Book of Common Prayer
33 He changed rivers into a desert,
and springs of water into dry ground.
34 He made fertile land salty
because the people there did evil.
35 He changed the desert into pools of water
and dry ground into springs of water.
36 He had the hungry settle there.
They built a city to live in.
37 They planted seeds in the fields and vineyards.
And they had a good harvest.
38 God blessed them, and they grew in number.
Their cattle did not become fewer.
39 Because of disaster, troubles and sadness,
their families grew smaller and weaker.
40 He showed he was displeased with their important men.
He made them wander in a pathless desert.
41 But he lifted the poor out of their suffering.
And he made their families grow like flocks of sheep.
42 Good people see this and are happy.
But the wicked say nothing.
43 Whoever is wise will remember these things.
He will think about the love of the Lord.
A Prayer for Victory
A song of David.
108 God, my heart is right.
I will sing and praise you with all my being.
2 Wake up, harp and lyre!
I will wake up the dawn.
3 Lord, I will praise you among the nations.
I will sing songs of praise about you to all the nations.
4 Your love is so great that it is higher than the skies.
Your truth reaches to the clouds.
5 God, you are supreme over the skies.
Let your glory be over all the earth.
6 Answer us and save us by your power.
Then the people you love will be rescued.
7 God has said from his Temple,
“When I win, I will divide Shechem
and cut up the Valley of Succoth.
8 Gilead and Manasseh are mine.
Ephraim is like my helmet.
Judah holds my royal scepter.
9 Moab is like my washbowl.
I throw my sandals at Edom.
I shout at Philistia.”
10 Who will bring me to the strong, walled city?
Who will lead me to Edom?
11 God, surely you have rejected us.
You do not go out with our armies.
12 Help us fight the enemy.
Human help is useless.
13 But we can win with God’s help.
He will defeat our enemies.
Praise God Who Creates and Saves
33 Sing to the Lord, you who do what is right.
Honest people should praise him.
2 Praise the Lord on the harp.
Make music for him on the ten-stringed lyre.
3 Sing a new song to him.
Play well and joyfully.
4 God’s word is true.
Everything he does is right.
5 He loves what is right and fair.
The Lord’s love fills the earth.
6 The sky was made at the Lord’s command.
By the breath from his mouth, he made all the stars.
7 He gathered the water in the sea into a heap.
He made the great ocean stay in its place.
8 All the earth should worship the Lord.
The whole world should fear him.
9 He spoke, and it happened.
He commanded, and it appeared.
10 The Lord upsets the plans of nations.
He ruins all their plans.
11 But the Lord’s plans will stand forever.
His ideas will last from now on.
12 Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord.
Happy are the people he chose for his very own.
13 The Lord looks down from heaven.
He sees every person.
14 From his throne he watches
everyone who lives on earth.
15 He made their hearts.
He understands everything they do.
16 No king is saved by his great army.
No warrior escapes by his great strength.
17 Horses can’t bring victory.
They can’t save by their strength.
18 But the Lord looks after those who fear him.
He watches over those who put their hope in his love.
19 He saves them from death.
He spares their lives in times of hunger.
20 So our hope is in the Lord.
He is our help, our shield to protect us.
21 We rejoice in him.
We trust his holy name.
22 Lord, show your love to us
as we put our hope in you.
Ziba Meets David
16 David passed a short way over the top of the Mount of Olives. There Ziba, Mephibosheth’s servant, met David. Ziba had two donkeys with saddles on them. They carried 200 loaves of bread, 100 cakes of raisins and 100 cakes of figs. They also carried leather bags full of wine. 2 The king asked Ziba, “What are these things for?”
Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for your family to ride. The bread and cakes of figs are for the servants to eat. And the wine is for anyone to drink who becomes weak in the desert.”
3 The king asked, “Where is Mephibosheth?”
Ziba answered him, “Mephibosheth is staying in Jerusalem. He thinks, ‘Today the Israelites will give my father’s kingdom back to me!’”
4 Then the king said to Ziba, “All right. Everything that belonged to Mephibosheth, I now give to you!”
Ziba said, “I bow to you. I hope I will always be able to please you.”
Shimei Curses David
5 As King David came to Bahurim, a man came out from there. He was from Saul’s family group. His name was Shimei son of Gera. Shimei came out, cursing David as he came. 6 He began throwing stones at David and his officers. But the people and soldiers gathered all around David. 7 Shimei cursed David. He said, “Get out, get out, you murderer, you troublemaker. 8 The Lord is punishing you for the people in Saul’s family you killed! You took Saul’s place as king! But now the Lord has given the kingdom to your son Absalom! Now you are ruined because you are a murderer!”
