Book of Common Prayer
145 I cried with all my heart. Answer me, O Lord! I will keep Your Law. 146 I cried to You. Save me, and I will keep Your Word. 147 I rise before the morning comes and cry for help. I have put my hope in Your Word. 148 My eyes wait for the night hours, so I may think about Your Word. 149 Hear my voice because of Your loving-kindness. O Lord, give me new life again because of Your Law. 150 Those who follow sinful ways come near. But they are far from Your Law. 151 You are near, O Lord. And all of Your Word is truth. 152 I learned from Your Law long ago that You made it to last forever.
153 Look upon my suffering and take me from it. For I do not forget Your Law. 154 Stand by me and set me free. Give me life again because of Your Word. 155 Your saving help is far from the sinful, for they do not look to Your Law. 156 Your loving-kindness is great, O Lord. Give me life again because of Your Law. 157 There are many who hate me and make it hard for me. Yet I do not turn from Your Law. 158 I look with hate on those who cannot be trusted, because they do not keep Your Word. 159 Think about how I love Your Law. Give me life again, O Lord, because of Your loving-kindness. 160 All of Your Word is truth, and every one of Your laws, which are always right, will last forever.
161 Rulers make it hard for me for no reason, but my heart honors Your Words with fear. 162 I am made happy by Your Word, like one who finds great riches. 163 I hate what is false, but I love Your Law. 164 I praise You seven times a day, because Your Law is right. 165 Those who love Your Law have great peace, and nothing will cause them to be hurt in their spirit. 166 I hope for Your saving power, O Lord, and I follow Your Word. 167 I obey Your Law, for I love it very much. 168 I obey Your Word and Laws, for You know all my ways.
169 Let my cry come to You, O Lord. Give me understanding because of Your Word. 170 Let my prayer come to You. Help me because of Your Word. 171 May praise come from my lips, for You teach me Your Law. 172 May my tongue sing about Your Word, for all of Your Word is right and good. 173 May Your hand be ready to help me, for I have chosen Your Law. 174 I have much desire for Your saving power, O Lord. Your Law is my joy. 175 Let me live so I may praise You, and let Your Law help me. 176 I have gone from the way like a lost sheep. Look for Your servant, for I do not forget Your Word.
The Joy of Obeying
128 Happy are all who honor the Lord with fear, and who walk in His ways. 2 For you will eat the fruit of your hands. You will be happy and it will be well with you. 3 Your wife will be like a vine with much fruit within your house. Your children will be like olive plants around your table. 4 This is the good that will come to the man who honors the Lord with fear.
5 May the Lord do good things for you from Zion. And may you see good come to Jerusalem all the days of your life. 6 Yes, may you see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel.
A Prayer against All Who Hate Zion
129 “They have made it hard for me many times since I was young,” let Israel now say. 2 “They have made it hard for me many times since I was young. But they have not won over me. 3 Those who plow have plowed my back. And they have made their ditches long.” 4 The Lord is right and good. He has cut in two the ropes of the sinful.
5 May all who hate Zion be put to shame and turned away. 6 Let them be like grass on the roof, which dries up before it grows. 7 No one can pick it and fill his hand. No one can gather it and fill his arms. 8 And those who pass by do not say, “May the Lord be good to you. We pray that good will come to you in the name of the Lord.”
A Prayer for Help
130 O Lord, I have cried to You out of the deep places. 2 Lord, hear my voice! Let Your ears hear the voice of my prayers. 3 If you, Lord, should write down our sins, O Lord, who could stand? 4 But You are the One Who forgives, so You are honored with fear.
5 I wait for the Lord. My soul waits and I hope in His Word. 6 My soul waits for the Lord more than one who watches for the morning; yes, more than one who watches for the morning. 7 O Israel, hope in the Lord! For there is loving-kindness with the Lord. With Him we are saved for sure. 8 And He will save Israel from all their sins.
It Is Bad for Wrong-Doers
2 It is bad for those who make plans to do wrong, who lie on their beds thinking of something sinful to do! When morning comes, they do it, because it is in their power. 2 They want fields that belong to someone else, and take them. They want houses, and take them. They rob a man and his house, a man and what has been given to him. 3 So the Lord says, “I am planning trouble against this family, from which you cannot save yourselves. You will no longer walk in pride, for it will be a time of much trouble. 4 On that day they will make fun of you and sing a bitter song of sorrow, saying, ‘We are destroyed and everything is gone! My people’s land is divided. He takes it from me! He gives our fields to those who turned against us.’” 5 So you will have no one among the Lord’s people to divide the land in a right way for you.
