Book of Common Prayer
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
31 Lord, I have come to you for safety.
Don’t let me ever be put to shame.
Save me, because you do what is right.
2 Pay attention to me.
Come quickly to help me.
Be the rock I go to for safety.
Be the strong fort that saves me.
3 You are my rock and my fort.
Lead me and guide me for the honor of your name.
4 Keep me free from the trap that is set for me.
You are my place of safety.
5 Into your hands I commit my very life.
Lord, set me free. You are my faithful God.
6 I hate those who worship worthless statues of gods.
But I trust in the Lord.
7 I will be glad and full of joy because you love me.
You saw that I was hurting.
You took note of my great pain.
8 You have not handed me over to the enemy.
You have put me in a wide and safe place.
9 Lord, have mercy on me. I’m in deep trouble.
I’m so sad I can hardly see.
My whole body grows weak with sadness.
10 Pain has taken over my life.
My years are spent in groaning.
I have no strength because I’m hurting so much.
My body is getting weaker and weaker.
11 My neighbors make fun of me
because I have so many enemies.
My closest friends are afraid of me.
People who see me on the street run away from me.
12 No one remembers me. I might as well be dead.
I have become like broken pottery.
13 I hear many people whispering,
“There is terror all around him!”
Many have joined together against me.
They plan to kill me.
14 But I trust in you, Lord.
I say, “You are my God.”
15 My whole life is in your hands.
Save me from the hands of my enemies.
Save me from those who are chasing me.
16 May you look on me with favor.
Save me because your love is faithful.
17 Lord, I have cried out to you.
Don’t let me be put to shame.
But let sinners be put to shame.
Let them lie silent in the place of the dead.
18 Their lips tell lies. Let them be silenced.
They speak with pride against those who do right.
They make fun of them.
19 You have stored up so many good things.
You have stored them up for those who have respect for you.
You give those things while everyone watches.
You give them to people who run to you for safety.
20 They are safe because you are with them.
You hide them from the evil plans of their enemies.
In your house you keep them safe
from those who bring charges against them.
21 Give praise to the Lord.
He showed me his wonderful love
when my enemies attacked the city I was in.
22 I was afraid and said,
“I’ve been cut off from you!”
But you heard my cry for your favor.
You heard me when I called out to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you who are faithful to him!
The Lord keeps safe those who are faithful to him.
But he completely pays back those who are proud.
24 Be strong, all you who put your hope in the Lord.
Never give up.
A psalm of David.
35 Lord, stand up against those who stand up against me.
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Pick up your shield and your armor.
Rise up and help me.
3 Get your spear and javelin ready to fight
against those who are chasing me.
Say to me, “I will save you.”
4 Let those who are trying to kill me
be brought down in dishonor.
Let those who plan to destroy me
be turned back in terror.
5 Let them be like straw blowing in the wind,
while the angel of the Lord drives them away.
6 Let their path be dark and slippery,
while the angel of the Lord chases them.
7 They set a trap for me without any reason.
Without any reason they dug a pit to catch me.
8 So let them be destroyed without warning.
Let the trap they set for me catch them.
Let them fall into the pit and be destroyed.
9 Then I will be full of joy because of what the Lord has done.
I will be glad because he has saved me.
10 My whole being will cry out,
“Who is like you, Lord?
You save poor people from those who are too strong for them.
You save poor and needy people from those who rob them.”
11 Mean people come forward to speak against me.
They ask me things I don’t know anything about.
12 They pay me back with evil, even though I was good to them.
They leave me like someone who has lost a family member.
13 But when they were sick, I put on the clothing of sadness.
I made myself humble by going without food.
My prayers for them weren’t always answered.
14 So I went around crying
as if I were mourning over my friend or relative.
I bowed my head in sadness
as if I were weeping over my mother.
15 But when I tripped and fell, they were all very happy.
Attackers gathered against me when I didn’t even know it.
They kept on telling lies about me.
16 Like ungodly people, they were mean and made fun of me.
They ground their teeth at me in hate.
17 Lord, how much longer will you just look on?
Save me from their deadly attacks.
Save the only life I have.
Save me from these lions.
18 I will give you thanks in the whole community.
Among all your people I will praise you.
19 Don’t let those who are my enemies without any reason
laugh at me and make fun of me.
Don’t let those who hate me without any reason
wink at me with an evil purpose.
20 They don’t speak words of peace.
They make up false charges
against those who live quietly in the land.
21 They make fun of me.
They say, “With our own eyes we have seen what you did.”
22 Lord, you have seen this. Don’t be silent.
Lord, don’t be far away from me.
23 Wake up! Rise up to help me!
My God and Lord, stand up for me.
24 Lord my God, when you hand down your sentence, let it be in my favor.
You always do what is right.
Don’t let my enemies have the joy of seeing me fall.
25 Don’t let them think, “That’s exactly what we wanted!”
Don’t let them say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let all those who laugh at me because I’m in trouble
be ashamed and bewildered.
