Book of Common Prayer
Israelites in Captivity
137 By the rivers in Babylon we sat and cried
when we remembered Jerusalem.
2 On the poplar trees nearby
we hung our harps.
3 Those who captured us asked us to sing.
Our enemies wanted happy songs.
They said, “Sing us a Temple song from Jerusalem!”
4 But we cannot sing songs about the Lord
while we are in this foreign country!
5 Jerusalem, if I forget you,
let my right hand lose its skill.
6 Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you.
Let these things happen if I do not think about Jerusalem
as my greatest joy.
7 Lord, remember what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
They said, “Tear it down!
Tear it down to its foundations!”
8 People of Babylon, you will be destroyed.
The people who pay you back will be happy.
They will punish you for what you did to us.
9 They will grab your babies
and throw them against the rocks.
A Prayer for Victory
Of David.
144 Praise the Lord, my Rock.
He trains me for war.
He trains me for battle.
2 He gives me love and protects me like a strong, walled city.
He is my place of safety and my Savior.
He is my shield and my protection.
He helps me rule my people.
3 Lord, why is man important to you?
Why do you even think about a human being?
4 A man is like a breath.
His life is like a passing shadow.
5 Lord, tear open the sky and come down.
Touch the mountains so they will smoke.
6 Send the lightning and scatter my enemies.
Shoot your arrows and force them away.
7 Reach down from above.
Pull me out of this sea of enemies.
Rescue me from these foreigners.
8 They are liars.
They are dishonest.
9 God, I will sing a new song to you.
I will play to you on the ten-stringed harp.
10 You give victory to kings.
You save your servant David from cruel swords.
11 Save me, rescue me from these foreigners.
They are liars.
They are dishonest.
12 Let our sons in their youth
grow like strong trees.
Let our daughters be
like the decorated stones in the Temple.
13 Let our barns be filled
with crops of all kinds.
Let our sheep in the fields have
thousands and thousands of lambs.
14 Let our cattle be strong.
Let no one break in.
Let there be no war.
Let there be no screams in our streets.
15 Happy are those who are like this.
Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.
Praise to God Who Made the World
104 My whole being, praise the Lord.
Lord my God, you are very great.
You are clothed with glory and majesty.
2 You wear light like a robe.
You stretch out the skies like a tent.
3 You build your room above the clouds.
You make the clouds your chariot.
You ride on the wings of the wind.
4 You make the winds your messengers.
Flames of fire are your servants.
5 You built the earth on its foundations.
So it can never be moved.
6 You covered the earth with oceans.
The water was above the mountains.
7 But at your command, the water rushed away.
When you gave your orders like thunder, it hurried away.
8 The mountains rose.
The valleys sank.
The water went to the places you made for it.
9 You set borders for the seas that they cannot cross.
The water will never cover the earth again.
10 You make springs pour into the ravines.
They flow between the mountains.
11 They water all the wild animals.
The wild donkeys come there to drink.
12 Wild birds make nests by the water.
They sing among the tree branches.
13 You water the mountains from above.
The earth is full of the things you made.
14 You make the grass for cattle
and vegetables for the use of man.
You make food grow from the earth.
15 You give us wine that makes happy hearts.
And you give us olive oil that makes our faces shine.
You give us bread that gives us strength.
16 The Lord’s trees have plenty of water.
They are the cedar trees of Lebanon, which he planted.
17 The birds make their nests there.
The stork’s home is in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats.
The rocks are hiding places for the badgers.
19 You made the moon to mark the seasons.
And the sun always knows when to set.
20 You make it dark, and it becomes night.
Then all the wild animals creep around.
21 The lions roar as they attack.
They look to God for food.
22 When the sun rises, they leave.
They go back to their dens to lie down.
23 Then people go to work.
And they work until evening.
24 Lord, you have made many things.
With your wisdom you made them all.
The earth is full of your riches.
25 Look at the sea, so big and wide.
Its creatures large and small cannot be counted.
26 Ships travel over the ocean.
And there is the sea monster Leviathan,
which you made to play there.
27 All these things depend on you
to give them their food at the right time.
28 When you give it to them,
they gather it up.
When you open your hand, they are filled with good food.
29 When you turn away from them,
they become frightened.
When you take away their breath,
they die and turn into dust.
30 When you breathe on them,
they are created.
You make the land new again.
31 May the glory of the Lord be forever.
May the Lord enjoy what he has made.
32 He just looks at the earth, and it shakes.
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life.
I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.
34 May my thoughts please him.
I am happy in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be destroyed from the earth.
