Book of Common Prayer
In Praise of Jerusalem[a]
87 The Lord built his city on the sacred hill;[b]
2 more than any other place in Israel
he loves the city of Jerusalem.
3 Listen, city of God,
to the wonderful things he says about you:
4 “I will include Egypt and Babylonia
when I list the nations that obey me;
the people of Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia[c]
I will number among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.”
5 Of Zion it will be said
that all nations belong there
and that the Almighty will make her strong.
6 The Lord will write a list of the peoples
and include them all as citizens of Jerusalem.
7 They dance and sing,
“In Zion is the source of all our blessings.”
BOOK FOUR(A)
Of God and Human Beings[a]
90 O Lord, you have always been our home.
2 Before you created the hills
or brought the world into being,
you were eternally God,
and will be God forever.
3 You tell us to return to what we were;
you change us back to dust.
4 (B)A thousand years to you are like one day;
they are like yesterday, already gone,
like a short hour in the night.
5 You carry us away like a flood;
we last no longer than a dream.
We are like weeds that sprout in the morning,
6 that grow and burst into bloom,
then dry up and die in the evening.
7 We are destroyed by your anger;
we are terrified by your fury.
8 You place our sins before you,
our secret sins where you can see them.
9 Our life is cut short by your anger;
it fades away like a whisper.
10 (C)Seventy years is all we have—
eighty years, if we are strong;
yet all they bring us is trouble and sorrow;
life is soon over, and we are gone.
11 Who has felt the full power of your anger?
Who knows what fear your fury can bring?
12 Teach us how short our life is,
so that we may become wise.
13 How much longer will your anger last?
Have pity, O Lord, on your servants!
14 Fill us each morning with your constant love,
so that we may sing and be glad all our life.
15 Give us now as much happiness as the sadness you gave us
during all our years of misery.
16 Let us, your servants, see your mighty deeds;
let our descendants see your glorious might.
17 Lord our God, may your blessings be with us.
Give us success in all we do!
A Hymn of Thanksgiving
136 (A)Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good;
his love is eternal.
2 Give thanks to the greatest of all gods;
his love is eternal.
3 Give thanks to the mightiest of all lords;
his love is eternal.
4 He alone performs great miracles;
his love is eternal.
5 (B)By his wisdom he made the heavens;
his love is eternal;
6 (C)he built the earth on the deep waters;
his love is eternal.
7 (D)He made the sun and the moon;
his love is eternal;
8 the sun to rule over the day;
his love is eternal;
9 the moon and the stars to rule over the night;
his love is eternal.
10 (E)He killed the first-born sons of the Egyptians;
his love is eternal.
11 (F)He led the people of Israel out of Egypt;
his love is eternal;
12 with his strong hand, his powerful arm;
his love is eternal.
13 (G)He divided the Red Sea;
his love is eternal;
14 he led his people through it;
his love is eternal;
15 but he drowned the king of Egypt and his army;
his love is eternal.
16 He led his people through the desert;
his love is eternal.
17 He killed powerful kings;
his love is eternal;
18 he killed famous kings;
his love is eternal;
19 (H)Sihon, king of the Amorites;
his love is eternal;
20 (I)and Og, king of Bashan;
his love is eternal.
21 He gave their lands to his people;
his love is eternal;
22 he gave them to Israel, his servant;
his love is eternal.
23 He did not forget us when we were defeated;
his love is eternal;
24 he freed us from our enemies;
his love is eternal.
25 He gives food to every living creature;
his love is eternal.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven;
his love is eternal.
15 Then Nathan went home.
David's Son Dies
The Lord caused the child that Uriah's wife had borne to David to become very sick. 16 David prayed to God that the child would get well. He refused to eat anything, and every night he went into his room and spent the night lying on the floor. 17 His court officials went to him and tried to make him get up, but he refused and would not eat anything with them. 18 A week later the child died, and David's officials were afraid to tell him the news. They said, “While the child was living, David wouldn't answer us when we spoke to him. How can we tell him that his child is dead? He might do himself some harm!”
19 When David noticed them whispering to each other, he realized that the child had died. So he asked them, “Is the child dead?”
“Yes, he is,” they answered.
20 David got up from the floor, took a bath, combed his hair, and changed his clothes. Then he went and worshiped in the house of the Lord. When he returned to the palace, he asked for food and ate it as soon as it was served. 21 “We don't understand this,” his officials said to him. “While the child was alive, you wept for him and would not eat; but as soon as he died, you got up and ate!”
