Book of Common Prayer
A Morning Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. For flutes. A song of David.
5 Lord, listen to my words.
Understand what I am thinking.
2 Listen to my cry for help.
My king and my God, I pray to you.
3 Lord, every morning you hear my voice.
Every morning, I tell you what I need.
And I wait for your answer.
4 You are not a God who is pleased with what is wicked.
You do not live with those who do evil.
5 Those people who make fun of you cannot stand before you.
You hate all those who do wrong.
6 You destroy liars.
The Lord hates those who kill and trick others.
7 Because of your great love,
I can come into your Temple.
Because I fear and respect you,
I can worship in your holy Temple.
8 Lord, since I have many enemies,
show me the right thing to do.
Show me clearly how you want me to live.
9 With their mouths my enemies do not tell the truth.
In their hearts they want to destroy people.
Their throats are like open graves.
They use their tongues for telling lies.
10 God, declare them guilty!
Let them fall into their own traps.
Send them away because their sins are many.
They have turned against you.
11 But let everyone who trusts you be happy.
Let them sing glad songs forever.
Protect those who love you.
They are happy because of you.
12 Lord, you bless those who do what is right.
You protect them like a soldier’s shield.
A Prayer for Mercy in Troubled Times
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. By the sheminith. A song of David.
6 Lord, don’t correct me when you are angry.
Don’t punish me when you are very angry.
2 Lord, be kind to me because I am weak.
Heal me, Lord, because my bones ache.
3 I am very upset.
Lord, how long will it be?
4 Lord, return and save me.
Save me because of your kindness.
5 Dead people don’t remember you.
Those in the grave don’t praise you.
6 I am tired of crying to you.
Every night my bed is wet with tears.
My bed is soaked from my crying.
7 My eyes are weak from so much crying.
They are weak from crying about my enemies.
8 Get away from me, all you who do evil.
The Lord has heard my crying.
9 The Lord has heard my cry for help.
The Lord will answer my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be ashamed and troubled.
They will turn and suddenly leave in shame.
A Complaint About Evil People
10 Lord, why are you so far away?
Why do you hide when there is trouble?
2 Proudly the wicked chase down those who suffer.
The wicked set traps to catch them.
3 They brag about the things they want.
They bless the greedy but hate the Lord.
4 The wicked people are too proud.
They do not look for God.
There is no room for God in their thoughts.
5 They always succeed.
They are far from keeping your laws.
They make fun of their enemies.
6 They say to themselves, “Nothing bad will ever happen to me.
I will never be ruined.”
7 Their mouths are full of curses, lies and threats.
They use their tongues for sin and evil.
8 They hide near the villages.
They look for innocent people to kill.
They watch in secret for the helpless.
9 They wait in hiding like a lion.
They wait to catch poor people.
They catch the poor in nets.
10 The poor are thrown down and crushed.
They are defeated because the others are stronger.
11 The wicked think,
“God has forgotten us.
He doesn’t see what is happening.”
12 Lord, rise up and punish the wicked.
Don’t forget those who need help.
13 Why do wicked people hate God?
They say to themselves, “God won’t punish us.”
14 Lord, surely you see these cruel and evil things.
Look at them and do something.
People in trouble look to you for help.
You are the one who helps the orphans.
15 Break the power of wicked men.
Punish them for the evil they have done.
16 The Lord is King forever and ever.
Remove from your land those nations that do not worship you.
17 Lord, you have heard what the poor people want.
Do what they ask. Listen to them.
18 Protect the orphans. Put an end to suffering.
Then they will no longer be afraid of evil people.
A Statement About Trust in God
For the director of music. Of David.
11 I trust in the Lord for protection.
So why do you say to me,
“Fly like a bird to your mountain.
2 Like hunters, the wicked string their bows.
They set their arrows on the bowstrings.
They shoot from dark places
at those who are honest.
3 When all that is good falls apart,
what can good people do?”
4 The Lord is in his holy temple.
The Lord sits on his throne in heaven.
And he sees what people do.
He keeps his eye on them.
5 The Lord tests those who do right.
But he hates the wicked and those who love to hurt others.
