Book of Common Prayer
This psalm is a song that the sons of Korah wrote for the music leader. Use special music. It is a special song by Heman the Ezrahite.
A sad cry[a]
88 Lord, you are the God who rescues me.
I call out to you in the day,
and I pray for help at night.
2 Please listen to my prayer!
I am calling to you for help!
3 There is a lot of trouble in my life.
I feel that I am near to death.
4 People see me as if I am already in my grave.
I feel completely helpless.
5 I am the same as people who have died.
Their bodies already lie in their graves.
You do not remember them any more
You cannot use your power to help them.
6 You have put me in the deep hole of death,
far down in a very dark place.
7 Your anger is very heavy on me.
It is like the waves of the sea that knock me down.
8 You have caused my best friends
to keep away from me.
They do not even want to look at me.
A trap has caught me
and I cannot escape.
9 My eyes have become weak
because I am so sad.
Lord, every day I call to you for help.
I lift my hands up to you as I pray.
10 Your great miracles do not help dead people!
Dead people cannot get up and praise you!
Selah.
11 People in their graves
cannot talk about your faithful love!
In the world of death,
they cannot say how faithful you are.
12 In those dark places,
they do not see your miracles.
In that place where people forget everything,
they cannot know about the good things that you do.
13 But as for me, Lord,
I call to you for help.
Every morning I pray to you.
14 Lord, why do you throw me out?
Why do you turn away from me?
15 Since I was young, I have been in pain.
I have always been near to death.
You have caused bad troubles to frighten me,
so that I feel helpless.
16 Your anger is too much for me!
You are attacking me and destroying me!
17 The troubles that you send are all round me,
like a flood of deep water.
They come very near to me,
on every side.
18 You cause my friends and my neighbours
to stay away from me.
All that I have near to me is darkness.
God is a safe place[a]
91 If anyone lives in Almighty God's safe place,
the Most High God protects that person.
2 I will say to the Lord,
‘You are the strong place where I will be safe.
You are my God,
and I trust in you.’
3 God will keep you safe,
so that no trap will catch you.[b]
He will not let any illness kill you.
4 He will keep you safe,
like a bird keeps its babies safe under its wings.
Because he keeps his promises,
he will keep you safe like a shield and armour.
5 Do not be afraid of troubles that come in the night,
or of your enemy's arrows during the day.
6 Do not be afraid of any illness that comes when it is dark,
or any trouble that comes in the middle of the day.
7 A thousand people may die near you.
Even ten thousand people may die at your side.
But nothing will hurt you.
8 Your own eyes will see this happen.
You will see wicked people
receive the punishment that they deserve.
9 You have come to the Lord to make you safe.
The Most High God has become your home.
10 No bad thing will happen to you.
No illness will come to your home.
11 For God will tell his angels to keep you safe.[c]
They will protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you safely in their hands,
so that you do not hurt your foot on a stone.[d]
13 You will win against lions and snakes.
You will walk over them!
14 The Lord says, ‘If someone loves me,
I will keep him safe.
Because he worships me,
I will protect him.
15 When he calls to me for help,
I will answer him.
When he has trouble,
I will be with him.
I will rescue him,
and people will respect him.
16 I will give to him a long life,
so that he is happy.
He will see that I have the power to save people.’
This psalm is a song to sing on Sabbath days.
A song to praise God
92 It is good to thank the Lord!
We sing to praise your name, Most High God.
2 We sing in the morning
to thank you for your faithful love.
We sing at night
to say that you are always faithful.
3 We make beautiful music
with lutes, harps and lyres.[e]
4 The things that you do, Lord,
make me very happy.
I sing with joy
because of the things that your hands have made!
5 Yes, Lord, you have done great things!
Your thoughts are more than we can understand!
6 Here is something that stupid people do not know.
Fools do not understand it.
7 Wicked people may continue to grow,
like green grass.
Evil people may grow like weeds.
But in the end you will destroy them
and they will never grow again.[f]
8 You, Lord, will rule as King for ever!
9 Yes, Lord, look at your enemies!
Your enemies will all die!
Those people who do evil things will all disappear!
10 You have made me as strong as a wild bull.
You have poured pure olive oil on me.[g]
11 With my own eyes,
I have seen my enemies fall.
With my own ears,
I have heard them cry out in pain.
12 Righteous people will do well,
like a palm tree that makes new leaves.
They will become strong,
like a tall cedar tree in Lebanon.
13 They are like trees that someone has planted in the Lord's house.
They grow well in the yard of our God's temple.
14 When they are old,
they will still give fruit!
They will always be strong,
with fresh, green leaves.
15 They will tell everyone,
‘The Lord always does what is right.
He is my strong, safe rock.
There is nothing bad in him.’
Good news of salvation
61 The Spirit of the Almighty Lord is on me,
because he has chosen me to serve him.[a]
He has sent me to tell good news to poor people.
He has sent me to comfort people who are very upset.
He has sent me to tell prisoners that they are now free.
They can go out of their prisons!
2 He has sent me to say,
‘This is the year when the Lord will be kind to his people.’
It is the time when our God will punish our enemies.
He has sent me to comfort people who are weeping
because they are sad.
3 In that way, the people in Zion who are sad
will become strong again.
They will not put ashes on their heads any more.[b]
Instead, they will wear beautiful hats.
Instead of weeping,
they will have olive oil to show their joy.
They will not feel upset,
but they will sing happy songs to praise God.
