come, let’s bow down and worship him.
Let’s kneel before the Lord who made us.
7 He is our God.
And we are the people he takes care of
and the sheep that he tends.
Today listen to what he says:
8 “Do not be stubborn, as your ancestors were at Meribah,
as they were that day at Massah in the desert.
9 There your ancestors tested me.
They put me to the test even though they saw what I did.
10 I was angry with those people for 40 years.
I said, ‘They are not loyal to me.
They have not understood my ways.’
11 I was angry and made a promise,
‘They will never enter my land of rest.’”
The Prayer of a Suffering Man
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Doe of Dawn.” A song of David.
22 My God, my God, why have you left me alone?
You are too far away to save me.
You are too far away to hear my moans.
2 My God, I call to you during the day.
But you do not answer.
And I call at night.
I am not silent.
3 You sit as the Holy One.
The praises of Israel are your throne.
4 Our ancestors trusted you.
They trusted you, and you saved them.
5 They called to you for help.
And they were rescued.
They trusted you.
And they were not disappointed.
6 But I am like a worm instead of a man.
Men make fun of me.
They look down on me.
7 Everyone who looks at me laughs.
They stick out their tongues.
They shake their heads.
8 They say, “Turn to the Lord for help.
Maybe he will save you.
If he likes you,
maybe he will rescue you.”
9 You had my mother give birth to me.
You made me trust you
while I was just a baby.
10 I have leaned on you since the day I was born.
You have been my God since my mother gave birth to me.
11 So don’t be far away from me.
Now trouble is near,
and there is no one to help.
12 Men have surrounded me like angry bulls.
The strong bulls of Bashan are on every side.
13 Like hungry, roaring lions
they open their jaws at me.
14 My strength is gone
like water poured out onto the ground.
All my bones are out of joint.
My heart is like wax.
It has melted inside me.
15 My strength has dried up like a piece of a broken pot.
My tongue sticks to the top of my mouth.
You laid me in the dust of death.
16 Evil men have surrounded me.
Like dogs they have trapped me.
They have bitten my arms and legs.
17 I can count all my bones.
People look and stare at me.
18 They divided my clothes among them,
and they threw lots for my clothing.
19 But, Lord, don’t be far away.
You are my power. Hurry to help me.
20 Save me from the sword.
Save my life from the dogs.
21 Rescue me from the lion’s mouth.
Save me from the horns of the bulls.
22 Then I will tell my brothers and sisters about you.
I will praise you when your people meet to worship you.
23 Praise the Lord, all you who worship him.
All you descendants of Jacob, honor him.
Fear him, all you Israelites.
24 The Lord does not ignore
the one who is in trouble.
He doesn’t hide from him.
He listens when the one in trouble calls out to him.
25 Lord, I praise you in the great meeting of your people.
These worshipers will see me do what I promised.
26 Poor people will eat until they are full.
Those who look to the Lord will praise him.
May your hearts live forever!
27 People everywhere will remember
and will turn to the Lord.
All the families of the nations
will worship him.
28 This is because the Lord is King.
He rules the nations.
29 All the powerful people on earth will eat and worship.
Everyone will bow down to him.
30 The people in the future will serve him.
They will always be told about the Lord.
31 They will tell that he does what is right.
People who are not yet born
will hear what God has done.
A Prayer Not to Sin
A song of David.
141 Lord, I call to you. Come quickly.
Listen to me when I call to you.
2 Let my prayer be like incense placed before you.
Let my praise be like the evening sacrifice.
3 Lord, help me control my tongue.
Help me be careful about what I say.
4 Don’t let me want to do evil
or join others in doing wrong.
Don’t let me eat
with those who do evil.
5 If a good man punished me, that would be kind.
If he corrected me,
that would be like having perfumed oil on my head.
I shouldn’t refuse it.
But I pray against those who do evil.
6 Let their leaders be thrown down the cliffs.
Then people will know that I have spoken the truth:
7 “The ground is plowed and broken up.
In the same way, our bones have been scattered at the grave.”
8 Lord God, I look to you for help.
I trust in you. Don’t let me die.
9 Protect me from the traps they set for me
and from the net evil people have spread.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own pits.
And let me pass by safely.
A Prayer Not to Be Killed
A song of David.
143 Lord, hear my prayer.
Listen to my cry for mercy.
Come to help me
because you are loyal and good.
2 Don’t judge me, your servant,
because no one alive is right before you.
3 My enemies are chasing me.
They have crushed me to the ground.
They have made me live in darkness
like those who are long dead.
4 I am afraid.
My courage is gone.
5 I remember what happened long ago.
I recall everything you have done.
I think about all you have made.
6 I lift my hands to you in prayer.
As a dry land needs rain, I thirst for you. Selah
7 Lord, answer me quickly.
I am getting weak.
Don’t turn away from me,
or I will be like those who are dead.
8 Tell me in the morning about your love.
I trust you.
Show me what I should do
because my prayers go up to you.
9 Lord, save me from my enemies.
I come to you for safety.
10 Teach me to do what you want,
because you are my God.
Let your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.
11 Lord, let me live
so people will praise you.
In your goodness
save me from my troubles.
12 In your love defeat my enemies.
Destroy all those who trouble me
because I am your servant.
A Letter to the Jews in Babylon
29 Jeremiah the prophet sent a letter to the people taken as captives to Babylon. He sent it to the elders who were among the captives, the priests and the prophets. And he sent it to all the other people Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem to Babylon.
