Book of Common Prayer
A song of David.
26 Lord, you be the judge and prove that I have lived a pure life.
I have depended on you, Lord, to keep me from falling.
2 Look closely at me, Lord, and test me.
Judge my deepest thoughts and emotions.
3 I always remember your faithful love.
I depend on your faithfulness.
4 I don’t run around with troublemakers.
I have nothing to do with hypocrites.
5 I hate being around evil people.
I refuse to join those gangs of crooks.
6 Lord, I wash my hands to make myself pure,
so that I can come to your altar.
7 I sing a song to give you thanks,
and I tell about all the wonderful things you have done.
8 Lord, I love the house[a] where you live,
the place where your glory is.
9 Lord, don’t treat me like one of those sinners.
Don’t kill me with those murderers.
10 They are guilty of cheating people.
They take bribes to do wrong.
11 But I am innocent,
so be kind to me and save me.
12 I am safe from all danger
as I stand here praising you, Lord, in the assembly of your people.
A song of David.
28 Lord, you are my Rock.
I am calling to you for help.
Don’t close your ears to my prayers.
If you don’t answer me,
I will be counted among the dead.
2 I lift my hands and pray toward your Most Holy Place.
Hear me when I call to you.
Show mercy to me.
3 Don’t treat me like the evil people
who do wicked things.
They greet their neighbors like friends,
but secretly plan to hurt them.
4 They do bad things to others,
so make bad things happen to them.
Give them the punishment they deserve.
5 They don’t notice what the Lord does.
They ignore all the good things he has made.
So instead of building them up,
he will destroy them.
6 Praise the Lord!
He has heard my prayer for mercy.
7 The Lord is my strength and shield.
I trusted him with all my heart.
He helped me, so I am happy.
I sing songs of praise to him.
8 The Lord protects his chosen one.[a]
He saves him and gives him strength.
9 Save your people.
Bless those who belong to you.
Lead them and honor them[b] forever.
To the director: A song of David, the Lord’s servant.
36 Deep in the hearts of the wicked a voice tells them to do wrong.
They have no respect for God.
2 They lie to themselves.
They don’t see their own faults,
so they are not sorry for what they do.
3 Their words are wicked lies.
They have stopped doing anything wise or good.
4 They make wicked plans in bed at night.
They choose a way of life that does no good.
And they never say no to anything evil.
5 Lord, your faithful love reaches to the sky.
Your faithfulness is as high as the clouds.
6 Your goodness is higher than the highest mountains.
Your fairness is deeper than the deepest ocean.
Lord, you protect people and animals.
7 Nothing is more precious than your loving kindness.
All people can find protection close to you.
8 They get strength from all the good things in your house.
You let them drink from your wonderful river.
9 The fountain of life flows from you.
Your light lets us see light.
10 Continue to love those who really know you,
and do good to those who are true to you.[a]
11 Don’t let proud people trap me.
Don’t let the wicked force me to run away.
12 Put this on their grave markers:
“Here fell the wicked.
They were crushed.
They will never stand up again.”
To the director, Jeduthun.[a] A song of David.
39 I said, “I will be careful about what I say.
I will not let my tongue cause me to sin.
I will keep my mouth closed[b]
when I am around wicked people.”
2 So I didn’t say anything.
I didn’t even say anything good,
but I became even more upset.
3 I was very angry,
and the more I thought about it, the angrier I became.
So I said something.
4 Lord, tell me, what will happen to me now?
Tell me, how long will I live?
Let me know how short my life really is.
5 You gave me only a short life.
Compared to you, my whole life is nothing.
The life of every human is like a cloud that quickly disappears. Selah
6 Our life is like an image in a mirror.[c]
We rush through life collecting things,
but we don’t know who will get them after we die.
7 So, Lord, what hope do I have?
You are my hope!
8 Save me from the bad things I did.
Don’t let me be treated like a fool.
9 I will not open my mouth.
I will not say anything.
You did what should have been done.
10 But please stop punishing me.
You will destroy me if you do not stop.
11 You punish people for doing wrong to teach them the right way to live.
As a moth destroys cloth, you destroy what people love.
Yes, our lives are like a small cloud that quickly disappears. Selah
Jerusalem Cries Over Her Destruction
1 Jerusalem once was a city full of people,
but now the city is so empty.
