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.
Judah to Be Saved
12 The Word of the Lord about Israel:
The Lord, Who spread out the heavens, who put the earth in its place, and made the spirit of man within him says this about Israel: 2 “I am going to make Jerusalem like a cup that makes all the people around it seem to be drunk. Judah will be shut in by armies as well as Jerusalem. 3 On that day I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the people. All who lift it will be hurt. And all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it. 4 On that day,” says the Lord, “I will put fear in every horse, and make the horsemen crazy. But I will watch over the people of Judah, while I make every horse of the nations blind. 5 Then the leaders of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong because of the Lord of All, their God.’ 6 On that day I will make the leaders of Judah like a pot of fire among pieces of wood, like fire among cut grain. They will destroy all the people around them, on the right and on the left. And the people of Jerusalem will again live on their own land in Jerusalem. 7 The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the shining-greatness of the family of David and of the people of Jerusalem may not be greater than that of Judah. 8 On that day the Lord will fight for the people of Jerusalem. The one who is weak among them on that day will be like David. And the family of David will be like God, like the angel of the Lord leading them. 9 On that day I will destroy every nation that comes against Jerusalem.
Sorrow in Jerusalem
10 “I will pour out the Spirit of loving-favor and prayer on the family of David and on those who live in Jerusalem. They will look on Him Whose side they cut. They will cry in sorrow for Him, as one cries for an only son. They will cry much over Him, like those who have lost their first-born son.
3 Let us honor and thank the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has already given us a taste of what heaven is like. 4 Even before the world was made, God chose us for Himself because of His love. He planned that we should be holy and without blame as He sees us. 5 God already planned to have us as His own children. This was done by Jesus Christ. In His plan God wanted this done.
6 We thank God for His loving-favor to us. He gave this loving-favor to us through His much-loved Son. 7 Because of the blood of Christ, we are bought and made free from the punishment of sin. And because of His blood, our sins are forgiven. His loving-favor to us is so rich. 8 He was so willing to give all of this to us. He did this with wisdom and understanding. 9 God told us the secret of what He wanted to do. It is this: In loving thought He planned long ago to send Christ into the world. 10 The plan was for Christ to gather us all together at the right time. If we are in heaven or still on earth, He will bring us together and will be head over all.
11 We were already chosen to be God’s own children by Christ. This was done just like the plan He had. 12 We who were the first to put our trust in Christ should thank Him for His greatness. 13 The truth is the Good News. When you heard the truth, you put your trust in Christ. Then God marked you by giving you His Holy Spirit as a promise. 14 The Holy Spirit was given to us as a promise that we will receive everything God has for us. God’s Spirit will be with us until God finishes His work of making us complete. God does this to show His shining-greatness.
The Changed Life of Zaccheus
19 Jesus went on to the city of Jericho and was passing through it. 2 There was a rich man named Zaccheus. He was a leader of those who gathered taxes. 3 Zaccheus wanted to see Jesus but he could not because so many people were there and he was a short man. 4 He ran ahead and got up into a sycamore tree to see Him. Jesus was going by that way.
5 When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw Zaccheus. He said, “Zaccheus, come down at once. I must stay in your house today.” 6 At once he came down and was glad to have Jesus come to his house. 7 When the people saw it, they began to complain among themselves. They said, “He is going to stay with a man who is known to be a sinner.”
8 Zaccheus stood up and said to the Lord, “Lord, see! Half of what I own I will give to poor people. And if I have taken money from anyone in a wrong way, I will pay him back four times as much.” 9 Jesus said to him, “Today, a person has been saved in this house. This man is a Jew also. 10 For the Son of Man came to look for and to save from the punishment of sin those who are lost.”
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