Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer About a False Friend
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A maskil of David.
55 God, listen to my prayer.
Do not ignore my prayer.
2 Pay attention to me and answer me.
I am troubled and upset
3 by what the enemy says
and how the wicked look at me.
They bring troubles down on me.
In anger they attack me.
4 I am frightened inside.
The terror of death has attacked me.
5 I am scared and shaking.
Terror grips me.
6 I said, “I wish I had wings like a dove.
Then I would fly away and rest.
7 I would wander far away.
I would stay in the desert. Selah
8 I would hurry to my place of escape,
far away from the wind and storm.”
9 Lord, destroy and confuse their words.
I see violence and fighting in the city.
10 Day and night they are all around its walls.
Evil and trouble are everywhere inside.
11 Destruction is everywhere in the city.
Trouble and lying never leave its streets.
12 It was not an enemy insulting me.
I could stand that.
It was not someone who hated me.
I could hide from him.
13 But it is you, a person like me.
You were my companion and good friend.
14 We had a good friendship.
We went together to God’s Temple.
15 Let death take away my enemies.
Let them die while they are still young
because evil lives with them.
16 But I will call to God for help.
And the Lord will save me.
17 Morning, noon and night I am troubled and upset.
But he will listen to me.
18 Many are against me.
But he keeps me safe in battle.
19 God who lives forever
will hear me and punish them.
But they will not change.
They do not fear God. Selah
20 The one who was my friend attacks his friends.
He breaks his promises.
21 His words are slippery like butter.
But war is in his heart.
His words are smoother than oil,
but they cut like knives.
22 Give your worries to the Lord.
He will take care of you.
He will never let good people down.
23 But, God, you will bring down
the wicked to the grave.
Murderers and liars will live
only half a lifetime.
But I will trust in you.
A Hymn of Thanksgiving
A song of David.
138 Lord, I will thank you with all my heart.
I will sing to you before the false gods.
2 I will bow down facing your holy Temple.
And I will thank you for your love and loyalty.
You have made your name and your word
greater than anything.
3 On the day I called to you, you answered me.
You made me strong and brave.
4 Lord, let all the kings of the earth praise you.
They have heard the words you speak.
5 They will sing about what the Lord has done
because the Lord’s glory is great.
6 Though the Lord is supreme
he takes care of those who are not proud.
But he stays away from those who are proud.
7 Lord, even when I have trouble all around me,
you will keep me alive.
When my enemies are angry,
you will reach down and save me by your power.
8 Lord, you do everything for me.
Lord, your love continues forever.
You made us. Do not leave us.
God Knows Everything
For the director of music. A song of David.
139 Lord, you have examined me.
You know all about me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I get up.
You know my thoughts before I think them.
3 You know where I go and where I lie down.
You know well everything I do.
4 Lord, even before I say a word,
you already know what I am going to say.
5 You are all around me—in front and in back.
You have put your hand on me.
6 Your knowledge is amazing to me.
It is more than I can understand.
7 Where can I go to get away from your Spirit?
Where can I run from you?
8 If I go up to the skies, you are there.
If I lie down where the dead are, you are there.
9 If I rise with the sun in the east,
and settle in the west beyond the sea,
10 even there you would guide me.
With your right hand you would hold me.
11 I could say, “The darkness will hide me.
The light around me will turn into night.”
12 But even the darkness is not dark to you.
The night is as light as the day.
Darkness and light are the same to you.
13 You made my whole being.
You formed me in my mother’s body.
14 I praise you because you made me in an amazing and wonderful way.
What you have done is wonderful.
I know this very well.
15 You saw my bones being formed
as I took shape in my mother’s body.
When I was put together there,
16 you saw my body as it was formed.
All the days planned for me
were written in your book
before I was one day old.
17 God, your thoughts are precious to me.
They are so many!
18 If I could count them,
they would be more than all the grains of sand.
When I wake up,
I am still with you.
19 God, I wish you would kill the wicked!
Get away from me, you murderers!
20 These men say evil things about you.
Your enemies use your name thoughtlessly.
21 Lord, I hate those who hate you.
I hate those who rise up against you.
22 I feel only hate for them.
They are my enemies.
23 God, examine me and know my heart.
Test me and know my thoughts.
