Book of Common Prayer
(A psalm by David for the music leader.)
A Prayer in Time of Sickness
1 You, Lord God, bless everyone
who cares for the poor,
and you rescue those people
in times of trouble.
2 You protect them
and keep them alive.
You make them happy here
in this land,
and you don't hand them over
to their enemies.
3 You always heal them
and restore their strength
when they are sick.
4 I prayed, “Have pity, Lord!
Heal me, though I have sinned
against you.”
5 My vicious enemies ask me,
“When will you die
and be forgotten?”
6 When visitors come,
all they ever bring
are worthless words,
and when they leave,
they spread gossip.
7 My enemies whisper about me.
They think the worst,
8 and they say,
“You have some fatal disease!
You'll never get well.”
9 (A) My most trusted friend
has turned against me,
though he ate at my table.
10 Have pity, Lord! Heal me,
so I can pay them back.
11 Then my enemies
won't defeat me,
and I will know
that you really care.
12 You have helped me
because I am innocent,
and you will always
be close to my side.
13 (B) You, the Lord God of Israel,
will be praised forever!
Amen and amen.
(A special psalm by David for the music leader. He wrote this when Doeg from Edom went to Saul and said, “David has gone to Ahimelech's house.”)
God Is in Control
1 (A) You people may be strong
and brag about your sins,
but God can be trusted
day after day.
2 You plan brutal crimes,
and your lying words cut
like a sharp razor.
3 You would rather do evil
than good, and tell lies
than speak the truth.
4 You love to say cruel things,
and your words are a trap.
5 God will destroy you forever!
He will grab you and drag you
from your homes.
You will be uprooted
and left to die.
6 When good people see
this fearsome sight,
they will laugh and say,
7 “Just look at them now!
Instead of trusting God,
they trusted their wealth
and their cruelty.”
8 But I am like an olive tree
growing in God's house,
and I can count on his love
forever and ever.
9 I will always thank God
for what he has done;
I will praise his good name
when his people meet.
(A special psalm by the clan of Korah and for the music leader.)
A Prayer for Help
1 Our God, our ancestors told us
what wonders you worked
and we listened carefully.
2 You chased off the nations
by causing them trouble
with your powerful arm.
Then you let our ancestors
take over their land.
3 Their strength and weapons
were not what won the land
and gave them victory!
You loved them and fought
with your powerful arm
and your shining glory.
4 You are my God and King,
and you give victory[a]
to the people of Jacob.
5 By your great power,
we knocked our enemies down
and trampled on them.
6 I don't depend on my arrows
or my sword to save me.
7 But you saved us
from our hateful enemies,
and you put them to shame.
8 We boast about you, our God,
and we are always grateful.
9 But now you have rejected us;
you don't lead us into battle,
and we look foolish.
10 You made us retreat,
and our enemies have taken
everything we own.
11 You let us be slaughtered
like sheep,
and you scattered us
among the nations.
12 You sold your people
for little or nothing,
and you earned no profit.
13 You made us look foolish
to our neighbors;
people who live nearby
insult us and sneer.
14 Foreigners joke about us
and shake their heads.
15 I am embarrassed every day,
and I blush with shame.
16 But others mock and sneer,
as they watch my enemies
take revenge on me.
17 All this happened to us,
though we didn't forget you
or break our agreement.
18 We always kept you in mind
and followed your teaching.
19 But you crushed us,
and you covered us
with deepest darkness
where wild animals live.
20 We did not forget you
or lift our hands in prayer
to foreign gods.
21 You would have known it
because you discover
every secret thought.
22 (A) We face death all day for you.
We are like sheep on their way
to be slaughtered.
23 Wake up! Do something, Lord!
Why are you sleeping?
Don't desert us forever.
24 Why do you keep looking away?
Don't forget our sufferings
and all our troubles.
25 We are flat on the ground,
holding on to the dust.
26 Do something! Help us!
Show how kind you are
and come to our rescue.
A Prophet Condemns the Altar at Bethel
13 1-2 (A) One day, Jeroboam was standing at the altar in Bethel, ready to make an offering. Suddenly one of God's prophets[a] arrived from Judah and shouted:
The Lord sent me with a message about this altar. A child named Josiah will be born into David's family. He will sacrifice on this altar the priests who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on it.
3 You will know that the Lord has said these things when the altar splits in half, and the ashes on it fall to the ground.
4 Jeroboam pointed at the prophet and shouted, “Grab him!” But at once, Jeroboam's hand became stiff, and he could not move it. 5 The altar split in half, and the ashes fell to the ground, just as the prophet had warned.
6 “Please pray to the Lord your God and ask him to heal my hand,” Jeroboam begged.
The prophet prayed, and Jeroboam's hand was healed.
7 “Come home with me and eat something,” Jeroboam said. “I want to give you a gift for what you have done.”
8 “No, I wouldn't go with you, even if you offered me half of your kingdom. I won't eat or drink here either. 9 The Lord said I can't eat or drink anything and that I can't go home the same way I came.” 10 Then he started home down a different road.
1 (A) From Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus.
To all God's people who belong to Christ Jesus at Philippi and to all your bishops and deacons.
2 I pray that God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!
Paul's Prayer for the Church in Philippi
3 Every time I think of you, I thank my God. 4 And whenever I mention you in my prayers, it makes me happy. 5 This is because you have taken part with me in spreading the good news from the first day you heard about it. 6 God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won't stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns.
7 You have a special place in my heart. So it is only natural for me to feel the way I do. All of you have helped in the work God has given me, as I defend the good news and tell about it here in jail. 8 God himself knows how much I want to see you. He knows I care for you in the same way Christ Jesus does.
9 I pray that your love will keep on growing and you will fully know and understand 10 how to make the right choices. Then you will still be pure and innocent when Christ returns. And until that day, 11 Jesus Christ will keep you busy doing good deeds that bring glory and praise to God.
40-41 (A) Some women were looking on from a distance. They and many others had come with Jesus to Jerusalem. But even before this they had been his followers and had helped him while he was in Galilee. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of the younger James and of Joseph were two of these women. Salome was also one of them.
Jesus Is Buried
(Matthew 27.57-61; Luke 23.50-56; John 19.38-42)
42 It was now the evening before the Sabbath, and the Jewish people were getting ready for that sacred day. 43 A man named Joseph from Arimathea was brave enough to ask Pilate for the body of Jesus. Joseph was a highly respected member of the Jewish council, and he was also waiting for God's kingdom to come.
44 Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead, and he called in the army officer to find out if Jesus had been dead very long. 45 After the officer told him, Pilate let Joseph have Jesus' body.
46 Joseph bought a linen cloth and took the body down from the cross. He had it wrapped in the cloth, and he put it in a tomb that had been cut into solid rock. Then he rolled a big stone against the entrance to the tomb.
47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joseph were watching and saw where the body was placed.
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