Book of Common Prayer
A Song of Victory
For the director of music. By the Lord’s servant, David. David sang this song to the Lord. He sang it when the Lord had saved him from Saul and all his other enemies.
18 I love you, Lord. You are my strength.
2 The Lord is my rock, my protection, my Savior.
My God is my rock.
I can run to him for safety.
He is my shield and my saving strength, my high tower.
3 I will call to the Lord.
He is worthy of praise.
And I will be saved from my enemies.
4 The ropes of death bound me.
The deadly rivers overwhelmed me.
5 The ropes of death wrapped around me.
The traps of death were before me.
6 In my trouble I called to the Lord.
I cried out to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice.
My call for help reached his ears.
7 The earth trembled and shook.
The foundations of the mountains began to shake.
They shook because the Lord was angry.
8 Smoke came out of his nose.
Burning fire came out of his mouth.
Burning coals went before him.
9 He tore open the sky and came down.
Dark clouds were under his feet.
10 He rode a creature with wings and flew.
He flew on the wings of the wind.
11 He made darkness his covering, his shelter around him,
surrounded by fog and clouds.
12 Out of the brightness of his presence came clouds.
They came with hail and lightning.
13 The Lord thundered from heaven.
God Most High raised his voice.
And there was hail and lightning.
14 He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies.
His many bolts of lightning confused them with fear.
15 Lord, you spoke strongly.
The wind blew from your nose.
The valleys of the sea appeared.
The foundations of the earth were seen.
16 The Lord reached down from above and took me.
He pulled me from the deep water.
17 He saved me from my powerful enemies.
Those who hated me were too strong for me.
18 They attacked me at my time of trouble.
But the Lord supported me.
19 He took me to a safe place.
Because he delights in me, he saved me.
20 The Lord spared me because I did what was right.
Because I have not done evil, he has rewarded me.
21 I have followed the ways of the Lord.
I have not done evil by turning away from my God.
22 I remember all his laws.
I have not broken his rules.
23 I am innocent before him.
I have kept myself from doing evil.
24 The Lord rewarded me because I did what was right.
I did what the Lord said was right.
25 Lord, you are loyal to those who are loyal.
You are good to those who are good.
26 You are pure to those who are pure.
But you are against those who are bad.
27 You save those who are not proud.
But you make humble those who are proud.
28 Lord, you give light to my lamp.
My God brightens the darkness around me.
29 With your help I can attack an army.
With God’s help I can jump over a wall.
30 The ways of God are without fault.
The Lord’s words are pure.
He is a shield to those who trust him.
31 Who is God? Only the Lord.
Who is the Rock? Only our God.
32 God is my protection.
He makes my way free from fault.
33 He makes me like a deer, which does not stumble.
He helps me stand on the steep mountains.
34 He trains my hands for battle.
So my arms can bend a bronze bow.
35 You protect me with your saving shield.
You support me with your right hand.
You have stooped to make me great.
36 You give me a wide path on which to walk.
My feet have not slipped.
37 I chased my enemies and caught them.
I did not quit till they were destroyed.
38 I crushed them so they couldn’t rise up again.
They fell beneath my feet.
39 You gave me strength in battle.
You made my enemies bow before me.
40 You made my enemies turn back.
I destroyed those who hated me.
41 They called for help,
but no one came to save them.
They called to the Lord,
but he did not answer them.
42 I beat my enemies into pieces.
They were like dust in the wind.
I poured them out like mud in the streets.
43 You saved me when the people attacked me.
You made me the leader of nations.
People I never knew serve me.
44 As soon as they hear me, they obey me.
Foreigners obey me.
45 They all become afraid.
They tremble in their hiding places.
46 The Lord lives!
May my Rock be praised.
Praise the God who saves me!
47 God gives me victory over my enemies.
He brings people under my rule.
48 He saves me from my enemies.
You set me over those who hate me.
You saved me from cruel men.
49 So I will praise you, Lord, among the nations.
I will sing praises to your name.
50 The Lord gives great victories to his king.
He is loyal to his appointed king,
to David and his descendants forever.
17 “The poor and needy people look for water.
But they can’t find any.
Their tongues are dry with thirst.
But I, the Lord, will answer their prayers.
I, the God of Israel, will not leave them to die.
18 I will make rivers flow on the dry hills.
I will make springs of water flow through the valleys.
I will change the desert into a lake of water.
