Book of Common Prayer

Song of Thanks for Being Kept Safe

18 I love You, O Lord, my strength. ² The Lord is my rock, and my safe place, and the One Who takes me out of trouble. My God is my rock, in Whom I am safe. He is my safe-covering, my saving strength, and my strong tower. ³ I call to the Lord, Who has the right to be praised. And I am saved from those who hate me.

⁴ The ropes of death were all around me. The floods of death make me afraid. ⁵ The ropes of the grave were all around me. The traps of death were set for me. ⁶ I called to the Lord in my trouble. I cried to God for help. He heard my voice from His holy house. My cry for help came into His ears.

⁷ Then the earth shook. The mountains were shaking. They shook because He was angry. ⁸ Smoke went out from His nose and the fire that kept coming from His mouth burned everything around it. ⁹ He parted the heavens and came down. Dark clouds were under His feet. ¹⁰ He sat upon a cherub and flew. He traveled on the wings of the wind. ¹¹ He made darkness His hiding place, the covering around Him, the dark rain clouds of the sky. ¹² Through the light before Him passed His dark clouds, hail stones and fire. ¹³ The Lord made thunder in the heavens. The voice of the Most High spoke out, hail stones and fire. ¹⁴ He sent out His arrows and divided them. He threw down lightning and sent them running. ¹⁵ Then the deep part of the sea could be seen. And the deep part of the earth was opened up, because of Your sharp words, O Lord, because of the powerful breath from Your nose.

¹⁶ He sent from above, and took me. He lifted me out of many waters. ¹⁷ He took me away from the powerful one who fights against me, and from those who hated me. They were too strong for me. ¹⁸ They stood against me in the day of my trouble. But the Lord was my strength. ¹⁹ He brought me out into a big place. He gave me a safe place, because He was pleased with me.

²⁰ The Lord has paid me because of my being right with Him. Because of my clean hands He has paid me. ²¹ For I have kept the ways of the Lord. And I have not sinned by turning from my God. ²² All His Laws are in front of me. I have not set His Laws aside. ²³ Before Him I was without blame. And I have kept myself from sin. ²⁴ So the Lord has paid me back for being right with Him, and for my hands being clean in His eyes.

²⁵ To the faithful, You show Yourself faithful. To those without blame, You show Yourself without blame. ²⁶ With the pure, You show Yourself pure. With the sinful You show Yourself to be against them. ²⁷ You save those who are suffering, but You bring low those who have pride in their eyes. ²⁸ You make my lamp bright. The Lord my God lights my darkness. ²⁹ With Your help I can go against many soldiers. With my God I can jump over a wall.

³⁰ As for God, His way is perfect. The Word of the Lord has stood the test. He is a covering for all who go to Him for a safe place. ³¹ For Who is God, but the Lord? And who is a rock except our God? ³² It is God Who covers me with strength and makes my way perfect. ³³ He makes my feet like the feet of a deer. And He sets me on my high places. ³⁴ He teaches me how to fight, so that I can use a bow of brass. ³⁵ You have also given me the covering that saves me. Your right hand holds me up. And Your care has made me great. ³⁶ You make the road wide for my steps, and my feet have not tripped.

³⁷ I went after those who fight against me, and caught them. And I did not return until they were destroyed. ³⁸ I hit them so they were not able to rise. They fell under my feet. ³⁹ You have given me strength for war. You have put under me those who have fought against me. ⁴⁰ You have made them turn their backs to me also. And I destroyed those who hated me. ⁴¹ They cried for help, but there was no one to save. They cried to the Lord, but He did not answer them. ⁴² Then I beat them as small as the dust in the wind. I emptied them out like mud in the streets.

