Book of Common Prayer
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.
A praise song of David.
141 Lord, I call to you for help.
Listen to me as I pray.
Please hurry and help me!
2 Accept my prayer like a gift of burning incense,
the words I lift up like an evening sacrifice.
3 Lord, help me control what I say.
Don’t let me say anything bad.
4 Take away any desire to do evil.
Keep me from joining the wicked in doing wrong.
Help me stay away from their feasts.
5 If good people correct me,
I will consider it a good thing.
If they criticize me,
I will accept it like a warm welcome.[a]
But my prayer will always be against the wicked and the evil they do.
6 Let their judges be put to death.[b]
Then everyone will know that I told the truth.
7 Like rocks in a field that a farmer has plowed,
so our bones will be scattered in the grave.
8 My Lord God, I look to you for help.
I look to you for protection; don’t let me die.
9 Those evil people are trying to trap me.
Don’t let me fall into their traps.
10 Let the wicked fall into their own traps,
while I walk away unharmed.
A praise song of David.
143 Lord, hear my prayer.
Listen to my call for help and answer my prayer.
Show me how good and loyal you are.
2 Don’t judge me, your servant.
No one alive could be judged innocent by your standards.
3 My enemies are chasing me.
They have crushed me into the dirt.
They are pushing me into the dark grave,
like people who died long ago.
4 I am ready to give up.
I am losing my courage.
5 But I remember what happened long ago.
I am thinking about all you have done.
I am talking about what you made with your hands!
6 I lift my hands in prayer to you.
I am waiting for your help, like a dry land waiting for rain. Selah
7 Hurry and answer me, Lord!
I have lost my courage.
Don’t turn away from me.
Don’t let me die and become like the people lying in the grave.
8 Show me your faithful love this morning.
I trust in you.
Show me what I should do.
I put my life in your hands!
9 Lord, I come to you for protection.
Save me from my enemies.
10 Show me what you want me to do.
You are my God.
Let your good Spirit lead me over level ground.
11 Lord, let me live
so that people will praise your name.
Show me how good you are
and save me from my trouble.
12 Show me your love
and defeat my enemies.
Destroy those who are trying to kill me
because I am your servant.
36 Jehoiakim was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled eleven years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Zebidah daughter of Pedaiah from Rumah. 37 Jehoiakim did what the Lord said was wrong. He did all the same things his ancestors had done.
King Nebuchadnezzar Comes to Judah
24 In the time of Jehoiakim, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the country of Judah. Jehoiakim served Nebuchadnezzar for three years. Then Jehoiakim turned against Nebuchadnezzar and broke away from his rule. 2 The Lord sent groups of Babylonians, Arameans, Moabites, and Ammonites to fight against Jehoiakim. He sent them to destroy Judah. This happened just as the Lord had said. He used his servants the prophets to say those things.
3 The Lord commanded this to happen to Judah. In this way he would remove them from his sight. He did this because of all the sins that Manasseh committed. 4 He did this because Manasseh killed many innocent people and filled Jerusalem with their blood. The Lord would not forgive these sins.
5 The other things that Jehoiakim did are written in the book, The History of the Kings of Judah. 6 Jehoiakim died and was buried with his ancestors. His son Jehoiachin became the new king after him.
7 The king of Babylon captured all the land between the Brook of Egypt and the Euphrates River. This land was previously controlled by Egypt. So the king of Egypt did not leave Egypt anymore.
Nebuchadnezzar Captures Jerusalem
8 Jehoiachin was 18 years old when he began to rule. He ruled three months in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Nehushta daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem. 9 Jehoiachin did what the Lord said was wrong. He did all the same things that his father had done.
10 At that time the officers of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to Jerusalem and surrounded it. 11 Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city. 12 King Jehoiachin of Judah went out to meet the king of Babylon. His mother, his officers, leaders, and officials also went with him. Then the king of Babylon captured Jehoiachin. This was during the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar’s rule.
13 Nebuchadnezzar took from Jerusalem all the treasures in the Lord’s Temple and all the treasures in the king’s palace. He cut up all the golden dishes that King Solomon of Israel had put in the Lord’s Temple. This happened just as the Lord had said.
14 Nebuchadnezzar captured all the people of Jerusalem, including the leaders and other wealthy people. He took 10,000 people and made them prisoners. He took all the skilled workers and craftsmen. No one was left, except the poorest of the common people. 15 Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon as a prisoner. He also took the king’s mother, his wives, officers, and the leading men of the land. He took them from Jerusalem to Babylon as prisoners. 16 There were 7000 soldiers. Nebuchadnezzar took all the soldiers and 1000 of the skilled workers and craftsmen. All these men were trained soldiers, ready for war. The king of Babylon took them to Babylon as prisoners.
King Zedekiah
17 The king of Babylon made Mattaniah the new king. Mattaniah was Jehoiachin’s uncle. He changed his name to Zedekiah.
The Body of Christ
12 A person has only one body, but it has many parts. Yes, there are many parts, but all those parts are still just one body. Christ is like that too. 13 Some of us are Jews and some of us are not; some of us are slaves and some of us are free. But we were all baptized to become one body through one Spirit. And we were all given[a] the one Spirit.
14 And a person’s body has more than one part. It has many parts. 15 The foot might say, “I am not a hand, so I don’t belong to the body.” But saying this would not stop the foot from being a part of the body. 16 The ear might say, “I am not an eye, so I don’t belong to the body.” But saying this would not make the ear stop being a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, it would not be able to hear. If the whole body were an ear, it would not be able to smell anything. 18-19 If each part of the body were the same part, there would be no body. But as it is, God put the parts in the body as he wanted them. He made a place for each one. 20 So there are many parts, but only one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the foot, “I don’t need you!” 22 No, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are actually very important. 23 And the parts that we think are not worth very much are the parts we give the most care to. And we give special care to the parts of the body that we don’t want to show. 24 The more beautiful parts don’t need this special care. But God put the body together and gave more honor to the parts that need it. 25 God did this so that our body would not be divided. God wanted the different parts to care the same for each other. 26 If one part of the body suffers, then all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part is honored, then all the other parts share its honor.
Jesus Heals More People
27 As Jesus was going away from there, two blind men followed him. They said loudly, “Show kindness to us, Son of David.”
28 Jesus went inside, and the blind men went with him. He asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to make you see again?” They answered, “Yes, Lord, we believe.”
29 Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “You believe that I can make you see again, so it will happen.” 30 Then the men were able to see. Jesus gave them a strong warning. He said, “Don’t tell anyone about this.” 31 But they left and spread the news about Jesus all around that area.
32 As these two men were leaving, some people brought another man to Jesus. This man could not talk because he had a demon inside him. 33 Jesus forced the demon out, and the man was able to talk. The people were amazed and said, “We have never seen anything like this in Israel.”
34 But the Pharisees said, “The ruler of demons is the one that gives him power to force demons out.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International