6 He will send hot coals on the wicked.
Burning sulfur and a whirlwind is what they will get.
7 The Lord does what is right, and he loves justice.
So honest people will see his face.
Warning to Israel
3 Listen to this message that the Lord has spoken against you, people of Israel. The message is against the whole nation the Lord brought out of Egypt.
2 “I have chosen only you
out of all the families of the earth.
So I will punish you
for all your sins.”
3 Two people will not walk together
unless they have agreed to do this.
4 A lion in the forest will roar
when he has caught an animal.
He does not growl in his den
when he has caught nothing.
5 A bird will not fall into a trap
where there is no bait.
The trap will not spring shut
if there is nothing to catch.
6 When a trumpet blows a warning,
the people tremble.
When trouble comes to a city,
the Lord has caused it.
7 Before the Lord God does anything,
he tells his servants the prophets.
8 The lion has roared!
Who wouldn’t be afraid?
The Lord God has spoken,
and I must prophesy his message.
9 Announce this to the strong towers of Ashdod.
Announce it to the strong cities of Egypt:
“Come to the mountains of Samaria.
There you will see great confusion.
You will see people hurting others.”
10 “The people don’t know how to do what is right,” says the Lord.
“Their strong cities are filled with treasures they took by force from others.”
11 So this is what the Lord God says:
“An enemy will take over the land.
He will pull down your strong towers.
He will take the treasures you hid in your strong cities.”
12 You know these things, and you are very strong in the truth. But I will always help you to remember these things. 13 I think it is right for me to help you remember while I am still living here on earth. 14 I know that I must soon leave this body. Our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that. 15 I will try the best I can to help you remember these things always. I want you to be able to remember them even after I am gone.
We Saw Christ’s Glory
16 We have told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. What we told you were not just smart stories that someone invented. But we saw the greatness of Jesus with our own eyes. 17 Jesus heard the voice of God, the Greatest Glory. That was when Jesus received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice said, “This is my Son, and I love him. I am very pleased with him.” 18 We heard that voice. It came from heaven while we were with Jesus on the holy mountain.
19 This makes us more sure about the message the prophets gave. And it is good for you to follow closely what they said. Their message is like a light shining in a dark place. That light shines until the day begins and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 Most of all, you must understand this: No prophecy in the Scriptures ever comes from the prophet’s own interpretation. 21 No prophecy ever came from what a man wanted to say. But men led by the Holy Spirit spoke words from God.
Jesus Goes to the Temple
12 Jesus went into the Temple. He threw out all the people who were buying and selling there. He turned over the tables that belonged to the men who were exchanging different kinds of money. And he upset the benches of those who were selling doves. 13 Jesus said to all the people there, “It is written in the Scriptures, ‘My Temple will be a house where people will pray.’[a] But you are changing God’s house into a ‘hideout for robbers.’”[b]
14 The blind and crippled people came to Jesus in the Temple, and Jesus healed them. 15 The leading priests and the teachers of the law saw that Jesus was doing wonderful things. They saw the children praising him in the Temple. The children were saying, “Praise[c] to the Son of David.” All these things made the priests and the teachers of the law very angry.
16 They asked Jesus, “Do you hear the things these children are saying?”
Jesus answered, “Yes. Haven’t you read in the Scriptures, ‘You have taught children and babies to sing praises’?”[d]
17 Then Jesus left and went out of the city to Bethany, where he spent the night.
The Power of Faith
18 Early the next morning, Jesus was going back to the city. He was very hungry. 19 He saw a fig tree beside the road. Jesus went to it, but there were no figs on the tree. There were only leaves. So Jesus said to the tree, “You will never again have fruit!” The tree immediately dried up.
20 His followers saw this and were amazed. They asked, “How did the fig tree dry up so quickly?”
21 Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth. If you have faith and do not doubt, you will be able to do what I did to this tree. And you will be able to do more. You will be able to say to this mountain, ‘Go, mountain, fall into the sea.’ And if you have faith, it will happen. 22 If you believe, you will get anything you ask for in prayer.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.