Let the wicked people live no longer.
My whole being, praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
The Recabite Family
35 When Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah, the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah. This was his message: 2 “Jeremiah, go to the family of Recab. Invite them to come to one of the side rooms of the Temple of the Lord. Offer them wine to drink.”
3 So I went to get Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah.[a] Jeremiah was the son of Habazziniah. And I gathered all of Jaazaniah’s brothers and sons. I gathered the whole family of the Recabites together. 4 Then I brought them into the Temple of the Lord. We went into the room of the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah. Hanan was a man of God. The room was next to the one where the officers stay. It was over the room of Maaseiah son of Shallum. Maaseiah was the doorkeeper in the Temple. 5 Then I put some bowls full of wine and some cups before the Recabite family. And I said to them, “Drink some wine.”
6 But the Recabite people answered, “We never drink wine. It is because of our ancestor Jonadab son of Recab. He gave us this command: ‘You and your descendants must never drink wine. 7 Also you must never build houses, plant seeds or plant vineyards. You must never do any of those things. You must live only in tents. Then you will live a long time in the land where you are a wanderer.’ 8 So we Recabites have obeyed everything Jonadab our ancestor commanded us. We never drink wine. And our wives, sons and daughters never drink wine. 9 We never build houses in which to live. And we never own fields or vineyards. And we never plant crops. 10 We have lived in tents. And we have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. 11 But Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon attacked the country of Judah. We said to each other, ‘Come, we must enter Jerusalem. This is so we can escape the Babylonian army and the Aramean army.’ So we have stayed in Jerusalem.”
12 Then the Lord spoke his word to Jeremiah: 13 “This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: Jeremiah, go and tell the men of Judah and the people of Jerusalem: ‘You should learn a lesson and obey my message,’ says the Lord. 14 ‘Jonadab son of Recab ordered his sons not to drink wine. And that command has been obeyed. Until today the descendants of Jonadab obeyed their ancestor’s command. They do not drink wine. But I am the Lord. I have given you messages again and again. But you did not obey me. 15 I sent my servants the prophets to you again and again. They said to you, “Each of you must stop doing evil. You must change and be good. Do not follow other gods to serve them. If you obey me, you will live in the land I have given to you and your ancestors.” But you have not listened or paid attention to my message. 16 The descendants of Jonadab obeyed the commands that their ancestor gave them. But the people of Judah have not obeyed me.’
17 “So the Lord God of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘I said many disasters would come to Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem. I will soon bring every one of those disasters on them. I spoke to those people, but they refused to listen. I called out to them, but they did not answer me.’”
18 Then Jeremiah said to the Recabites, “This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘You have obeyed the commands of your ancestor Jonadab. You have followed all of Jonadab’s teachings. You have done everything he commanded.’ 19 So this is what the Lord of heaven’s armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘There will always be a descendant of Jonadab son of Recab to serve me.’”
27 All of you together are the body of Christ. Each one of you is a part of that body. 28 And in the church God has given a place first to apostles, second to prophets, and third to teachers. Then God has given a place to those who do miracles, those who have gifts of healing, those who can help others, those who are able to lead, and those who can speak in different languages. 29 Not all are apostles. Not all are prophets. Not all are teachers. Not all do miracles. 30 Not all have gifts of healing. Not all speak in different languages. Not all interpret those languages. 31 But you should truly want to have the greater gifts.
Love
And now I will show you the best way of all.
13 I may speak in different languages of men or even angels. But if I do not have love, then I am only a noisy bell or a ringing cymbal. 2 I may have the gift of prophecy; I may understand all the secret things of God and all knowledge; and I may have faith so great that I can move mountains. But even with all these things, if I do not have love, then I am nothing. 3 I may give everything I have to feed the poor. And I may even give my body as an offering to be burned.[a] But I gain nothing by doing these things if I do not have love.
35 Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages. He taught in their synagogues and told people the Good News about the kingdom. And he healed all kinds of diseases and sicknesses. 36 He saw the crowds of people and felt sorry for them because they were worried and helpless. They were like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Jesus said to his followers, “There are many people to harvest, but there are only a few workers to help harvest them. 38 God owns the harvest. Pray to him that he will send more workers to help gather his harvest.”[a]
Jesus Sends Out His Apostles
10 Jesus called his 12 followers together. He gave them power to drive out evil spirits and to heal every kind of disease and sickness. 2 These are the names of the 12 apostles: Simon (also called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew, the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot. Judas is the one who turned against Jesus.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.