Book of Common Prayer
This is the prayer of a man who is weak and in trouble. He tells the Lord that he is very sad.
A young man's prayer[a]
102 Lord, please hear my prayer!
Listen to me when I call to you for help.
2 Now that I am in trouble,
please do not turn away from me.
Listen carefully to me.
Now that I am calling to you for help,
please answer me quickly.
3 My life is quickly disappearing,
like smoke from a fire.
My bones hurt very much,
as if they were burning in an oven.[b]
4 I am very weak and upset,
like dry grass that will soon die.
I even forget to eat my food.
5 I cry aloud with pain,
so that I am just skin and bones.[c]
6 I am like a wild bird in the desert.
I am like an owl in the wilderness.
7 I am awake in the night,
like a bird that sits alone on the roof.
8 All day my enemies insult me.
They laugh at me
and they use my name as a curse.
9-10 Because you are so angry with me,
I eat ashes as my food.
My tears drop
into the water that I drink.
It seems that you have picked me up,
and then you have thrown me away.
11 My days are disappearing,
like a shadow in the evening.
Like dry grass,
I will soon die.
12 But you, Lord, rule for ever as king.
People will always remember you.
13 You will soon be kind to Zion again.
Now it is time to forgive her.
Yes, the time is now right for you to do that.
14 Her buildings have become broken stones and dust.
But your servants still love your city.
We are sad to see that it is broken down.
15 The nations will respect the Lord's name.
All the kings of the world
will praise your glory.
16 That will happen when the Lord builds Zion again
and he appears there in his glory.
17 He will answer the prayers
of poor people who have nothing.
He will not refuse to help them.
18 Write these things down
for people who live in future times to read.
Then they too will praise the Lord.
19 Tell them that the Lord looked down
from his home in heaven.
He saw what was happening on the earth.
20 He heard the prisoners call out in pain.
He saved the lives of prisoners
so they could go free before their enemies could kill them.
21 As a result, people will shout the Lord's name in Zion.
Yes, they will praise him in Jerusalem!
22 At that time, people from all nations
will meet together.
The kingdoms of the world
will come to serve the Lord.
23 But God has made me weak
before I have reached old age.
He has made my life short.
24 So I pray, ‘My God, please do not let me die now,
in the middle of my life.
The years of your life continue for ever!
25 Long ago, you built the world on a strong foundation.
You created the heavens with your own hands.
26 They will all disappear one day,
but you will remain.
They will become spoiled,
like old clothes.
Like clothes, you will remove them,
so that they disappear.
27 But you remain the same, Lord.
The years of your life will never finish.
28 As your servants,
our children will live here safely.
Their children too will be safe,
as they 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.
This is a song that David wrote.
Please help me, Lord![c]
143 Lord, I pray to you for help.
Please listen to me.
Answer me, because you do what is right,
and I know that I can trust you.
2 Do not judge me, your servant.
Nobody is righteous when they stand in front of you.
3 My enemies are chasing me.
They knock me down to the ground.
They make me live in dark places,
like people who have been dead for a long time.
4 My strength is leaving me,
and I feel very upset.
5 I remember what happened many years ago.
I think carefully about all the good things that you have done.
6 I raise my hands to pray to you.
I need you to help me,
like dry ground needs rain.
Selah
7 Please answer me soon, Lord.
I am losing my strength.
Do not turn away from me.
If you do, I will join those people who are going down
into the deep hole of death.
8 Every morning, help me to remember your faithful love,
because I am trusting in you.
Show me how I should live to please you,
because I know that I belong to you.
9 Lord, save me from my enemies.
I run to you to keep me safe.
10 Teach me to do what pleases you,
because you are my God.
Let your kind Spirit lead me,
so that I can walk in a safe place.
11 Your name is great, Lord,
so please keep my life safe.
You do what is right,
so bring me out of my troubles.
12 I am your servant and you always love me.
Please show how much you love me,
and destroy my enemies.
Yes, kill all those who want to kill me!
10 Zion's leaders sit on the ground and they are saying nothing.
They have dressed themselves in sackcloth
and they throw dirt on their own heads.[a]
They are showing everyone that they are very sad.
The young women of Jerusalem can only look down to the ground,
because they are very sad too.
11 I have cried so much that my eyes are red now.
Even the parts inside my body hurt,
because my people are dying.
I feel ill because I am so sad.
The children and babies fall in the city's streets
because they are so weak.
12 ‘Where has all the food and drink gone?’
the hungry children ask their mothers.
