Book of Common Prayer
This is the prayer of a man who is weak and in trouble. He tells the Lord that he is very sad.
A young man's prayer[a]
102 Lord, please hear my prayer!
Listen to me when I call to you for help.
2 Now that I am in trouble,
please do not turn away from me.
Listen carefully to me.
Now that I am calling to you for help,
please answer me quickly.
3 My life is quickly disappearing,
like smoke from a fire.
My bones hurt very much,
as if they were burning in an oven.[b]
4 I am very weak and upset,
like dry grass that will soon die.
I even forget to eat my food.
5 I cry aloud with pain,
so that I am just skin and bones.[c]
6 I am like a wild bird in the desert.
I am like an owl in the wilderness.
7 I am awake in the night,
like a bird that sits alone on the roof.
8 All day my enemies insult me.
They laugh at me
and they use my name as a curse.
9-10 Because you are so angry with me,
I eat ashes as my food.
My tears drop
into the water that I drink.
It seems that you have picked me up,
and then you have thrown me away.
11 My days are disappearing,
like a shadow in the evening.
Like dry grass,
I will soon die.
12 But you, Lord, rule for ever as king.
People will always remember you.
13 You will soon be kind to Zion again.
Now it is time to forgive her.
Yes, the time is now right for you to do that.
14 Her buildings have become broken stones and dust.
But your servants still love your city.
We are sad to see that it is broken down.
15 The nations will respect the Lord's name.
All the kings of the world
will praise your glory.
16 That will happen when the Lord builds Zion again
and he appears there in his glory.
17 He will answer the prayers
of poor people who have nothing.
He will not refuse to help them.
18 Write these things down
for people who live in future times to read.
Then they too will praise the Lord.
19 Tell them that the Lord looked down
from his home in heaven.
He saw what was happening on the earth.
20 He heard the prisoners call out in pain.
He saved the lives of prisoners
so they could go free before their enemies could kill them.
21 As a result, people will shout the Lord's name in Zion.
Yes, they will praise him in Jerusalem!
22 At that time, people from all nations
will meet together.
The kingdoms of the world
will come to serve the Lord.
23 But God has made me weak
before I have reached old age.
He has made my life short.
24 So I pray, ‘My God, please do not let me die now,
in the middle of my life.
The years of your life continue for ever!
25 Long ago, you built the world on a strong foundation.
You created the heavens with your own hands.
26 They will all disappear one day,
but you will remain.
They will become spoiled,
like old clothes.
Like clothes, you will remove them,
so that they disappear.
27 But you remain the same, Lord.
The years of your life will never finish.
28 As your servants,
our children will live here safely.
Their children too will be safe,
as they live near to you.’
God takes care of his people[a]
107 Thank the Lord because he is good.
His faithful love for his people continues for ever.
2 Everyone that the Lord has rescued
should tell others.
Tell them how he has rescued you
from the enemy's power.
3 He brought his people from foreign countries.
He brought them together from the east and the west,
from the north, and from the south.[b]
4 Some of them travelled through the wilderness
on a road that went nowhere.
They did not find any city to live in.
5 They were hungry and thirsty.
They were very weak and nearly dead.
6 Because of their trouble,
they called to the Lord for help.
He rescued them from their troubles.
7 He led them along a straight road,
to arrive at a city where they could live.
8 So God's people should thank the Lord
because of his faithful love.
They should thank him for the great things
that he does for people.
9 He gives drink to people who are thirsty.
He gives plenty of good things to hungry people.
10 Some people sat in a completely dark place.
Iron chains held them as prisoners,
and they were very sad.
11 They had refused to obey God's commands.
They did not accept the teaching of the Most High God.
12 Because of that, God caused them to become weak
from very hard work.
When they fell down,
nobody would help them to stand up.
13 Because of their trouble,
they called to the Lord for help.
He rescued them from their troubles.
14 He took them out of the completely dark place.
He broke away the chains that held them.
15 So they should thank the Lord
because of his faithful love.
They should thank him for the great things
that he does for people.
16 He broke bronze gates into pieces
and he cut through iron bars.[c]
17 Some people became fools
and they turned against God.
They had trouble and pain
because of their sins.
18 They did not want to eat any food,
so they nearly died.
19 Because of their trouble,
they called to the Lord for help.
He rescued them from their troubles.
20 He sent his word to them
and he made them well again.
He rescued them from the deep hole of death.
21 So they should thank the Lord
because of his faithful love.
They should thank him for the great things
that he does for people.
22 They should offer sacrifices to thank God.
They should sing aloud
to tell about what he has done.
23 Some people were traders
who travelled far across the sea in ships.
