Book of Common Prayer

A Prayer for Israel

83 O God, do not keep quiet. Do not be quiet, O God, and do not hold Your peace. ² For, look, those who hate You are making much noise. Those who fight against You have honored themselves. ³ They make bad plans against Your people. They plan against those You care for. ⁴ They say, “Come, let us destroy them as a nation. Let the name of Israel be remembered no longer.” ⁵ For they plan together with one mind. They make an agreement against You: ⁶ The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagarites; ⁷ Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with those who live in Tyre; ⁸ Assyria has joined them also. They help the children of Lot.

⁹ Do to them as You did to Midian, and to Sisera and Jabin at the river of Kishon. ¹⁰ They were destroyed at Endor. They were spread over the field. ¹¹ Make their respected men like Oreb and Zeeb. Make their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna, ¹² who said, “Let us take for ourselves the fields of God.”

¹³ O my God, make them like dust turning in the wind, like parts of the grass that have no worth and are blown away. ¹⁴ As the fire that burns up the trees and spreads over the mountains, ¹⁵ so go behind them with Your storm. Make them afraid with Your storm. ¹⁶ Fill their faces with shame, so they will look to Your name, O Lord. ¹⁷ Let them be ashamed and afraid forever. Let them be put to shame and lost. ¹⁸ Then they may know that You alone, Whose name is the Lord, are the Most High over all the earth.

The Lord—Our Helper

146 Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! ² I will praise the Lord as long as I live. I will sing praises to my God as long as I live. ³ Do not put your trust in princes, in a son of a man, who cannot save us. ⁴ When his spirit leaves, he returns to the earth. His thoughts end on that day. ⁵ Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, and whose hope is in the Lord his God. ⁶ The Lord made heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them. He is faithful forever. ⁷ He helps those who have a bad power over them. He gives food to the hungry. And He sets those in prison free.

⁸ The Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord raises up those who are brought down. The Lord loves those who are right and good. ⁹ The Lord keeps the strangers safe. He takes care of the children who have no father and the woman whose husband has died. But He destroys the way of the sinful. ¹⁰ The Lord will rule forever. Your God, O Zion, will rule over all people for all time. Praise the Lord!

Praise for God’s Goodness

147 Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God. For it is pleasing and praise is right. ² The Lord builds up Jerusalem. He gathers those of Israel who had been taken away. ³ He heals those who have a broken heart. He heals their sorrows. ⁴ He knows the number of the stars. He gives names to all of them. ⁵ Great is our Lord, and great in power. His understanding has no end. ⁶ The Lord lifts up those who are suffering, and He brings the sinful down to the ground.

⁷ Sing to the Lord with thanks. Sing praises to our God on the harp. ⁸ He covers the heavens with clouds. He gives rain for the earth. He makes grass grow on the mountains. ⁹ He gives food to the animals, and to the young ravens that cry. ¹⁰ His joy is not in the strength of a horse. He does not find joy in the legs of a man. ¹¹ But the Lord favors those who fear Him and those who wait for His loving-kindness.

¹² Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion! ¹³ For He has made your gates strong. He has made good come to your children within you. ¹⁴ He makes peace within your walls. He fills you with the best grain. ¹⁵ He sends His Word to the earth. And His Word runs fast. ¹⁶ He gives snow like wool. He spreads ice like ashes. ¹⁷ He throws down His ice as hail stones. Who can stand before His cold? ¹⁸ He sends out His Word and melts them. He makes His wind blow and the waters flow. ¹⁹ He speaks His Word to Jacob, and His Law to Israel. ²⁰ He has not done this with any other nation. They do not know His Law. Praise the Lord!

A Prayer for the Nation’s Good

85 O Lord, You showed favor to Your land. You have returned those of Jacob who were taken away. ² You have forgiven the sins of Your people. You have covered all their sin. ³ You have taken away all Your anger. You have turned away from Your burning anger.

⁴ O God Who saves us, give us life again. Make Your anger toward us stop. ⁵ Will You be angry with us forever? Will You spread out Your anger to families of all times? ⁶ Will You not bring us back to life again so that Your people may be happy in You? ⁷ Show us Your loving-kindness, O Lord, and save us.

⁸ I will listen to what God the Lord will say. For He will speak peace to His people, to those who are right with Him. But do not let them turn again to foolish things. ⁹ For sure His saving power is near those who fear Him, so His shining-greatness may live in the land. ¹⁰ Loving-kindness and truth have met together. Peace and what is right and good have kissed each other. ¹¹ Truth comes up from the earth. And what is right and good looks down from heaven. ¹² Yes, the Lord will give what is good. And our land will give its fruit. ¹³ What is right and good will go before Him and make a way for His steps.

A Prayer for Help

86 Hear, O Lord, and answer me. For I am suffering and in need. ² Keep my life, for I am faithful to You. You are my God. Save Your servant who trusts in You. ³ Show me loving-kindness, O Lord. For I cry to You all day long. ⁴ Bring joy to Your servant. For I lift up my soul to You, O Lord. ⁵ For You are good and ready to forgive, O Lord. You are rich in loving-kindness to all who call to You. ⁶ Hear my prayer, O Lord. Listen to my cry for help. ⁷ I will call to You in the day of my trouble. For You will answer me. ⁸ There is no one like You among the gods, O Lord. And there are no works like Yours. ⁹ All the nations You have made will come and worship before You, O Lord. And they will bring honor to Your name. ¹⁰ For You are great and do great things. You alone are God.

