Book of Common Prayer
33 He changed rivers into a desert,
and springs of water into dry ground.
34 He made fertile land salty
because the people there did evil.
35 He changed the desert into pools of water
and dry ground into springs of water.
36 He had the hungry settle there.
They built a city to live in.
37 They planted seeds in the fields and vineyards.
And they had a good harvest.
38 God blessed them, and they grew in number.
Their cattle did not become fewer.
39 Because of disaster, troubles and sadness,
their families grew smaller and weaker.
40 He showed he was displeased with their important men.
He made them wander in a pathless desert.
41 But he lifted the poor out of their suffering.
And he made their families grow like flocks of sheep.
42 Good people see this and are happy.
But the wicked say nothing.
43 Whoever is wise will remember these things.
He will think about the love of the Lord.
A Prayer for Victory
A song of David.
108 God, my heart is right.
I will sing and praise you with all my being.
2 Wake up, harp and lyre!
I will wake up the dawn.
3 Lord, I will praise you among the nations.
I will sing songs of praise about you to all the nations.
4 Your love is so great that it is higher than the skies.
Your truth reaches to the clouds.
5 God, you are supreme over the skies.
Let your glory be over all the earth.
6 Answer us and save us by your power.
Then the people you love will be rescued.
7 God has said from his Temple,
“When I win, I will divide Shechem
and cut up the Valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is like my helmet.
Judah holds my royal scepter.
9 Moab is like my washbowl.
I throw my sandals at Edom.
I shout at Philistia.”
10 Who will bring me to the strong, walled city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 God, surely you have rejected us.
You do not go out with our armies.
12 Help us fight the enemy.
Human help is useless.
13 But we can win with God’s help.
He will defeat our enemies.
Praise God Who Creates and Saves
33 Sing to the Lord, you who do what is right.
Honest people should praise him.
2 Praise the Lord on the harp.
Make music for him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing a new song to him.
Play well and joyfully.
4 God’s word is true.
Everything he does is right.
5 He loves what is right and fair.
The Lord’s love fills the earth.
6 The sky was made at the Lord’s command.
By the breath from his mouth, he made all the stars.
7 He gathered the water in the sea into a heap.
He made the great ocean stay in its place.
8 All the earth should worship the Lord.
The whole world should fear him.
9 He spoke, and it happened.
He commanded, and it appeared.
10 The Lord upsets the plans of nations.
He ruins all their plans.
11 But the Lord’s plans will stand forever.
His ideas will last from now on.
12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord.
Happy are the people he chose for his very own.
13 The Lord looks down from heaven.
He sees every person.
14 From his throne he watches
everyone who lives on earth.
15 He made their hearts.
He understands everything they do.
16 No king is saved by his great army.
No warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 Horses can’t bring victory.
They can’t save by their strength.
18 But the Lord looks after those who fear him.
He watches over those who put their hope in his love.
19 He saves them from death.
He spares their lives in times of hunger.
20 So our hope is in the Lord.
He is our help, our shield to protect us.
21 We rejoice in him.
We trust his holy name.
22 Lord, show your love to us
as we put our hope in you.
15 The day before Saul came, the Lord had told Samuel: 16 “About this time tomorrow I will send you a man. He will be from Benjamin. You must appoint him as leader over my people Israel. He will save my people from the Philistines. I have seen the suffering of my people. I have listened to their cry.”
17 When Samuel first saw Saul, the Lord spoke to Samuel. He said, “This is the man I told you about. He will rule my people.”
18 Saul came near Samuel at the gate. Saul said, “Please tell me where the seer’s house is.”
19 Samuel answered, “I am the seer. Go ahead of me to the place of worship. Today you and your servant are to eat with me. Tomorrow morning I will send you home. And I will answer all your questions. 20 Don’t worry about the donkeys you lost three days ago. They have been found. Israel now wants you and all your father’s family.”
21 Saul answered, “But I am from the tribe of Benjamin. It’s the smallest tribe in Israel. And my family group is the smallest in the tribe of Benjamin. Why do you say Israel wants me?”
22 Then Samuel took Saul and his servant into a large room. He gave them a chief place at the table. About 30 guests were there. 23 Samuel said to the cook, “Bring the meat I gave you. It’s the portion I told you to set aside.”