⁴³ You have taken me away from the fighting of the people. You have made me the leader of nations. People whom I have not known will serve me. ⁴⁴ As soon as they hear, they obey me. Those from other lands obey me. ⁴⁵ These people from other lands lose their strength of heart. And they come shaking from behind their walls. ⁴⁶ The Lord lives! How great is my Rock! Praise be to the God Who saves me! ⁴⁷ He is the God Who punishes those who have done wrong to me. He puts nations under my rule. ⁴⁸ He saves me from those who hate me. Yes, You lift me above those who rise up against me. You save me from those who want to hurt me. ⁴⁹ So I will give thanks to You among the nations, O Lord. And I will sing praises to Your name. ⁵⁰ He gives His king great power over trouble. And He shows loving-kindness to His chosen one, to David, and to his children after him forever.

The Talk of a Sinful Woman

7 My son, keep my words, and hold together my teachings within you. ² Keep my words and live. Keep my teachings as you would your own eye. ³ Tie them upon your fingers. Write them upon your heart. ⁴ Say to wisdom, “You are my sister.” Call understanding your special friend. ⁵ They will keep you from the strange woman, from the stranger with her smooth words.

⁶ For I looked out through the wood-work at the window of my house. ⁷ And I saw among the child-like and among the young people a young man without wisdom and understanding. ⁸ He passed through the street near her corner and took the path to her house, ⁹ in the light of the evening, after it was dark. ¹⁰ See, a woman comes to meet him. She is dressed like a woman who sells the use of her body, and with a heart that wants to fool and trap someone. ¹¹ She is loud and has a strong self-will. Her feet do not stay at home. ¹² She is now in the street, now in the center of town where people gather. She lies in wait at every corner. ¹³ So she catches him and kisses him. With a hard face she says to him, ¹⁴ “It was time for me to give gifts on the altar in worship, and today I have paid what I promised. ¹⁵ So I have come out to meet you, to look for you, and I have found you. ¹⁶ I have spread my bed with coverings of linen cloth from Egypt. ¹⁷ I have perfumed my bed with fine perfumes and spices. ¹⁸ Come, let us take our fill of love until morning. Let us make ourselves happy with love. ¹⁹ For my husband is not at home. He has gone on a long trip. ²⁰ He has taken a bag of money with him, and he will come home at full moon.”

²¹ She leads him away with her tempting talk. She tempts him with the smooth words of her lips. ²² All at once he follows her, like a bull going to be killed, like a wild animal goes into a trap, ²³ until an arrow cuts through him. Like a bird that hurries into the net, he does not know that he will lose his life.

²⁴ So, my sons, listen to me. Listen to the words of my mouth. ²⁵ Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways. Do not turn aside into her paths. ²⁶ For she has hurt many and destroyed many others. She has killed a great number. ²⁷ Her house is the way to hell, going down to the rooms of death.

¹³ I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. Now you can know you have life that lasts forever. ¹⁴ We are sure that if we ask anything that He wants us to have, He will hear us. ¹⁵ If we are sure He hears us when we ask, we can be sure He will give us what we ask for. ¹⁶ You may see a Christian brother sinning in a way that does not lead to death. You should pray for him. God will give him life unless he has done that sin that leads to death. There is a sin that leads to death. There is no reason to pray for him if he has done that sin. ¹⁷ Every kind of wrong-doing is sin. But there is a sin that does not lead to death. ¹⁸ We know that no child of God keeps on sinning. The Son of God watches over him and the devil cannot get near him. ¹⁹ We know that we belong to God, but the whole world is under the power of the devil. ²⁰ We know God’s Son has come. He has given us the understanding to know Him Who is the true God. We are joined together with the true God through His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and the life that lasts forever. ²¹ My children, keep yourselves from false gods.

Jesus Prays to His Father

²⁵ At that time Jesus said, “Thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You hid these things from the wise and from those who have much learning. You have shown them to little children. ²⁶ Yes, Father, it was good in Your sight.

²⁷ “Everything has been given to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son but the Father. No one knows the Father but the Son, and those to whom the Son wants to make the Father known.

Jesus Calls People to Follow Him

²⁸ “Come to Me, all of you who work and have heavy loads. I will give you rest. ²⁹ Follow My teachings and learn from Me. I am gentle and do not have pride. You will have rest for your souls. ³⁰ For My way of carrying a load is easy and My load is not heavy.”