Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Protection[a]
140 Save me, Lord, from evildoers;
keep me safe from violent people.
2 They are always plotting evil,
always stirring up quarrels.
3 (A)Their tongues are like deadly snakes;
their words are like a cobra's poison.
4 Protect me, Lord, from the power of the wicked;
keep me safe from violent people
who plot my downfall.
5 The proud have set a trap for me;
they have laid their snares,
and along the path they have set traps to catch me.
6 I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
Hear my cry for help, Lord!
7 My Sovereign Lord, my strong defender,
you have protected me in battle.
8 Lord, don't give the wicked what they want;
don't let their plots succeed.
9 Don't let my enemies be victorious;[b]
make their threats against me fall back on them.
10 May red-hot coals fall on them;
may they be thrown into a pit and never get out.
11 May those who accuse others falsely not succeed;
may evil overtake violent people and destroy them.
12 Lord, I know that you defend the cause of the poor
and the rights of the needy.
13 The righteous will praise you indeed;
they will live in your presence.
(A)A Prayer for Help[a]
142 I call to the Lord for help;
I plead with him.
2 I bring him all my complaints;
I tell him all my troubles.
3 When I am ready to give up,
he knows what I should do.
In the path where I walk,
my enemies have hidden a trap for me.
4 When I look beside me,
I see that there is no one to help me,
no one to protect me.
No one cares for me.
5 Lord, I cry to you for help;
you, Lord, are my protector;
you are all I want in this life.
6 Listen to my cry for help,
for I am sunk in despair.
Save me from my enemies;
they are too strong for me.
7 Set me free from my distress;[b]
then in the assembly of your people I will praise you
because of your goodness to me.
An Evening Prayer[a]
141 I call to you, Lord; help me now!
Listen to me when I call to you.
2 (A)Receive my prayer as incense,
my uplifted hands as an evening sacrifice.
3 Lord, place a guard at my mouth,
a sentry at the door of my lips.
4 Keep me from wanting to do wrong
and from joining evil people in their wickedness.
May I never take part in their feasts.
5 Good people may punish me and rebuke me in kindness,
but I will never accept honor from evil people,
because I am always praying against their evil deeds.
6 When their rulers are thrown down from rocky cliffs,
the people will admit that my words were true.
7 Like wood that is split and chopped into bits,
so their bones are scattered at the edge of the grave.[b]
8 But I keep trusting in you, my Sovereign Lord.
I seek your protection;
don't let me die!
9 Protect me from the traps they have set for me,
from the snares of those evildoers.
10 May the wicked fall into their own traps
while I go by unharmed.
A Prayer for Help[a]
143 Lord, hear my prayer!
In your righteousness listen to my plea;
answer me in your faithfulness!
2 (A)Don't put me, your servant, on trial;
no one is innocent in your sight.
3 My enemies have hunted me down
and completely defeated me.
They have put me in a dark prison,
and I am like those who died long ago.
4 So I am ready to give up;
I am in deep despair.
5 I remember the days gone by;
I think about all that you have done,
I bring to mind all your deeds.
6 I lift up my hands to you in prayer;
like dry ground my soul is thirsty for you.
7 Answer me now, Lord!
I have lost all hope.
Don't hide yourself from me,
or I will be among those who go down to the world of the dead.
8 Remind me each morning of your constant love,
for I put my trust in you.
My prayers go up to you;
show me the way I should go.
9 I go to you for protection, Lord;
rescue me from my enemies.
10 You are my God;
teach me to do your will.
Be good to me, and guide me on a safe path.
11 Rescue me, Lord, as you have promised;
in your goodness save me from my troubles!
12 Because of your love for me, kill my enemies
and destroy all my oppressors,
for I am your servant.
36 (A)Jehoiakim was twenty-five years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for eleven years. His mother was Zebidah, the daughter of Pedaiah from the town of Rumah. 37 Following the example of his ancestors, Jehoiakim sinned against the Lord.
24 (B)While Jehoiakim was king, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia invaded Judah, and for three years Jehoiakim was forced to submit to his rule; then he rebelled. 2 The Lord sent armed bands of Babylonians, Syrians, Moabites, and Ammonites against Jehoiakim to destroy Judah, as the Lord had said through his servants the prophets that he would do. 3 This happened at the Lord's command, in order to banish the people of Judah from his sight because of all the sins that King Manasseh had committed, 4 and especially because of all the innocent people he had killed. The Lord could not forgive Manasseh for that.
