Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Deliverance
145 With all my heart I call to you;
answer me, Lord, and I will obey your commands!
146 I call to you;
save me, and I will keep your laws.
147 Before sunrise I call to you for help;
I place my hope in your promise.
148 All night long I lie awake,
to meditate on your instructions.
149 Because your love is constant, hear me, O Lord;
show your mercy, and preserve my life!
150 My cruel persecutors are coming closer,
people who never keep your law.
151 But you are near to me, Lord,
and all your commands are permanent.
152 Long ago I learned about your instructions;
you made them to last forever.
A Plea for Help
153 Look at my suffering, and save me,
because I have not neglected your law.
154 Defend my cause, and set me free;
save me, as you have promised.
155 The wicked will not be saved,
for they do not obey your laws.
156 But your compassion, Lord, is great;
show your mercy and save me!
157 I have many enemies and oppressors,
but I do not fail to obey your laws.
158 When I look at those traitors, I am filled with disgust,
because they do not keep your commands.
159 See how I love your instructions, Lord.
Your love never changes, so save me!
160 The heart of your law is truth,
and all your righteous judgments are eternal.
Dedication to the Law of the Lord
161 Powerful people attack me unjustly,
but I respect your law.
162 How happy I am because of your promises—
as happy as someone who finds rich treasure.
163 I hate and detest all lies,
but I love your law.
164 Seven times each day I thank you
for your righteous judgments.
165 Those who love your law have perfect security,
and there is nothing that can make them fall.
166 I wait for you to save me, Lord,
and I do what you command.
167 I obey your teachings;
I love them with all my heart.
168 I obey your commands and your instructions;
you see everything I do.
A Prayer for Help
169 Let my cry for help reach you, Lord!
Give me understanding, as you have promised.
170 Listen to my prayer,
and save me according to your promise!
171 I will always praise you,
because you teach me your laws.
172 I will sing about your law,
because your commands are just.
173 Always be ready to help me,
because I follow your commands.
174 How I long for your saving help, O Lord!
I find happiness in your law.
175 Give me life, so that I may praise you;
may your instructions help me.
176 I wander about like a lost sheep;
so come and look for me, your servant,
because I have not neglected your laws.
The Reward of Obedience to the Lord
128 Happy are those who obey the Lord,
who live by his commands.
2 Your work will provide for your needs;
you will be happy and prosperous.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine in your home,
and your children will be like young olive trees around your table.
4 A man who obeys the Lord
will surely be blessed like this.
5 May the Lord bless you from Zion!
May you see Jerusalem prosper
all the days of your life!
6 May you live to see your grandchildren!
Peace be with Israel!
A Prayer against Israel's Enemies
129 Israel, tell us how your enemies have persecuted you
ever since you were young.
2 “Ever since I was young,
my enemies have persecuted me cruelly,
but they have not overcome me.
3 They cut deep wounds in my back
and made it like a plowed field.
4 But the Lord, the righteous one,
has freed me from slavery.”
5 May everyone who hates Zion
be defeated and driven back.
6 May they all be like grass growing on the housetops,
which dries up before it can grow;
7 no one gathers it up
or carries it away in bundles.
8 No one who passes by will say,
“May the Lord bless you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
A Prayer for Help
130 From the depths of my despair I call to you, Lord.
2 Hear my cry, O Lord;
listen to my call for help!
3 If you kept a record of our sins,
who could escape being condemned?
4 But you forgive us,
so that we should stand in awe of you.
5 I wait eagerly for the Lord's help,
and in his word I trust.
6 I wait for the Lord
more eagerly than sentries wait for the dawn—
than sentries wait for the dawn.
7 Israel, trust in the Lord,
because his love is constant
and he is always willing to save.
8 (A)He will save his people Israel
from all their sins.
Aaron's Walking Stick
8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “If the king demands that you prove yourselves by performing a miracle, tell Aaron to take his walking stick and throw it down in front of the king, and it will turn into a snake.” 10 So Moses and Aaron went to the king and did as the Lord had commanded. Aaron threw his walking stick down in front of the king and his officers, and it turned into a snake. 11 Then the king called for his wise men and magicians, and by their magic they did the same thing. 12 They threw down their walking sticks, and the sticks turned into snakes. But Aaron's stick swallowed theirs. 13 The king, however, remained stubborn and, just as the Lord had said, the king would not listen to Moses and Aaron.
