Book of Common Prayer
In Praise of the Law of the Lord
1 Our Lord, you bless everyone
who lives right
and obeys your Law.
2 You bless all those
who follow your commands
from deep in their hearts
3 and who never do wrong
or turn from you.
4 You have ordered us always
to obey your teachings;
5 I don't ever want to stray
from your laws.
6 Thinking about your commands
will keep me from doing
some foolish thing.
7 I will do right and praise you
by learning to respect
your perfect laws.
8 I will obey all of them!
Don't turn your back on me.
9 Young people can live
a clean life
by obeying your word.
10 I worship you
with all my heart.
Don't let me walk away
from your commands.
11 I treasure your word
above all else;
it keeps me from sinning
against you.
12 I praise you, Lord!
Teach me your laws.
13 With my own mouth,
I tell others the laws
that you have spoken.
14 Obeying your instructions
brings as much happiness
as being rich.
15 I will study your teachings
and follow your footsteps.
16 I will take pleasure
in your laws
and remember your words.
17 Treat me with kindness, Lord,
so that I may live
and do what you say.
18 Open my mind
and let me discover
the wonders of your Law.
19 I live here as a stranger.
Don't keep me from knowing
your commands.
20 What I want most
and at all times
is to honor your laws.
21 You punish those boastful,
worthless nobodies who turn
from your commands.
22 Don't let them sneer
and insult me
for following you.
23 I keep thinking about
your teachings, Lord,
even if rulers plot
against me.
24 Your laws are my greatest joy!
I follow their advice.
(A psalm by David for the music leader.[a])
A Prayer for Help
1 Please help me, Lord!
All who were faithful
and all who were loyal
have disappeared.
2 Everyone tells lies,
and no one is sincere.
3 Won't you chop off
all flattering tongues
that brag so loudly?
4 They say to themselves,
“We are great speakers.
No one else has a chance.”
5 But you, Lord, tell them,
“I will do something!
The poor are mistreated
and helpless people moan.
I'll rescue all who suffer.”
6 Our Lord, you are true
to your promises,
and your word is like silver
heated seven times
in a fiery furnace.[b]
7 You will protect us
and always keep us safe
from those people.
8 But all who are wicked
will keep on strutting,
while everyone praises
their shameless deeds.[c]
(A psalm by David for the music leader.)
A Prayer for the Lord's Help
1 How much longer, Lord,
will you forget about me?
Will it be forever?
How long will you hide?
2 How long must I be confused
and miserable all day?
How long will my enemies
keep beating me down?
3 Please listen, Lord God,
and answer my prayers.
Make my eyes sparkle again,
or else I will fall
into the sleep of death.
4 My enemies will say,
“Now we've won!”
They will be greatly pleased
when I am defeated.
5 I trust your love,
and I feel like celebrating
because you rescued me.
6 You have been good to me, Lord,
and I will sing about you.
(A psalm by David for the music leader.)
No One Can Ignore the Lord
1 (A) Only a fool would say,
“There is no God!”
People like that are worthless;
they are heartless and cruel
and never do right.
2 From heaven the Lord
looks down to see
if anyone is wise enough
to search for him.
3 But all of them are corrupt;
no one does right.
4 Won't you evil people learn?
You refuse to pray,
and you gobble up
the Lord's people.
5 But you will be frightened,
because God is on the side
of every good person.
6 You may spoil the plans
of the poor,
but the Lord protects them.
7 I long for someone from Zion
to come and save Israel!
Our Lord, when you bless
your people again,
Jacob's family will be glad,
and Israel will celebrate.
The Lord Makes Solomon Wise
(2 Chronicles 1.1-13)
3 Solomon signed a treaty with the king of Egypt and married his daughter. She lived in the older part of Jerusalem[a] until the palace, the Lord's temple, and the wall around Jerusalem were completed.
2 At that time, there was no temple for worshiping the Lord, and everyone offered sacrifices at the local shrines.[b] 3 Solomon loved the Lord and followed his father David's instructions, but Solomon also offered sacrifices and burned incense at the shrines.
4 (A) The most important shrine was in Gibeon, and Solomon had offered more than 1,000 sacrifices on that altar.
5 One night while Solomon was in Gibeon, the Lord God appeared to him in a dream and said, “Solomon, ask for anything you want, and I will give it to you.”
6 Solomon answered:
My father David, your servant, was honest and did what you commanded. You were always loyal to him, and you gave him a son who is now king. 7 Lord God, I'm your servant, and you've made me king in my father's place. But I'm very young and know so little about being a leader. 8 And now I must rule your chosen people, even though there are too many of them to count.
