Book of Common Prayer
(By Solomon.)
A Prayer for God To Guide and Help the King
1 Please help the king
to be honest and fair
just like you, our God.
2 Let him be honest and fair
with all your people,
especially the poor.
3 Let peace and justice rule
every mountain and hill.
4 Let the king defend the poor,
rescue the homeless, and crush
everyone who hurts them.
5 Let the king live[a] forever
like the sun and the moon.
6 Let him be as helpful as rain
that refreshes the meadows
and the ground.
7 Let the king be fair
with everyone,
and let there be peace
until the moon
falls from the sky.
8 (A) Let his kingdom reach
from sea to sea,
from the Euphrates River
across all the earth.
9 Force the desert tribes
to accept his rule,
and make his enemies
crawl in the dirt.
10 Force the rulers of Tarshish[b]
and of the islands
to pay taxes to him.
Make the kings of Sheba
and of Seba[c] bring gifts.
11 Make other rulers bow down
and all nations serve him.
12 Do this because the king
rescues the homeless
when they cry out,
and he helps everyone
who is poor and in need.
13 The king has pity
on the weak and the helpless
and protects those in need.
14 He cares when they hurt,
and he saves them from cruel
and violent deaths.
15 Long live the king!
Give him gold from Sheba.
Always pray for the king
and praise him each day.
16 Let cities overflow with food
and hills be covered with grain,
just like Mount Lebanon.
Let the people in the cities
prosper like wild flowers.
17 May the glory of the king
shine brightly forever
like the sun in the sky.
Let him make nations prosper
and learn to praise him.
18 Lord God of Israel,
we praise you.
Only you can work miracles.
19 We will always praise
your glorious name.
Let your glory be seen
everywhere on earth.
Amen and amen.
20 This ends the prayers
of David, the son of Jesse.
73 You created me
and put me together.
Make me wise enough to learn
what you have commanded.
74 Your worshipers will see me,
and they will be glad
that I trust your word.
75 Your decisions are correct,
and you were right
to punish me.
76 I serve you, Lord.
Comfort me with your love,
just as you have promised.
77 I love to obey your Law!
Have mercy and let me live.
78 Put down those proud people
who hurt me with their lies,
because I have chosen
to study your teachings.
79 Let your worshipers come to me,
so they will learn
to obey your rules.
80 Let me truly respect your laws,
so I won't be ashamed.
81 I long for you to rescue me!
Your word is my only hope.
82 I am worn out from waiting
for you to keep your word.
When will you have mercy?
83 My life is wasting away
like a dried-up wineskin,[a]
but I have not forgotten
your teachings.
84 I am your servant!
How long must I suffer?
When will you punish
those troublemakers?
85 Those proud people reject
your teachings,
and they dig pits
for me to fall in.
86 Your laws can be trusted!
Protect me from cruel liars.
87 They have almost killed me,
but I have been faithful
to your teachings.
88 Show that you love me
and let me live,
so that I may obey
your commands.
89 Our Lord, you are eternal!
Your word will last as long
as the heavens.[b]
90 You remain faithful
in every generation,
and the earth you created
will keep standing firm.
91 All things are your servants,
and the laws you made
are still in effect today.
92 If I had not found happiness
in obeying your Law,
I would have died in misery.
93 I won't ever forget
your teachings,
because you give me new life
when I follow them.
94 I belong to you,
and I have respected your laws,
so keep me safe.
95 Brutal enemies are waiting
to ambush and destroy me,
but I obey your rules.
96 Nothing is completely perfect,
except your teachings.
The Lord Asks Israel To Come Back to Him
6 (A) When Josiah[a] was king, the Lord said:
Jeremiah, the kingdom of Israel[b] was like an unfaithful wife who became a prostitute on the hilltops and in the shade of large trees.[c] 7-8 I knew that the kingdom of Israel had been unfaithful and committed many sins, yet I still hoped she might come back to me. But she didn't, so I divorced her and sent her away.
Her sister, the kingdom of Judah, saw what happened, but she wasn't worried in the least, and I watched her become unfaithful like her sister. 9 The kingdom of Judah wasn't sorry for being a prostitute, and she didn't care that she had made both herself and the land unclean by worshiping idols of stone and wood. 10 And worst of all, the people of Judah pretended to come back to me. 11 Even the people of Israel were honest enough not to pretend.
