Book of Common Prayer
God’s Love for Israel
105 Give thanks to the Lord and pray to him.
Tell the nations what he has done.
2 Sing to him. Sing praises to him.
Tell about all the wonderful things he has done.
3 Be glad that you are his.
Let those who ask the Lord for help be happy.
4 Depend on the Lord and his strength.
Always go to him for help.
5 Remember the wonderful things he has done.
Remember his miracles and his decisions.
6 You are descendants of his servant Abraham,
the children of Jacob, his chosen people.
7 He is the Lord our God.
His laws are for all the world.
8 He will keep his agreement forever.
He will keep his promises always.
9 He will keep his agreement he made with Abraham.
He will keep the promise he made to Isaac.
10 He made it a law for the people of Jacob.
He made it an agreement with Israel to last forever.
11 The Lord said, “I will give you the land of Canaan.
The promised land will belong to you.”
12 Then God’s people were few in number.
They were strangers in the land.
13 They went from one nation to another.
They went from one kingdom to another.
14 But the Lord did not let anyone hurt them.
He warned kings not to harm them.
15 He said, “Don’t hurt my chosen people.
Don’t harm my prophets.”
16 God ordered a time of hunger in the land.
And he destroyed all the food.
17 Then he sent a man ahead of them.
It was Joseph, who was sold as a slave.
18 They put chains around his feet
and an iron ring around his neck.
19 Then the time he had spoken of came.
The Lord’s words proved that Joseph was right.
20 The king of Egypt sent for Joseph and freed him.
The ruler of the people set him free.
21 He made him the master of his house.
Joseph was in charge of his riches.
22 He could order the princes as he wished.
He taught the older men to be wise.
23 Then his father Israel came to Egypt.
Jacob, also called Israel, lived in Egypt.[a]
24 The Lord made his people grow in number.
He made them stronger than their enemies.
25 And he caused the Egyptians to hate his people.
They made plans against the Lord’s servants.
26 Then he sent his servant Moses,
and Aaron, whom he had chosen.
27 They did many signs among the Egyptians.
They worked miracles in Egypt.
28 The Lord sent darkness and made the land dark.
But the Egyptians turned against what he said.
29 So he changed their water into blood
and made their fish die.
30 Then their country was filled with frogs.
They were even in the bedrooms of their rulers.
31 The Lord spoke, and flies came.
Gnats were everywhere in the country.
32 He made hail fall like rain.
And he sent lightning through their land.
33 He struck down their grapevines and fig trees.
He destroyed every tree in the country.
34 He spoke, and grasshoppers came.
The locusts were too many to count.
35 They ate all the plants in the land.
They ate what the earth produced.
36 The Lord also killed all the firstborn sons in the land,
the oldest son of each family.
37 Then he brought his people out,
and they carried with them silver and gold.
Not one of his people stumbled.
38 The Egyptians were glad when they left
because the Egyptians were afraid of them.
39 The Lord covered them with a cloud
and lit up the night with fire.
40 When they asked, he brought them quail.
He filled them with bread from heaven.
41 God split the rock, and water flowed out.
It ran like a river through the desert.
42 He remembered his holy promise
to his servant Abraham.
43 So God brought his people out with joy.
He brought out his chosen ones with singing.
44 He gave them lands that belonged to other nations.
They received what others had worked for.
45 This was so they would keep his orders
and obey his teachings.
Praise the Lord!
Absalom Plans to Take David’s Kingdom
15 After this, Absalom got a chariot and horses for himself. He got 50 men to run before him. 2 Absalom would get up early and stand near the city gate.[a] If anyone had a problem he wanted the king to settle, he would come here. When he came, Absalom would call to the man. Absalom would say, “What city are you from?”
The man would answer, “I’m from one of the tribes of Israel.”
3 Then Absalom would say to him, “Look, your claims are right. But the king has no one to listen to you.” 4 Absalom would also say, “I wish someone would make me judge in this land! Then I could help everyone who comes with a problem. I could help him get a fair decision for his problem!”
5 People would come near Absalom to bow to him. When they did, Absalom would reach out his hand and take hold of them. Then he would kiss them. 6 Absalom did that to all the Israelites who came to King David for decisions. In this way, Absalom won the hearts of all Israel.
7 After four years Absalom said to King David, “Please let me go to Hebron. I want to carry out my promise that I made to the Lord. 8 I made it while I was living in Geshur in Aram. I said, ‘If the Lord takes me back to Jerusalem, I will worship him in Hebron.’”