24 They saw the great things that the Lord did,
even in the middle of the deep seas.
25 He would command a storm to come,
so that the wind caused big waves to rise up.
26 The waves threw the ships up high in the air,
then dropped them deep down.
The danger made the sailors afraid,
and they thought that they would die.
27 Like drunk people, they could not stand or walk properly.
They did not know what to do!
28 Because of their trouble,
they called to the Lord for help.
He rescued them from their troubles.
29 He caused the storm to stop,
so that the waves became quiet.
30 The sailors were happy when it became quiet.
God led them safely to the port,
where they wanted to go.
31 So they should thank the Lord
because of his faithful love.
They should thank him for the great things
that he does for people.
32 They should praise the Lord
when they meet together.
They should praise him
at the meeting of their leaders.
17 Listen! I will create
new heavens and a new earth.
People will not remember what things were like before.
Those thoughts will not be in their minds at all.
18 But be happy about what I will create!
Be happy for ever!
I will create Jerusalem as a happy place.
The people who live there will be full of joy.
19 And Jerusalem will cause me to be happy.
My people will give me joy.
There will be no noise of people who are weeping.
People will not be sad in Jerusalem again.
20 Never again will there be a baby
who only lives for a few days.
Old men will continue to live a long life.
People will live until they are 100 years old
and they will still seem young.
If anyone dies before he is 100 years old,
people will think that God has cursed him.
21 My people will build houses
and they will live in them.
They will plant vineyards
and they will eat the fruit from them.
22 They will no longer build houses
and then other people live in them.
They will not plant trees
and then other people to eat the fruit.
My people will have long lives,
as long as trees live.
My own people will live to enjoy the things
that they have worked hard to get.
23 Their work will not be useless.
They will not give birth to children
who will live in fear.
Instead, the Lord will bless their children.
He will bless them
and their descendants with them.
24 Before they call to me for help,
I will answer them.
While they are still praying,
I will hear them.
25 At that time,
wolves and lambs will eat together.
Lions will eat straw like cows.
A snake's food will be dirt.
Nothing will hurt or destroy anything else
anywhere on my holy mountain.’
That is what the Lord says.[a]
Leaders in the church
17 Everyone should respect leaders of the believers who lead the church well.[a] The church should also pay them properly for their work. That is certainly true for leaders who teach God's people and speak God's message to them. 18 The Bible says: ‘Do not tie shut the mouth of a bull while it walks on your wheat seeds.’[b] The Bible also says: ‘You must pay a worker what his work is worth.’
19 Somebody may tell you that a leader of the believers has done something wrong. But do not accept that as true, unless two or three people say the same thing. 20 If a leader is really guilty and continues to do wrong things, you must warn him. Do that when everyone in the church is there. They will hear what you say, and they will be afraid to do wrong things themselves.
21 I say this to you very strongly: Obey what I am telling you to do. Remember that God himself and Christ Jesus, together with their special angels, are all watching what you do. Do not quickly decide if someone has done right or wrong. Be fair and judge everyone in the same way. 22 Do not hurry to put your hands on anyone to choose him as a leader of the church. Perhaps that man has done something wrong. Then people might think that you agree with his sins. You yourself must always be careful to do what is right and good.
23 I know that you often become ill. So do not drink only water, but drink a little wine. This will help your stomach to keep well.
24 Some people do wrong things that everyone can see clearly. When someone judges those people, everyone already knows that they are guilty. So everybody already knows that it is right to punish those people. But for other people, nobody knows about their sins until later. 25 It is the same with the good things that people do. Many good things are clear for everyone to see. And even the good things that people do secretly will not remain a secret for ever.
Jesus teaches people about the most important rule
28 One of the teachers of God's Law came near to the group of people. He heard Jesus speaking with the leaders. The teacher knew that Jesus had answered them well. So then the teacher asked Jesus, ‘Which rule is the most important among God's Laws?’
29 Jesus replied, ‘This rule is the most important rule: “Listen, Israel's people! The Lord alone is our God. There is no other Lord. 30 Love the Lord, your God completely. Love him with all your mind and with all your strength. Love him in everything that you think and you do.”[a] 31 The second most important rule is this: “You should love other people as much as you love yourself.” No other rules are as important as these two.’
32 The teacher of God's Law said to Jesus, ‘Teacher, you have answered well. You are right to say that the Lord is the only God. And there is no other God except him. 33 We must love him completely, with all our mind and with all our strength. We must also love other people as much as we love ourselves. This is more important than all the gifts or animals that we could offer to God.’
34 Jesus heard that the man had answered well. So Jesus said to him, ‘You are almost ready for God to rule in your life.’ After that, everybody was afraid to ask Jesus any more questions.
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