Book of Common Prayer
97 How I love your teachings!
I think about them all day long.
98 Your commands make me wiser than my enemies
because they are mine forever.
99 I am wiser than all my teachers
because I think about your rules.
100 I have more understanding than the elders
because I follow your orders.
101 I have avoided every evil way
so I could obey your word.
102 I haven’t stopped obeying your laws
because you yourself are my teacher.
103 Your promises are so sweet to me.
They are like honey to my mouth!
104 Your orders give me understanding.
So I hate lying ways.
105 Your word is like a lamp for my feet
and a light for my way.
106 I will do what I have promised
and obey your fair laws.
107 I have suffered for a long time.
Lord, give me life by your word.
108 Lord, accept my willing praise.
And teach me your laws.
109 My life is always in danger.
But I haven’t forgotten your teachings.
110 Wicked people have set a trap for me.
But I haven’t disobeyed your orders.
111 I will follow your rules forever.
They make me happy.
112 I will try to do what you demand
forever, until the end.
113 I hate people who are not completely loyal to you.
But I love your teachings.
114 You are my hiding place and my shield.
I trust your word.
115 Get away from me, you people who do evil,
so I can keep my God’s commands.
116 Support me as you promised so I can live.
Don’t let me be embarrassed because of my hopes.
117 Help me, and I will be saved.
I will always respect your demands.
118 You reject everyone who ignores your demands.
Their lies mislead them.
119 You throw away the wicked of the world like trash.
So I will love your rules.
120 I shake in fear of you.
I fear your laws.
A Song for a Holiday
For the director of music. By the gittith. A song of Asaph.
81 Sing for joy to God, our strength.
Shout out loud to the God of Jacob.
2 Begin the music. Play the tambourines.
Play pleasant music on the harps and lyres.
3 Blow the sheep’s horn at the time of the New Moon.
Blow it when the moon is full, when our feast begins.
4 This is the law for Israel.
It is God’s command to the people of Jacob.
5 He made this agreement with the people of Joseph
when they went out of the land of Egypt.
I heard a language I did not know, saying:
6 “I took the load off your shoulders.
I let you put down your baskets.
7 When you were in trouble, you called, and I saved you.
I answered you with thunder.
I tested you at the waters of Meribah. Selah
8 My people, listen. I am warning you.
Israel, please listen to me!
9 You must not have foreign gods among you.
You must not worship any false god.
10 I, the Lord, am your God.
I brought you out of Egypt.
Open your mouth, and I will feed you.
11 “But my people did not listen to me.
Israel did not want me.
12 So I let them go their stubborn way.
They followed their own advice.
13 I wish my people would listen to me.
I wish Israel would live my way.
14 Then I would quickly defeat their enemies.
I would turn my hand against those who are against them.
15 Those who hate the Lord would bow before him.
Their punishment would continue forever.
16 But I would give you the finest wheat.
I would fill you with honey from the rocks.”
God Judges the Judges
A song of Asaph.
82 God is in charge of the great meeting of his people.
He judges the judges.
2 He says, “How long will you defend evil people?
How long will you show greater kindness to the wicked? Selah
3 Defend the orphans and the weak.
Defend the rights of the poor and suffering.
4 Save the weak and helpless
from the power of the wicked.
5 “You know nothing. You don’t understand.
You walk in the dark,
while the world is falling apart.
6 I said, ‘You are gods.
You are all sons of the Most High God.’
7 But you will die like any other person.
You will die like all the leaders.”
8 God, come and judge the earth.
You own all the nations.
73 So these people all settled in their own towns: the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Temple servants and all the other people of Israel.
Ezra Reads the Teachings
By the seventh month the Israelites were settled in their own towns.
8 All the people of Israel gathered together in the square by the Water Gate. They asked Ezra the teacher to bring out the Book of the Teachings of Moses. These are the Teachings the Lord had given to Israel.
2 So Ezra the priest brought out the Teachings for the crowd. This was on the first day of the seventh month. Men, women and all who could listen and understand had gathered. 3 Ezra read the Teachings out loud. He read from early morning until noon. He was facing the square by the Water Gate. He read to the men, women and everyone who could listen and understand. All the people listened carefully to the Book of the Teachings.
