Book of Common Prayer
The Word of God
119 Happy are those who live pure lives,
who follow the Lord’s teachings.
2 Happy are those who keep his rules,
who try to obey him with their whole heart.
3 They don’t do what is wrong;
they follow his ways.
4 Lord, you gave your orders
to be obeyed completely.
5 I wish I were more loyal
in obeying your demands.
6 Then I would not be ashamed
when I study your commands.
7 When I learned that your laws are fair,
I praised you with an honest heart.
8 I will obey your demands,
so please don’t ever leave me.
9 How can a young person live a pure life?
By obeying your word.
10 With all my heart I try to obey you.
Don’t let me break your commands.
11 I have taken your words to heart
so I would not sin against you.
12 Lord, you should be praised.
Teach me your demands.
13 My lips will tell about
all the laws you have spoken.
14 I enjoy living by your rules
as people enjoy great riches.
15 I think about your orders
and study your ways.
16 I enjoy obeying your demands,
and I will not forget your word.
17 Do good to me, your servant, so I can live,
so I can obey your word.
18 Open my eyes to see
the miracles in your teachings.
19 I am a stranger on earth.
Do not hide your commands from me.
20 I wear myself out with desire
for your laws all the time.
21 You scold proud people;
those who ignore your commands are cursed.
22 Don’t let me be insulted and hated
because I keep your rules.
23 Even if princes speak against me,
I, your servant, will think about your demands.
24 Your rules give me pleasure;
they give me good advice.
A Prayer Against Liars
For the director of music. Upon the sheminith. A psalm of David.
12 Save me, Lord, because the good people are all gone;
no true believers are left on earth.
2 Everyone lies to his neighbors;
they say one thing and mean another.
3 The Lord will stop those flattering lips
and cut off those bragging tongues.
4 They say, “Our tongues will help us win.
We can say what we wish; no one is our master.”
5 But the Lord says,
“I will now rise up,
because the poor are being hurt.
Because of the moans of the helpless,
I will give them the help they want.”
6 The Lord’s words are pure,
like silver purified by fire,
like silver purified seven times over.
7 Lord, you will keep us safe;
you will always protect us from such people.
8 But the wicked are all around us;
everyone loves what is wrong.
A Prayer for God to Be Near
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
13 How long will you forget me, Lord? Forever?
How long will you hide from me?
2 How long must I worry
and feel sad in my heart all day?
How long will my enemy win over me?
3 Lord, look at me.
Answer me, my God;
tell me, or I will die.
4 Otherwise my enemy will say, “I have won!”
Those against me will rejoice that I’ve been defeated.
5 I trust in your love.
My heart is happy because you saved me.
6 I sing to the Lord
because he has taken care of me.
The Unbelieving Fool
For the director of music. Of David.
14 Fools say to themselves,
“There is no God.”
Fools are evil and do terrible things;
there is no one who does anything good.
2 The Lord looked down from heaven on all people
to see if anyone understood,
if anyone was looking to God for help.
3 But all have turned away.
Together, everyone has become evil.
There is no one who does anything good,
not even one.
4 Don’t the wicked understand?
They destroy my people as if they were eating bread.
They do not ask the Lord for help.
5 But the wicked are filled with terror,
because God is with those who do what is right.
6 The wicked upset the plans of the poor,
but the Lord will protect them.
7 I pray that victory will come to Israel from Mount Zion!
May the Lord bring them back.
Then the people of Jacob will rejoice,
and the people of Israel will be glad.
The Lord Will Help Israel
41 The Lord says, “Faraway countries, listen to me.
Let the nations become strong.
Come to me and speak;
we will meet together to decide who is right.
2 “Who caused the one to come from the east?
Who gives him victories everywhere he goes?
The one who brought him gives nations over to him
and defeats kings.
He uses his sword, and kings become like dust.
He uses his bow, and they are blown away like chaff.
3 He chases them and is never hurt,
going places he has never been before.
4 Who caused this to happen?
Who has controlled history since the beginning?
I, the Lord, am the one. I was here at the beginning,
and I will be here when all things are finished.”
5 All you faraway places, look and be afraid;
all you places far away on the earth, shake with fear.
Come close and listen to me.
