Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for God to Guide
Of David.
25 Lord, I give myself to you.
2 My God, I trust you.
Do not let me be disgraced.
Do not let my enemies laugh at me.
3 No one who trusts you will be disgraced.
But those who sin without excuse will be disgraced.
4 Lord, tell me your ways.
Show me how to live.
5 Guide me in your truth.
Teach me, my God, my Savior.
I trust you all day long.
6 Lord, remember your mercy and love.
You have shown them since long ago.
7 Do not remember the sins
and wrong things I did when I was young.
But remember to love me always
because you are good, Lord.
8 The Lord is good and right.
He points sinners to the right way.
9 He shows those who are not proud how to do right.
He teaches them his ways.
10 All the Lord’s ways are loving and true
for those who follow the demands of his agreement.
11 For the sake of your name, Lord,
forgive my many sins.
12 Is there someone who worships the Lord?
The Lord will point him to the best way.
13 He will enjoy a good life.
His children will inherit the land.
14 The Lord tells his secrets to those who respect him.
He tells them about his agreement.
15 My eyes are always looking to the Lord for help.
He will keep me from any traps.
16 Turn to me and be kind to me.
I am lonely and hurting.
17 My troubles have grown larger.
Free me from my problems.
18 Look at my suffering and troubles.
Take away all my sins.
19 Look at how many enemies I have!
See how much they hate me!
20 Protect me and save me.
I trust you.
Do not let me be disgraced.
21 My hope is in you.
So may goodness and honesty guard me.
22 God, save Israel from all their troubles!
Thanksgiving for Victory
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A song of David.
9 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart.
I will tell all the miracles you have done.
2 I will be happy because of you.
God Most High, I will sing praises to your name.
3 My enemies turn back.
They are overwhelmed and die because of you.
4 You have heard what I complained to you about.
You sat on your throne and judged by what was right.
5 You spoke strongly against the foreign nations
and destroyed the wicked people.
You wiped out their names forever and ever.
6 The enemy is gone forever.
You destroyed their cities.
No one even remembers them.
7 But the Lord rules forever.
He sits on his throne to judge.
8 The Lord will judge the world by what is right.
He will decide what is fair for the nations.
9 The Lord defends those who suffer.
He protects them in times of trouble.
10 Those who know the Lord trust him.
He will not leave those who come to him.
11 Sing praises to the Lord who is king on Mount Zion.
Tell the nations what he has done.
12 He remembers who the murderers are.
He will not forget the cries of those who suffer.
13 Lord, be kind to me.
See how my enemies hurt me.
Do not let me go through the gates of death.
14 Then, at the gates of Jerusalem, I will praise you.
I will rejoice because you saved me.
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they dug.
Their feet are caught in the nets they laid.
16 The Lord has made himself known by his fair decisions.
The wicked get trapped by what they do. Higgaion. Selah
17 Wicked people will go to the grave.
So will all those who forget God.
18 Those who have troubles will not be forgotten.
The hopes of the poor will not die.
19 Lord, rise up and judge the nations.
Don’t let humans think they are strong.
20 Teach them to fear you, Lord.
The nations must learn that they are only human. Selah
What God Demands
A song of David.
15 Lord, who may enter your Holy Tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
2 Only a person who is innocent
and who does what is right.
He must speak the truth from his heart.
3 He must not tell lies about others.
He must do no wrong to his neighbors.
He must not gossip.
4 He must not respect hateful people.
He must honor those who honor the Lord.
He must keep his promises to his neighbor,
even when it hurts.
5 He must not charge interest on money he lends.
And he must not take money to hurt innocent people.
Whoever does all these things will never be destroyed.
5 Saul sent David to fight in different battles. And David was very successful. Then Saul put David over the soldiers. When he did this, Saul’s officers and all the other people were pleased.
6 After David had killed the Philistine, he and the men returned home. Women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul. They sang songs of joy, danced and played tambourines and stringed instruments. 7 As they played, they sang,
“Saul has killed thousands of his enemies.
But David has killed tens of thousands!”