4 This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says to all those people he sent away from Jerusalem as captives to Babylon: 5 “Build houses and settle in the land. Plant gardens and eat the food you grow. 6 Get married and have sons and daughters. Find wives for your sons. Let your daughters be married so they may also have sons and daughters. Have many children and grow in number in Babylon. Don’t become fewer in number. 7 Also do good things for the city where I sent you as captives. Pray to the Lord for the city where you are living. If there is peace in that city, you will have peace also.” 8 The Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: “Don’t let your prophets and the people who do magic fool you. Don’t listen to their dreams. 9 They are prophesying lies. And they are saying that their message is from me. But I did not send them,” says the Lord.
10 This is what the Lord says: “Babylon will be powerful for 70 years. After that time I will come to you who are living in Babylon. I will keep my promise to bring you back to Jerusalem. 11 I say this because I know what I have planned for you,” says the Lord. “I have good plans for you. I don’t plan to hurt you. I plan to give you hope and a good future. 12 Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me. And I will listen to you. 13 You will search for me. And when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me!
13 Now I am speaking to you who are not Jews. I am an apostle to the non-Jews. So while I have that work, I will do the best I can. 14 I hope I can make my own people jealous. That way, maybe I can help some of them to be saved. 15 God turned away from the Jews. When that happened, God became friends with the other people in the world. So when God accepts the Jews, then surely that will bring to them life after death.
16 If the first piece of bread is offered to God, then the whole loaf is made holy. If the roots of a tree are holy, then the tree’s branches are holy too.
17 Some of the branches from an olive tree have been broken off, and the branch of a wild olive tree has been joined to that first tree. You non-Jews are the same as that wild branch, and you now share the strength and life of the first tree, the Jews. 18 So do not brag about those branches that were broken off. You have no reason to brag. Why? You do not give life to the root. The root gives life to you. 19 You will say, “Branches were broken off so that I could be joined to their tree.” 20 That is true. But those branches were broken off because they did not believe. And you continue to be part of the tree only because you believe. Do not be proud, but be afraid. 21 If God did not let the natural branches of that tree stay, then he will not let you stay if you don’t believe.
22 So you see that God is kind, but he can also be very strict. God punishes those who stop following him. But God is kind to you, if you continue following in his kindness. If you do not continue following him, you will be cut off from the tree. 23 And if the Jews will believe in God again, then God will accept the Jews back again. God is able to put them back where they were. 24 It is not natural for a wild branch to be part of a good tree. But you non-Jews are like a branch cut from a wild olive tree. And you were joined to a good olive tree. But those Jews are like a branch that grew from the good tree. So surely they can be joined to their own tree again.
The Death of Lazarus
11 There was a man named Lazarus who was sick. He lived in the town of Bethany, where Mary and her sister Martha lived. 2 Mary is the woman who later put perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. Mary’s brother was Lazarus, the man who was now sick. 3 So Mary and Martha sent someone to tell Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
4 When Jesus heard this he said, “This sickness will not end in death. It is for the glory of God. This has happened to bring glory to the Son of God.” 5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 But when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was for two more days. 7 Then Jesus said to his followers, “Let us go back to Judea.”
8 The followers said, “But Teacher, the Jews there tried to kill you with stones. That was only a short time ago. Now you want to go back there?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks in the daylight, he will not stumble because he can see by this world’s light. 10 But if anyone walks at night he stumbles because there is no light to help him see.”
11 After Jesus said this, he added, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. But I am going there to wake him.”
12 The followers said, “But Lord, if he can sleep, he will get well.”
13 Jesus meant that Lazarus was dead. But Jesus’ followers thought that he meant Lazarus was really sleeping. 14 So then Jesus said plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there so that you may believe. But let us go to him now.”
16 Then Thomas (the one called Didymus) said to the other followers, “Let us go, too. We will die with him.”
Jesus in Bethany
17 Jesus arrived in Bethany. There he learned that Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days. 18 Bethany was about two miles from Jerusalem. 19 Many Jews had come there to comfort Martha and Mary about their brother.
20 Martha heard that Jesus was coming, and she went out to meet him. But Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you anything you ask.”
23 Jesus said, “Your brother will rise and live again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know that he will rise and live again in the resurrection[a] on the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will have life even if he dies. 26 And he who lives and believes in me will never die. Martha, do you believe this?”
27 Martha answered, “Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God. You are the One who was coming to the world.”
Jesus with Friends in Bethany
12 Six days before the Passover Feast, Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived. (Lazarus is the man Jesus raised from death.) 2 There they had a dinner for Jesus. Martha served the food. Lazarus was one of the people eating with Jesus. 3 Mary brought in a pint of very expensive perfume made from pure nard. She poured the perfume on Jesus’ feet, and then she wiped his feet with her hair. And the sweet smell from the perfume filled the whole house.
4 Judas Iscariot, one of Jesus’ followers, was there. (He was the one who would later turn against Jesus.) Judas said, 5 “This perfume was worth an entire year’s wages. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.” 6 But Judas did not really care about the poor. He said this because he was a thief. He was the one who kept the money box, and he often stole money from it.
7 Jesus answered, “Let her alone. It was right for her to save this perfume for today—the day for me to be prepared for burial. 8 The poor will always be with you, but you will not always have me.”
The Plot Against Lazarus
9 A large crowd of Jews heard that Jesus was in Bethany. So they went there to see not only Jesus but also Lazarus. Lazarus was the one Jesus raised from death. 10 So the leading priests made plans to kill Lazarus, too.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.