9 Abishai son of Zeruiah said to the king, “Why should this dead dog curse you, the king? Let me go over and cut off his head!”
10 But the king answered, “This does not concern you, sons of Zeruiah! If he is cursing me because the Lord told him to, who can question him?”
11 David also said to Abishai and all his officers, “My own son is trying to kill me! This man is a Benjaminite and has more right to kill me! Leave him alone. Let him curse me. The Lord told him to do this. 12 Maybe the Lord will see my misery. Then maybe he will repay me with something good for the curses Shimei says today!”
13 So David and his men went on down the road. But Shimei kept following David. Shimei walked on the hillside on the other side of the road. He kept cursing David and throwing stones and dirt at him. 14 The king and all his people arrived at the Jordan. They were very tired. So they rested there.
15 Meanwhile, Absalom, Ahithophel and all the men of Israel arrived at Jerusalem. 16 David’s friend Hushai the Arkite came to Absalom. He said to Absalom, “Long live the king! Long live the king!”
17 Absalom asked, “Why are you not loyal to your friend David? Why didn’t you leave Jerusalem with your friend?”
18 Hushai said, “I belong to the one chosen by the Lord and by these people and all the men of Israel. I will stay with you. 19 In the past I served your father. So whom should I serve now? David’s son! I will serve you.”
Ahithophel’s Advice
20 Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Please tell us what we should do.”
21 Ahithophel said, “Your father left behind some of his slave women who give birth to his children. He left them here to take care of the palace. Have physical relations with them. Then all the Israelites will hear that your father is your enemy. And all your people will be encouraged to give you more support.” 22 So they put up a tent for Absalom on the flat roof[a] of the palace. Everyone in Israel could see it. And Absalom had physical relations with his father’s slave women.
23 At that time people thought Ahithophel’s advice was as reliable as God’s own word. Both David and Absalom thought it was that reliable.
17 “Later, I returned to Jerusalem. I was praying in the Temple, and I saw a vision. 18 I saw the Lord saying to me, ‘Hurry! Leave Jerusalem now! The people here will not accept the truth about me.’ 19 But I said, ‘Lord, they know that in every synagogue I put the believers in jail and beat them. 20 They also know that I was there when Stephen, your witness, was killed. I stood there and agreed that they should kill him. I even held the coats of the men who were killing him!’ 21 But the Lord said to me, ‘Leave now. I will send you far away to the non-Jewish people.’”
22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they began shouting, “Get rid of him! A man like this doesn’t deserve to live!” 23 They shouted and threw off their coats.[a] They threw dust into the air.[b]
24 Then the commander ordered the soldiers to take Paul into the army building and beat him. The commander wanted to make Paul tell why the people were shouting against him like this. 25 So the soldiers were tying him up, preparing to beat him. But Paul said to an officer there, “Do you have the right to beat a Roman citizen[c] who has not been proven guilty?”
26 When the officer heard this, he went to the commander and told him about it. The officer said, “Do you know what you are doing? This man is a Roman citizen!”
27 The commander came to Paul and said, “Tell me, are you really a Roman citizen?”
He answered, “Yes.”
28 The commander said, “I paid a lot of money to become a Roman citizen.”
But Paul said, “I was born a citizen.”
29 The men who were preparing to question Paul moved away from him immediately. The commander was frightened because he had already tied Paul, and Paul was a Roman citizen.
Jesus Enters Jerusalem as a King
11 Jesus and his followers were coming closer to Jerusalem. They came to the towns of Bethphage and Bethany near the Mount of Olives. There Jesus sent two of his followers. 2 He said to them, “Go to the town you see there. When you enter it, you will find a colt tied which no one has ever ridden. Untie it and bring it here to me. 3 If anyone asks you why you are doing this, tell him, ‘The Master needs the colt. He will send it back soon.’”
4 The followers went into the town. They found a colt tied in the street near the door of a house, and they untied it. 5 Some people were standing there and asked, “What are you doing? Why are you untying that colt?” 6 The followers answered the way Jesus told them to answer. And the people let them take the colt.
7 The followers brought the colt to Jesus. They put their coats on the colt, and Jesus sat on it. 8 Many people spread their coats on the road. Others cut branches in the fields and spread the branches on the road. 9 Some of the people were walking ahead of Jesus. Others were following him. All of them were shouting,
“Praise[a] God!
God bless the One who comes in the name of the Lord! Psalm 118:26
10 God bless the kingdom of our father David!
That kingdom is coming!
Praise to God in heaven!”
11 Jesus entered Jerusalem and went into the Temple. When he had looked at everything, and since it was already late, he went out to Bethany with the 12 apostles.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.