9 The king said, “Go in peace.”
So Absalom went to Hebron. 10 But he sent secret messengers through all the tribes of Israel. They told the people, “When you hear the trumpets, say this: ‘Absalom has become the king at Hebron!’”
11 Absalom had invited 200 men to go with him. So they went from Jerusalem with him. But they didn’t know what he was planning. 12 Ahithophel was one of the people who advised David. He was from the town of Giloh. While Absalom was offering sacrifices, he called Ahithophel to come from his hometown of Giloh. So Absalom’s plans were working very well. More and more people began to support him.
13 A man came in to tell the news to David. The man said, “The Israelites are beginning to follow Absalom.”
14 Then David spoke to all his officers who were with him in Jerusalem. He said, “We must leave quickly! If we don’t, we won’t be able to get away from Absalom. We must hurry before he catches us. He would destroy us and kill the people of Jerusalem.”
15 The king’s officers said to him, “We will do anything you say.”
16 The king set out with everyone in his house. But he left ten slave women to take care of the palace. 17 The king left with all his people following him. They stopped at the last house. 18 All the king’s servants passed by him. All the Kerethites and Pelethites, the king’s bodyguards, passed by him. All those from Gath, the 600 men who had followed him, passed by him.
27 The seven days were almost over. But some Jews from Asia saw Paul at the Temple. They caused all the people to be upset, and they grabbed Paul. 28 They shouted, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who goes everywhere teaching things that are against the law of Moses, against our people, and against this Temple. And now he has brought some Greek men into the Temple. He has made this holy place unclean!” 29 (The Jews said this because they had seen Trophimus with Paul in Jerusalem. Trophimus was a man from Ephesus. The Jews thought that Paul had brought him into the Temple.)
30 All the people in Jerusalem became very upset. They ran and took Paul and dragged him out of the Temple. The Temple doors were closed immediately. 31 The people were about to kill Paul. Now the commander of the Roman army in Jerusalem learned that there was trouble in the whole city. 32 Immediately he ran to the place where the crowd was gathered. He brought officers and soldiers with him, and the people saw them. So they stopped beating Paul. 33 The commander went to Paul and arrested him. He told his soldiers to bind Paul with two chains. Then he asked, “Who is this man? What has he done wrong?” 34 Some in the crowd were yelling one thing, and some were yelling another. Because of all this confusion and shouting, the commander could not learn what had happened. So he ordered the soldiers to take Paul to the army building. 35-36 The whole mob was following them. When the soldiers came to the steps, they had to carry Paul. They did this because the people were ready to hurt him. They were shouting, “Kill him!”
Jesus Talks About His Own Death
32 Jesus and the people with him were on the road to Jerusalem. Jesus was leading the way. The followers were amazed, but those who followed behind them were afraid. Jesus took the 12 apostles aside and talked with them alone. He told them what would happen in Jerusalem. 33 He said, “We are going to Jerusalem. The Son of Man will be given to the leading priests and teachers of the law. They will say that he must die. They will give him to the non-Jewish people, 34 who will laugh at him and spit on him. They will beat him with whips and kill him. But on the third day after his death, he will rise to life again.”
Two Followers Ask Jesus a Favor
35 Then James and John, sons of Zebedee, came to Jesus. They said, “Teacher, we want to ask you to do something for us.”
36 Jesus asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”
37 They answered, “You will have glory in your kingdom. Let one of us sit at your right, and let one of us sit at your left.”
38 Jesus said, “You don’t understand what you are asking. Can you drink the cup that I must drink? And can you be baptized with the same kind of baptism that I must have?”[a]
39 They answered, “Yes, we can!”
Jesus said to them, “You will drink the same cup that I will drink. And you will be baptized with the same baptism that I must have. 40 But I cannot choose who will sit at my right or my left. These places are for those for whom they are prepared.”
41 The ten followers heard this. They began to be angry with James and John.
42 Jesus called all the followers together. He said, “The non-Jewish people have men they call rulers. You know that those rulers love to show their power over the people. And their important leaders love to use all their authority. 43 But it should not be that way among you. If one of you wants to become great, then he must serve you like a servant. 44 If one of you wants to become the most important, then he must serve all of you like a slave. 45 In the same way, the Son of Man did not come to be served. He came to serve. The Son of Man came to give his life to save many people.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.