Book of Common Prayer
A prayer of a suffering person who has become weak. They pour out their problems to the Lord.
102 Lord, hear my prayer.
Listen to my cry for help.
2 Don’t turn your face away from me
when I’m in trouble.
Pay attention to me.
When I call out for help, answer me quickly.
3 My days are disappearing like smoke.
My body burns like glowing coals.
4 My strength has dried up like grass.
I even forget to eat my food.
5 I groan out loud because of my suffering.
I’m nothing but skin and bones.
6 I’m like a desert owl.
I’m like an owl among destroyed buildings.
7 I can’t sleep. I’ve become
like a bird alone on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies laugh at me.
Those who make fun of me use my name as a curse.
9 I eat ashes as my food.
My tears fall into what I’m drinking.
10 You were very angry with me.
So you picked me up and threw me away.
11 The days of my life are like an evening shadow.
I dry up like grass.
12 But Lord, you are seated on your throne forever.
Your fame will continue for all time to come.
13 You will rise up and show deep concern for Zion.
The time has come for you to help Zion.
14 The stones of your destroyed city are priceless to us.
Even its dust brings deep concern to us.
15 The nations will worship the Lord.
All the kings on earth will respect his glorious power.
16 The Lord will build Zion again.
He will appear in his glory.
17 He will answer the prayer of those who don’t have anything.
He won’t say no to their cry for help.
18 Let this be written down for those born after us.
Then people who are not yet born can praise the Lord.
19 Here is what should be written.
“The Lord looked down from his temple in heaven.
From heaven he viewed the earth.
20 He heard the groans of the prisoners.
He set free those who were sentenced to death.”
21 So people will talk about him in Zion.
They will praise him in Jerusalem.
22 Nations and kingdoms
will gather there to worship the Lord.
23 When I was still young, he took away my strength.
He wasn’t going to let me live much longer.
24 So I said, “My God, don’t let me die in the middle of my life.
You will live for all time to come.
25 In the beginning you made the earth secure.
You placed it on its foundations.
Your hands created the heavens.
26 They will pass away. But you will remain.
They will all wear out like a piece of clothing.
You will make them like clothes
that are taken off and thrown away.
27 But you remain the same.
Your years will never end.
28 Our children will live with you.
Their sons and daughters will be safe in your care.”
Book V
Psalms 107–150
107 Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good.
His faithful love continues forever.
2 Let those who have been set free by the Lord tell their story.
He set them free from the power of the enemy.
3 He brought them back from other lands.
He brought them back from east and west, from north and south.
4 Some of them wandered in deserts that were dry and empty.
They couldn’t find a city where they could make their homes.
5 They were hungry and thirsty.
Their lives were slipping away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord because of their problems.
And he saved them from their troubles.
7 He led them straight
to a city where they could make their homes.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love.
Let them give thanks for the wonderful things he does for people.
9 He gives those who are thirsty all the water they want.
He gives those who are hungry all the good food they can eat.
10 Others lived in the deepest darkness.
They suffered as prisoners in iron chains.
11 That’s because they hadn’t obeyed the commands of God.
They had refused to follow the plans of the Most High God.
12 So he made them do work that was hard and bitter.
They tripped and fell, and there was no one to help them.
13 Then they cried out to the Lord because of their problems.
And he saved them from their troubles.
14 He brought them out of the deepest darkness.
He broke their chains off.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love.
Let them give thanks for the wonderful things he does for people.
16 He breaks down gates that are made of bronze.
He cuts through bars that are made of iron.
17 Others were foolish. They suffered because of their sins.
They suffered because they wouldn’t obey the Lord.
18 They refused to eat anything.
They came close to passing through the gates of death.
19 Then they cried out to the Lord because of their problems.
And he saved them from their troubles.
20 He gave his command and healed them.
He saved them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love.
Let them give thanks for the wonderful things he does for people.
22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings.
Let them talk about what he has done as they sing with joy.
23 Some people sailed out on the ocean in ships.
They traded goods on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the Lord.
They saw the wonderful deeds he did on the ocean.
25 He spoke and stirred up a storm.
It lifted the waves high.
26 They rose up to the heavens. Then they went down deep into the ocean.
In that kind of danger the people’s boldness melted away.
27 They were unsteady like people who have become drunk.
They didn’t know what to do.
