Book of Common Prayer
Tell the music leader to use flutes.
This is a song that David wrote.
Pray about your enemies[a]
5 Lord, listen to what I say to you.
I am upset, so think about what I am saying.
2 My King and my God, listen to my voice.
I am asking you to help me.
I am praying to you!
3 Lord, every morning you listen to my voice.
At sunrise I will turn to you for help,
and I will wait for you to answer.[b]
4 My God, you do not like anything that is bad.
Evil people cannot live near you.
5 Proud people cannot stand in front of you.
God, you hate everyone who does evil things.
6 You destroy those who tell lies.
The Lord hates murderers,
and those who deceive others.[c]
7 But I will come into your house,
because of your faithful love.
I will bend low in your holy temple,
and I will worship you.
8 Lord, help me to follow your right way.
My enemies are waiting to attack me.
Show the right way clearly to me,
so that I do not go the wrong way.
9 My enemies never speak what is true.
They only want to destroy people.
Their mouth has the smell of an open grave.[d]
Their tongues say nice things,
but they are all lies!
10 God, say that they are guilty!
Let their own wicked ideas bring punishment to them.
Send them away because they do so many bad things.
Yes, they have turned against you.
11 Please make people who turn to you happy.
Make them always sing with joy,
because you keep them safe.
Take care of those who are faithful to you.
Then they will be really happy.
12 Lord, you bless those who live in a right way.
Your love is like a shield that keeps them safe.
This is a song that David wrote.
Tell the music leader, ‘Use harps when you sing this song.’
David prays for health[e]
6 Lord, when you are angry,
please do not punish me.
2 I do not feel strong, Lord,
so please be kind to me.
Lord, please make me well again.
Even my bones are shaking.
3 I am very frightened.
Lord, when will you do something to help me?[f]
4 Lord, turn back to me. Give me back my life.
Make me safe because of your faithful love.
5 If I die, I will no longer remember you.
Nobody can praise you in their grave!
6 I am crying so much that I have no more strength.
My bed becomes wet because I weep all night.
My tears run into my pillow.[g]
7 I am so sad that my eyes do not see well any more.
They are becoming weak because of all my enemies.[h]
8 Go away from me, you people who do wicked things!
Now the Lord has heard me when I weep.[i]
9 I asked the Lord to be kind and to help me.
Now he has answered me!
10 All my enemies will become ashamed!
They will go away from me in fear!
Shame will suddenly come to them!
A prayer for help[a]
10 Must you stand so far away, Lord?
Why do you hide when there is trouble?
2 Wicked people are cruel to poor people.
They use their evil ideas
to take hold of weak people.
3 Not only do wicked people boast
because they get the things that they want.
They also praise robbers,
and they curse the Lord.
4 Wicked people are too proud to worry about God.
They think, ‘God will not give me any trouble.’
5 Often the wicked person seems to have success.
He does not respect your commands, God.
He laughs at all his enemies.
6 He says to himself, ‘There will be no trouble for me.
Nothing bad will ever happen to me or to my children.’
7 Plenty of lies come from his mouth,
and he curses people.
The bad words that he speaks are very cruel,
and they hurt people.
8 He hides near the villages,
so that he can jump out and catch people.
He watches in secret to find a weak person that he can kill.
He murders people who have done nothing wrong.
9 Quietly, he hides like a lion among some bushes.
He waits there to catch a poor, weak person.
Like a hunter, he catches poor people in his net.
10 He stamps on the people that he catches,
and he knocks them down to the ground.
The weak person falls down,
because the wicked person is too strong.
11 The wicked person says to himself,
‘God will give me no trouble!
He does not even see what I do.’
12 Rise up, Lord!
Do something, God,
and knock down the wicked person!
Do not forget to help weak people.
13 Why do wicked people insult God?
They say to themselves,
‘God will not give me any trouble.’
14 Surely, God, you see what is happening.
You see how wicked people bring pain and trouble.
You decide what to do about it.
The weak person trusts that you will help him.
You take care of children who have no father.
15 Take hold of the arm of the wicked, evil man!
Break it and take away his strength!
Punish him for the bad things that he has done,
so that he has to stop.
16 The Lord will rule as king for ever!
The nations who do not serve him
will not remain in his land.
17 You, Lord, hear the prayers
of people who are suffering.
When they ask you to help them,
you make them feel strong.
18 You stand beside those who have no father,
and those who are poor and weak.
As a result, they will no longer be afraid.
No human on the earth can frighten them.
This is a song that David wrote for the music leader.
Trust the Lord to keep you safe
11 I have run to the Lord to keep me safe.
So do not say this to me:
‘Fly away like a bird to the hills![b]
2 See what the wicked people are doing!
They are preparing their bows and arrows.
They are hiding in dark places,
to shoot their arrows at good, honest people.
3 When the law no longer has authority,
righteous people can do nothing!’
