Book of Common Prayer
A song to sing as we climb.
David wrote this song.
131 Lord, I am not proud.
I do not think that I am a great person.
I do not try to do great things.
I do not worry about things that are too hard for me to understand.
2 Instead, I am quiet
and there is peace in my mind.
I am like a young child who sits on his mother's knee.
Yes, I have peace in my mind.
3 Israel's people, trust the Lord to help you,
now and for ever.
A song to sing as we climb.
The house of God
132 Lord, remember King David
and all the troubles that he suffered.
2 He made a special promise to the Lord.
He promised you, the Mighty One of Jacob.[a]
3 He said, ‘I will not go into my house or get into my bed;
4 I will not sleep even for a moment,
5 until I find a house for the Lord.
Yes, the Mighty One of Jacob needs a proper home.’[b]
6 Listen! We heard the news at Ephrathah.[c]
We found God's Covenant Box in the fields of Jaar.[d]
7 We will go to the Lord's home!
We will worship him on his throne!
8 Lord, come now and stay here, in your home!
Come with the Covenant Box that shows your great power.[e]
9 May your priests serve you in a good way.
Cause your faithful people to shout with joy!
10 Remember your servant, King David.
Do not turn away from your chosen king.[f]
11 The Lord made a strong promise to David.
He will not change what he has promised to do.
The Lord said,
‘I will put one of your sons on your throne to rule as king.
12 If your sons obey my covenant and my rules,
their descendants will rule for ever.’
13 The Lord has chosen Zion to be his home.
14 He said, ‘This is where I will live for ever.
This is where I want my home to be.
15 I will give Zion's people everything that they need.
Zion's poor people will have plenty of food to eat.
16 I will keep Zion's priests safe.
The people who serve God faithfully will shout loudly,
because they are so happy.
17 In Zion I will give strength to King David's family.
My chosen king will continue to rule well,
like a light that shines brightly.
18 I will cause his enemies to be ashamed.
But his own kingdom will be great!’
A song to sing as we climb.
David wrote this song.
133 It is good for a family of God's people to live together in peace.
Yes! It brings great pleasure!
2 It brings pleasure like valuable olive oil
that is poured on your head,
and it goes down onto your beard.
They poured it onto Aaron's head and his beard,
and it went down onto his clothes.[g]
3 It brings pleasure like the dew on Hermon.[h]
It makes the mountains of Zion become wet.[i]
That is the place where the Lord has promised to bless his people.
He blesses them with life for ever.
This is a song that David wrote.
It is for the music leader.
Please help me, Lord
140 Lord, please save me from evil people.
Keep me safe from people who like to attack others.
2 They think of evil ideas to hurt people.
They only want to cause trouble!
3 Their words hurt people,
like the tongue of a snake.
They bite with poison,
like a dangerous snake.
Selah
4 Lord, keep me safe from the power of wicked people.
Keep me safe from violent people who want to attack me.
5 Proud people have prepared a trap to catch me.
They have put their nets across my path.[a]
Selah.
6 Lord, I say to you, ‘You are my God.’
Lord, hear my prayer for help!
7 Lord, my Lord, you are my strong helper.
You keep me safe when I fight in a battle.
8 Lord, do not let wicked people do what they want to do.
Stop them when they prepare to attack.
Selah.
9 Give trouble to the people who come round me to attack!
Let the bad things that they say against me
happen to them instead![b]
10 Drop burning coals on them like rain!
Throw those people into the fire!
Let them fall into deep holes that they cannot get out of!
11 People who tell cruel lies should not live in our land.
Trouble will happen to people who like to fight.
Bad trouble will knock them down!
12 I know that the Lord helps poor people.
He makes sure that they receive justice.
13 Your righteous people will always praise you.
Good, honest people will live near to you.
This is a special song that David wrote.
He prayed this when he was in the cave.[a]
Please help me, Lord!
142 I am calling to the Lord to help me.
I ask him to be kind to me.
2 I tell him about all my problems.
I tell him about all my troubles.
3 When I do not feel brave,
you are still my guide, Lord.
In the path where I walk,
my enemies have prepared a trap to catch me.
4 Look at me!
I have no friend to help me.
There is no safe place where I can go.
Nobody thinks about me.
5 Yes Lord, I am calling to you to help me.
You are my safe place where I can hide.
You are all that I need in this world where I live.
6 Please listen to me as I cry to you.
I am very upset!
My enemies are trying to catch me.
Save me from their power!
They are stronger than I am.
7 Please take me out of this prison.[b]
Then I will praise your name.
Your own good people will see how you have helped me.
They will meet round me to praise you.
The people want to kill Jeremiah
26 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah at the time when Josiah's son Jehoiakim became king of Judah. 2 The Lord said, ‘Go and stand in the yard of the Lord's temple. People come from all the towns in Judah to worship the Lord in his temple. Speak to them. Tell them everything that I command you to say. Do not leave out even one word. 3 Perhaps they will listen to what you say. Then they may stop living in the evil way that they do now. If they change how they live, I will not punish them for their sins, as I had promised to do. 4 Tell them that the Lord says this: “You must obey me. I have given you my laws that tell you how you should live. 5 You must listen to the messages that my servants the prophets tell you. I have sent them to speak to you many times, but you have not listened to them. 6 So if you do not obey me, I will destroy this temple, as I destroyed Shiloh. People of all the other nations on earth will use the name of this city as a curse.” ’[a]
7 The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah's message in the Lord's temple. 8 Jeremiah said everything that the Lord had commanded him to say to all the people. Just as he finished, some of the priests, the prophets, and the people took hold of him. They shouted, ‘You deserve to die! 9 You should not say that you have the Lord's authority to prophesy such terrible things! You cannot say that this temple will become like Shiloh. You cannot say that this city will become a heap of stones where nobody lives!’