28 Then they cried out to the Lord because of their problems.
And he brought them out of their troubles.
29 He made the storm as quiet as a whisper.
The waves of the ocean calmed down.
30 The people were glad when the ocean became calm.
Then he guided them to the harbor they were looking for.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love.
Let them give thanks for the wonderful things he does for people.
32 Let them honor him among his people who gather for worship.
Let them praise him in the meeting of the elders.
27 Here is what the Lord announces. “The days are coming when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah again. I will plant them with children and young animals. 28 I watched over Israel and Judah to pull them up by the roots. I tore them down. I crushed them. I destroyed them. I brought horrible trouble on them. But now I will watch over them to build them up and plant them,” announces the Lord. 29 “In those days people will no longer say,
“ ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes.
But the children have a bitter taste in their mouths.’
30 Instead, everyone will die for their own sin. The one who eats sour grapes will taste how bitter they are.
31 “The days are coming,” announces the Lord.
“I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel.
I will also make it with the people of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their people of long ago.
That was when I took them by the hand.
I led them out of Egypt.
But they broke my covenant.
They did it even though I was like a husband to them,”
announces the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with Israel
after that time,” announces the Lord.
“I will put my law in their minds.
I will write it on their hearts.
I will be their God.
And they will be my people.
34 They will not need to teach their neighbor anymore.
And they will not need to teach one another anymore.
They will not need to say, ‘Know the Lord.’
That’s because everyone will know me.
From the least important of them to the most important,
all of them will know me,”
announces the Lord.
“I will forgive their evil ways.
I will not remember their sins anymore.”
5 1 You are the children that God dearly loves. So follow his example. 2 Lead a life of love, just as Christ did. He loved us. He gave himself up for us. He was a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice to God.
3 There should not be even a hint of sexual sin among you. Don’t do anything impure. And do not always want more and more. These are not the things God’s holy people should do. 4 There must not be any bad language or foolish talk or dirty jokes. They are out of place. Instead, you should give thanks. 5 Here is what you can be sure of. Those who give themselves over to sexual sins are lost. So are people whose lives are impure. The same is true of those who always want more and more. People who do these things might as well worship statues of gods. No one who does them will receive a share in the kingdom of Christ and of God. 6 Don’t let anyone fool you with worthless words. People who say things like that aren’t obeying God. He is angry with them. 7 So don’t go along with people like that.
8 At one time you were in the dark. But now you are in the light because of what the Lord has done. Live like children of the light. 9 The light produces what is completely good, right and true. 10 Find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the acts of darkness. They don’t produce anything good. Show what they are really like. 12 It is shameful even to talk about what people who don’t obey do in secret. 13 But everything the light shines on can be seen. And everything that the light shines on becomes a light. 14 That is why it is said,
“Wake up, sleeper.
Rise from the dead.
Then Christ will shine on you.”
15 So be very careful how you live. Do not live like people who aren’t wise. Live like people who are wise. 16 Make the most of every opportunity. The days are evil. 17 So don’t be foolish. Instead, understand what the Lord wants. 18 Don’t fill yourself up with wine. Getting drunk will lead to wild living. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit. 19 Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord. 20 Always give thanks to God the Father for everything. Give thanks to him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jesus Chooses Matthew and Eats With Sinners
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew. He was sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him. Matthew got up and followed him.
10 Later Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house. Many tax collectors and sinners came. They ate with Jesus and his disciples. 11 The Pharisees saw this. So they asked the disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 Jesus heard this. So he said, “Those who are healthy don’t need a doctor. Sick people do. 13 Go and learn what this means, ‘I want mercy and not sacrifice.’ (Hosea 6:6) I have not come to get those who think they are right with God to follow me. I have come to get sinners to follow me.”
Jesus Is Asked About Fasting
14 One day John’s disciples came. They said to Jesus, “We and the Pharisees often go without eating. Why don’t your disciples go without eating?”
15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the groom be sad while he is with them? The time will come when the groom will be taken away from them. Then they will fast.
16 “People don’t sew a patch of new cloth on old clothes. The new piece will pull away from the old. That will make the tear worse. 17 People don’t pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst. The wine will run out, and the wineskins will be destroyed. No, people pour new wine into new wineskins. Then both are saved.”
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