4 The Lord is in his holy temple.
He rules from his throne in heaven.
He carefully watches what people are doing.
He knows about each person.
5 The Lord watches both good people and wicked people.
Good people please him,
but he hates wicked people and cruel people.
6 He will send hot coal and sulphur
to fall like rain on wicked people.
A dangerous wind will be the punishment that they deserve.
7 The Lord always does what is right.
He loves people to do good things.
Those who do what is right will know that God loves them.
Baruch and Jeremiah write another scroll
27 After the king had destroyed the scroll on which Baruch had written Jeremiah's words, the Lord spoke to Jeremiah again. 28 He said, ‘Take another scroll. Write on it everything that was written on the first scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah burned in the fire. 29 Then tell the king that the Lord says this: “You burned the scroll because you did not like the message that was written on it. It said that the king of Babylon would come to destroy this land, with all its people and animals. You warned Jeremiah that he should not write things like that.” 30 So now the Lord says this to you, Jehoiakim, king of Judah: “None of your descendants will rule David's kingdom of Judah. When you die, people will not bury your body. They will throw your dead body on the ground. As it lies there, the sun will burn it in the daytime. At night it will be cold with frost. 31 I will punish you, your descendants and your officers because you have all done wicked things. I will also bring terrible trouble on the people of Jerusalem and all of Judah. I will punish everyone in the way that I promised I would do. I warned them, but they did not listen to me.” ’
32 Then Jeremiah took another scroll. He gave it to Neriah's son, Baruch, the secretary. Jeremiah spoke the same message that Baruch had written on the first scroll. That was the scroll that King Jehoiakim of Judah had burned in the fire. They also added more messages that were like the first one.
Zedekiah rules Judah as king
37 Josiah's son Zedekiah became king of Judah. King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon chose Zedekiah to be king instead of Jehoiakim's son, Jeconiah. 2 Zedekiah did not obey the Lord's messages that Jeremiah spoke. The king's officers and the people of Judah did not obey those messages either.
Messages from God
14 So you must always want to love other people. Also, want very much to receive spiritual gifts from God. More than anything else, want to speak messages from God. 2 If someone speaks in a different language, he is speaking only to God. The people who hear him do not understand his message. God's Spirit is causing him to speak about secret things. It does not help people. 3 But if someone speaks a clear message from God, he helps the people who hear him. He helps them to become stronger as believers. He helps them to be happy and strong in their troubles. 4 Anyone who speaks in a different language only helps himself. But a person who speaks a message from God helps the believers in the church to become strong.
5 I would like all of you to speak in different kinds of languages. But even more, I want you to speak God's message clearly to people. Anyone who can speak a message from God is important in the church. He is more important than someone who speaks in different kinds of languages. That person only helps the church if someone can explain what he says. Only in that way will his message help the church to become stronger.
6 My Christian friends, if I come to visit you, then I want to help you. But if I speak to you in languages that you do not understand, that will not help you at all. I would need to explain to you what God has shown to me. I would need to help you to understand something. I would need to speak a clear message from God, or teach you something. Only that would help you. 7 Think about how people make music with flutes or harps. Those things are not alive. We have to use them to make clear sounds. If we do not use them properly, then nobody can recognize the music. 8 Soldiers will not prepare to fight unless they hear a clear sound from the trumpet.
9 It is the same for you. You must use your tongue to speak clearly. If not, nobody will understand what you are saying. You will only be speaking words into the air. 10 There are many different kinds of languages in this world. They all mean something to the people who speak them. 11 Perhaps somebody may speak to me in a language that I do not understand. Then we are like foreign people to each other. 12 So think about what is best for you. You really want the gifts that come from God's Spirit. Most of all, you should want the gifts that will help the whole church to become stronger.
16 Jesus then said to his disciples, ‘Listen well. I am sending you to people who will want to kill you. You will be like sheep among wild animals. You must watch carefully, like snakes do. But you must also be good and kind like doves.
17 Be careful! People will be against you. They will take you to stand in front of their leaders. They will punish you with whips in their meeting places. 18 They will take you to stand in front of kings and rulers. All this will happen because you are my disciples. You will tell all these important people and also the Gentiles the good news about me. 19 When they take you to stand in front of their leaders, do not be afraid. Do not worry about what you should say or how you should say it. At that time, God will give you the right words to speak. 20 You will not be speaking your own words. The Holy Spirit of your Father God will give you his own words to say.
21 At that time, a man will let people kill his own brother. A father will let people kill his own child. Children will be against their parents. They will even ask people to kill their parents. 22 All people will hate you because you are my disciples. But God will save the person who remains strong until the end. 23 If people in any town hurt you because of me, you should leave that town immediately. Go to another town. I tell you this: You will not have enough time to speak your message in all the towns of Israel. I, the Son of Man, will return before that can happen.
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