9 Please make me wise and teach me the difference between right and wrong. Then I will know how to rule your people. If you don't, there is no way I could rule this great nation of yours.
10-11 God said:
Solomon, I'm pleased that you asked for this. You could have asked to live a long time or to be rich. Or you could have asked for your enemies to be destroyed. Instead, you asked for wisdom to make right decisions. 12 So I'll make you wiser than anyone who has ever lived or ever will live.
13 I'll also give you what you didn't ask for. You'll be rich and respected as long as you live, and you'll be greater than any other king. 14 If you obey me and follow my commands, as your father David did, I'll let you live a long time.
15 Solomon woke up and realized that God had spoken to him in the dream. He went back to Jerusalem and stood in front of the sacred chest, where he offered sacrifices to please the Lord[c] and sacrifices to ask his blessing.[d] Then Solomon gave a feast for his officials.
9 By now we had already lost a lot of time, and sailing was no longer safe. In fact, even the Great Day of Forgiveness[a] was past. 10 Then Paul spoke to the crew of the ship, “Men, listen to me! If we sail now, our ship and its cargo will be badly damaged, and many lives will be lost.” 11 But Julius listened to the captain of the ship and its owner, rather than to Paul.
12 The harbor at Fair Havens wasn't a good place to spend the winter. Because of this, almost everyone agreed that we should at least try to sail along the coast of Crete as far as Phoenix. It had a harbor that opened toward the southwest and northwest,[b] and we could spend the winter there.
The Storm at Sea
13 When a gentle wind from the south started blowing, the men thought it was a good time to do what they had planned. So they pulled up the anchor, and we sailed along the coast of Crete. 14 But soon a strong wind called “The Northeaster” blew against us from the island. 15 The wind struck the ship, and we could not sail against it. So we let the wind carry the ship.
16 We went along the island of Cauda on the side that was protected from the wind. We had a hard time holding the lifeboat in place, 17 but finally we got it where it belonged. Then the sailors wrapped ropes around the ship to hold it together. They lowered the sail and let the ship drift along, because they were afraid it might hit the sandbanks in the gulf of Syrtis.
18 The storm was so fierce that the next day they threw some of the ship's cargo overboard. 19 Then on the third day, with their bare hands they threw overboard some of the ship's gear. 20 For several days we could not see either the sun or the stars. A strong wind kept blowing, and we finally gave up all hope of being saved.
21 Since none of us had eaten anything for a long time, Paul stood up and told the men:
You should have listened to me! If you had stayed on in Crete, you would not have had this damage and loss. 22 But now I beg you to cheer up, because you will be safe. Only the ship will be lost.
23 I belong to God, and I worship him. Last night he sent an angel 24 to tell me, “Paul, don't be afraid! You will stand trial before the Emperor. And because of you, God will save the lives of everyone on the ship.” 25 Cheer up! I am sure that God will do exactly what he promised. 26 But we will first be shipwrecked on some island.
A Plot To Kill Jesus
(Matthew 26.1-5; Luke 22.1,2; John 11.45-53)
14 (A) It was now two days before Passover and the Festival of Thin Bread. The chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses were planning how they could sneak around and have Jesus arrested and put to death. 2 They were saying, “We must not do it during the festival, because the people will riot.”
At Bethany
(Matthew 26.6-13; John 12.1-8)
3 (B) Jesus was eating in Bethany at the home of Simon, who once had leprosy,[a] when a woman came in with a very expensive bottle of sweet-smelling perfume.[b] After breaking it open, she poured the perfume on Jesus' head. 4 This made some of the guests angry, and they complained, “Why such a waste? 5 We could have sold this perfume for more than 300 silver coins and given the money to the poor!” So they started saying cruel things to the woman.
6 But Jesus said:
Leave her alone! Why are you bothering her? She has done a beautiful thing for me. 7 (C) You will always have the poor with you. And whenever you want to, you can give to them. But you won't always have me here with you. 8 She has done all she could by pouring perfume on my body to prepare it for burial. 9 You may be sure that wherever the good news is told all over the world, people will remember what she has done. And they will tell others.
Judas and the Chief Priests
(Matthew 26.14-16; Luke 22.3-6)
10 Judas Iscariot[c] was one of the twelve disciples. He went to the chief priests and offered to help them arrest Jesus. 11 They were glad to hear this, and they promised to pay him. So Judas started looking for a good chance to betray Jesus.
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