Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for God to Guide
Of David.
25 Lord, I give myself to you.
2 My God, I trust you.
Do not let me be disgraced.
Do not let my enemies laugh at me.
3 No one who trusts you will be disgraced.
But those who sin without excuse will be disgraced.
4 Lord, tell me your ways.
Show me how to live.
5 Guide me in your truth.
Teach me, my God, my Savior.
I trust you all day long.
6 Lord, remember your mercy and love.
You have shown them since long ago.
7 Do not remember the sins
and wrong things I did when I was young.
But remember to love me always
because you are good, Lord.
8 The Lord is good and right.
He points sinners to the right way.
9 He shows those who are not proud how to do right.
He teaches them his ways.
10 All the Lord’s ways are loving and true
for those who follow the demands of his agreement.
11 For the sake of your name, Lord,
forgive my many sins.
12 Is there someone who worships the Lord?
The Lord will point him to the best way.
13 He will enjoy a good life.
His children will inherit the land.
14 The Lord tells his secrets to those who respect him.
He tells them about his agreement.
15 My eyes are always looking to the Lord for help.
He will keep me from any traps.
16 Turn to me and be kind to me.
I am lonely and hurting.
17 My troubles have grown larger.
Free me from my problems.
18 Look at my suffering and troubles.
Take away all my sins.
19 Look at how many enemies I have!
See how much they hate me!
20 Protect me and save me.
I trust you.
Do not let me be disgraced.
21 My hope is in you.
So may goodness and honesty guard me.
22 God, save Israel from all their troubles!
Thanksgiving for Victory
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A song of David.
9 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart.
I will tell all the miracles you have done.
2 I will be happy because of you.
God Most High, I will sing praises to your name.
3 My enemies turn back.
They are overwhelmed and die because of you.
4 You have heard what I complained to you about.
You sat on your throne and judged by what was right.
5 You spoke strongly against the foreign nations
and destroyed the wicked people.
You wiped out their names forever and ever.
6 The enemy is gone forever.
You destroyed their cities.
No one even remembers them.
7 But the Lord rules forever.
He sits on his throne to judge.
8 The Lord will judge the world by what is right.
He will decide what is fair for the nations.
9 The Lord defends those who suffer.
He protects them in times of trouble.
10 Those who know the Lord trust him.
He will not leave those who come to him.
11 Sing praises to the Lord who is king on Mount Zion.
Tell the nations what he has done.
12 He remembers who the murderers are.
He will not forget the cries of those who suffer.
13 Lord, be kind to me.
See how my enemies hurt me.
Do not let me go through the gates of death.
14 Then, at the gates of Jerusalem, I will praise you.
I will rejoice because you saved me.
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they dug.
Their feet are caught in the nets they laid.
16 The Lord has made himself known by his fair decisions.
The wicked get trapped by what they do. Higgaion. Selah
17 Wicked people will go to the grave.
So will all those who forget God.
18 Those who have troubles will not be forgotten.
The hopes of the poor will not die.
19 Lord, rise up and judge the nations.
Don’t let humans think they are strong.
20 Teach them to fear you, Lord.
The nations must learn that they are only human. Selah
What God Demands
A song of David.
15 Lord, who may enter your Holy Tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
2 Only a person who is innocent
and who does what is right.
He must speak the truth from his heart.
3 He must not tell lies about others.
He must do no wrong to his neighbors.
He must not gossip.
4 He must not respect hateful people.
He must honor those who honor the Lord.
He must keep his promises to his neighbor,
even when it hurts.
5 He must not charge interest on money he lends.
And he must not take money to hurt innocent people.
Whoever does all these things will never be destroyed.
Disaster in Egypt
44 Jeremiah received a message from the Lord. It was for all the Jews living in Egypt. It was for the Jews in Migdol, Tahpanhes, Memphis and southern Egypt. This was the message: 2 “The Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: You saw the terrible things I brought on Jerusalem and the towns of Judah. Those towns are empty ruins today. 3 And it is because the people who lived there did evil. Those people burned incense to other gods. And that made me angry! Your people and your ancestors did not worship those gods before. 4 I sent my prophets to them again and again. Those prophets were my servants. They spoke my message and said to the people, ‘Don’t do this terrible thing. The Lord hates for you to worship other gods.’ 5 But they did not listen to the prophets. They did not pay attention. They did not stop doing evil things. They did not stop burning incense to other gods. 6 So I showed my great anger against them. I punished the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem. My anger made Jerusalem and the towns of Judah empty. They are only ruins and piles of stones today.
