Book of Common Prayer
To the director: A song of David.
41 Those who help the poor succeed will get many blessings.[a]
When trouble comes, the Lord will save them.
2 The Lord will protect them and save their lives.
He will bless them in this land.
He will not let their enemies harm them.
3 When they are sick in bed,
the Lord will give them strength and make them well!
4 I say, “Lord, be kind to me.
I sinned against you, but forgive me and make me well.”
5 My enemies say bad things about me.
They ask, “When will he die and be forgotten?”
6 If they come to see me,
they don’t say what they are really thinking.
They come to gather a little gossip
and then go to spread their rumors.
7 Those who hate me whisper about me.
They think the worst about me.
8 They say, “He did something wrong.
That is why he is sick.
He will never get well.”
9 My best friend, the one I trusted,
the one who ate with me—even he has turned against me.
10 Lord, please be kind to me.
Let me get up, and I will pay them back.
11 Don’t let my enemy defeat me.
Then I will know that you care for me.
12 I was innocent and you supported me.
You let me stand and serve you forever.
13 Praise the Lord, the God of Israel.
He always was, and he always will be.
Amen and Amen!
To the director: A maskil of David written when Doeg the Edomite went to Saul and told him, “David is in Ahimelech’s house.”
52 Great warrior, why are you bragging about the evil you did?
You are a disgrace to God.
2 You are nothing but a hired killer,[a]
making plans to hurt people and making up lies!
3 You love evil more than goodness.
You love lies more than truth. Selah
4 You and your lying tongue love to hurt people.
5 So God will ruin you forever!
He will grab you and pull you from your home,[b] like someone pulling up a plant by the roots![c] Selah
6 Good people will see this
and learn to fear and respect God.
They will laugh at you and say,
7 “Look what happened to the warrior who did not depend on God.
That fool thought his wealth and lies would protect him.”
8 But I am like a green olive tree growing in God’s Temple.
I will trust God’s faithful love forever and ever.
9 God, I praise you forever for what you have done.
I will speak your name[d] before your followers because it is so good!
To the director: A maskil from the Korah family.
44 God, we have heard about you.
Our fathers told us what you did in their lifetime.
They told us what you did long ago.
2 With your great power you took this land from other people,
and you gave it to us.
You crushed those foreigners
and forced them to leave this land.
3 It was not our fathers’ swords that took the land.
It was not their strong arms that brought them victory.
It was your power.
It was because you accepted them and smiled down on them.
4 God, you are my king.
Give the command and lead Jacob’s people to victory.
5 We need your help to push our enemies back.
Only in your name can we trample those who attacked us.
6 I don’t put my trust in my bow.
My sword cannot save me.
7 You are the one who saved us from our enemies.
You are the one who put our enemies to shame.
8 We have praised you all day long,
and we will praise your name forever. Selah
9 But you left us and put us to shame.
You did not go with us into battle.
10 You let our enemies push us back.
You let them take our wealth.
11 You gave us away like sheep to be killed and eaten.
You scattered us among the nations.
12 You sold your people for nothing.
You did not even argue over the price.
13 You made us a joke to our neighbors.
They laugh and make fun of us.
14 You made us one of the stories that people love to tell.
People all over the world laugh at us and shake their heads.
15 All I can think about is my shame.
Just look at my face, and you will see it.
16 All I can hear are the jokes and insults of my enemies,
as I watch them take their revenge.
17 We have not forgotten you.
But you do all those things to us.
We did not break the agreement you gave us.
18 We did not turn away from you.
We did not stop following you.
19 But you crushed us in this home of jackals.
You left us in this place as dark as death.
20 Did we forget the name of our God?
Did we pray to foreign gods?
21 If we did, then God knows it,
because he knows our deepest secrets.
22 All day long we died for you.
We are like sheep being led away to be killed.
23 Lord, wake up!
Why are you sleeping?
Get up! Don’t ignore us forever!
24 Why are you hiding from us?
Have you forgotten our pain and troubles?
25 We have been pushed down into the dirt.
We are lying face down in the dust.[a]
26 Get up and help us!
Rescue us because of your faithful love.
God Speaks Against Bethel
13 The Lord commanded a man of God from Judah to go to the city of Bethel. King Jeroboam was standing at the altar offering incense when the man of God arrived. 2 The Lord had commanded the man of God to speak against the altar. He said,
“Altar, the Lord says to you: ‘David’s family will have a son. His name will be Josiah. The priests of the high places are now burning incense on you, but Josiah will offer the priests on you and burn human bones on you, so you can never be used again!’”
3 The man of God gave proof to the people that this would happen. He said, “This is the proof that the Lord told me about. He said, ‘This altar will break apart, and the ashes on it will fall onto the ground.’”
4 When King Jeroboam heard the message from the man of God about the altar in Bethel, he took his hand off the altar and pointed at the man. He said, “Arrest that man!” But when the king said this, his arm became paralyzed. He could not move it. 5 Then the altar broke into pieces, and all its ashes fell onto the ground. This proved that what the man of God had said came from the Lord. 6 Then King Jeroboam said to the man of God, “Please pray to the Lord your God for me. Ask him to heal my arm.”
So the man of God prayed to the Lord, and the king’s arm was healed, as it was before. 7 Then the king said to the man of God, “Please come home with me. Come and eat with me. I will give you a gift.”
8 But the man of God said to the king, “I will not go home with you, even if you give me half of your kingdom! I will not eat or drink anything in this place. 9 The Lord commanded me not to eat or drink anything here. He also commanded me not to go back the same way I came.” 10 So he took a different road home. He did not go back the same way he came to Bethel.
1 Greetings from Paul and Timothy, servants of Jesus Christ.
To all of you in Philippi who are God’s holy people in Christ Jesus, including your elders[a] and special servants.
2 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul’s Prayer
3 I thank God every time I remember you. 4 And I always pray for all of you with joy. 5 I thank God for the help you gave me while I told people the Good News. You helped from the first day you believed until now. 6 I am sure that the good work God began in you will continue until he completes it on the day when Jesus Christ comes again.
7 I know I am right to think like this about all of you because you are so close to my heart. This is because you have all played such an important part in God’s grace to me—now, during this time that I am in prison, and whenever I am defending and proving the truth of the Good News. 8 God knows that I want very much to see you. I love all of you with the love of Christ Jesus.
9 This is my prayer for you:
that your love will grow more and more; that you will have knowledge and understanding with your love; 10 that you will see the difference between what is important and what is not and choose what is important; that you will be pure and blameless for the coming of Christ; 11 that your life will be full of the many good works that are produced by Jesus Christ to bring glory and praise to God.
40 Some women were standing away from the cross, watching. Among these women were Mary Magdalene, Salome, and Mary the mother of James and Joses. (James was her youngest son.) 41 These were the women who had followed Jesus in Galilee and cared for him. Many other women who had come with Jesus to Jerusalem were also there.
Jesus Is Buried(A)
42 This day was called Preparation day. (That means the day before the Sabbath day.) It was becoming dark. 43 A man named Joseph from Arimathea was brave enough to go to Pilate and ask for Jesus’ body. Joseph was an important member of the high council. He was one of the people who wanted God’s kingdom to come.
44 Pilate was surprised to hear that Jesus was already dead. So he called for the army officer in charge and asked him if Jesus was already dead. 45 When Pilate heard it from the officer, he told Joseph he could have the body.
46 Joseph bought some linen cloth. He took the body from the cross, wrapped it in the linen, and put the body in a tomb that was dug in a wall of rock. Then he closed the tomb by rolling a large stone to cover the entrance. 47 Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses saw the place where Jesus was put.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International