Book of Common Prayer
Two Ways to Live
1 Happy are those who don’t listen to the wicked,
who don’t go where sinners go,
who don’t do what evil people do.
2 They love the Lord’s teachings,
and they think about those teachings day and night.
3 They are strong, like a tree planted by a river.
The tree produces fruit in season,
and its leaves don’t die.
Everything they do will succeed.
4 But wicked people are not like that.
They are like chaff that the wind blows away.
5 So the wicked will not escape God’s punishment.
Sinners will not worship with God’s people.
6 This is because the Lord takes care of his people,
but the wicked will be destroyed.
The Lord’s Chosen King
2 Why are the nations so angry?
Why are the people making useless plans?
2 The kings of the earth prepare to fight,
and their leaders make plans together
against the Lord
and his appointed one.
3 They say, “Let’s break the chains that hold us back
and throw off the ropes that tie us down.”
4 But the one who sits in heaven laughs;
the Lord makes fun of them.
5 Then the Lord warns them
and frightens them with his anger.
6 He says, “I have appointed my own king
to rule in Jerusalem on my holy mountain, Zion.”
7 Now I will tell you what the Lord has declared:
He said to me, “You are my son.
Today I have become your father.
8 If you ask me, I will give you the nations;
all the people on earth will be yours.
9 You will rule over them with an iron rod.
You will break them into pieces like pottery.”
10 So, kings, be wise;
rulers, learn this lesson.
11 Obey the Lord with great fear.
Be happy, but tremble.
12 Show that you are loyal to his son,
or you will be destroyed by his anger,
because he can quickly become angry.
But happy are those who trust him for protection.
A Morning Prayer
David sang this when he ran away from his son Absalom.
3 Lord, I have many enemies!
Many people have turned against me.
2 Many are saying about me,
“God won’t rescue him.” Selah
3 But, Lord, you are my shield,
my wonderful God who gives me courage.
4 I will pray to the Lord,
and he will answer me from his holy mountain. Selah
5 I can lie down and go to sleep,
and I will wake up again,
because the Lord gives me strength.
6 Thousands of troops may surround me,
but I am not afraid.
7 Lord, rise up!
My God, come save me!
You have struck my enemies on the cheek;
you have broken the teeth of the wicked.
8 The Lord can save his people.
Lord, bless your people. Selah
An Evening Prayer
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David.
4 Answer me when I pray to you,
my God who does what is right.
Make things easier for me when I am in trouble.
Have mercy on me and hear my prayer.
2 People, how long will you turn my honor into shame?
How long will you love what is false and look for new lies? Selah
3 You know that the Lord has chosen for himself those who are loyal to him.
The Lord listens when I pray to him.
4 When you are angry, do not sin.
Think about these things quietly
as you go to bed. Selah
5 Do what is right as a sacrifice to the Lord
and trust the Lord.
6 Many people ask,
“Who will give us anything good?”
Lord, be kind to us.
7 But you have made me very happy,
happier than they are,
even with all their grain and new wine.
8 I go to bed and sleep in peace,
because, Lord, only you keep me safe.
A Prayer for Fairness
A shiggaion of David which he sang to the Lord about Cush, from the tribe of Benjamin.
7 Lord my God, I trust in you for protection.
Save me and rescue me
from those who are chasing me.
2 Otherwise, like a lion they will tear me apart.
They will rip me to pieces, and no one can save me.
3 Lord my God, what have I done?
Have my hands done something wrong?
4 Have I done wrong to my friend
or stolen without reason from my enemy?
5 If I have, let my enemy chase me and capture me.
Let him trample me into the dust
and bury me in the ground. Selah
6 Lord, rise up in your anger;
stand up against my enemies’ anger.
Get up and demand fairness.
7 Gather the nations around you
and rule them from above.
8 Lord, judge the people.
Lord, defend me because I am right,
because I have done no wrong, God Most High.
9 God, you do what is right.
You know our thoughts and feelings.
Stop those wicked actions done by evil people,
and help those who do what is right.
10 God protects me like a shield;
he saves those whose hearts are right.
11 God judges by what is right,
and God is always ready to punish the wicked.
12 If they do not change their lives,
God will sharpen his sword;
he will string his bow and take aim.
13 He has prepared his deadly weapons;
he has made his flaming arrows.
14 There are people who think up evil
and plan trouble and tell lies.
15 They dig a hole to trap others,
but they will fall into it themselves.
16 They will get themselves into trouble;
the violence they cause will hurt only themselves.
17 I praise the Lord because he does what is right.
I sing praises to the Lord Most High.
5 Adonijah was the son of King David and Haggith, and he was very proud. “I will be the king,” he said. So he got chariots and horses for himself and fifty men for his personal bodyguard. 6 Now David had never interfered with Adonijah by questioning what he did. Born next after Absalom, Adonijah was a very handsome man.
7 Adonijah spoke with Joab son of Zeruiah and Abiathar the priest, and they agreed to help him. 8 But Zadok the priest, Benaiah son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and King David’s special guard did not join Adonijah.
9 Then Adonijah killed some sheep, cows, and fat calves for sacrifices at the Stone of Zoheleth near the spring of Rogel. He invited all his brothers, the other sons of King David, to come, as well as all the men of Judah. 10 But Adonijah did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, his father’s special guard, or his brother Solomon.
11 When Nathan heard about this, he went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. “Have you heard that Adonijah, Haggith’s son, has made himself king?” Nathan asked. “Our real king, David, does not know it. 12 I strongly advise you to save yourself and your sons. 13 Go to King David and tell him, ‘My master and king, you promised that my son Solomon would be king and would rule on your throne after you. Why then has Adonijah become king?’ 14 While you are still talking to the king, I will come in and tell him that what you have said about Adonijah is true.”
