Book of Common Prayer
To the director: With instruments. A maskil of David.
55 God, hear my prayer.
Don’t ignore my cry for help.
2 Please listen and answer me.
Let me speak to you and tell you what upsets me.
3 My enemies shout at me and threaten me.
In their anger they attack me.
They bring troubles crashing down on me.
4 My heart is pounding inside me.
I am afraid to die.
5 I am trembling with fear.
I am terrified!
6 Oh, I wish I had wings like a dove.
I would fly away and find a place to rest.
7 I would go far into the desert and stay there. Selah
8 I would run away.
I would escape from this storm of trouble.
9 My Lord, confuse their words and stop their plans.
I see so much cruelty and fighting in this city.
10 Day and night, in every neighborhood,
the city is filled with evil and trouble.
11 There is so much crime in the streets.
People who hurt and cheat others are everywhere.
12 If it were an enemy insulting me,
I could bear it.
If it were my enemies attacking me,
I could hide.
13 But it is you, the one so close to me,
my companion, my good friend, who does this.
14 We used to share our secrets with one another,
as we walked through the crowds together in God’s Temple.
15 I wish death would take my enemies by surprise!
I wish the earth would open up and swallow them alive,[a]
because they plan such terrible things together.
16 I will call to God for help,
and the Lord will save me.
17 I speak to God morning, noon, and night.
I tell him what upsets me, and he listens to me!
18 I have fought in many battles,
but he has always rescued me and brought me back safely.
19 God, who has always ruled as king,
will hear me and punish my enemies. Selah
But they will never change.
They don’t fear and respect God.
20 This one who was once my friend now attacks his friends.
He is breaking every promise he made.
21 His words about peace are as smooth as butter,
but he has only war on his mind.
His words are as slick as oil,
but they cut like a knife.
22 Give your worries to the Lord,
and he will care for you.
He will never let those who are good be defeated.
23 But, God, you will send those liars and murderers to the grave.
They will die before their life is half finished!
As for me, I will put my trust in you.
A song of David.
138 Lord, I praise you with all my heart.
I sing songs of praise to you before the gods.
2 I bow down toward your holy Temple,
and I praise your name for your love and loyalty.
You are famous,
and doing what you promised will make you even more famous!
3 When I called to you for help,
you answered me and gave me strength.
4 Lord, all the kings on earth will praise you
when they hear what you say.
5 They will sing about what the Lord has done,
because the glory of the Lord is very great.
6 The Lord has the highest place above all others,
but he still cares for the humble.
Even from there, so high above,
he knows what the proud do.
7 If I am in trouble, you keep me alive.
If my enemies are angry, you save me from them.
8 Lord, I know you will do what you have promised.
Lord, your faithful love will last forever.
You are the one who made us, so don’t leave us!
To the director: A praise song of David.
139 Lord, you have tested me,
so you know all about me.
2 You know when I sit down and when I get up.
You know my thoughts from far away.
3 You know where I go and where I lie down.
You know everything I do.
4 Lord, you know what I want to say,
even before the words leave my mouth.
5 You are all around me—in front of me and behind me.
I feel your hand on my shoulder.
6 I am amazed at what you know;
it is too much for me to understand.
7 Your Spirit is everywhere I go.
I cannot escape your presence.
8 If I go up to heaven, you will be there.
If I go down to the place of death, you will be there.
9 If I go east where the sun rises
or go to live in the west beyond the sea,
10 even there you will take my hand and lead me.
Your strong right hand will protect me.
11 Suppose I wanted to hide from you and said,
“Surely the darkness will hide me.
The day will change to night and cover me.”
12 Even the darkness is not dark to you.
The night is as bright as the day.
Darkness and light are the same.
13 You formed the way I think and feel.[a]
You put me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you because you made me in such a wonderful way.
I know how amazing that was!
15 You could see my bones grow as my body took shape,
hidden in my mother’s womb.[b]
16 You could see my body grow each passing day.[c]
You listed all my parts, and not one of them was missing.
17 Your thoughts are beyond my understanding.[d]
They cannot be measured!
18 If I could count them, they would be more than all the grains of sand.
But when I finished, I would have just begun.[e]
19 You murderers, get away from me!
God, kill those wicked people—
20 those who say bad things about you.
Your enemies use your name falsely.[f]
21 Lord, I hate those who hate you.
I hate those who are against you.
22 I hate them completely!
Your enemies are also my enemies.
23 God, examine me and know my mind.
Test me and know all my worries.
Sanballat and Tobiah
4 When Sanballat heard that we were building the wall of Jerusalem, he was very angry and upset. He started making fun of the Jews. 2 Sanballat talked with his friends and the army at Samaria and said, “What are these weak Jews doing? Do they think we will leave them alone? Do they think they will offer sacrifices? Maybe they think they can finish building in only one day. They cannot bring stones back to life from these piles of trash and dirt. These are just piles of ashes and dirt!”