6 The workers help each other
and say to each other, “Be strong!”
7 The craftsman encourages the goldsmith,
and the workman who smooths the metal with a hammer encourages the one who shapes the metal.
He says, “This metal work is good.”
He nails the statue to a base so it can’t fall over.
Only the Lord Can Save Us
8 The Lord says, “People of Israel, you are my servants.
People of Jacob, I chose you.
You are from the family of my friend Abraham.
9 I took you from places far away on the earth
and called you from a faraway country.
I said, ‘You are my servants.’
I have chosen you and have not turned against you.
10 So don’t worry, because I am with you.
Don’t be afraid, because I am your God.
I will make you strong and will help you;
I will support you with my right hand that saves you.
11 “All those people who are angry with you
will be ashamed and disgraced.
Those who are against you
will disappear and be lost.
12 You will look for your enemies,
but you will not find them.
Those who fought against you
will vanish completely.
13 I am the Lord your God,
who holds your right hand,
and I tell you, ‘Don’t be afraid.
I will help you.’
14 You few people of Israel who are left,
do not be afraid even though you are weak as a worm.
I myself will help you,” says the Lord.
“The one who saves you is the Holy One of Israel.
15 Look, I have made you like a new threshing board
with many sharp teeth.
So you will walk on mountains and crush them;
you will make the hills like chaff.
16 You will throw them into the air, and the wind will carry them away;
a windstorm will scatter them.
Then you will be happy in the Lord;
you will be proud of the Holy One of Israel.
We Now Have Life
2 In the past you were spiritually dead because of your sins and the things you did against God. 2 Yes, in the past you lived the way the world lives, following the ruler of the evil powers that are above the earth. That same spirit is now working in those who refuse to obey God. 3 In the past all of us lived like them, trying to please our sinful selves and doing all the things our bodies and minds wanted. We should have suffered God’s anger because we were sinful by nature. We were the same as all other people.
4 But God’s mercy is great, and he loved us very much. 5 Though we were spiritually dead because of the things we did against God, he gave us new life with Christ. You have been saved by God’s grace. 6 And he raised us up with Christ and gave us a seat with him in the heavens. He did this for those in Christ Jesus 7 so that for all future time he could show the very great riches of his grace by being kind to us in Christ Jesus. 8 I mean that you have been saved by grace through believing. You did not save yourselves; it was a gift from God. 9 It was not the result of your own efforts, so you cannot brag about it. 10 God has made us what we are. In Christ Jesus, God made us to do good works, which God planned in advance for us to live our lives doing.
Jesus Heals Many People
29 As soon as Jesus and his followers left the synagogue, they went with James and John to the home of Simon[a] and Andrew. 30 Simon’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever, and the people told Jesus about her. 31 So Jesus went to her bed, took her hand, and helped her up. The fever left her, and she began serving them.
32 That evening, after the sun went down, the people brought to Jesus all who were sick and had demons in them. 33 The whole town gathered at the door. 34 Jesus healed many who had different kinds of sicknesses, and he forced many demons to leave people. But he would not allow the demons to speak, because they knew who he was.
35 Early the next morning, while it was still dark, Jesus woke and left the house. He went to a lonely place, where he prayed. 36 Simon and his friends went to look for Jesus. 37 When they found him, they said, “Everyone is looking for you!”
38 Jesus answered, “We should go to other towns around here so I can preach there too. That is the reason I came.” 39 So he went everywhere in Galilee, preaching in the synagogues and forcing out demons.
Jesus Heals a Sick Man
40 A man with a skin disease came to Jesus. He fell to his knees and begged Jesus, “You can heal me if you will.”
41 Jesus felt sorry for the man, so he reached out his hand and touched him and said, “I will. Be healed!” 42 Immediately the disease left the man, and he was healed.
43 Jesus told the man to go away at once, but he warned him strongly, 44 “Don’t tell anyone about this. But go and show yourself to the priest. And offer the gift Moses commanded for people who are made well.[b] This will show the people what I have done.” 45 The man left there, but he began to tell everyone that Jesus had healed him, and so he spread the news about Jesus. As a result, Jesus could not enter a town if people saw him. He stayed in places where nobody lived, but people came to him from everywhere.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.