7 “So the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: Why are you doing such great harm to yourselves by continuing to worship other gods? You are cutting off the men and women, children and babies from the family of Judah. So you leave yourselves without anyone from the family of Judah. 8 Why do you want to make me angry by making idols? Why do you burn incense to the gods of Egypt, where you have come to live? You will destroy yourselves. Other nations will speak evil of you. And all the other nations on the earth will make fun of you. 9 Have you forgotten about the evil things your ancestors did? And have you forgotten the evil the kings and queens of Judah did? Have you forgotten about the evil you and your wives did? They did these things in Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. 10 Even to this day the people of Judah are still too proud. They have not learned to respect me. And they have not followed my teachings. They have not obeyed the laws I gave you and your ancestors!
11 “So this is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: I am determined to bring disasters on you. I will destroy the whole family of Judah. 12 There were a few left alive from Judah. They were determined to go to Egypt and settle there. But they will all die in Egypt. They will be killed in war or die from hunger. From the least important to the greatest, they will be killed in war or die from hunger. Other nations will speak evil about them. People will be shocked by what has happened to them. They will become a curse word. People will insult them. 13 I will punish those people who have gone to live in Egypt. I will use swords, hunger and terrible diseases to punish them. I will punish them just as I punished Jerusalem. 14 Of the people of Judah who were left alive and have gone to Egypt none will escape my punishment. They want to return to Judah and live there. But none of them will live to return to Judah. None of them will return to Judah, except a few people who escape.”
30 And what about us? Why do we put ourselves in danger every hour? 31 I die every day. That is true, brothers, just as it is true that I brag about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. 32 If I fought wild animals in Ephesus only for human reasons, I have gained nothing. If the dead are not raised, then, “Let us eat and drink, because tomorrow we will die.”[a]
33 Do not be fooled: “Bad friends will ruin good habits.” 34 Come back to your right way of thinking and stop sinning. I say this to shame you—some of you do not know God.
What Kind of Body Will We Have?
35 But someone may ask, “How are the dead raised? What kind of body will they have?” 36 Those are stupid questions. When you plant something, it must die in the ground before it can live and grow. 37 And when you plant it, what you plant does not have the same “body” that it will have later. What you plant is only a seed, maybe wheat or something else. 38 But God gives it a body that he has planned for it. And God gives each kind of seed its own body. 39 All things made of flesh are not the same kinds of flesh: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another kind, birds have another, and fish have another. 40 Also there are heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the beauty of the heavenly bodies is one kind. The beauty of the earthly bodies is another kind. 41 The sun has one kind of beauty. The moon has another beauty, and the stars have another. And each star is different in its beauty.
16 “What can I say about the people who live today? What are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace. One group calls to the other,
17 ‘We played music for you, but you did not dance;
we sang a sad song, but you did not cry.’
18 John came, and he did not eat like other people or drink wine. And people say, ‘He has a demon.’ 19 The Son of Man came, eating and drinking wine, and people say, ‘Look at him! He eats too much and drinks too much. He is a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”’ But wisdom is proved to be right by the things it does.”
Jesus Warns Unbelievers
20 Then Jesus criticized the cities where he did most of his miracles. He criticized them because the people there did not change their lives and stop sinning. 21 Jesus said, “How terrible for you, Korazin! How terrible for you, Bethsaida! I did many miracles in you. If those same miracles had happened in Tyre and Sidon,[a] then the people there would have changed their lives a long time ago. They would have worn rough cloth and put ashes on themselves to show that they had changed. 22 But I tell you, on the Judgment Day it will be worse for you than for Tyre and Sidon. 23 And you, Capernaum,[b] will you be lifted up to heaven? No. You will be thrown down to the depths. I did many miracles in you. If those same miracles had happened in Sodom,[c] its people would have stopped sinning, and it would still be a city today. 24 But I tell you it will be worse for you on the Judgment Day than for Sodom.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.