Those Against the Rebuilding
4 Sanballat heard we were rebuilding the wall. He was very angry, even furious. He made fun of the Jews. 2 He said to his friends and the army of Samaria, “What are these weak Jews doing? They think they can rebuild the wall. They think they will offer sacrifices. Maybe they think they can finish rebuilding it in only one day. They can’t bring stones back to life. These are piles of trash and ashes.”
3 Tobiah the Ammonite was next to Sanballat. Tobiah said, “A fox could climb up on what they are building. Even it could break down their stone wall.”
4 I prayed, “Hear us, our God. We are hated. Turn the insults of Sanballat and Tobiah back on their own heads. Let them be captured and taken away like valuables that are stolen. 5 Do not hide their guilt. Do not take away their sins so you can’t see them. The builders have seen them make you angry.”
6 So we rebuilt the wall until all of it went halfway up. The people were willing to work hard.
7 But Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men from Ashdod were very angry. They heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls were continuing. And they heard that the holes in the wall were being closed. 8 So they all made plans against Jerusalem. They planned to come and fight and stir up trouble. 9 But we prayed to our God. And we appointed guards to watch for them day and night.
10 The people of Judah said, “The workers are getting tired. There is too much dirt and trash. We cannot rebuild the wall.”
11 And our enemies said, “The Jews won’t know it or see us. But we will come among them and kill them. We will stop the work.”
12 Then the Jews who lived near our enemies came. They told us ten times, “Everywhere you turn, the enemy will attack us.” 13 So I put some of the people behind the lowest places along the wall. And I put some at the open places. I put families together with their swords, spears and bows. 14 Then I looked around. I stood up and spoke to the important men, the leaders and the rest of the people. I said, “Don’t be afraid of them. Remember the Lord. He is great and others are afraid of him. And fight for your brothers, your sons and daughters, your wives and your homes.”
15 Then our enemies heard that we knew about their plans. God had ruined their plans. So we all went back to the wall. Each person went back to his own work.
16 From that day on, half my men worked on the wall. The other half was ready with spears, shields, bows and armor. The officers stood in back of the people of Judah 17 who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did their work with one hand. They carried a weapon in the other hand. 18 Each builder wore his sword at his side as he worked. The man who blew the trumpet to warn the people stayed next to me.
19 Then I spoke to the important men, the leaders and the rest of the people. I said, “This is a very big job. We are spreading out along the wall. We are far apart. 20 So wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, assemble there. Our God will fight for us.”
21 So we continued to work. Half the men held spears. We worked from sunrise till the stars came out. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Let every man and his helper stay inside Jerusalem at night. They can be our guards at night. And they can be workmen during the day.” 23 Neither I, my brothers, my men nor the guards with me ever took off our clothes. Each person carried his weapon even when he went for water.
4 Then I heard how many people were marked with the sign. There were 144,000. They were from every tribe of the people of Israel.
5 From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were marked with the sign,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000.
The Great Crowd
9 Then I looked, and there was a great number of people. There were so many people that no one could count them. They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language of the earth. They were all standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and had palm branches in their hands. 10 They were shouting in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11 The elders[a] and the four living things were there. All the angels were standing around them and the throne. The angels bowed down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God. 12 They were saying, “Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength belong to our God forever and ever. Amen!”
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes? Where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “You know who they are, sir.”
And the elder said, “These are the people who have come out of the great suffering. They have washed their robes[b] with the blood of the Lamb. Now they are clean and white. 15 And they are before the throne of God. They worship God day and night in his temple. And the One who sits on the throne will protect them. 16 Those people will never be hungry again. They will never be thirsty again. The sun will not hurt them. No heat will burn them. 17 For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of water that give life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Stories of Mustard Seed and Yeast
31 Then Jesus told another story: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed. A man plants the seed in his field. 32 That seed is the smallest of all seeds. But when it grows, it is one of the largest garden plants. It becomes a tree, big enough for the wild birds to come and make nests in its branches.”
33 Then Jesus told another story: “The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman mixes into a big bowl of flour. The yeast makes all the dough rise.”
34 Jesus used stories to tell all these things to the people. He always used stories to teach people. 35 This is as the prophet said:
“I will speak using stories;
I will tell things that have been secret since the world was made.” Psalm 78:2
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.