Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.
61 God, hear my cry.
Listen to my prayer.
2 I call to you from the ends of the earth.
I am afraid.
Carry me away to a high mountain.
3 You have been my protection,
like a strong tower against my enemies.
4 Let me live in your Holy Tent forever.
Protect me as a bird protects its young under its wings. Selah
5 God, you have heard my promises.
You have given me the things that belong to those who fear you.
6 Give the king a long life.
Let him live many years.
7 Let him rule in the presence of God forever.
Protect him with your love and truth.
8 Then I will praise your name forever.
And every day I will keep my promises.
Trust Only in God
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A song of David.
62 I wait patiently for God.
Only he can save me.
2 He is my rock, who saves me.
He protects me like a strong, walled city.
I will not be defeated.
3 How long will you attack me?
Will all of you throw me down?
I am like a leaning wall, like a fence ready to fall.
4 You are planning to make me fall.
You enjoy telling lies about me.
With your mouth you bless me.
But in your heart you curse me. Selah
5 I wait patiently for God to save me.
Only he gives me hope.
6 He is my rock, who saves me.
He protects me like a strong, walled city.
I will not be defeated.
7 My honor and salvation come from God.
He is my mighty rock and my protection.
8 People, trust God all the time.
Tell him all your problems.
God is our protection. Selah
9 People are only a breath.
Even the greatest men are just a lie.
On the scales, they weigh nothing.
Together they are only a breath.
10 Do not trust in force.
Stealing is of no use.
Even if you gain more riches,
don’t put your trust in them.
11 God has said this,
and I have heard it over and over:
God, you are strong.
12 Lord, you are loving.
You reward a person for what he does.
Praise God Who Saved the Nation
For the director of music. A song of David.
68 Let God come and scatter his enemies.
Let those who hate him run away.
2 Blow them away as smoke
is driven away by the wind.
As wax melts before a fire,
let the wicked be destroyed before God.
3 But those who do right should be glad.
They should rejoice before God.
They should be happy and glad.
4 Sing to God. Sing praises to his name.
Prepare the way for him
who rides through the desert.
His name is the Lord.
Rejoice before him.
5 God is in his holy Temple.
He is a father to orphans.
He defends the widows.
6 God gives the lonely a home.
He leads prisoners out with joy.
But those who turn against God will live in a dry land.
7 God, you led your people out.
You marched through the desert. Selah
8 The ground shook,
and the sky poured down rain
before God, the God of Mount Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
9 God, you sent much rain.
You refreshed your tired land.
10 Your people settled there.
God, in your goodness
you took care of the poor.
11 The Lord gave the command.
And a great army told the news:
12 “Kings and their armies run away.
The women at home divide the wealth taken in war.”
13 Those who stayed behind by the sheepfold
will get the riches taken in battle.
14 God scattered kings
like snow on Mount Zalmon.
15 The mountains of Bashan are great mountains.
Mount Bashan has many peaks.
16 Why do you mountains with many peaks look down
on Mount Zion, which God chose for his home?
The Lord will live there forever.
17 God comes with millions of chariots.
The Lord comes from Mount Sinai to his holy place.
18 He went up to the heights.
He led a parade of captives.
He received the payment he demanded from the people,
even from those who turned against him.
And the Lord God will live there.
19 Praise the Lord, day by day.
God our Savior helps us. Selah
20 Our God is a God who saves us.
The Lord God saves us from death.
21 God will crush his enemies’ heads,
the hairy skulls of those who continue to sin.
22 The Lord said, “I will bring the enemy back from Bashan.
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea.
23 Then you can stick your feet in their blood.
And your dogs can lick their share.”
24 God, people have seen your victory march.
God my King marched into the holy place.
25 The singers are in front, and the instruments are behind.
In the middle are the girls with the tambourines.
26 Praise God in the meeting place.
Praise the Lord in the gathering of Israel.
27 There is the smallest tribe, Benjamin, leading them.
And there are the leaders of Judah with their group.
There also are the leaders of Zebulun and of Naphtali.
28 God, order up your power.
Show the mighty power you have used for us before.
29 Kings will bring their wealth to you,
to your Temple in Jerusalem.
30 Punish Egypt, the beast among the tall grass along the river.
Punish the leaders of nations, those bulls among the cows.
Then they will bring you their silver.
Scatter those nations that love war.
31 Messengers will come from Egypt with forced payment.
The people of Cush will pray to God.
32 Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God.
Sing praises to the Lord. Selah
33 Sing to the one who rides through the skies, which are from long ago.
He speaks with a thundering voice.
34 Announce that God is powerful.
He rules over Israel.
His power is in the skies.
35 God, you are wonderful in your Temple.
The God of Israel gives his people strength and power.
Praise God!