Disasters Strike Egypt
Blood
14 (A)Then the Lord said to Moses, “The king is very stubborn and refuses to let the people go. 15 So go and meet him in the morning when he goes down to the Nile. Take with you the walking stick that was turned into a snake, and wait for him on the riverbank. 16 Then say to the king, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, sent me to tell you to let his people go, so that they can worship him in the desert. But until now you have not listened. 17 (B)Now, Your Majesty, the Lord says that you will find out who he is by what he is going to do. Look, I am going to strike the surface of the river with this stick, and the water will be turned into blood. 18 The fish will die, and the river will stink so much that the Egyptians will not be able to drink from it.’”
19 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to take his stick and hold it out over all the rivers, canals, and pools in Egypt. The water will become blood, and all over the land there will be blood, even in the wooden tubs and stone jars.”
20 Then Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded. In the presence of the king and his officers, Aaron raised his stick and struck the surface of the river, and all the water in it was turned into blood. 21 The fish in the river died, and it smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink from it. There was blood everywhere in Egypt. 22 Then the king's magicians did the same thing by means of their magic, and the king was as stubborn as ever. Just as the Lord had said, the king refused to listen to Moses and Aaron. 23 Instead, he turned and went back to his palace without paying any attention even to this. 24 All the Egyptians dug along the bank of the river for drinking water, because they were not able to drink water from the river.
Victory through Christ
14 But thanks be to God! For in union with Christ we are always led by God as prisoners in Christ's victory procession. God uses us to make the knowledge about Christ spread everywhere like a sweet fragrance. 15 For we are like a sweet-smelling incense offered by Christ to God, which spreads among those who are being saved and those who are being lost. 16 For those who are being lost, it is a deadly stench that kills; but for those who are being saved, it is a fragrance that brings life. Who, then, is capable for such a task? 17 We are not like so many others, who handle God's message as if it were cheap merchandise; but because God has sent us, we speak with sincerity in his presence, as servants of Christ.
Servants of the New Covenant
3 Does this sound as if we were again boasting about ourselves? Could it be that, like some other people, we need letters of recommendation to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are the letter we have, written on our hearts for everyone to know and read. 3 (A)It is clear that Christ himself wrote this letter and sent it by us. It is written, not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, and not on stone tablets but on human hearts.
4 We say this because we have confidence in God through Christ. 5 There is nothing in us that allows us to claim that we are capable of doing this work. The capacity we have comes from God; 6 (B)it is he who made us capable of serving the new covenant, which consists not of a written law but of the Spirit. The written law brings death, but the Spirit gives life.
Jesus Teaches about Divorce(A)
10 Then Jesus left that place, went to the province of Judea, and crossed the Jordan River. Crowds came flocking to him again, and he taught them, as he always did.
2 Some Pharisees came to him and tried to trap him. “Tell us,” they asked, “does our Law allow a man to divorce his wife?”
3 Jesus answered with a question, “What law did Moses give you?”
4 (B)Their answer was, “Moses gave permission for a man to write a divorce notice and send his wife away.”
5 Jesus said to them, “Moses wrote this law for you because you are so hard to teach. 6 (C)But in the beginning, at the time of creation, ‘God made them male and female,’ as the scripture says. 7 (D)‘And for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and unite with his wife,[a] 8 and the two will become one.’ So they are no longer two, but one. 9 No human being must separate, then, what God has joined together.”
10 When they went back into the house, the disciples asked Jesus about this matter. 11 (E)He said to them, “A man who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against his wife. 12 In the same way, a woman who divorces her husband and marries another man commits adultery.”
Jesus Blesses Little Children(F)
13 Some people brought children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples scolded the people. 14 When Jesus noticed this, he was angry and said to his disciples, “Let the children come to me, and do not stop them, because the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 (G)I assure you that whoever does not receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” 16 Then he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on each of them, and blessed them.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.