3 Tobiah the Ammonite was with Sanballat. Tobiah said, “What do these Jews think they are building? If even a small fox climbed up on it, he would break down their wall of stones!”
4 Nehemiah prayed and said, “Our God, listen to our prayer. These men hate us. Sanballat and Tobiah are insulting us. Make bad things happen to them. Make them ashamed, like people taken away as prisoners. 5 Don’t take away their guilt or forgive the sins they have done in your sight. They have insulted and discouraged the builders.”
6 We built the wall of Jerusalem all the way around the city. But it was only half as tall as it should be. We did this much because the people worked with all their heart.
7 But Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the men from Ashdod were very angry. They heard that the people continued working on the walls of Jerusalem. They heard the people were repairing the holes in the wall. 8 So all these men got together and made plans against Jerusalem. They planned to stir up trouble against Jerusalem. They planned to come and fight against the city. 9 But we prayed to our God. And we put guards on the walls to watch day and night so that we could be ready to meet them.
10 And so at that time the people of Judah said, “The workers are becoming tired. There is too much dirt and trash in the way. We cannot continue to build the wall. 11 And our enemies are saying, ‘Before the Jews know it or see us, we will be right there among them. We will kill them and that will stop the work.’”
12 Then the Jews living among our enemies came and said this to us ten times, “Our enemies are all around us. They are everywhere we turn.”
13 So I put some of the people behind the lowest places along the wall, and I put them by the holes in the wall. I put families together, with their swords, spears, and bows. 14 After looking over everything, I stood up and spoke to the important families, the officials, and the rest of the people. I said, “Don’t be afraid of our enemies. Remember the Lord, who is great and powerful! You must fight for your brothers, your sons, and your daughters! You must fight for your wives and your homes!”
15 Then our enemies heard that we knew about their plans. They knew that God ruined their plans. So we all went back to work on the wall. Everyone went back to their own place and did their part. 16 From that day on, half of my men worked on the wall. The other half of my men were on guard, ready with spears, shields, bows, and armor. The army officers stood behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall. 17 The builders and their helpers had their tools in one hand and a weapon in the other hand. 18 Each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. The man who blew the trumpet to warn the people stayed next to me. 19 Then I spoke to the leading families, the officials, and the rest of the people. I said, “This is a very big job and we are spread out along the wall. We are far from one another. 20 So if you hear the trumpet, run to that place. We will all meet together there, and our God will fight for us!”
21 So we continued to work on the wall of Jerusalem, and half the men held spears. We worked from the first light of the morning until the stars came out at night.
22 At that time I also said this to the people, “Every builder and his helper must stay inside Jerusalem at night. Then they can be guards at night and workers during the day.” 23 So none of us took off our clothes—not me, not my brothers, not my men, and not the guards. Each of us had our weapon ready at all times, even when we went to get water.
4 Then I heard how many people had God’s mark on their foreheads. There were 144,000. They were from every tribe of the people of Israel:
5 from the tribe of Judah 12,000
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000
from the tribe of Gad 12,000
6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000
7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000
from the tribe of Levi 12,000
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000
8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000
from the tribe of Benjamin 12,000
The Great Crowd
9 Then I looked, and there was a large crowd of people. There were so many people that no one could count them all. They were from every nation, tribe, race of people, and language of the earth. They were standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They all wore white robes and had palm branches in their hands. 10 They shouted loudly, “Victory belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
11 The elders and the four living beings were there. All the angels were standing around them and the throne. The angels bowed down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God. 12 They said, “Amen! Praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power, and strength belong to our God forever and ever. Amen!”
13 Then one of the elders asked me, “Who are these people in white robes? Where did they come from?”
14 I answered, “You know who they are, sir.”
And the elder said, “These are the ones who have come out of the great suffering. They have washed their robes[a] with the blood of the Lamb, and they are clean and white. 15 So now these people are before the throne of God. They worship God day and night in his temple. And the one who sits on the throne will protect them. 16 They will never be hungry again. They will never be thirsty again. The sun will not hurt them. No heat will burn them. 17 The Lamb in front of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of water that give life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
What Is God’s Kingdom Like?(A)
31 Then Jesus told the people another story: “God’s kingdom is like a mustard seed that a man plants in his field. 32 It is the smallest of all seeds. But when it grows, it is the largest of all garden plants. It becomes a tree big enough for the birds to come and make nests in its branches.”
33 Then Jesus told them another story: “God’s kingdom is like yeast that a woman mixes into a big bowl of flour to make bread. The yeast makes all the dough rise.”
34 Jesus used stories to tell all these things to the people. He always used stories to teach them. 35 This was to make clear the full meaning of what the prophet said:
“I will speak using stories;
I will tell things that have been secrets since the world was made.” (B)
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International