Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Help
120 I cried to the Lord in my trouble, and He answered me. 2 O Lord, save me from lying lips and a false tongue. 3 What will be given to you and what more will be done to you, you false tongue? 4 He will punish you with sharp arrows of the soldier, and with the hot fire of the broom tree.
5 It is bad for me, for I travel in Meshech and live among the tents of Kedar! 6 I have lived too long with those who hate peace. 7 I am for peace. But when I speak, they are for war.
The Lord—Our Helper
121 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where will my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your feet go out from under you. He Who watches over you will not sleep. 4 Listen, He Who watches over Israel will not close his eyes or sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you. The Lord is your safe cover at your right hand. 6 The sun will not hurt you during the day and the moon will not hurt you during the night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all that is sinful. He will watch over your soul. 8 The Lord will watch over your coming and going, now and forever.
A Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem
122 I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” 2 Our feet are standing inside your gates, O Jerusalem. 3 Jerusalem is built as a city where people come together. 4 That is where the different families go, the families of the Lord. There they give thanks to the name of the Lord, by the Law that was given to Israel. 5 For thrones were set there for telling who is guilty or not, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May all go well for those who love you. 7 May there be peace within your walls. May all go well within your houses. 8 I will now say, “May peace be within you,” for the good of my brothers and my friends. 9 Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will pray for your good.
A Prayer for the Lord’s Help
123 I lift up my eyes to You, O You Whose throne is in the heavens. 2 See, the eyes of servants look to the hand of their owner. The eyes of a woman servant look to the hand of her owner. So our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He shows us loving-kindness.
3 Show loving-kindness to us, O Lord. Show loving-kindness to us. For we have had our fill of hate. 4 The proud have laughed at us too long. We have had more than enough of their hate.
God Watches Over His People
124 “If the Lord had not been on our side,” let Israel say, 2 “If the Lord had not been on our side when men came against us, 3 they would have eaten us up alive. Because their anger burned against us. 4 The waters would have covered us. The river would have passed over our soul. 5 The angry waters would have passed over our soul.”
6 Honor and thanks be to the Lord! He has not let us be torn by their teeth. 7 We have become free like a bird out of a trap. The net is broken and now we are free. 8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
God’s People Are Safe
125 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but stands forever. 2 The Lord is around His people like the mountains are around Jerusalem, now and forever. 3 For the sinful will not rule over the land of those who are right with God. So those who are right and good may not use their hands to do wrong.
4 O Lord, do good to those who are good, and to those who are right in their hearts. 5 But the Lord will let all those who turn aside to their sinful ways go with those who are sinners. Peace be upon Israel.
A Prayer for Help
126 It was like a dream when the Lord brought back to Zion those who had been held in another land. 2 Then we laughed with our mouths, and we sang with our tongues. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” 3 The Lord has done great things for us and we are glad.
4 Bring back our people, O Lord, like the rivers in the South. 5 Those who plant with tears will gather fruit with songs of joy. 6 He who goes out crying as he carries his bag of seed will return with songs of joy as he brings much grain with him.
God Is Good to His People
127 Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders work for nothing. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the men who watch over it stay awake for nothing. 2 You rise up early, and go to bed late, and work hard for your food, all for nothing. For the Lord gives to His loved ones even while they sleep.
3 See, children are a gift from the Lord. The children born to us are our special reward. 4 The children of a young man are like arrows in the hand of a soldier. 5 Happy is the man who has many of them. They will not be put to shame when they speak in the gate with those who hate them.
1 This is the Word of the Lord which came to Micah of Moresheth about Samaria and Jerusalem in the days of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.
