Book of Common Prayer
A prayer of a suffering person who has become weak. They pour out their problems to the Lord.
102 Lord, hear my prayer.
Listen to my cry for help.
2 Don’t turn your face away from me
when I’m in trouble.
Pay attention to me.
When I call out for help, answer me quickly.
3 My days are disappearing like smoke.
My body burns like glowing coals.
4 My strength has dried up like grass.
I even forget to eat my food.
5 I groan out loud because of my suffering.
I’m nothing but skin and bones.
6 I’m like a desert owl.
I’m like an owl among destroyed buildings.
7 I can’t sleep. I’ve become
like a bird alone on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies laugh at me.
Those who make fun of me use my name as a curse.
9 I eat ashes as my food.
My tears fall into what I’m drinking.
10 You were very angry with me.
So you picked me up and threw me away.
11 The days of my life are like an evening shadow.
I dry up like grass.
12 But Lord, you are seated on your throne forever.
Your fame will continue for all time to come.
13 You will rise up and show deep concern for Zion.
The time has come for you to help Zion.
14 The stones of your destroyed city are priceless to us.
Even its dust brings deep concern to us.
15 The nations will worship the Lord.
All the kings on earth will respect his glorious power.
16 The Lord will build Zion again.
He will appear in his glory.
17 He will answer the prayer of those who don’t have anything.
He won’t say no to their cry for help.
18 Let this be written down for those born after us.
Then people who are not yet born can praise the Lord.
19 Here is what should be written.
“The Lord looked down from his temple in heaven.
From heaven he viewed the earth.
20 He heard the groans of the prisoners.
He set free those who were sentenced to death.”
21 So people will talk about him in Zion.
They will praise him in Jerusalem.
22 Nations and kingdoms
will gather there to worship the Lord.
23 When I was still young, he took away my strength.
He wasn’t going to let me live much longer.
24 So I said, “My God, don’t let me die in the middle of my life.
You will live for all time to come.
25 In the beginning you made the earth secure.
You placed it on its foundations.
Your hands created the heavens.
26 They will pass away. But you will remain.
They will all wear out like a piece of clothing.
You will make them like clothes
that are taken off and thrown away.
27 But you remain the same.
Your years will never end.
28 Our children will live with you.
Their sons and daughters will be safe in your care.”
Book V
Psalms 107–150
107 Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good.
His faithful love continues forever.
2 Let those who have been set free by the Lord tell their story.
He set them free from the power of the enemy.
3 He brought them back from other lands.
He brought them back from east and west, from north and south.
4 Some of them wandered in deserts that were dry and empty.
They couldn’t find a city where they could make their homes.
5 They were hungry and thirsty.
Their lives were slipping away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord because of their problems.
And he saved them from their troubles.
7 He led them straight
to a city where they could make their homes.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love.
Let them give thanks for the wonderful things he does for people.
9 He gives those who are thirsty all the water they want.
He gives those who are hungry all the good food they can eat.
10 Others lived in the deepest darkness.
They suffered as prisoners in iron chains.
11 That’s because they hadn’t obeyed the commands of God.
They had refused to follow the plans of the Most High God.
12 So he made them do work that was hard and bitter.
They tripped and fell, and there was no one to help them.
13 Then they cried out to the Lord because of their problems.
And he saved them from their troubles.
14 He brought them out of the deepest darkness.
He broke their chains off.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love.
Let them give thanks for the wonderful things he does for people.
16 He breaks down gates that are made of bronze.
He cuts through bars that are made of iron.
17 Others were foolish. They suffered because of their sins.
They suffered because they wouldn’t obey the Lord.
18 They refused to eat anything.
They came close to passing through the gates of death.
19 Then they cried out to the Lord because of their problems.
And he saved them from their troubles.
20 He gave his command and healed them.
He saved them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love.
Let them give thanks for the wonderful things he does for people.
22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings.
Let them talk about what he has done as they sing with joy.
23 Some people sailed out on the ocean in ships.
They traded goods on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the Lord.
They saw the wonderful deeds he did on the ocean.
25 He spoke and stirred up a storm.
It lifted the waves high.
26 They rose up to the heavens. Then they went down deep into the ocean.
In that kind of danger the people’s boldness melted away.
27 They were unsteady like people who have become drunk.
They didn’t know what to do.