She[a] was one of the greatest cities in the world,
but now she is like a poor widow.
She was once a princess among cities,
but now she has been made a slave.
2 She cries bitterly in the night.
Her tears are on her cheeks.
She has no one to comfort her.
Many nations were friendly to her,
but not one of them comforts her now.
All her friends have turned their backs on her
and have become her enemies.
3 Judah suffered very much,
and then she was taken into captivity.
She lives among other nations
but has found no rest.
The people who chased her caught her
where there was no way out.[b]
4 The roads to Zion are very sad,
because no one comes to Zion for the festivals anymore.
All of Zion’s gates have been destroyed;
all her priests groan in sorrow.
Zion’s young women have been taken away,[c]
and all this made Zion sad.
5 Jerusalem’s enemies have won.
Her enemies have been successful.
This happened because the Lord punished her.
He punished Jerusalem for her many sins.
Her children have gone away.
Their enemies captured them and took them away.
6 The beauty of Daughter Zion[d] has gone away.
Her princes were like deer that cannot find a meadow to feed in.
They walk away without strength from those who chased them.
7 Jerusalem thinks back.
She remembers the time when she was hurt
and when she lost her home.
She remembers all the nice things that she had in the past.
She remembers those nice things that she had in the old days.
She remembers when her people were captured by the enemy.
She remembers when there was no one to help her.
When her enemies saw her, they laughed,
because she was destroyed.
8 Jerusalem sinned very badly.
Because Jerusalem sinned,
she became a ruined city that people shake their heads about.
In the past people respected her.
But now they hate her,
because they abused her.
Jerusalem groaned
and turned away.
9 Jerusalem’s skirts were dirty.
She gave no thought to what would become of her.
Her fall was amazing.
She had no one to comfort her.
She says, “Lord, see how I am hurt!
See how my enemy thinks he is so great!”
10 The enemy stretched out his hand.
He took all her nice things.
In fact, she saw the foreign nations go inside her Temple.
And you said those people could not join in our assembly!
11 All the people of Jerusalem are groaning.
All of her people are looking for food.
They are giving away all their nice things for food to stay alive.
Jerusalem says, “Look, Lord. Look at me!
See how people hate me.
12 All you who pass by on the road, you don’t seem to care.
But look at me and see.
Is there any pain like my pain?
Is there any pain like the pain that has come to me?
Is there any pain like the pain that the Lord has punished me with?
He has punished me on the day of his great anger.
41 The sun has one kind of beauty, the moon has another kind, and the stars have another. And each star is different in its beauty.
42 It will be the same when those who have died are raised to life. The body that is “planted” in the grave will ruin and decay, but it will be raised to a life that cannot be destroyed. 43 When the body is “planted,” it is without honor. But when it is raised, it will be great and glorious. When the body is “planted,” it is weak. But when it is raised, it will be full of power. 44 The body that is “planted” is a physical body. When it is raised, it will be a spiritual body.
There is a physical body. So there is also a spiritual body. 45 As the Scriptures say, “The first man, Adam, became a living person.[a]”[b] But the last Adam[c] is a life-giving spirit. 46 The spiritual man did not come first. It was the physical man that came first; then came the spiritual. 47 The first man came from the dust of the earth. The second man came from heaven. 48 All people belong to the earth. They are like that first man of earth. But those who belong to heaven are like that man of heaven. 49 We were made like that man of earth, so we will also be made like that man of heaven.
50 I tell you this, brothers and sisters: Our bodies of flesh and blood cannot have a part in God’s kingdom. Something that will ruin cannot have a part in something that never ruins.
Jesus Offers Rest to His People(A)
25 Then Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth. I am thankful that you have hidden these things from those who are so wise and so smart. But you have shown them to people who are like little children. 26 Yes, Father, you did this because it’s what you really wanted to do.
27 “My Father has given me everything. No one knows the Son—only the Father knows the Son. And no one knows the Father—only the Son knows the Father. And the only people who will know about the Father are those the Son chooses to tell.
28 “Come to me all of you who are tired from the heavy burden you have been forced to carry. I will give you rest. 29 Accept my teaching.[a] Learn from me. I am gentle and humble in spirit. And you will be able to get some rest. 30 Yes, the teaching that I ask you to accept is easy. The load I give you to carry is light.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International