22 “Yes,” David answered, “I did fast and weep while he was still alive. I thought that the Lord might be merciful to me and not let the child die. 23 But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Could I bring the child back to life? I will some day go to where he is, but he can never come back to me.”
Solomon Is Born
24 Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba. He had intercourse with her, and she bore a son, whom David named Solomon. The Lord loved the boy 25 and commanded the prophet Nathan to name the boy Jedidiah,[a] because the Lord loved him.
David Captures Rabbah(A)
26 Meanwhile Joab continued his campaign against Rabbah, the capital city of Ammon, and was about to capture it. 27 He sent messengers to David to report: “I have attacked Rabbah and have captured its water supply. 28 Now gather the rest of your forces, attack the city and take it yourself. I don't want to get the credit for capturing it.” 29 So David gathered his forces, went to Rabbah, attacked it, and conquered it. 30 From the head of the idol of the Ammonite god Molech[b] David took a gold crown which weighed about seventy-five pounds and had a jewel in it. David took the jewel and put it in his own crown.[c] He also took a large amount of loot from the city 31 and put its people to work with saws, iron hoes, and iron axes, and forced them to work at[d] making bricks. He did the same to the people of all the other towns of Ammon. Then he and his men returned to Jerusalem.
To Macedonia and Achaia
20 After the uproar died down, Paul called together the believers and with words of encouragement said good-bye to them. Then he left and went on to Macedonia. 2 He went through those regions and encouraged the people with many messages. Then he came to Achaia, 3 where he stayed three months. He was getting ready to go to Syria when he discovered that there were Jews plotting against him; so he decided to go back through Macedonia. 4 Sopater son of Pyrrhus, from Berea, went with him; so did Aristarchus and Secundus, from Thessalonica; Gaius, from Derbe; Tychicus and Trophimus, from the province of Asia; and Timothy. 5 They went ahead and waited for us in Troas. 6 We sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread, and five days later we joined them in Troas, where we spent a week.
Paul's Last Visit to Troas
7 On Saturday[a] evening we gathered together for the fellowship meal. Paul spoke to the people and kept on speaking until midnight, since he was going to leave the next day. 8 Many lamps were burning in the upstairs room where we were meeting. 9 A young man named Eutychus was sitting in the window, and as Paul kept on talking, Eutychus got sleepier and sleepier, until he finally went sound asleep and fell from the third story to the ground. When they picked him up, he was dead. 10 But Paul went down and threw himself on him and hugged him. “Don't worry,” he said, “he is still alive!” 11 Then he went back upstairs, broke bread, and ate. After talking with them for a long time, even until sunrise, Paul left. 12 They took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.
From Troas to Miletus
13 We went on ahead to the ship and sailed off to Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had told us to do this, because he was going there by land. 14 When he met us in Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. 15 We sailed from there and arrived off Chios the next day. A day later we came to Samos, and the following day we reached Miletus. 16 Paul had decided to sail on by Ephesus, so as not to lose any time in the province of Asia. He was in a hurry to arrive in Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost, if at all possible.
Jesus Speaks Again about His Death(A)
30 Jesus and his disciples left that place and went on through Galilee. Jesus did not want anyone to know where he was, 31 because he was teaching his disciples: “The Son of Man will be handed over to those who will kill him. Three days later, however, he will rise to life.”
32 But they did not understand what this teaching meant, and they were afraid to ask him.
Who Is the Greatest?(B)
33 They came to Capernaum, and after going indoors Jesus asked his disciples, “What were you arguing about on the road?”
34 (C)But they would not answer him, because on the road they had been arguing among themselves about who was the greatest. 35 (D)Jesus sat down, called the twelve disciples, and said to them, “Whoever wants to be first must place himself last of all and be the servant of all.” 36 Then he took a child and had him stand in front of them. He put his arms around him and said to them, 37 (E)“Whoever welcomes in my name one of these children, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, welcomes not only me but also the one who sent me.”
Whoever Is Not against Us Is for Us(F)
38 John said to him, “Teacher, we saw a man who was driving out demons in your name, and we told him to stop, because he doesn't belong to our group.”
39 “Do not try to stop him,” Jesus told them, “because no one who performs a miracle in my name will be able soon afterward to say evil things about me. 40 (G)For whoever is not against us is for us. 41 (H)I assure you that anyone who gives you a drink of water because you belong to me will certainly receive a reward.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.