Book of Common Prayer
A prayer for a time of suffering, when anyone feels weak and wants to tell their complaints to the Lord.
102 Lord, hear my prayer.
Listen to my cry for help.
2 Don’t turn away from me when I have troubles.
Listen to me, and answer me quickly when I cry for help.
3 My life is passing away like smoke.
My life is like a fire slowly burning out.
4 My strength is gone—
I am like dry, dying grass.
I even forget to eat.
5 Because of my sadness, I am losing so much weight
that my skin hangs from my bones.
6 I am lonely, like an owl living in the desert,
like an owl living among old ruined buildings.
7 I cannot sleep.
I am like a lonely bird on the roof.
8 My enemies insult me all the time.
They make fun of me and use me as an example in their curses.
9 My great sadness is my only food.
My tears fall into my drink.
10 You were angry with me,
so you picked me up and threw me away.
11 My life is almost finished, like the long shadows at the end of the day.
I am like dry and dying grass.
12 But you, Lord, will rule as king forever!
Your name will continue forever and ever!
13 You will rise up and comfort Zion.
The time has come for you to be kind to Zion.
14 Your servants love her stones.
They love even the dust of that city!
15 The nations will worship the Lord’s name.
All the kings on earth will honor you.
16 The Lord will rebuild Zion,
and people will again see her glory.
17 He will listen to the prayers of those in poverty.
He will not ignore them.
18 Write these things for future generations,
so that they will praise the Lord.
19 The Lord will look down from his Holy Place above.
He will look down at the earth from heaven.
20 And he will hear the prisoner’s prayers.
He will free those who were condemned to die.
21 Then people in Zion will tell about the Lord.
They will praise his name in Jerusalem
22 when nations gather together
and kingdoms come to serve the Lord.
23 My strength failed me.
My life is cut short.
24 So I said, “Don’t let me die while I am still young.
God, you will live forever and ever!
25 Long ago, you made the world.
You made the sky with your own hands!
26 The earth and sky will end,
but you will live forever!
They will wear out like clothes,
and like clothes, you will change them.
27 But you never change.
You will live forever!
28 We are your servants today.
Our children will live here,
and their descendants will come here to worship you.”
Book 5
(Psalms 107-150)
107 Praise the Lord, because he is good!
His faithful love will last forever!
2 Everyone the Lord has saved should repeat that word of thanks.
Praise him, all who have been rescued from the enemy.
3 He gathered his people together from many different countries.
He brought them from east and west, north and south.[a]
4 Some of them wandered in the dry desert.
They were looking for a place to live,
but they could not find a city.
5 They were hungry and thirsty
and growing weak.
6 Then they called to the Lord for help,
and he saved them from their troubles.
7 He led them straight to the city where they would live.
8 Thank the Lord for his faithful love
and for the amazing things he does for people.
9 He satisfies those who are thirsty.
He fills those who are hungry with good things.
10 Some of God’s people were prisoners,
locked behind bars in dark prisons.
11 That was because they had fought against what God said.
They refused to listen to the advice of God Most High.
12 God made life hard for those people
because of what they did.
They stumbled and fell,
and there was no one to help them.
13 They were in trouble, so they called to the Lord for help,
and he saved them from their troubles.
14 He took them out of their dark prisons.
He broke the ropes that held them.
15 Thank the Lord for his faithful love
and for the amazing things he does for people.
16 He breaks down their bronze gates.
He shatters their iron bars.
17 Some people became fools and turned against God,
and they suffered for the evil they did.
18 They became so sick that they refused to eat,
so they almost died.
19 They were in trouble, so they called to the Lord for help,
and he saved them from their troubles.
20 He gave the command and healed them,
so they were saved from the grave.
21 Thank the Lord for his faithful love
and for the amazing things he does for people.
22 Offer sacrifices of thanks to him.
Sing with joy about all that he has done.
23 Some sailed the sea in ships.
Their work carried them across the water.
24 They saw what the Lord can do.
They saw the amazing things he did at sea.
25 He gave the command, and a strong wind began to blow.
The waves became higher and higher.
26 The waves lifted them high into the sky
and dropped them into the deep sea.
The storm was so dangerous that the men lost their courage.
27 They were stumbling and falling like someone who is drunk.
Their skill as sailors was useless.
28 They were in trouble, so they called to the Lord for help,
and he saved them from their troubles.
29 He stopped the storm
and calmed the waves.