¹¹ Teach me Your way, O Lord. I will walk in Your truth. May my heart fear Your name. ¹² O Lord my God, I will give thanks to You with all my heart. I will bring honor to Your name forever. ¹³ For Your loving-kindness toward me is great. And You have saved my soul from the bottom of the grave.

¹⁴ O God, proud men have come up against me. A group of fighting men want to take my life. And they do not think of You. ¹⁵ But You, O Lord, are a God full of love and pity. You are slow to anger and rich in loving-kindness and truth. ¹⁶ Turn to me, and show me loving-kindness. Give Your strength to Your servant. And save the son of your woman servant. ¹⁷ Give me something special to see of Your favor. Then those who hate me may see it and be ashamed. Because You, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.

Haman Is Put to Death

7 So the king and Haman came to eat with Esther the queen. ² And the king said again to Esther on the second day, as they drank their wine at the special supper, “What do you want to ask of me, Queen Esther? It will be done for you. What do you want? You would be given as much as half the nation.” ³ Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your eyes, O king, and if it please the king, I ask that my life and the lives of my people be saved. ⁴ For I and my people have been sold, to be destroyed, to be killed, and to be done away with. If we had only been sold as men and women servants, I would have kept quiet. For our trouble is not to be compared with the trouble it will make for the king.” ⁵ Then King Ahasuerus asked Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, who would do such a thing?” ⁶ Esther said, “This sinful Haman hates us very much!” Then Haman was very afraid in front of the king and queen. ⁷ The king got up from drinking the wine very angry, and went into his garden, but Haman stayed to beg for his life from Queen Esther. He knew that the king planned to punish him. ⁸ When the king returned from his garden to the place where they were drinking wine, Haman was falling on the bed-like seat where Esther was lying. Then the king said, “Will he even trouble the queen while I am in the house?” As the king spoke the words, they covered Haman’s face. ⁹ Then Harbonah, one of the king’s servants helping the king, said, “See, there is a tower made for hanging people at Haman’s house, thirteen times taller than a man. Haman had it made for hanging Mordecai who spoke good and helped the king!” And the king said, “Hang Haman on it.” ¹⁰ So they hanged Haman on the tower that he had made for Mordecai. Then the king’s anger became less.

Paul Does Powerful Works

¹¹ God used Paul to do powerful special works. ¹² Pieces of cloth and parts of his clothes that had been next to his body were put on sick people. Then they were healed of their diseases and demons came out of them.

¹³ There were Jews who went from city to city trying to put demons out of people. Some of these tried to use the name of the Lord Jesus on those who had demons. They said, “I speak to you in the name of Jesus, the One Paul preaches about.” ¹⁴ A Jewish leader of the people by the name of Sceva had seven sons. These sons were trying to do this. ¹⁵ The demon said, “I know Jesus. I know about Paul. But who are you?” ¹⁶ Then the man with the demon jumped on the sons. He had power over them and beat them. They ran out of the house with no clothes on and they were hurt.

¹⁷ All the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus heard about it. Because of this all the people became afraid. And the name of the Lord Jesus was held in great honor. ¹⁸ Many Christians came and told of the wrong things they were doing. ¹⁹ Many of those who did witchcraft gathered their books together and burned them in front of everyone. These books were worth 50,000 pieces of silver money. ²⁰ The Word of the Lord became well-known.

Jesus Preaches in Galilee ^(A)

¹⁴ Jesus went back to Galilee in the power of the Holy Spirit. People talked about Him so much that He was well-known through all the country. ¹⁵ Jesus taught in their places of worship and was honored by all people.

In Nazareth They Do Not Believe in Jesus

¹⁶ Jesus came to Nazareth where He had grown up. As He had done before, He went into the Jewish place of worship on the Day of Rest. Then He stood up to read. ¹⁷ Someone handed Him the book of the early preacher Isaiah. He opened it and found the place where it was written, ¹⁸ “The Spirit of the Lord is on Me. He has put His hand on Me to preach the Good News to poor people. He has sent Me to heal those with a sad heart. He has sent Me to tell those who are being held that they can go free. He has sent Me to make the blind to see and to free those who are held because of trouble. ¹⁹ He sent Me to tell of the time when men can receive favor with the Lord.” ^(B)

²⁰ Jesus closed the book. Then He gave it back to the leader and sat down. All those in the Jewish place of worship kept their eyes on Him. ²¹ Then He began to say to them, “The Holy Writings you have just heard have been completed today.”

²² They all spoke well of Jesus and agreed with the words He spoke. They said, “Is not this the son of Joseph?” ²³ He said to them, “I wonder if you will tell this old saying to Me, ‘Doctor, heal Yourself. What You did in the city of Capernaum, do in Your own country!’” ²⁴ He said, “A man who speaks for God is not respected in his own country. ²⁵ It is true that there were many women whose husbands had died in the Jewish land when Elijah lived. For three and a half years there was no rain and there was very little food in the land. ²⁶ Elijah was sent to none of them, but he was sent to a woman in the city of Zarephath in the land of Sidon. This woman’s husband had died. ²⁷ There were many people in the Jewish land who had a bad skin disease when the early preacher Elisha lived. None of them was healed. But Naaman from the country of Syria was healed.”

²⁸ All those in the Jewish place of worship were angry when they heard His words. ²⁹ They got up and took Jesus out of town to the top of a high hill. They wanted to throw Him over the side. ³⁰ But Jesus got away from among them and went on His way.