24 So the cook took the thigh and put it on the table in front of Saul. Samuel said, “This is the meat saved for you. Eat it because it was set aside for you for this special time. As I said, ‘I have invited the people.’” So Saul ate with Samuel that day.
25 After they finished eating, they came down from the place of worship. They went to the town. Then Samuel talked with Saul on the roof[a] of his house. 26 At dawn they got up, and Samuel called to Saul on the roof. He said, “Get up, and I will send you on your way.” So Saul got up. He went out of the house with Samuel. 27 Saul, his servant and Samuel were getting near the edge of the city. Samuel said to Saul, “Tell the servant to go on ahead of us. I have a message from God for you.”
Samuel Appoints Saul
10 Samuel took a jar of olive oil. He poured the oil on Saul’s head. He kissed Saul and said, “The Lord has appointed you to be leader of his people Israel. You will rule over the people of the Lord. You will save them from their enemies all around. This will be the sign that the Lord has appointed you as leader of his people.
30 “After 40 years Moses was in the desert near Mount Sinai. An angel appeared to him in the flames of a burning bush. 31 When Moses saw this, he was amazed. He went near to look closer at it. Moses heard the Lord’s voice. 32 The Lord said, ‘I am the God of your ancestors. I am the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.’[a] Moses began to shake with fear and was afraid to look. 33 The Lord said to him, ‘Take off your sandals. You are standing on holy ground. 34 I have seen the troubles my people have suffered in Egypt. I have heard their cries. I have come down to save them. And now, Moses, I am sending you back to Egypt.’[b]
35 “This Moses was the same man the Jews said they did not want. They had said to him, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge?’[c] Moses is the same man God sent to be a ruler and savior, with the help of an angel. This was the angel Moses saw in the burning bush. 36 So Moses led the people out of Egypt. He worked miracles and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea, and then in the desert for 40 years. 37 This is the same Moses that said to the Jewish people: ‘God will give you a prophet like me. He will be one of your own people.’[d] 38 This is the same Moses who was with the gathering of the Jews in the desert. He was with the angel that spoke to him at Mount Sinai, and he was with our ancestors. He received commands from God that give life, and he gave those commands to us.
39 “But our fathers did not want to obey Moses. They rejected him. They wanted to go back to Egypt again. 40 They said to Aaron, ‘Moses led us out of Egypt. But we don’t know what has happened to him. So make us gods who will lead us.’[e] 41 So the people made an idol that looked like a calf. Then they brought sacrifices to it. The people were proud of what they had made with their own hands! 42 But God turned against them. He did not try to stop them from worshiping the sun, moon and stars. This is what is written in the book of the prophets: God says,
‘People of Israel, you did not bring me sacrifices and offerings
while you traveled in the desert for 40 years.
43 But now you will have to carry with you
the tent to worship the false god Molech
and the idols of the star god Rephan that you made to worship.
This is because I will send you away beyond Babylon.’ Amos 5:25-27
Jesus Prays Alone
39-40 Jesus left the city and went to the Mount of Olives. His followers went with him. (Jesus went there often.) He said to his followers, “Pray for strength against temptation.”
41 Then Jesus went about a stone’s throw away from them. He kneeled down and prayed, 42 “Father, if it is what you want, then let me not have this cup[a] of suffering. But do what you want, not what I want.” 43 Then an angel from heaven appeared to him to help him. 44 Jesus was full of pain; he prayed even more. Sweat dripped from his face as if he were bleeding. 45 When he finished praying, he went to his followers. They were asleep. (Their sadness had made them very tired.) 46 Jesus said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray for strength against temptation.”
Jesus Is Arrested
47 While Jesus was speaking, a crowd came up. One of the 12 apostles was leading them. He was Judas. He came close to Jesus so that he could kiss him.
48 But Jesus said to him, “Judas, are you using the kiss to give the Son of Man to his enemies?”
49 The followers of Jesus were standing there too. They saw what was happening. They said to Jesus, “Lord, should we use our swords?” 50 And one of them did use his sword. He cut off the right ear of the servant of the high priest.
51 Jesus said, “Stop!” Then he touched the servant’s ear and healed him.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.