Giving of the Wall of Jerusalem
27 The wall of Jerusalem was offered as a gift to God. The Levites were found in the places where they lived. And they were brought to Jerusalem to celebrate with joy the giving of the wall. They were to celebrate with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals, harps and lyres. 28 They also brought together singers. They came from all around Jerusalem and from the Netophathite villages. 29 They came from Beth Gilgal and the areas of Geba and Azmaveth. The singers had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem. 30 The priests and Levites made themselves pure. They also made the people, the gates and the wall of Jerusalem pure.
31 I had the leaders of Judah go up on top of the wall. I appointed two large choruses to give thanks. One chorus went to the right on top of the wall. This was toward the Trash Gate.
42 These people were also there: Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam and Ezer. The choruses sang, led by Jezrahiah. 43 The people offered many sacrifices that day. They were happy because God made them very happy. The women and children were happy. The sound of happiness in Jerusalem could be heard far away.
44 At that time the leaders appointed men to be in charge of the storerooms. These rooms were for the gifts, the first fruits and a tenth of what the people gained. The Teachings said they should bring a share for the priests and Levites. These were to come from the fields around the towns. The people of Judah were happy to do this for the priests and Levites who served. 45 They performed the service of their God. They had the service of purifying things. The singers and gatekeepers also did their jobs as David had commanded his son Solomon. 46 Earlier, in the time of David and Asaph, there was a leader of the singers. There were songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47 So it was in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah. All the people of Israel gave something to the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside things for the Levites. The Levites set aside things for the descendants of Aaron.
The Two Witnesses
11 Then I was given a measuring stick like a rod. I was told, “Go and measure the temple[a] of God and the altar, and count the number of people worshiping there. 2 But do not measure the yard outside the temple. Leave it alone. It has been given to the people who are not Jews. They will walk on the holy city for 42 months. 3 And I will give power to my two witnesses to prophesy for 1,260 days. They will be dressed in rough cloth to show how sad they are.”
4 These two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone tries to hurt the witnesses, fire comes from their mouths and kills their enemies. Anyone who tries to hurt them will die like this. 6 These witnesses have the power to stop the sky from raining during the time they are prophesying. They have power to make the waters become blood. They have power to send every kind of trouble to the earth. They can do this as many times as they want.
7 When the two witnesses have finished telling their message, the beast will fight against them. This is the beast that comes up from the bottomless pit. He will defeat them and kill them. 8 The bodies of the two witnesses will lie in the street of the great city. This city is named Sodom[b] and Egypt. These names for the city have a special meaning. It is the city where the Lord was killed. 9 Men from every race of people, tribe, language, and nation will look at the bodies of the two witnesses for three and a half days. They will refuse to bury them. 10 People who live on the earth will be happy because these two are dead. They will have parties and send each other gifts. They will do these things because these two prophets brought much suffering to those who live on the earth.
11 But after three and a half days, God put the breath of life into the two prophets again. They stood on their feet. Everyone who saw them was filled with fear. 12 Then the two prophets heard a loud voice from heaven say, “Come up here!” And they went up into heaven in a cloud. Their enemies watched them go.
13 At that same time there was a great earthquake. A tenth of the city was destroyed. And 7,000 people were killed in the earthquake. Those who did not die were very afraid. They gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second great trouble is finished. The third great trouble is coming soon.
The Seventh Trumpet
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet. And there were loud voices in heaven. The voices said:
“The power to rule the world
now belongs to our Lord and his Christ.
And he will rule forever and ever.”
16 Then the 24 elders[c] bowed down on their faces and worshiped God. These are the elders who sit on their thrones before God. 17 They said:
“We give thanks to you, Lord God All-Powerful.
You are the One who is and who was.
We thank you because you have used your great power
and have begun to rule!
18 The people of the world were angry;
but now is the time for your anger.
Now is the time for the dead to be judged.
It is time to reward your servants the prophets
and to reward your holy people,
all who respect you, great and small.
It is time to destroy those who destroy the earth!”
19 Then God’s temple[d] in heaven was opened. The Ark of the Covenant that holds the agreement that God gave to his people could be seen in his temple. Then there were flashes of lightning, noises, thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.
Stories of a Treasure and a Pearl
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. One day a man found the treasure, and then he hid it in the field again. The man was very happy to find the treasure. He went and sold everything that he owned to buy that field.
45 “Also, the kingdom of heaven is like a man looking for fine pearls. 46 One day he found a very valuable pearl. The man went and sold everything he had to buy that pearl.
A Story of a Fishing Net
47 “Also, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was put into the lake. The net caught many different kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen pulled the net to the shore. They sat down and put all the good fish in baskets. Then they threw away the bad fish. 49 It will be this way at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the evil people from the good people. 50 The angels will throw the evil people into the blazing furnace. In that place the people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.”
51 Jesus asked his followers, “Do you understand all these things?”
They answered, “Yes, we understand.”
52 Then Jesus said to them, “So every teacher of the law who has been taught about the kingdom of heaven is like the owner of a house. He has both new things and old things saved in his house. And he brings out both those new things and old things.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.