8 The women’s song upset Saul, and he became very angry. He thought, “The women say David has killed tens of thousands of enemies. But they say I killed only thousands of enemies. The only thing left for him to have is the kingdom!” 9 So Saul watched David closely from then on. He was jealous of him.
10 The next day an evil spirit from God entered Saul with power. And he prophesied in his house. David was playing the harp as he usually did. But Saul had a spear in his hand. 11 He raised the spear and thought, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David got away from him two times.
12 The Lord was with David but had left Saul. So Saul was afraid of David. 13 He sent David away from him. He made David commander of 1,000 soldiers. So David led them in battle. 14 He had great success in everything he did because the Lord was with him. 15 Saul saw that David was very successful. And he became even more afraid of David. 16 But all the people of Israel and Judah loved David. This was because he led them well in battle.
27 So he and his men went out and killed 200 Philistines. David took all their foreskins and brought them to Saul. He wanted to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal for his wife. 28 Saul saw that the Lord was with David. He also saw that his daughter Michal loved David. 29 So he became even more afraid of David. And he was David’s enemy all his life.
30 The Philistine commanders continued to go out to fight the Israelites. But every time, David defeated them. He had more success than Saul’s officers. And he became famous.
The Good News Comes to Antioch
19 Many of the believers were scattered by the terrible things that happened after Stephen was killed. Some of them went to places as far away as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. They were telling the message to others, but only to Jews. 20 Some of these believers were men from Cyprus and Cyrene. When they came to Antioch, they spoke also to Greeks,[a] telling them the Good News about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord was helping the believers. And a large group of people believed and turned to the Lord.
22 The church in Jerusalem heard about all of this, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23-24 Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith. When he reached Antioch and saw how God had blessed the people, he was glad. He encouraged all the believers in Antioch. He told them, “Never lose your faith. Always obey the Lord with all your hearts.” Many people became followers of the Lord.
25 Then Barnabas went to the city of Tarsus to look for Saul. 26 When he found Saul, he brought him to Antioch. And for a whole year Saul and Barnabas met with the church. They taught many people there. In Antioch the followers were called Christians for the first time.
27 About that time some prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them was named Agabus. He stood up and spoke with the help of the Holy Spirit. He said, “A very hard time is coming to the whole world. There will be no food for people to eat.” (This happened when Claudius ruled.) 29 The followers all decided to help their brothers who lived in Judea. Each one planned to send them as much as he could. 30 They gathered the money and gave it to Barnabas and Saul, who brought it to the elders in Judea.
Jesus Heals Many People
29 Jesus and his followers left the synagogue. They all went at once with James and John to the home of Simon[a] and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever. The people there told Jesus about her. 31 So Jesus went to her bed, took her hand, and helped her up. Immediately the fever left her, and she was healed. Then she began serving them.
32 That night, after the sun went down, the people brought to Jesus all who were sick. They also brought those who had demons in them. 33 The whole town gathered at the door of the house. 34 Jesus healed many who had different kinds of sicknesses. He also forced many demons to leave people. But he would not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who he was.
35 Early the next morning, Jesus woke and left the house while it was still dark. He went to a place to be alone and pray. 36 Later, Simon and his friends went to look for Jesus. 37 They found him and said, “Everyone is looking for you!”
38 Jesus answered, “We should go somewhere else, to other towns around here. Then I can preach there too. That is the reason I came.” 39 So he traveled everywhere in Galilee. He preached in the synagogues and forced demons to leave people.
Jesus Heals a Sick Man
40 A man who had a harmful skin disease came to Jesus. The man fell to his knees and begged Jesus, “I know that you can heal me if you will.”
41 Jesus felt sorry for the man. So he touched him and said, “I want to heal you. Be healed!” 42 At once the disease left the man, and he was healed.
43 Jesus told the man to go at once. But Jesus warned him strongly, 44 “Don’t tell anyone about what I did for you. But go and show yourself to the priest. And offer a gift to God because you have been healed. Offer the gift that Moses commanded.[b] This will show the people that you are healed.” 45 The man left there, but he told everyone he saw that Jesus had healed him. So the news about Jesus spread. That is the reason Jesus could not enter a town if people saw him. He stayed in places where nobody lived. But people came from all the towns to wherever he was.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.