Book of Common Prayer

The Lord rules as king!^[a]

The Lord is holy!^[a]

This is a psalm to say ‘thank you’.

Thank you, God!^[f]

God judges all people

Worship God and obey him^[c]

Isaiah's prayer

⁷ I will speak about all the good things that the Lord does because he loves his people. We should praise him for everything that he does for us. He has done many good things for us, Israel's family. He helps us because he loves us very much, and he is very kind.

⁸ The Lord said, ‘Surely, they are my own people. As my children, they will not turn against me.’ So he became their Saviour. ⁹ When his people suffered, he also had pain. He sent his own angel to go and save them. Because he loved them and he was kind to them, he redeemed them. He lifted them up and he carried them, through all the years long ago.

¹⁰ But they turned against him. They made his Holy Spirit angry. So he then became their enemy. He fought against them.

¹¹ Then they remembered past years, when Moses led their ancestors out of Egypt. They said, ‘Where is the Lord now, when we need him? He brought his people safely through the sea, with Moses as their leader. He caused his Holy Spirit to work among them. ¹² He caused his power to be with Moses, as Moses raised his arm over the sea. He caused the waters to become separate so that his people could go across. In that way, he caused his name always to be famous. ¹³ He led them through the deep water of the sea. They ran across like horses on open ground, and they did not fall. ¹⁴ The Lord's Spirit led them to a place of rest, like cows that go down to a quiet valley.’

Yes, Lord, you were your people's guide. In that way, you made your name great.

Timothy should be a good leader in the church

¹⁸ Timothy, you are like my own child. So now I am telling you to serve God well. Remember the words from God that people spoke about you, when you became a servant of God.^[a] Those words will help you to be strong, like a soldier who fights well.^{[b] 19} You must continue to trust God. Always do what you know to be right. Some people have refused to do what is right, even when they know what they should do. As a result, they no longer believe God's true message. ²⁰ Hymenaeus and Alexander are people like that.^[c] I have given them to Satan so that he may punish them. Then they will learn not to say bad things against God any more.

Christians should pray for all people

2 So then, this is what I want to ask you first. Please pray for all people. Ask God to supply what they need. Ask God to help them. Thank God for what he does for everyone. ² Pray in that way for kings and for all rulers and people who have authority. Pray for God to help them, so that we may live our lives without trouble or danger. Then we can live in a good way that respects God and other people. ³ It is good that we should pray like that. It makes God, our Saviour, happy. ⁴ He wants to save all people. He wants everyone to know his message about what is true.

⁵ There is only one God. There is also only one person who brings God and people together. That person is Christ Jesus, who became a man himself. ⁶ He died as a sacrifice on behalf of all people, to pay the debt of their sins. He died at the proper time for God to show his purpose clearly. ⁷ God chose me as his apostle, to tell this same message to people. I am telling you what is true. I am not telling lies! Yes, he sent me to teach his true message to the Gentiles, so that they would believe in him.

⁸ So then, in every place where you meet together, I want the men to pray. The men who lift up their hands and pray must be those who live good lives. They must not be people who are angry or who quarrel with others.

A tree without fruit

¹² On the next day, they left Bethany. Jesus was hungry. ¹³ He saw a fig tree which was a long way away. There were leaves on it. So he went to see if it had fruit on it. When he reached it, he found nothing except leaves. That was because it was not the right season for it to have fruit. ¹⁴ So Jesus said to the tree, ‘Nobody will ever eat your fruit again.’ And his disciples heard what he said.

Jesus goes to the temple

¹⁵ When they arrived back in Jerusalem, Jesus went into the yard of the temple.^[a] People were buying and selling things there. Jesus began to make them all leave that place. Some men were changing coins there for people.^[b] He pushed over their tables. And he pushed over the seats of the men who sold birds.^[c]

¹⁶ Jesus would not let anyone carry things through that place. ¹⁷ While he was teaching the people, Jesus said, ‘The Bible says, “God's house will be a place where people from all countries pray.” But you have changed it into a place where robbers meet.’

¹⁸ The leaders of the priests and the teachers of God's Law heard this. And they thought about how they could kill Jesus. They were afraid of him. That was because all the crowd were listening to him. And the things that he taught caused the crowd to be very surprised.

¹⁹ When it was evening, Jesus and his disciples went out of the city again.

The fig tree is dead

²⁰ The next morning, Jesus and his disciples passed the fig tree. They saw that it was completely dead. ²¹ Peter remembered what Jesus had said. So he said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, look at that fig tree. You said that it should die, and it has died.’

²² So Jesus said to them, ‘You must believe in God. ²³ I tell you this: A person could say to this mountain, “Move and throw yourself into the sea.” Then it will happen like he says. But he must not let other ideas come into his mind. He must really believe that those things will happen. If he does believe it, God will do those things for him. ²⁴ So I tell you this. When you pray to ask God for anything, believe in him. Believe that you have received that thing. Then you will have whatever you have asked for. ²⁵ But when you stand up to pray, first you must forgive other people. If anyone has done something bad against you, forgive that person. If you do forgive them, your Father in heaven will forgive you. God will forgive you for the bad things that you have done.’ ^26 [d]