Israel Is Judged
2 Hear, O people, all of you. Listen, O earth and all who are in it. The Lord God will speak against you from His holy house. 3 See, the Lord is coming from His place. He will come down and walk on the high places of the earth. 4 The mountains will melt under Him and the valleys will break open, like a candle in front of the fire, like water poured down a hill. 5 All this is because Jacob would not obey and because of the sins of the people of Israel. What is Jacob’s sin? Is it not Samaria? What is the high place of Judah? Is it not Jerusalem? 6 So I will make Samaria a waste in the open country, making it a place to plant grape-fields. I will pour her stones down into the valley, and lay open the base of the city. 7 All of her false gods will be broken to pieces. Everything given in the place of worship will be burned with fire. I will destroy all her objects of worship, for she gathered them from the pay of a woman who sells the use of her body. They will return to pay a woman who sells the use of her body.
Jerusalem Will Be Taken
8 Because of this I must cry out in sorrow. I must go without shoes and clothing. I must cry out like the wild dogs, and cry in sorrow like the ostriches. 9 For her hurt cannot be cured. It has come to Judah. It has come to the gate of my people, even to Jerusalem.
The Plan to Kill Paul
12 In the morning some of the Jews gathered together and made a plan to kill Paul. They promised each other that they would not eat or drink until they had killed him. 13 There were more than forty of them who had made this promise. 14 These people came to the head religious leader and to the leaders of the people and said, “We have made a promise not to eat any food until we have killed Paul. 15 We ask you and the court to have the captain bring Paul down to you tomorrow. It will look as if you want to ask him some things. Before he gets near you, we will be waiting to kill him.”
16 Paul’s nephew heard about the plan. He went to the soldiers’ building and told Paul. 17 Paul called one of the soldiers and said, “Take this young man to the captain. He has something to tell him.” 18 The soldiers brought the young man to the captain and said, “Paul asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.” 19 The captain took him by the hand and they walked over where they could be alone. He said, “What is it that you have to tell me?” 20 The young man said, “The Jews have made a plan to ask you to bring Paul to the courtroom tomorrow. It would look as if they were going to ask him some things. 21 Do not let them talk you into it. More than forty men are waiting in secret to kill him. They have promised each other not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him. They are all waiting for you to say the word.” 22 The captain told the young man to go. He said, “Do not tell anyone you have told me this.”
Paul Is Sent to Felix in Caesarea
23 Then the captain called two soldiers and said, “Get 200 men ready to go to the city of Caesarea by nine o’clock tonight. Also have seventy men ride on horses and 200 men carry spears. 24 Get horses ready for Paul to ride. Take him to Felix, the leader of the people.”
The Healing of the Captain’s Helper (A)
7 When Jesus had finished teaching the people, He went back to Capernaum. 2 A captain of the army had a servant whom he thought much of. This servant was very sick and was about to die. 3 When the captain heard of Jesus, he sent some Jewish leaders to Him. They were to ask if He would come and heal this servant. 4 They came to Jesus and begged Him, saying, “The man is respected and should have this done for him. 5 He loves our nation and has built our Jewish place of worship.”
6 Jesus went with them. When He was not far from the house, the captain told some friends to tell this to Jesus, “Lord, do not take the time to come to my house, because I am not good enough. 7 And I am not good enough to come to You. But just say the word and my servant will be healed. 8 For I am a man who works for someone else also, and I have soldiers who work for me. I say to this man, ‘Go!’ and he goes. I say to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes. I say to my workman, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”
9 Jesus was surprised when He heard this. He turned to the people following Him and said, “I tell you, I have not found so much faith even in the Jewish nation.” 10 Those who had been sent went back to the captain’s house and found the servant well again.
The Son of a Woman Whose Husband Had Died Was Raised from the Dead
11 The next day Jesus went to a city called Nain. His followers and many other people went with Him. 12 When they came near the city gate, a dead man was being carried out. He was the only son of a woman whose husband had died. Many people of the city were with her. 13 When the Lord saw her, He had loving-pity for her and said, “Do not cry.” 14 He went and put His hand on the box in which the dead man was carried. The men who were carrying it, stopped. Jesus said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 The man who was dead sat up and began to talk. Then Jesus gave him to his mother. 16 Everyone was afraid and they gave thanks to God. They said, “A great Man Who speaks for God has come among us! God has cared for His people!” 17 The news about Jesus went through all the country of Judea and over all the land.
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.