I will change the dry land into springs of water.
19 I will make trees grow in the desert.
There will be cedars, acacia, myrtle and olive trees.
I will put pine, fir and cypress trees
growing together in the desert.
20 People will see these things and understand.
Together they will think carefully about these things.
They will know that the Lord’s power did this.
They will know that the Holy One of Israel made these things.”
The Lord Challenges False Gods
21 The Lord says, “Present your case.”
The Lord, the King of Jacob, says, “Tell me your arguments.
22 Bring in your idols to tell us
what is going to happen.
Have them tell us what happened in the beginning.
Then we will think about these things.
Then we will know how they will turn out.
Tell us what will happen in the future.
23 Tell us what is coming next.
Then we will believe that you are gods.
Do something, whether it is good or bad.
Make us afraid of you.
24 You false gods are less than nothing.
You can’t do anything.
Those who worship you should be hated.”
25 “I have brought someone to come out of the north.[a]
I have called by name a man from the east, and he knows me.
He walks on kings as if they were mud.
He walks on them as a potter walks on the clay.
26 Who told us about this before it happened?
Who told us ahead of time so we could say, ‘He was right’?
None of you told us anything.
None of you told us before it happened.
No one heard you tell about it.
27 I, the Lord, was the first one to tell Jerusalem that the people were coming home.
I sent a messenger to Jerusalem with the good news.
28 I look at the idols, but there is not one that can answer.
None of them can give advice.
None of them can answer my questions.
29 Look, all these idols are false gods.
They cannot do anything.
They are worth nothing.
One in Christ
11 You were born non-Jews. You are the people the Jews call “uncircumcised.”[a] Those who call you “uncircumcised” call themselves “circumcised.” (Their circumcision is only something they themselves do on their bodies.) 12 Remember that in the past you were without Christ. You were not citizens of Israel. And you had no part in the agreements[b] with the promise that God made to his people. You had no hope, and you did not know God. 13 Yes, at one time you were far away from God. But now in Christ Jesus you are brought near to God through the blood of Christ’s death. 14 Because of Christ we now have peace. Christ made both Jews and non-Jews one people. They were separated as if there were a wall between them. But Christ broke down that wall of hate by giving his own body. 15 The Jewish law had many commands and rules. But Christ ended that law. Christ’s purpose was to make the two groups of people become one new people in him. By doing this Christ would make peace. 16 Through the cross Christ ended the hatred between the two groups. And after Christ made the two groups to be one body, he wanted to bring them back to God. Christ did this with his death on the cross. 17 Christ came and preached peace to you non-Jews who were far away from God. And he preached peace to those Jews who were near to God. 18 Yes, through Christ we all have the right to come to the Father in one Spirit.
19 So now you non-Jews are not visitors or strangers. Now you are citizens together with God’s holy people. You belong to God’s family. 20 You believers are like a building that God owns. That building was built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus himself is the most important stone[c] in that building. 21 That whole building is joined together in Christ. And Christ makes it grow and become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in Christ you, too, are being built together with the Jews. You are being built into a place where God lives through the Spirit.
Jesus Heals a Paralyzed Man
2 A few days later, Jesus came back to Capernaum. The news spread that he was home. 2 So many people gathered to hear him preach that the house was full. There was no place to stand, not even outside the door. Jesus was teaching them. 3 Some people came, bringing a paralyzed man to Jesus. Four of them were carrying the paralyzed man. 4 But they could not get to Jesus because of the crowd. So they went to the roof above Jesus and made a hole in the roof. Then they lowered the mat with the paralyzed man on it. 5 Jesus saw that these men had great faith. So he said to the paralyzed man, “Young man, your sins are forgiven.”
6 Some of the teachers of the law were sitting there. They saw what Jesus did, and they said to themselves, 7 “Why does this man say things like that? He is saying things that are against God. Only God can forgive sins.”
8 At once Jesus knew what these teachers of the law were thinking. So he said to them, “Why are you thinking these things? 9 Which is easier: to tell this paralyzed man, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to tell him, ‘Stand up. Take your mat and walk’? 10 But I will prove to you that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins.” So Jesus said to the paralyzed man, 11 “I tell you, stand up. Take your mat and go home.” 12 Immediately the paralyzed man stood up. He took his mat and walked out while everyone was watching him.
The people were amazed and praised God. They said, “We have never seen anything like this!”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.