12 Jeremiah, shout toward the north:
Israel, I am your Lord—
come back to me!
You were unfaithful
and made me furious,
but I am merciful,
and so I will forgive you.
13 Just admit that you rebelled
and worshiped foreign gods
under large trees everywhere.
14 You are unfaithful children,
but you belong to me.
Come home!
I'll take one or two of you
from each town and clan
and bring you to Zion.
15 Then I'll appoint wise rulers
who will obey me,
and they will care for you
like shepherds.
16 You will increase in numbers,
and there will be no need
to remember the sacred chest
or to make a new one.[d]
17 The whole city of Jerusalem
will be my throne.[e]
All nations will come here
to worship me,
and they will no longer follow
their stubborn, evil hearts.
18 Then, in countries to the north,
you people of Judah and Israel
will be reunited,
and you will return to the land
I gave your ancestors.
28 (A) Since these people refused even to think about God, he let their useless minds rule over them. That's why they do all sorts of indecent things. 29 They are evil, wicked, and greedy, as well as mean in every possible way. They want what others have, and they murder, argue, cheat, and are hard to get along with. They gossip, 30 say cruel things about others, and hate God. They are proud, conceited, and boastful, always thinking up new ways to do evil.
These people don't respect their parents. 31 They are stupid, unreliable, and don't have any love or pity for others. 32 They know God has said that anyone who acts this way deserves to die. But they keep on doing evil things, and they even encourage others to do them.
God's Judgment Is Fair
2 (B) Some of you accuse others of doing wrong. But there is no excuse for what you do. When you judge others, you condemn yourselves, because you are guilty of doing the very same things. 2 We know that God is right to judge everyone who behaves in this way. 3 Do you really think God won't punish you, when you behave exactly like the people you accuse? 4 (C) You surely don't think much of God's wonderful goodness or of his patience and willingness to put up with you. Don't you know that the reason God is good to you is because he wants you to turn to him?
5 But you are stubborn and refuse to turn to God. So you are making things even worse for yourselves on that day when he will show how angry he is and will judge the world with fairness. 6 (D) God will reward each of us for what we have done. 7 He will give eternal life to everyone who has patiently done what is good in the hope of receiving glory, honor, and life that lasts forever. 8 But he will show how angry and furious he can be with every selfish person who rejects the truth and wants to do evil. 9 All who are wicked will be punished with trouble and suffering. It doesn't matter if they are Jews or Gentiles. 10 But all who do right will be rewarded with glory, honor, and peace, whether they are Jews or Gentiles. 11 (E) God doesn't have any favorites!
Jesus Heals a Sick Man
5 Later, Jesus went to Jerusalem for another Jewish festival.[a] 2 In the city near the sheep gate was a pool with five porches, and its name in Hebrew was Bethzatha.[b]
3-4 Many sick, blind, lame, and paralyzed people were lying close to the pool.[c]
5 Beside the pool was a man who had been sick for 38 years. 6 When Jesus saw the man and realized that he had been crippled for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be healed?”
7 The man answered, “Sir, I don't have anyone to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up. I try to get in, but someone else always gets there first.”
8 Jesus told him, “Pick up your mat and walk!” 9 Right then the man was healed. He picked up his mat and started walking around. The day on which this happened was a Sabbath.
10 (A) When the Jewish leaders saw the man carrying his mat, they said to him, “This is the Sabbath! No one is allowed to carry a mat on the Sabbath.”
11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me to pick up my mat and walk.”
12 They asked him, “Who is this man that told you to pick up your mat and walk?” 13 But he did not know who Jesus was, and Jesus had left because of the crowd.
14 Later, Jesus met the man in the temple and told him, “You are now well. But don't sin anymore or something worse might happen to you.” 15 The man left and told the leaders that Jesus was the one who had healed him. 16 They started making a lot of trouble for Jesus because he did things like this on the Sabbath.
17 But Jesus said, “My Father has never stopped working, and this is why I keep on working.” 18 (B) Now the leaders wanted to kill Jesus for two reasons. First, he had broken the law of the Sabbath. But even worse, he had said God was his Father, which made him equal with God.
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