Book of Common Prayer
A song to sing as we climb.
David wrote this song.
131 Lord, I am not proud.
I do not think that I am a great person.
I do not try to do great things.
I do not worry about things that are too hard for me to understand.
2 Instead, I am quiet
and there is peace in my mind.
I am like a young child who sits on his mother's knee.
Yes, I have peace in my mind.
3 Israel's people, trust the Lord to help you,
now and for ever.
A song to sing as we climb.
The house of God
132 Lord, remember King David
and all the troubles that he suffered.
2 He made a special promise to the Lord.
He promised you, the Mighty One of Jacob.[a]
3 He said, ‘I will not go into my house or get into my bed;
4 I will not sleep even for a moment,
5 until I find a house for the Lord.
Yes, the Mighty One of Jacob needs a proper home.’[b]
6 Listen! We heard the news at Ephrathah.[c]
We found God's Covenant Box in the fields of Jaar.[d]
7 We will go to the Lord's home!
We will worship him on his throne!
8 Lord, come now and stay here, in your home!
Come with the Covenant Box that shows your great power.[e]
9 May your priests serve you in a good way.
Cause your faithful people to shout with joy!
10 Remember your servant, King David.
Do not turn away from your chosen king.[f]
11 The Lord made a strong promise to David.
He will not change what he has promised to do.
The Lord said,
‘I will put one of your sons on your throne to rule as king.
12 If your sons obey my covenant and my rules,
their descendants will rule for ever.’
13 The Lord has chosen Zion to be his home.
14 He said, ‘This is where I will live for ever.
This is where I want my home to be.
15 I will give Zion's people everything that they need.
Zion's poor people will have plenty of food to eat.
16 I will keep Zion's priests safe.
The people who serve God faithfully will shout loudly,
because they are so happy.
17 In Zion I will give strength to King David's family.
My chosen king will continue to rule well,
like a light that shines brightly.
18 I will cause his enemies to be ashamed.
But his own kingdom will be great!’
A song to sing as we climb.
David wrote this song.
133 It is good for a family of God's people to live together in peace.
Yes! It brings great pleasure!
2 It brings pleasure like valuable olive oil
that is poured on your head,
and it goes down onto your beard.
They poured it onto Aaron's head and his beard,
and it went down onto his clothes.[g]
3 It brings pleasure like the dew on Hermon.[h]
It makes the mountains of Zion become wet.[i]
That is the place where the Lord has promised to bless his people.
He blesses them with life for ever.
This is a song that David wrote.
It is for the music leader.
Please help me, Lord
140 Lord, please save me from evil people.
Keep me safe from people who like to attack others.
2 They think of evil ideas to hurt people.
They only want to cause trouble!
3 Their words hurt people,
like the tongue of a snake.
They bite with poison,
like a dangerous snake.
Selah
4 Lord, keep me safe from the power of wicked people.
Keep me safe from violent people who want to attack me.
5 Proud people have prepared a trap to catch me.
They have put their nets across my path.[a]
Selah.
6 Lord, I say to you, ‘You are my God.’
Lord, hear my prayer for help!
7 Lord, my Lord, you are my strong helper.
You keep me safe when I fight in a battle.
8 Lord, do not let wicked people do what they want to do.
Stop them when they prepare to attack.
Selah.
9 Give trouble to the people who come round me to attack!
Let the bad things that they say against me
happen to them instead![b]
10 Drop burning coals on them like rain!
Throw those people into the fire!
Let them fall into deep holes that they cannot get out of!
11 People who tell cruel lies should not live in our land.
Trouble will happen to people who like to fight.
Bad trouble will knock them down!
12 I know that the Lord helps poor people.
He makes sure that they receive justice.
13 Your righteous people will always praise you.
Good, honest people will live near to you.
This is a special song that David wrote.
He prayed this when he was in the cave.[a]
Please help me, Lord!
142 I am calling to the Lord to help me.
I ask him to be kind to me.
2 I tell him about all my problems.
I tell him about all my troubles.
3 When I do not feel brave,
you are still my guide, Lord.
In the path where I walk,
my enemies have prepared a trap to catch me.
4 Look at me!
I have no friend to help me.
There is no safe place where I can go.
Nobody thinks about me.
5 Yes Lord, I am calling to you to help me.
You are my safe place where I can hide.
You are all that I need in this world where I live.
6 Please listen to me as I cry to you.
I am very upset!
My enemies are trying to catch me.
Save me from their power!
They are stronger than I am.
7 Please take me out of this prison.[b]
Then I will praise your name.
Your own good people will see how you have helped me.
They will meet round me to praise you.
25 After the Lord had made the water in the river become blood, another seven days passed.
2: Frogs
8 The Lord said to Moses, ‘Go to Pharaoh and say to him, “This is the message from the Lord: Let my people go so that they may worship me. 2 If you refuse to let them go, I will send thousands of frogs to bring trouble to your whole country. 3 The Nile river will be full of frogs. The frogs will go into your house. They will jump into your bed. They will go into the houses of your servants. They will go into the houses of your people. They will jump into your ovens and into your dishes. 4 The frogs will jump all over you. They will jump on your people and on all your servants.” ’
5 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Take your stick in your hand. Then raise your hand over the rivers, the streams and the pools. You will cause frogs to come up over the whole of Egypt.” ’
6 So Aaron lifted up his hand over the water of Egypt. Then the frogs came up and they covered the whole of Egypt.
7 But the magicians used their magic to do the same thing. They also made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
8 Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron to come to him. He said, ‘Pray to the Lord. Ask him to remove the frogs from me and from my people. Then I will let your people go. They can offer sacrifices to the Lord.’