People will call them ‘Strong trees that show God's righteousness’.
They will be like trees that the Lord himself has planted
to show how great he is.
4 God's people will build again their towns
that became heaps of stones a long time ago.
Once again, they will live in the cities
that have been empty for so long.
5 The Lord says to his people,
‘Foreign people will take care of your sheep for you.
They will work on your farms,
and they will take care of your vines.[c]
6 People will call you
“The Lord's priests who are servants of our God”.
You will enjoy valuable things from other nations.
You will boast about all the riches
that you receive from them.
7 You will not be ashamed any more.
Instead, you will receive twice as much blessing.
People will not say that you are useless.
Instead, you will live happily on your own land.
Yes, my people will have twice the crops from their land,
And so they will always be very happy.
8 I, the Lord, love justice.
I hate it when people rob others,
or they do other wrong things.
Because I am faithful,
I will give help to my people.
I will make a covenant with them
that will continue for ever.
9 Their descendants will be famous
among the other nations.
Everyone who sees them will know
that the Lord has blessed them.’
People will turn away from God in the last days
3 Let me tell you this. During the last days of this world, there will be times of great trouble. 2 People will love only themselves, and they will want lots of money for themselves. They will be proud and they will say how great they are. They will insult other people. They will not obey their parents. They will not thank anyone who helps them. They will not respect anything that is good. 3 They will not be kind to other people, but they will like to quarrel. They will tell lies to hurt other people. They will be unable to control themselves properly. They will be cruel and they will hate anything that is good. 4 People will turn against their friends. They will do foolish things. They will boast that they are very important. They will not love God, but instead they will only want to enjoy themselves. 5 Those people will seem to be serving God. But really they refuse to accept God's power to help them. You must stay away from people like that.
6 Among those people, there are some men who find a way into people's homes. They get power over silly women who feel very guilty about their sins. Those women want to do wrong things and they cannot stop themselves. 7 They are always trying to learn new things, but they can never really understand God's true message. 8 These are people who speak against God's true message, in the same way that Jannes and Jambres spoke against Moses.[a] Their minds have become confused. The way that they serve God is false. 9 But they will not continue to do many more bad things. Everyone will see clearly that they are fools. That is what happened to Jannes and Jambres.
Timothy must copy Paul's example
10 But you, Timothy, have heard my message and you know it well. You also know the way in which I have lived. You know my purpose in life. You know how I trust God. You know how patient I have been. You know my love for God and for other people. You know that I have been strong during troubles. 11 You also know what happened to me in the cities called Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. People caused me to have a lot of trouble and pain in those places. But I was patient and brave in those bad troubles! And the Lord kept me safe in all those dangerous times.[b]
12 It is not only me. Every Christian who wants to live in a way that pleases God will have trouble from other people. 13 Bad people like that will become even worse. Some of them will teach a false message and people will believe their lies. Those false teachers even believe their own lies!
It is important for us to know the Bible
14 But you must continue to believe the things that you have learned. You know that those things are true. You know the teachers who taught you those things. 15 Even when you were a child, you already knew the message of the Bible. The Bible has taught you how you can be truly wise. You understand that God saves you because you believe in Christ Jesus. 16 Everything that is written in the Bible comes from God's Spirit. It helps us in many ways. The Bible teaches us what is true. It warns us when we are doing wrong things. It shows us what is right. It teaches us how to live good lives.[c] 17 As a result, people who want to serve God can know how to live properly. They will be people who are ready to do all kinds of good things.
Jesus talks again about his death
32 Jesus and his disciples were walking along the road towards Jerusalem. Jesus was walking in front of them all. The disciples were very upset. Other people who were following behind them were afraid. Jesus again took his 12 apostles away from the other people. He began to tell them what would happen to him soon. 33 ‘Listen!’ he said to them. ‘We are going to Jerusalem. There, someone will give the Son of Man to the leaders of the priests and to the teachers of God's Law. These Jewish leaders will decide that he must die. Then they will put him under the power of people who are not Jews. 34 Those people will laugh at him. They will spit at him. They will hit him with whips. Then they will kill him. But after three days, he will become alive again.’
James and John ask Jesus to do something for them
35 James and John, who were Zebedee's sons, came to Jesus. ‘Teacher,’ they said, ‘we want to ask you for something. Please do it for us.’
36 ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ Jesus asked them.
37 They said to him, ‘When you are king, we want to rule with you. One of us will sit at your right side and the other one at your left side.’
38 Jesus said to them, ‘You do not understand what you are asking for. I will have much pain and trouble. Are you ready to have the same pain? Are you ready to die in the way that I will die?’
39 James and John replied, ‘Yes, we can do all that.’
Jesus said to them, ‘Yes, that is true. You will have pain like mine. And people will want to kill you like me. 40 But I cannot promise that you will sit at my right side or at my left side. God has chosen the people who will sit there. He has prepared the places for those people.’
41 When the other ten disciples heard about this, they were angry with James and John. 42 But Jesus told the disciples to come to him. He said to them, ‘You know the things that rulers of other countries do. They show that they have much power over their people. The leaders of those countries use great authority over their people. 43 But you should not be like that. Instead, the person who wants to be great among you must become like your servant. 44 Anyone who wants to be the most important person among you must work hard for you all. 45 Even the Son of Man came to earth to be a servant to other people. He did not come here to have servants who must work for him. No, he came to die so that many people can be free.’
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.