The whole crowd of people pushed together around Jeremiah in the yard of the temple.
10 Some of Judah's officers heard about what was happening. So they left the king's palace and they went up to the Lord's temple. They went to the gate of the temple that is called ‘The New Gate’. They sat in their places as judges near the gate.[b] 11 Then the priests and the prophets told the officers and all the people why they accused Jeremiah. They said, ‘This man deserves to die because he has prophesied trouble against this city. You yourselves have heard what he said!’
12 Then Jeremiah said to all the officers and to all the people, ‘The Lord sent me to say all the things that you have heard me speak. He told me to prophesy against this temple and against this city. 13 Now you must change the way that you have been living. You must do what is good and right. Obey the Lord your God. Then the Lord will not punish you as he said that he would do. 14 As for me, I am under your authority. Do with me whatever you think is good and right. 15 But you should know this: If you punish me with death, you will bring great trouble on yourselves, this city, and everyone who lives here. You will be guilty of murder, because I have not done anything wrong. The Lord has sent me to speak all these words for you to hear. That is the truth!’
16 Then the officers and all the people gave their answer to the priests and the prophets. They said, ‘This man does not deserve to die. The Lord our God has given him authority to say these things to us.’
Some of the Jews do trust God
11 So I ask this: ‘Has God turned away from his people?’ No, certainly, he has not done that! I myself belong to Israel's people. I am a descendant of Abraham and I belong to Benjamin's tribe. 2 God chose who would be his people from the beginning. He has not turned against them now. Remember what the Bible tells us about Elijah. He wanted God to punish Israel's people. Elijah said: 3 ‘Lord God, they have killed your prophets. They have destroyed the altars where people offered sacrifices to you. I am the only person alive who still serves you. And they are trying to kill me.’ 4 This was God's answer to Elijah: ‘There are still 7,000 men that I have kept for myself. Those men have not worshipped the false god Baal.’[a]
5 It is the same at this time too. There is a small number of Israel's people that God has chosen to trust him. He has chosen them because he is very kind. 6 This shows that God has not chosen them because of any good things that they have done. If that was true, we could not say that God was really being kind to them. It would not be his gift.
7 So we can say this: Israel's people did not all find what they were looking for. Only those people that God had chosen received it. But the other people of Israel became unable to understand God's message. 8 It says this in the Bible:
‘God caused them to be like people who are sleeping.
Even until this day, their eyes cannot really see,
and their ears cannot really hear.’[b]
9 King David says this:
‘They enjoy eating lots of good food together.
I pray that God will catch them while they are eating!
I want those good things to lead them into trouble.
I want God to punish them because of what they have done.
10 I want their eyes to become dark so that they cannot see.
I want their bodies always to be in pain, like slaves.’[c]
11 So now I ask this: ‘When Israel's people failed to accept Jesus as God's Messiah, did they make themselves separate from God for ever?’ No, certainly that is not true! Because of their mistake, God is now saving Gentiles. God is doing that so that Israel's people would become jealous. 12 Because of their mistake, God has done good things for everyone in the world. Israel's people failed to receive what God wanted to give them. As a result, the Gentiles have received very many good things from God. That was the good result when Israel's people failed. So, when the complete number of Israel's people do turn to God, the result will be even better!
19 Again, the Jews could not agree about these things that Jesus said. 20 Many of them said, ‘He has a demon in him and he is crazy. You should not listen to him!’ 21 But other people said, ‘A man with a demon in him could not teach like this! A demon could not make blind people able to see!’
The Jewish leaders do not believe in Jesus
22 It was the time for the Jewish Festival called Hanukkah.[a] This happened in Jerusalem. It was winter.
23 Jesus was walking in the yard of the temple, under a place with a roof. The place was called Solomon's porch. 24 The Jewish leaders stood around him. They said to him, ‘We want to know who you are. When will you tell us? If you are the Messiah, tell us clearly.’ 25 Jesus answered, ‘I have already told you, but you do not believe. The things that I do by my Father's authority show you who I am. 26 But you refuse to believe, because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep recognize my voice. I know them and they follow me. 28 I give them life for ever with God. They will never die. Nobody can ever take them away from me. 29 My Father has given them to me. He is greater than all things. Nobody can ever take my sheep out of my Father's hand. 30 My Father and I are one.’
31 Then the Jewish leaders picked up stones again to throw at Jesus so that they could kill him. 32 Jesus said to them, ‘I have done many good things. The Father sent me to do them, and I have shown them to you. Which of those good things make you want to kill me with stones?’ 33 The Jewish leaders answered, ‘We do not want to kill you because of any good things that you have done. We want to kill you because you are speaking against God. You are only a man, but you are saying that you are God.’
34 Jesus answered them, ‘It is written in your own books of God's Law that God said, “You are gods.”[b] 35 God called the people to whom he spoke “gods”. And you know that the Bible always remains true. 36 So, when I said that I am God's Son, why am I wrong? The Father chose me for himself. And he sent me into the world. So you should not say that I am speaking bad things against God. 37 If I am not doing my Father's work, do not believe me. 38 But if I am doing his work, you should believe that work. Even if you do not believe me, you should believe the things that I do. Then you will know certainly that the Father is in me. And you will know that I am in the Father.’
39 Again, the Jewish leaders tried to take hold of Jesus. But he escaped from them.
40 After that, Jesus returned across the Jordan River. He went to the place where John had earlier baptized people. Jesus stayed there. 41 Many people came to him. They said to each other, ‘John did not do any miracles. But everything that he said about this man was true.’ 42 So, in that place, many people believed in Jesus.
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