5 Everything that Jehoiakim did is recorded in The History of the Kings of Judah. 6 Jehoiakim died, and his son Jehoiachin succeeded him as king.
7 The king of Egypt and his army never marched out of Egypt again, because the king of Babylonia now controlled all the territory that had belonged to Egypt, from the Euphrates River to the northern border of Egypt.
King Jehoiachin of Judah(C)
8 Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he became king of Judah, and he ruled in Jerusalem for three months. His mother was Nehushta, the daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem. 9 Following the example of his father, Jehoiachin sinned against the Lord.
10 It was during his reign that the Babylonian army, commanded by King Nebuchadnezzar's officers, marched against Jerusalem and besieged it. 11 During the siege Nebuchadnezzar himself came to Jerusalem, 12 (D)and King Jehoiachin, along with his mother, his sons, his officers, and the palace officials, surrendered to the Babylonians. In the eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar's reign he took Jehoiachin prisoner 13 and carried off to Babylon all the treasures in the Temple and the palace. As the Lord had foretold, Nebuchadnezzar broke up all the gold utensils which King Solomon had made for use in the Temple. 14 Nebuchadnezzar carried away as prisoners the people of Jerusalem, all the royal princes, and all the leading men, ten thousand in all. He also deported all the skilled workers, including the blacksmiths, leaving only the poorest of the people behind in Judah.
15 (E)Nebuchadnezzar took Jehoiachin to Babylon as a prisoner, together with Jehoiachin's mother, his wives, his officials, and the leading men of Judah. 16 Nebuchadnezzar deported all the important men to Babylonia, seven thousand in all, and one thousand skilled workers, including the blacksmiths, all of them able-bodied men fit for military duty.
17 (F)Nebuchadnezzar made Jehoiachin's uncle Mattaniah king of Judah and changed his name to Zedekiah.
One Body with Many Parts
12 (A)Christ is like a single body, which has many parts; it is still one body, even though it is made up of different parts. 13 In the same way, all of us, whether Jews or Gentiles, whether slaves or free, have been baptized into the one body by the same Spirit, and we have all been given the one Spirit to drink.
14 For the body itself is not made up of only one part, but of many parts. 15 If the foot were to say, “Because I am not a hand, I don't belong to the body,” that would not keep it from being a part of the body. 16 And if the ear were to say, “Because I am not an eye, I don't belong to the body,” that would not keep it from being a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were just an eye, how could it hear? And if it were only an ear, how could it smell? 18 As it is, however, God put every different part in the body just as he wanted it to be. 19 There would not be a body if it were all only one part! 20 As it is, there are many parts but one body.
21 So then, the eye cannot say to the hand, “I don't need you!” Nor can the head say to the feet, “Well, I don't need you!” 22 On the contrary, we cannot do without the parts of the body that seem to be weaker; 23 and those parts that we think aren't worth very much are the ones which we treat with greater care; while the parts of the body which don't look very nice are treated with special modesty, 24 which the more beautiful parts do not need. God himself has put the body together in such a way as to give greater honor to those parts that need it. 25 And so there is no division in the body, but all its different parts have the same concern for one another. 26 If one part of the body suffers, all the other parts suffer with it; if one part is praised, all the other parts share its happiness.
Jesus Heals Two Blind Men
27 Jesus left that place, and as he walked along, two blind men started following him. “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” they shouted.
28 When Jesus had gone indoors, the two blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I can heal you?”
“Yes, sir!” they answered.
29 Then Jesus touched their eyes and said, “Let it happen, then, just as you believe!”— 30 and their sight was restored. Jesus spoke sternly to them, “Don't tell this to anyone!”
31 But they left and spread the news about Jesus all over that part of the country.
Jesus Heals a Man Who Could Not Speak
32 As the men were leaving, some people brought to Jesus a man who could not talk because he had a demon. 33 But as soon as the demon was driven out, the man started talking, and everyone was amazed. “We have never seen anything like this in Israel!” they exclaimed.
34 (A)But the Pharisees said, “It is the chief of the demons who gives Jesus the power to drive out demons.”
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.