Let all who think they are better than I am
put on shame and dishonor as if they were clothes.
27 Let those who are happy when my name is cleared
shout with joy and gladness.
Let them always say, “May the Lord be honored.
He is pleased when everything goes well with the one who serves him.”
28 You always do what is right. My tongue will speak about it
and praise you all day long.
Jeroboam Refuses to Follow Solomon
26 Jeroboam refused to follow King Solomon. He was one of Solomon’s officials. He was from Zeredah in the territory of Ephraim. His father was Nebat. His mother was a widow named Zeruah.
27 Here is the story of how Jeroboam refused to follow the king. Solomon had filled in the low places near the palace. He had also repaired the wall of the city of his father David. 28 Jeroboam was a very important young man. Solomon saw how well he did his work. So he put him in charge of all the workers in northern Israel.
29 About that time Jeroboam was going out of Jerusalem. Ahijah the prophet met him on the road. Ahijah was from Shiloh. He was wearing a new coat. The two of them were all alone out in the country. 30 Ahijah grabbed the new coat he had on. He tore it up into 12 pieces. 31 Then he said to Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces for yourself. The Lord is the God of Israel. He says, ‘I am going to tear the kingdom out of Solomon’s hand. I will give you ten of its tribes. 32 Solomon will have one of its tribes. I will let him keep it because of my servant David and because of Jerusalem. I have chosen that city out of all the cities in the tribes of Israel. 33 I will do these things because the tribes have deserted me. They have worshiped Ashtoreth, the female god of the people of Sidon. They have worshiped Chemosh, the god of the people of Moab. And they have worshiped Molek, the god of the people of Ammon. They have not lived the way I wanted them to. They have not done what is right in my eyes. They have not obeyed my rules and laws as Solomon’s father David did.
34 “ ‘But I will not take the whole kingdom out of Solomon’s hand. I have made him ruler all the days of his life. I have done it because of my servant David. I chose him, and he obeyed my commands and rules. 35 I will take the kingdom out of his son’s hands. And I will give you ten of the tribes. 36 I will give one of the tribes to David’s son. Then my servant David will always have a son on his throne in Jerusalem. The lamp of David’s kingdom will always burn brightly in my sight. Jerusalem is the city I chose for my Name. 37 But I will make you king over Israel. You will rule over everything your heart desires. So you will be the king of Israel. 38 Do everything I command you to do. Live the way I want you to. Do what is right in my eyes. Obey my rules and commands. That is what my servant David did. If you do those things, I will be with you. I will build you a kingdom. It will last as long as the one I built for David. I will give Israel to you. 39 I will punish David’s family because of what Solomon has done. But I will not punish them forever.’ ”
40 Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam. But Jeroboam ran away to Egypt. He went to Shishak, the king of Egypt. He stayed there until Solomon died.
Solomon Dies
41 The other events of Solomon’s rule are written down. Everything he did and the wisdom he showed are written down. They are written in the official records of Solomon. 42 Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over the whole nation of Israel for 40 years. 43 Then he joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the city of his father David. Solomon’s son Rehoboam became the next king after him.
Bragging About Tomorrow
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city. We will spend a year there. We will buy and sell and make money.” 14 You don’t even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? It is a mist that appears for a little while. Then it disappears. 15 Instead, you should say, “If it pleases the Lord, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you brag. You brag about the evil plans your pride produces. This kind of bragging is evil. 17 So suppose someone knows the good deeds they should do. But suppose they don’t do them. By not doing these good deeds, they sin.
A Warning to Rich People
5 You rich people, listen to me. Cry and weep, because you will soon be suffering. 2 Your riches have rotted. Moths have eaten your clothes. 3 Your gold and silver have lost their brightness. Their dullness will be a witness against you. Your wanting more and more will eat your body like fire. You have stored up riches in these last days. 4 You have even failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields. Their pay is crying out against you. The cries of those who gathered the harvest have reached the ears of the Lord. He rules over all. 5 You have lived an easy life on earth. You have given yourselves everything you wanted. You have made yourselves fat like cattle that will soon be butchered. 6 You have judged and murdered people who aren’t guilty. And they weren’t even opposing you.
22 They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha. The word Golgotha means the Place of the Skull. 23 Then they gave him wine mixed with spices. But he did not take it. 24 They nailed him to the cross. Then they divided up his clothes. They cast lots to see what each of them would get.
25 It was nine o’clock in the morning when they crucified him. 26 They wrote out the charge against him. It read,
The King of the Jews.
27-28 They crucified with him two rebels against Rome. One was on his right and one was on his left. 29 Those who passed by shouted at Jesus and made fun of him. They shook their heads and said, “So you are going to destroy the temple and build it again in three days? 30 Then come down from the cross! Save yourself!” 31 In the same way the chief priests and the teachers of the law made fun of him among themselves. “He saved others,” they said. “But he can’t save himself! 32 Let this Messiah, this king of Israel, come down now from the cross! When we see that, we will believe.” Those who were being crucified with Jesus also made fun of him.
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