30 The sailors were happy that the sea became calm,
and he led them safely to where they wanted to go.
31 Thank the Lord for his faithful love
and for the amazing things he does for people.
32 Praise God in the great assembly.
Praise him when the older leaders meet together.
27 “The days are coming,” says the Lord, “when I will help the family of Israel and Judah to grow. I will help their children and animals to grow too. It will be like planting and caring for a plant. 28 In the past I watched over Israel and Judah, but I watched for the time to pull them up. I tore them down. I destroyed them. I gave many troubles to them. But now I will watch over them to build them up and make them strong.” This message is from the Lord.
29 “People will not use this saying anymore:
‘The parents ate the sour grapes,
but the children got the sour taste.’[a]
30 No, people will die for their own sins. Those who eat sour grapes will get the sour taste.”
The New Agreement
31 This is what the Lord said, “The time is coming when I will make a new agreement with the family of Israel and with the family of Judah. 32 It will not be like the agreement I made with their ancestors. I made that agreement when I took them by the hand and brought them out of Egypt. I was their master, but they broke that agreement.” This message is from the Lord.
33 “In the future I will make this agreement with the people of Israel.” This message is from the Lord. “I will put my teachings in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 People will not have to teach their neighbors and relatives to know the Lord, because all people, from the least important to the most important, will know me.” This message is from the Lord. “I will forgive them for the evil things they did. I will not remember their sins.”
5 You are God’s dear children, so try to be like him. 2 Live a life of love. Love others just as Christ loved us. He gave himself for us—a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice to God.
3 But there must be no sexual sin among you. There must not be any kind of evil or selfishly wanting more and more, because such things are not right for God’s holy people. 4 Also, there must be no evil talk among you. Don’t say things that are foolish or filthy. These are not for you. But you should be giving thanks to God. 5 You can be sure of this: No one will have a place in the kingdom of Christ and of God if that person commits sexual sins, or does evil things, or is a person who selfishly wants more and more. A greedy person like that is serving a false god.
6 Don’t let anyone fool you with words that are not true. God gets very angry when people who don’t obey him talk like that. 7 So don’t have anything to do with them. 8 In the past you were full of darkness, but now you are full of light in the Lord. So live like children who belong to the light. 9 This light produces every kind of goodness, right living, and truth. 10 Try to learn what pleases the Lord. 11 Have no part in the things that people in darkness do, which produce nothing good. Instead, tell everyone how wrong those things are. 12 Actually, it is shameful to even talk about the things those people do in secret. 13 But the light makes clear how wrong those things are. 14 Yes, everything is made clear by the light. This is why we say,
“Wake up, you who are sleeping!
Rise from death,
and Christ will shine on you.”
15 So be very careful how you live. Live wisely, not like fools. 16 I mean that you should use every opportunity you have for doing good, because these are evil times. 17 So don’t be foolish with your lives, but learn what the Lord wants you to do. 18 Don’t be drunk with wine, which will ruin your life, but be filled with the Spirit. 19 Encourage each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your hearts to the Lord. 20 Always give thanks to God the Father for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Matthew (Levi) Follows Jesus(A)
9 When Jesus was leaving, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the place for collecting taxes. Jesus said to him, “Follow me.” So he got up and followed Jesus.
10 Jesus ate dinner at Matthew’s house. Many tax collectors and others with bad reputations came and ate with him and his followers. 11 The Pharisees saw that Jesus was eating with these people. They asked his followers, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and other sinners?”
12 Jesus heard them say this. So he said to them, “It is the sick people who need a doctor, not those who are healthy. 13 You need to go and learn what this Scripture means: ‘I don’t want animal sacrifices; I want you to show kindness to people.’[a] I did not come to invite good people. I came to invite sinners.”
Jesus Is Not Like Other Religious Leaders(B)
14 Then the followers of John came to Jesus and said, “We and the Pharisees fast often, but your followers don’t ever fast. Why?”
15 Jesus answered, “At a wedding the friends of the bridegroom are not sad while he is with them. They cannot fast then. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them. Then they will fast.
16 “When someone sews a patch over a hole in an old coat, they never use a piece of cloth that has not already been shrunk. If they do, the patch will shrink and pull away from the coat. Then the hole will be worse. 17 Also, people never pour new wine into old wineskins. They would break, the wine would spill out, and the wineskins would be ruined. People always put new wine into new wineskins, which won’t break, and the wine stays good.”
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International