Book of Common Prayer

Child-Like Trust in the Lord

131 O Lord, my heart is not proud. My eyes are not filled with pride. And I do not trouble myself with important things or in things too great for me. ² For sure I have made my soul quiet like a child who no longer nurses while he is with his mother. My soul within me is like a child who no longer nurses. ³ O Israel, hope in the Lord, now and forever.

A Prayer for the House of God

132 O Lord, remember David and all of his suffering. ² Remember how he swore to the Lord, and how he made a promise to the Powerful One of Jacob: ³ “For sure I will not go into my house or lie on my bed, ⁴ or let sleep come and close my eyes, ⁵ until I find a place for the Lord, a house of worship for the Powerful One of Jacob.”

⁶ See, we heard about it in Ephrathah. We found it in the field of Jaar. ⁷ Let us go into the House of God. Let us worship at His feet. ⁸ Rise up, O Lord. Go to the place where You can rest, You and the special box of the Way of Worship which is Your strength. ⁹ Let Your religious leaders be dressed with what is right and good. And let those who belong to You sing for joy.

¹⁰ Because of David Your servant, do not turn away from Your chosen one. ¹¹ The Lord has made a sure promise to David that He will never break: “I will set upon your throne your own children. ¹² If your sons will keep My Law and My Word which I will teach them, then their sons will sit upon your throne forever.”

¹³ For the Lord has chosen Zion. He has wanted it for a place to live: ¹⁴ “This is the place where I can rest forever. Here I will live, for I have wanted it. ¹⁵ I will give her many good things. I will give her poor people much bread. ¹⁶ I will dress her religious leaders with saving power. And those in her that belong to Me will sing for joy. ¹⁷ There I will make the horn of David grow and will make a lamp ready for My chosen one. ¹⁸ I will dress those who hate him with shame. But the crown on him will shine.”

A Song of Praise

133 See, how good and how pleasing it is for brothers to live together as one! ² It is like oil of great worth poured on the head, flowing down through the hair on the face, even the face of Aaron, and flowing down to his coat. ³ It is like the morning water of Hermon coming down upon the hills of Zion. For there the Lord has given the gift of life that lasts forever.

A Call to Praise

134 See, give honor and thanks to the Lord, all who work for the Lord, who stand during the night in the house of the Lord. ² Lift up your hands to the holy place and give thanks to the Lord. ³ May the Lord bring good to you from Zion. He is the One Who made heaven and earth.

A Song of Praise

135 Praise the Lord! Praise the name of the Lord! Praise Him, O servants of the Lord, ² you who stand in the house of the Lord, within the walls of the house of our God. ³ Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good. Sing praises to His name, for it is sweet. ⁴ For the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself. Israel belongs to Him.

⁵ I know that the Lord is great. He is greater than all gods. ⁶ The Lord does whatever is pleasing to Him, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all waters. ⁷ He makes the clouds rise from the ends of the earth. He makes lightning come with the rain. He brings the wind out from where He stores His riches.

⁸ He killed the first-born of Egypt, both man and animal. ⁹ He sent special things to see and did great works among you, O Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his servants. ¹⁰ He crushed many nations and killed powerful kings, ¹¹ King Sihon of the Amorites, King Og of Bashan, and all the kings of Canaan. ¹² And He gave their land as a gift, a gift to Israel His people. ¹³ O Lord, Your name lasts forever. O Lord, You will be remembered for all time. ¹⁴ For the Lord will decide in favor of His people. He will have loving-pity on His servants. ¹⁵ The gods of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. ¹⁶ They have mouths but they do not speak. They have eyes but they do not see. ¹⁷ They have ears but they do not hear. And there is no breath in their mouths. ¹⁸ Those who make them and those who trust in them will be like them.

¹⁹ O house of Israel, give honor and thanks to the Lord. O house of Aaron, give honor and thanks to the Lord. ²⁰ O house of Levi, give honor and thanks to the Lord. You who fear the Lord, give honor and thanks to the Lord. ²¹ Honor and thanks be to the Lord from Zion, Who lives in Jerusalem. Praise the Lord!

Sinful Leaders and Rulers

3 And I said, “Hear now, leaders of Jacob and rulers of the people of Israel! Should you not know what is fair? ² Yet you hate good and love sin. You tear off the skin from my people and the flesh from their bones. ³ You eat my people’s flesh, pull their skin off, break their bones, and cut them up like meat for the pot.” ⁴ Then they will cry to the Lord, but He will not answer them. He will hide His face from them at that time, because they have done sinful things.