9 Moses said to Pharaoh, ‘I will let you choose the time when I should pray to God. Then I will ask God to do this for you, for your servants and for your people. I will ask God to remove the frogs from you and from all your houses. The frogs will remain only in the Nile river.’
10 Pharaoh said, ‘Do it tomorrow.’ Moses answered, ‘I will do what you have asked. Then you will know that there is nobody like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs will go away from you and your houses. They will go away from your servants and your people. They will remain only in the river.’
12 So Moses and Aaron left Pharaoh. Then Moses prayed to the Lord about the frogs that he had brought to punish Pharaoh. 13 And the Lord did what Moses asked. The frogs in the houses, in the yards and in the fields all died. 14 The people swept the frogs together to make big heaps. There was a very bad smell over the whole country. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that the trouble had gone, his mind became hard again. He refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. The Lord had said that this would happen, and it did!
3: Gnats
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to Aaron, “Lift up your stick and hit the dirt on the ground. It will become gnats in the whole land of Egypt.” ’
17 Moses and Aaron obeyed God. Aaron lifted up his hand and he hit the dirt with his stick. The dirt became gnats that flew onto all the people and onto all the animals. The dirt on the ground became gnats all over Egypt. 18 Then the Egyptian magicians tried to use their magic to make gnats appear. But they could not do it. The gnats were on all the people and on all the animals.
19 Then the magicians said to Pharaoh, ‘This is the work of God.’ But there was no change in Pharaoh's thoughts. He would not listen to them. The Lord had said that this would happen, and it did!
7 Moses wrote the words of the old agreement on pieces of stone. It showed how great and powerful God was. Moses' face shone brightly after God spoke to him. It did not stay bright, but the Israelite people still could not look at Moses' face. The old agreement that brought death was powerful. 8 So the new agreement, which comes from God's Spirit, will show the power of God even more. 9 The old agreement showed people that they were guilty. God's new agreement makes people right with him. So surely the new agreement shows God's power even more than the old one did!
10 The old agreement was great and powerful at one time. But now God's new agreement has come in its place. The great power of the new agreement shows that the old agreement is no longer powerful. 11 The old agreement was powerful, but it came to an end. God's new agreement will continue always. So it surely shows the power of God even more!
12 So, because we know all this, we speak God's message bravely. 13 We are not like Moses. His face did not continue to be bright with the light from God. So he covered his face with a cloth. He did not want the Israelite people to see that the light was coming to an end. 14 But those Israelite people could not think properly. Even today, they still do not understand the message of God's old agreement. When they read it, they are like people who have a cloth that covers their minds. It continues like that unless they believe in Christ. Then Christ removes the cloth so that they understand. 15 Even today, when the Israelite people read Moses' books, a cloth still covers their minds. 16 But when a person turns to trust the Lord, then God takes the cloth away.[a]
17 The Lord is the same as the Spirit. And when the Lord's Spirit is with anyone, that person is free. 18 We show the power of the Lord to other people. It is like God has removed a cloth from over our faces. He is changing us so that we become more and more like him. We show how great God is more and more clearly. It is the Lord who does all this, by the work of his Spirit.
Jesus meets a rich man
17 While Jesus was starting on his journey, a man ran to him. He went down on his knees in front of Jesus. He said to Jesus, ‘Good teacher, what must I do so that I can live with God for ever?’
18 Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you say that I am good? Only God is good. Nobody else. 19 You know God's rules:
“Do not kill anyone.
Do not have sex with anyone who is not your wife.
Do not rob anyone.
Do not say things that are not true about people.
Do not take things that are not yours.
Love your father and your mother, and obey them.” ’
20 ‘Teacher,’ the man replied, ‘I have obeyed all these laws since I was a young man.’
21 Jesus looked at the man and Jesus loved him. Jesus said to him, ‘There is still just one thing that you must do. Go now. Sell everything that you have. Then give the money to poor people. If you do that, you will have many valuable things in heaven. Then come back and be my disciple.’
22 When the man heard that, his face became sad. He was a very rich man. Because of that, he went away and he was very sad.
23 Jesus looked round and he said to his disciples, ‘It is very difficult for rich people to let God rule in their lives.’
24 They were very surprised about Jesus' words. Jesus spoke again to them: ‘My friends, it is very difficult for anyone to let God rule in their life. 25 The hole in a needle is very small. A camel cannot go through it! But it is even more difficult than that for a rich person to let God rule in their life.’
26 Then Jesus' disciples were even more surprised. They said to each other, ‘So perhaps God will not save anyone!’
27 Jesus looked at them and he replied, ‘For people, it really is impossible. But God can do it. God can do everything.’
28 Peter said to Jesus, ‘Look! We have left everything that we had. Now we are your disciples.’
29 Jesus said, ‘I tell you this: Some people have left their homes. Or they may have left their brothers or sisters. Or they may have left their mother or their father. Or they may have left their children or their fields. They have done that because of me. And they have done it because of God's good news. 30 Now, in this world, God will give those people many more things than they have left behind, even 100 times more! Yes, they will receive houses and brothers and sisters. They will receive mothers and children and fields. As well as all this, people will be against them. But in the future world, they will live for ever with God. 31 But many people who are very important now will not be important then. And people who are not important now will become very important then.’
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