28 Then they cried out to the Lord because of their problems.
And he brought them out of their troubles.
29 He made the storm as quiet as a whisper.
The waves of the ocean calmed down.
30 The people were glad when the ocean became calm.
Then he guided them to the harbor they were looking for.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his faithful love.
Let them give thanks for the wonderful things he does for people.
32 Let them honor him among his people who gather for worship.
Let them praise him in the meeting of the elders.
17 The Lord and King says, “You are my flock. I will judge between one sheep and another. I will judge between rams and goats. 18 You already eat in the best grasslands. Must you also stomp all over the other fields? You already drink clear water. Must you also make the rest of the water muddy with your feet? 19 Must my flock have to eat the grass you have stomped on? Must they drink the water you have made muddy?”
20 So the Lord and King speaks to them. He says, “I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the skinny sheep. 21 You push the other sheep around with your hips and shoulders. You use your horns to butt all the weak sheep. Finally, you drive them away. 22 But I will save my sheep. They will not be carried off anymore. I will judge between one sheep and another. 23 I will place one shepherd over them. He will belong to the family line of my servant David. He will take good care of them. He will look after them. He will be their shepherd. 24 I am the Lord. I will be their God. And my servant from David’s family line will be the prince among them. I have spoken. I am the Lord.
25 “I will make a covenant with them. It promises to give them peace. I will get rid of the wild animals in the land. Then my sheep can live safely in the desert. They can sleep in the forests. 26 I will make them and the places surrounding my holy mountain of Zion a blessing. I will send down rain at the right time. There will be showers of blessing. 27 The trees will bear their fruit. And the ground will produce its crops. The people will be secure in their land. I will break the chains that hold them. I will save them from the power of those who made them slaves. Then they will know that I am the Lord. 28 The nations will not carry them off anymore. Wild animals will no longer eat them up. They will live in safety. And no one will make them afraid. 29 I will give them a land that is famous for its crops. They will never again be hungry there. The nations will not make fun of them anymore. 30 Then they will know that I am with them. I am the Lord their God. And the Israelites will know that they are my people,” announces the Lord and King. 31 “You are my sheep. You belong to my flock. And I am your God,” announces the Lord and King.
The High Priest of a New Covenant
8 Here is the main point of what we are saying. We have a high priest like that. He sat down at the right hand of the throne of the King, the Majesty in heaven. 2 He serves in the sacred tent. The Lord set up the true holy tent. A mere human being did not set it up.
3 Every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices. So this priest also had to have something to offer. 4 What if he were on earth? Then he would not be a priest. There are already priests who offer the gifts required by the law. 5 They serve at a sacred tent. But it is only a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. That’s why God warned Moses when he was about to build the holy tent. God said, “Be sure to make everything just like the pattern I showed you on the mountain.” (Exodus 25:40) 6 But Jesus has been given a greater work to do for God. He is the go-between for the new covenant. This covenant is better than the old one. The new covenant is based on better promises.
7 Suppose nothing had been wrong with that first covenant. Then no one would have looked for another covenant. 8 But God found fault with the people. He said,
“The days are coming, announces the Lord.
I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel.
I will also make it with the people of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their people of long ago.
That was when I took them by the hand.
I led them out of Egypt.
My new covenant will be different because they didn’t remain faithful to my old covenant.
So I turned away from them,
announces the Lord.
10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds.
I will write them on their hearts.
I will be their God.
And they will be my people.
11 People will not teach their neighbor anymore.
They will not say to one another, ‘Know the Lord.’
That’s because everyone will know me.
From the least important to the most important,
all of them will know me.
12 I will forgive their evil ways.
I will not remember their sins anymore.” (Jeremiah 31:31–34)
13 God called this covenant “new.” So he has done away with the first one. And what is out of date and has been done away with will soon disappear.
Jesus at the Home of Martha and Mary
38 Jesus and his disciples went on their way. Jesus came to a village where a woman named Martha lived. She welcomed him into her home. 39 She had a sister named Mary. Mary sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was busy with all the things that had to be done. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, my sister has left me to do the work by myself. Don’t you care? Tell her to help me!”
41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered. “You are worried and upset about many things. 42 But few things are needed. Really, only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better. And it will not be taken away from her.”
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