5 Ezra opened the book. All the people could see him because he was above them. As he opened it, all the people stood up. 6 Ezra praised the Lord, the great God. And all the people held up their hands and said, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the Lord with their faces to the ground.
7 These Levites taught the people the Teachings as they stood there: Jeshua, Bani, Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodiah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan and Pelaiah. 8 They read the Book of the Teachings of God. They read so the people could understand. And they explained what it meant. Then the people understood what was being read.
9 Then Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest and teacher spoke up. And the Levites who were teaching spoke up. They said to all the people, “This is a holy day to the Lord your God. Don’t be sad or cry.” All the people had been crying as they listened to the words of the Teachings.
10 Nehemiah said, “Go and enjoy good food and sweet drinks. Send some to people who have none. Today is a holy day to the Lord. Don’t be sad. The joy of the Lord will make you strong.”
11 The Levites helped calm the people. They said, “Be quiet. This is a holy day. Don’t be sad.”
12 Then all the people went away to eat and drink. They sent some of their food to others. And they celebrated with great joy. They finally understood what they had been taught.
13 On the second day of the month, the leaders of all the families met with Ezra the teacher. The priests and Levites also met with him. They gathered to study the words of the Teachings. 14 This is what they found written in the Teachings: The Lord had commanded through Moses that the people of Israel were to live in shelters. This was during the feast of the seventh month. 15 The people were supposed to preach this message. They were to spread it through all of their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the mountains. Bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, myrtle trees, palms and shade trees. Make shelters with them. It is written in the Law.”
16 So the people went out and got tree branches. They built shelters on their roofs[a] and in their courtyards. They built shelters in the courtyards of the Temple. And they built them in the square by the Water Gate and the square next to the Gate of Ephraim. 17 The whole group that had come back from captivity built shelters. And they lived in them. The Israelites had not done this since the time of Joshua son of Nun. And they were very happy.
18 Ezra read to them from the Book of the Teachings. He read every day, from the first day to the last. The people of Israel celebrated the feast for seven days. Then on the eighth day the people gathered as the law said.
21 Then a powerful angel picked up a stone like a large stone for grinding grain. The angel threw the stone into the sea and said:
“That is how the great city of Babylon will be thrown down.
The city will never be found again.
22 The music of people playing harps and other instruments, flutes and trumpets,
will never be heard in you again.
No workman doing any job
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of grinding grain
will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of a lamp
will never shine in you again.
The voices of a bridegroom and bride
will never be heard in you again.
Your businessmen were the world’s great men.
All the nations were tricked by your magic.
24 She is guilty of the death
of the prophets and God’s holy people
and of all who have been killed on earth.”
Jesus Heals Many People
29 Then Jesus left that place and went to the shore of Lake Galilee. He went up on a hill and sat there.
30 Great crowds came to Jesus. They brought their sick with them: the lame, the blind, the crippled, the dumb and many others. They put them at Jesus’ feet, and he healed them. 31 The crowd was amazed when they saw that people who could not speak were able to speak again. The crippled were made strong again. Those who could not walk were able to walk again. The blind were able to see again. And they praised the God of Israel for this.
More Than 4,000 People Fed
32 Jesus called his followers to him and said, “I feel sorry for these people. They have been with me three days, and now they have nothing to eat. I don’t want to send them away hungry. They might faint while going home.”
33 His followers asked him, “Where can we get enough bread to feed all these people? We are far away from any town.”
34 Jesus asked, “How many loaves of bread do you have?”
They answered, “We have seven loaves and a few small fish.”
35 Jesus told the people to sit on the ground. 36 He took the seven loaves of bread and the fish and gave thanks to God for the food. Then Jesus divided the food and gave it to his followers. They gave the food to the people. 37 All the people ate and were satisfied. After this, the followers filled seven baskets with the pieces of food that were not eaten. 38 There were about 4,000 men there who ate, besides women and children. 39 After they ate, Jesus told the people to go home. He got into the boat and went to the area of Magadan.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.