15 So Bathsheba went in to see the aged king in his bedroom, where Abishag, the girl from Shunam, was caring for him. 16 Bathsheba bowed and knelt before the king. He asked, “What do you want?”
17 She answered, “My master, you made a promise to me in the name of the Lord your God. You said, ‘Your son Solomon will become king after me, and he will rule on my throne.’ 18 But now, unknown to you, Adonijah has become king. 19 He has killed many cows, fat calves, and sheep for sacrifices. And he has invited all your sons, as well as Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army, but he did not invite Solomon, who serves you. 20 My master and king, all the Israelites are watching you, waiting for you to decide who will be king after you. 21 As soon as you die, Solomon and I will be treated as criminals.”
22 While Bathsheba was still talking with the king, Nathan the prophet arrived. 23 The servants told the king, “Nathan the prophet is here.” So Nathan went to the king and bowed facedown on the ground before him.
24 Nathan said, “My master and king, have you said that Adonijah will be the king after you and that he will rule on your throne? 25 Today he has sacrificed many cows, fat calves, and sheep, and he has invited all your other sons, the commanders of the army, and Abiathar the priest. Right now they are eating and drinking with him. They are saying, ‘Long live King Adonijah!’ 26 But he did not invite me, your own servant, or Zadok the priest, or Benaiah son of Jehoiada, or your son Solomon. 27 Did you do this? Since we are your servants, why didn’t you tell us who should be king after you?”
David Makes Solomon King
28 Then the king said, “Tell Bathsheba to come in!” So she came in and stood before the king.
29 Then the king made this promise, “The Lord has saved me from all trouble. As surely as he lives, 30 I will do today what I have promised you in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. I promised that your son Solomon would be king after me and rule on my throne in my place.”
31 Then Bathsheba bowed facedown on the ground and knelt before the king and said, “Long live my master King David!”
Paul Defends Himself
26 Agrippa said to Paul, “You may now speak to defend yourself.”
Then Paul raised his hand and began to speak. 2 He said, “King Agrippa, I am very blessed to stand before you and will answer all the charges the evil people make against me. 3 You know so much about all the customs and the things they argue about, so please listen to me patiently.
4 “All my people know about my whole life, how I lived from the beginning in my own country and later in Jerusalem. 5 They have known me for a long time. If they want to, they can tell you that I was a good Pharisee. And the Pharisees obey the laws of my tradition more carefully than any other group. 6 Now I am on trial because I hope for the promise that God made to our ancestors. 7 This is the promise that the twelve tribes of our people hope to receive as they serve God day and night. My king, they have accused me because I hope for this same promise! 8 Why do any of you people think it is impossible for God to raise people from the dead?
9 “I, too, thought I ought to do many things against Jesus from Nazareth. 10 And that is what I did in Jerusalem. The leading priests gave me the power to put many of God’s people in jail, and when they were being killed, I agreed it was a good thing. 11 In every synagogue, I often punished them and tried to make them speak against Jesus. I was so angry against them I even went to other cities to find them and punish them.
12 “One time the leading priests gave me permission and the power to go to Damascus. 13 On the way there, at noon, I saw a light from heaven. It was brighter than the sun and flashed all around me and those who were traveling with me. 14 We all fell to the ground. Then I heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew language,[a] saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? You are only hurting yourself by fighting me.’ 15 I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ The Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting. 16 Stand up! I have chosen you to be my servant and my witness—you will tell people the things that you have seen and the things that I will show you. This is why I have come to you today. 17 I will keep you safe from your own people and also from the others. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn away from darkness to the light, away from the power of Satan and to God. Then their sins can be forgiven, and they can have a place with those people who have been made holy by believing in me.’
19 “King Agrippa, after I had this vision from heaven, I obeyed it. 20 I began telling people that they should change their hearts and lives and turn to God and do things to show they really had changed. I told this first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem, and in every part of Judea, and also to the other people. 21 This is why the Jews took me and were trying to kill me in the Temple. 22 But God has helped me, and so I stand here today, telling all people, small and great, what I have seen. But I am saying only what Moses and the prophets said would happen— 23 that the Christ would die, and as the first to rise from the dead, he would bring light to all people.”
14 “You will see ‘a blasphemous object that brings destruction’[a] standing where it should not be.” (You who read this should understand what it means.) “At that time, the people in Judea should run away to the mountains. 15 If people are on the roofs[b] of their houses, they must not go down or go inside to get anything out of their houses. 16 If people are in the fields, they must not go back to get their coats. 17 At that time, how terrible it will be for women who are pregnant or have nursing babies! 18 Pray that these things will not happen in winter, 19 because those days will be full of trouble. There will be more trouble than there has ever been since the beginning, when God made the world, until now, and nothing as bad will ever happen again. 20 God has decided to make that terrible time short. Otherwise, no one would go on living. But God will make that time short to help the people he has chosen. 21 At that time, someone might say to you, ‘Look, there is the Christ!’ Or another person might say, ‘There he is!’ But don’t believe them. 22 False Christs and false prophets will come and perform great wonders and miracles. They will try to fool even the people God has chosen, if that is possible. 23 So be careful. I have warned you about all this before it happens.
24 “During the days after this trouble comes,
‘the sun will grow dark,
and the moon will not give its light.
25 The stars will fall from the sky.
And the powers of the heavens will be shaken.’ Isaiah 13:10; 34:4
26 “Then people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. 27 Then he will send his angels all around the earth to gather his chosen people from every part of the earth and from every part of heaven.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.