⁵ This is what the Lord says about the men who speak in God’s name and lead my people the wrong way. When they have something to eat, they speak of peace. But they make holy war against him who does not feed them. ⁶ So night will come to you without a special dream. Darkness will come to you without any word about the future. The sun will go down on those who speak about special dreams, and the day will become dark over them. ⁷ Those who tell what is going to happen in the future will be ashamed. Those who learn about the future using their secret ways will be ashamed. They will all cover their mouths because there is no answer from God. ⁸ But as for me, I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the Lord, with what is fair, and with strength. I am able to make known to Jacob his wrong-doing, and to Israel his sin.

Paul Stands in Front of Felix

24 Five days later Ananias came to the city of Caesarea. He was the head religious leader. Some other religious leaders and a man whose name was Tertullus came also. This man worked in courts and knew all about the laws. He told Felix what the Jews had against Paul. ² They brought in Paul. Then Tertullus started to tell what the Jews had against him, saying,

“Most respected Felix, because of you, we are living in peace. Wrong-doings have been made right in this nation. ³ In every way and in every place, we thank you for all of this. ⁴ We do not want to keep you here too long. I ask you to listen to our few words. You are known to be kind in this way. ⁵ We have found this man to be a trouble-maker among all the Jews in the world. He is a leader of a religious group called the Nazarenes. ⁶ He even tried to make the house of God unclean by taking people into it who were not Jews. But we took hold of him. (*We could have said he was guilty by our Law. ⁷ But Lysias, the captain, came and took him out of our hands. ⁸ He told those who wanted to kill him to tell you what they had against him.) When you ask him about these things, you will be able to learn everything we have against him.” ⁹ The Jews agreed to what he said against Paul.

Paul Speaks for Himself the First Time

¹⁰ Then Felix, the leader of the people, told Paul to speak. Paul said, “I know that you have been a leader of this nation for many years. I am happy to be able to speak for myself. ¹¹ Not more than twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. You can find out about this yourself. ¹² I did not argue with anyone in the house of God or in the Jewish places of worship or in the city. I was not making trouble. ¹³ They cannot prove any of these things they say against me.

¹⁴ “I will say this, I worship the God of our fathers in the new Way. They say it is a false way. But I believe everything that has been written in the Law and by the early preachers. ¹⁵ I trust God for the same things they are looking for. I am looking for the dead to rise, both those right with God and the sinful. ¹⁶ I always try to live so my own heart tells me I am not guilty before God or man.

¹⁷ “After a few years I came to bring gifts of money to the people of my country (Jerusalem). ¹⁸ Some Jews from the countries of Asia found me in the house of God after I had gone through the worship of washing. There were no people around me and there was no noise or fighting. ¹⁹ They should be here if they have anything against me. ²⁰ Or let these men tell what wrong they found in me as I stood in front of their court, ²¹ unless it was the words I cried out as I stood in front of them. I said, ‘I have been brought in front of this court because of the hope of being raised from the dead.’”

Felix Waits for Lysias to Come

²² Felix knew about the Christian religion. He stopped the court, saying, “When Lysias the captain comes down, I will decide about this.” ²³ He told the soldier to watch Paul, but to let him come and go as much as he wanted to. Paul’s friends were to be able to come and care for him.

A Woman Puts Special Perfume on the Feet of Jesus

³⁶ One of the proud religious law-keepers wanted Jesus to eat with him. Jesus went to his house and sat down to eat. ³⁷ There was a woman in the city who was a sinner. She knew Jesus was eating in the house of the proud religious law-keeper. She brought a jar of special perfume. ³⁸ Then she stood behind Him by His feet and cried. Her tears wet His feet and she dried them with her hair. She kissed His feet and put the special perfume on them.

³⁹ The proud religious law-keeper who had asked Jesus to eat with him saw this. He said to himself, “If this Man were One Who speaks for God, He would know who and what kind of a woman put her hands on Him. She is a sinner.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to him, “I have something to say to you, Simon.” And Simon said, “Teacher, say it.”

⁴¹ “There were two men who owed a certain man some money. The one man owed 500 pieces of silver money. The other man owed 50 pieces of silver money. ⁴² Neither one of them had any money, so he told them they did not have to pay him back. Tell Me, which one would love him the most?” ⁴³ Simon said, “I think it would be the one who owed the most.” And Jesus said to him, “You have said the right thing.”

⁴⁴ He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house and you gave Me no water to wash My feet. She washed My feet with her tears and dried them with the hairs of her head. ⁴⁵ You gave me no kiss, but this woman has kissed my feet from the time I came in. ⁴⁶ You did not put even oil on My head but this woman has put special perfume on My feet. ⁴⁷ I tell you, her many sins are forgiven because she loves much. But the one who has been forgiven little, loves little.” ⁴⁸ Then He said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.” ⁴⁹ Those who were eating with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this Man Who even forgives sins?” ⁵⁰ He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you from the punishment of sin. Go in peace.”