Men Who Lie
6 “The people say to me, ‘Do not speak about these things, because we will not be put to shame.’ 7 Should it be said, O people of Jacob: “Is the Spirit of the Lord angry? Would He do such things? Do not My Words do good to the one whose way is right and good? 8 My people have begun to hate those who are at peace with them. You pull the coat off from a brother Israelite, from those who pass by in peace like men returning from war. 9 You drive the women of My people away from their beautiful houses. You take My greatness away from their children forever. 10 Get up and go away, for this is no place of rest, because it is made unclean. It is destroyed with much suffering. 11 If a man comes speaking lies and says, ‘I will speak to you about wine and strong drink,’ he would be the one for these people!
Israel Is Gathered Together
12 “I will gather all of you together, Jacob. I will gather all those left of Israel. I will put them together like sheep within a fence, like a flock in its field. The land will be filled with the noise of many people. 13 The One Who breaks open the way will go out before them. They will break through the gate and go out. Their king will pass through before them, and the Lord will lead them.”
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.”
25 He wrote a letter which said, 26 “Claudius Lysias greets Felix, the best leader of the people. 27 This man Paul was taken by the Jews. He was about to be killed by them. But I came along with my soldiers and kept him from being killed. I did this when I learned that he was a Roman citizen. 28 I wanted to know what they had against him. So I took him to the religious leaders’ court. 29 I learned they were holding him because of something about their Law. There was no reason for him to be killed or to be put in prison. 30 I was told that the Jews had a plan to kill this man. At once I sent him to you. I told the Jews who wanted to kill him to tell you what they have against him. Good-bye.”
31 The soldiers took Paul as they were told. They brought him during the night to Antipatris. 32 The next day they went back to their building in Jerusalem. The men riding horses went on with Paul. 33 When they came to Caesarea, they gave the letter to the leader of the people. They also handed Paul over to him. 34 After he read the letter, he asked what part of the country Paul was from. He was told that Paul was from the city of Cilicia. 35 He said, “I will listen to all of this when the men come who want to kill you.” He had Paul kept in King Herod’s building.
John the Baptist Asks about Jesus (A)
18 The followers of John the Baptist told him about all these things. 19 John called two of his followers and sent them to Jesus to ask, “Are You the One Who is to come? Or are we to look for another?” 20 The men came to Jesus and said, “John the Baptist sent us to ask You, ‘Are You the One Who is to come? Or are we to look for another?’”
21 At that time Jesus was healing many people of all kinds of sickness and disease and was putting out demons. Many that were blind were able to see. 22 Jesus said to John’s followers, “Go back to John the Baptist and tell him what you have seen and heard. Tell him the blind are made to see. Those who could not walk, are walking. Those with a bad skin disease are healed. Those who could not hear, are hearing. The dead are raised to life and poor people have the Good News preached to them. 23 The person who is not ashamed of Me and does not turn away from Me is happy.”
Jesus Tells about John the Baptist (B)
24 As John’s followers were going away, Jesus began to tell the people about John the Baptist. He said, “Why did you go out to the desert? Did you go out to see a small tree moving in the wind? 25 What did you go out to see? A man dressed in good clothes? Those who are dressed in good clothes are in the houses of kings. 26 But what did you go to see? One who speaks for God? Yes, I tell you, he is more than one who speaks for God. 27 This is the man the Holy Writings spoke of when they said, ‘See! I will send My helper to carry news ahead of You. He will make Your way ready for You!’ (C)
28 “I tell you, of those born of women, there is no one greater than John the Baptist. The least in the holy nation of God is greater than he.”
29 All the people who heard Jesus and those who gathered taxes showed they knew God was right and were baptized by John. 30 But the proud religious law-keepers and the men who knew the Law would not listen. They would not be baptized by John and they did not receive what God had for them.
Jesus Speaks Against the People of This Day
31 Then the Lord said, “What are the people of this day like? 32 They are like children playing in front of stores. They call to their friends, ‘We have played music for you, but you did not dance. We have had sorrow for you, but you did not have sorrow.’ 33 John the Baptist did not come eating bread or drinking wine and you say, ‘He has a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you say, ‘See! He likes food and wine. He is a friend of men who gather taxes and of sinners!’ 35 Wisdom is shown to be right by those who are wise.”
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