Then they fall down in pain on the streets of the city.
They die in their mothers' arms.
13 I want to help you people of Jerusalem,
but there is nothing that I can say to you.
I do not know about anything like what has happened to you.
God has destroyed Zion completely!
I do not know anyone who can make you people better.
14 Your prophets have promised you many good things.
Those good things will not happen.
They should have told you that you should not do wrong things.
If they had told you that, none of these troubles would have happened.
The prophets do not tell you true messages from God
and their dreams are false.[b]
15 Everyone who goes by laughs at you.
They are happy because you are sad.
They see how the enemy has destroyed everything in Jerusalem.
‘Surely this cannot be the city that men called most beautiful,’ they say.
‘People have said that this city is the best city on earth.’
16 All your enemies make noises through their teeth
because they are very happy.
‘We have won!’ they say.
‘We have waited for this day.
Now we have beaten you!
Now we have seen it!’
17 The Lord has done what he decided to do.
Yes, he has done what he told you about a long time ago.
He has destroyed your city and he has not felt sorry about it.
He has caused your enemies to be happy.
He has made them strong
so that they could win against you.[c]
18 Day and night, cause your tears to run like a river round the walls of Zion.
Cry to the Lord all the time, you people.
Do not rest.
Do not let your eyes stop crying.
14 So, my friends, keep away from idols. Do not worship them. 15 You are people who think carefully about things. So think about what I am saying to you. 16 When we eat the Lord's Supper together, we remember that Christ died on our behalf. We thank God for the wine that we drink from the cup. In that way, we remember that we all belong to Christ because of his blood. We also break the bread and we eat it together. In that way, we remember that we all belong to Christ because of his body that died on the cross. 17 We are many people, but all of us eat part of the same loaf of bread. That shows that we are one group of people. We belong together because Christ died on our behalf.
27 Since that is true, you must be careful. Eat the bread and drink from the cup in a way that is right. Anyone who does not do that will be guilty. They are showing that they do not respect the Lord's body and his blood that he offered as a sacrifice. 28 So everyone must think carefully about how they eat the bread and they drink from the cup. 29 They must understand how important the Lord's body is. If anyone does not recognize this, God will punish them. 30 That is why many of you are weak and sick. Some of you have even died because of this. 31 But if we think carefully about ourselves, then God will not need to punish us.
32 But the Lord does need to punish us sometimes. When he does that, he is teaching us not to do wrong things. Then we will not be guilty, like other people who do not know God.
Jesus eats his last meal with his 12 apostles
12 The first day of the festival when the Jews eat flat bread arrived. On this day, each family kills a young sheep for the Passover meal. Jesus' disciples said to him, ‘We will go to prepare the Passover meal for you. Where do you want us to do that?’
13 So Jesus sent two disciples to prepare the meal. ‘Go into the city,’ he said to them. ‘A man, who is carrying a jar of water, will meet you. Follow him. 14 He will go to a house. You must say to the master of that house, “The Teacher sends this message to you: ‘Where is the room for visitors? I will eat the Passover meal there with my disciples.’ ” 15 Then the man will show you a large room upstairs. The room will have in it all the things that you will need. You should prepare the Passover meal for us there.’
16 Then the two disciples left and they went into the city. They found everything as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover meal there.
17 When it was evening, Jesus arrived with the 12 apostles. 18 While they were eating the meal, Jesus said, ‘I tell you this: One of you will help the Jewish leaders to take hold of me. It is someone who is eating this meal with me.’
19 The disciples became very sad. Each one of them said to Jesus, ‘Surely you do not mean me, do you?’
20 Jesus said to them, ‘It is one of you 12 apostles. That man is eating from the same dish as I am.[a] 21 The Son of Man must die in the way that the Bible says. But it will be very bad for the man who gives me to my enemies. It would have been better for that man if he had not been born.’
The Passover meal
22 While Jesus and his disciples were eating, he took a loaf of bread. He thanked God for it. Then he broke the bread into pieces. He gave some of it to each of his disciples. ‘Take this bread and eat it,’ he said to them. ‘This is my body.’
23 Then Jesus took a cup. He thanked God for the wine in the cup. Then he gave the cup to them and they all drank from it.
24 Jesus said to them, ‘This is my blood that shows God's promise. When I die, my blood will pour out of my body. In that way God will save many people. That is the promise that God makes because of my death. 25 I tell you this: I will not drink wine again until God rules in his kingdom. Then it will be new wine.’
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