Book of Common Prayer
145 Lord, I call to you with all my heart.
Answer me, and I will keep your demands.
146 I call to you.
Save me so I can obey your rules.
147 I wake up early in the morning and cry out.
I hope in your word.
148 I stay awake all night
so I can think about your promises.
149 Listen to me because of your love;
Lord, give me life by your laws.
150 Those who love evil are near,
but they are far from your teachings.
151 But, Lord, you are also near,
and all your commands are true.
152 Long ago I learned from your rules
that you made them to continue forever.
153 See my suffering and rescue me,
because I have not forgotten your teachings.
154 Argue my case and save me.
Let me live by your promises.
155 Wicked people are far from being saved,
because they do not want your demands.
156 Lord, you are very kind;
give me life by your laws.
157 Many enemies are after me,
but I have not rejected your rules.
158 I see those traitors, and I hate them,
because they do not obey what you say.
159 See how I love your orders.
Lord, give me life by your love.
160 Your words are true from the start,
and all your laws will be fair forever.
161 Leaders attack me for no reason,
but I fear your law in my heart.
162 I am as happy over your promises
as if I had found a great treasure.
163 I hate and despise lies,
but I love your teachings.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
for your fair laws.
165 Those who love your teachings will find true peace,
and nothing will defeat them.
166 I am waiting for you to save me, Lord.
I will obey your commands.
167 I obey your rules,
and I love them very much.
168 I obey your orders and rules,
because you know everything I do.
169 Hear my cry to you, Lord.
Let your word help me understand.
170 Listen to my prayer;
save me as you promised.
171 Let me speak your praise,
because you have taught me your demands.
172 Let me sing about your promises,
because all your commands are fair.
173 Give me your helping hand,
because I have chosen your commands.
174 I want you to save me, Lord.
I love your teachings.
175 Let me live so I can praise you,
and let your laws help me.
176 I have wandered like a lost sheep.
Look for your servant, because I have not forgotten your commands.
The Happy Home
A song for going up to worship.
128 Happy are those who respect the Lord and obey him.
2 You will enjoy what you work for,
and you will be blessed with good things.
3 Your wife will give you many children,
like a vine that produces much fruit.
Your children will bring you much good,
like olive branches that produce many olives.
4 This is how the man who respects the Lord
will be blessed.
5 May the Lord bless you from Mount Zion;
may you enjoy the good things of Jerusalem all your life.
6 May you see your grandchildren.
Let there be peace in Israel.
A Prayer Against the Enemies
A song for going up to worship.
129 They have treated me badly all my life.
(Let Israel repeat this.)
2 They have treated me badly all my life,
but they have not defeated me.
3 Like farmers plowing, they plowed over my back,
making long wounds.
4 But the Lord does what is right;
he has set me free from those wicked people.
5 Let those who hate Jerusalem
be turned back in shame.
6 Let them be like the grass on the roof
that dries up before it has grown.
7 There is not enough of it to fill a hand
or to make into a bundle to fill one’s arms.
8 Let those who pass by them not say,
“May the Lord bless you.
We bless you by the power of the Lord.”
A Prayer for Mercy
A song for going up to worship.
130 Lord, I am in great trouble,
so I call out to you.
2 Lord, hear my voice;
listen to my prayer for help.
3 Lord, if you punished people for all their sins,
no one would be left, Lord.
4 But you forgive us,
so you are respected.
5 I wait for the Lord to help me,
and I trust his word.
6 I wait for the Lord to help me
more than night watchmen wait for the dawn,
more than night watchmen wait for the dawn.
7 People of Israel, put your hope in the Lord
because he is loving
and able to save.
8 He will save Israel
from all their sins.
14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Acbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to talk to Huldah the prophetess. She was the wife of Shallum son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, who took care of the king’s clothes. Huldah lived in Jerusalem, in the new area of the city.
15 She said to them, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: Tell the man who sent you to me, 16 ‘This is what the Lord says: I will bring trouble to this place and to the people living here, as it is written in the book which the king of Judah has read. 17 The people of Judah have left me and have burned incense to other gods. They have made me angry by all that they have done. My anger burns against this place like a fire, and it will not be put out.’ 18 Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to ask the Lord, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says about the words you heard: 19 When you heard my words against this place and its people, you became sorry for what you had done and humbled yourself before me. I said they would be cursed and would be destroyed. You tore your clothes to show how upset you were, and you cried in my presence. This is why I have heard you, says the Lord. 20 So I will let you die, and you will be buried in peace. You won’t see all the trouble I will bring to this place.’”
So they took her message back to the king.
The People Hear the Agreement
23 Then the king gathered all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem together. 2 He went up to the Temple of the Lord, and all the people from Judah and Jerusalem went with him. The priests, prophets, and all the people—from the least important to the most important—went with him. He read to them all the words of the Book of the Agreement that was found in the Temple of the Lord. 3 The king stood by the pillar and made an agreement in the presence of the Lord to follow the Lord and obey his commands, rules, and laws with his whole being, and to obey the words of the agreement written in this book. Then all the people promised to obey the agreement.
23 The teaching I gave you is the same teaching I received from the Lord: On the night when the Lord Jesus was handed over to be killed, he took bread 24 and gave thanks for it. Then he broke the bread and said, “This is my body; it is[a] for you. Do this to remember me.” 25 In the same way, after they ate, Jesus took the cup. He said, “This cup is the new agreement that is sealed with the blood of my death. When you drink this, do it to remember me.” 26 Every time you eat this bread and drink this cup you are telling others about the Lord’s death until he comes.
27 So a person who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in a way that is not worthy of it will be guilty of sinning against the body and the blood of the Lord. 28 Look into your own hearts before you eat the bread and drink the cup, 29 because all who eat the bread and drink the cup without recognizing the body eat and drink judgment against themselves. 30 That is why many in your group are sick and weak, and some of you have died. 31 But if we judged ourselves in the right way, God would not judge us. 32 But when the Lord judges us, he disciplines us so that we will not be destroyed along with the world.
33 So my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, wait for each other. 34 Anyone who is too hungry should eat at home so that in meeting together you will not bring God’s judgment on yourselves. I will tell you what to do about the other things when I come.
Jesus Chooses Matthew
9 When Jesus was leaving, he saw a man named Matthew sitting in the tax collector’s booth. Jesus said to him, “Follow me,” and he stood up and followed Jesus.
10 As Jesus was having dinner at Matthew’s house, many tax collectors and “sinners” came and ate with Jesus and his followers. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked Jesus’ followers, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
12 When Jesus heard them, he said, “It is not the healthy people who need a doctor, but the sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: ‘I want kindness more than I want animal sacrifices.’[a] I did not come to invite good people but to invite sinners.”
Jesus’ Followers Are Criticized
14 Then the followers of John[b] came to Jesus and said, “Why do we and the Pharisees often fast[c] for a certain time, but your followers don’t?”
15 Jesus answered, “The friends of the bridegroom are not sad while he is with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast.
16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth over a hole in an old coat. If he does, the patch will shrink and pull away from the coat, making the hole worse. 17 Also, people never pour new wine into old leather bags. Otherwise, the bags will break, the wine will spill, and the wine bags will be ruined. But people always pour new wine into new wine bags. Then both will continue to be good.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.