Book of Common Prayer
A Cry for Help
A prayer of a person who is suffering when he is ·discouraged [faint; disturbed] and ·tells the Lord his complaints [L pours out his concerns before the Lord].
102 Lord, listen to my prayer;
let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide your ·presence [L face] from me
in my time of ·trouble [distress].
·Pay attention [L Extend your ear] to me.
·When I cry for help [L On the day I call], answer me quickly.
3 My ·life [L days] is ·passing away [vanishing] like smoke,
and my bones are burned up ·with fire [L like a furnace/oven/or glowing embers].
4 My heart is like grass
that has been ·cut [stricken] and dried.
I forget to eat my ·food [or bread].
5 Because of ·my grief [L the sounds of my groans],
my ·skin hangs on my bones [L bones cling to my flesh].
6 I am like a ·desert [wilderness] owl,
like an owl living among the ·ruins [wastelands; Is. 34:10–15; Zeph. 2:13–15].
7 I ·lie awake [or keep watch].
I am like a lonely bird on a ·housetop [roof].
8 All day long enemies ·insult [scorn; reproach] me;
those who ·make fun of [mock] me use my name as a curse.
9 I eat ashes for ·food [or bread],
and my tears ·fall into [mingle with] my drinks.
10 Because of your ·great anger [L wrath and indignation],
you have picked me up and thrown me away.
11 My days are like a passing shadow;
I am like dried grass.
12 But, Lord, you ·rule [L are enthroned] forever,
and your ·fame [memory] ·goes on and on [L throughout the generations].
13 You will ·come [L rise up] and have ·mercy [compassion] on ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple],
because the time has now come to be ·kind [gracious] to her;
the ·right [appointed] time has come.
14 Your servants ·love even [are pleased/delighted with] her stones;
they even ·care about [L have pity/compassion for] her dust.
15 Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings on earth ·will honor you [L your glory; C God’s manifest presence].
16 The Lord will rebuild ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple];
there his glory [C manifest presence] will be seen.
17 He will answer the prayers of the ·needy [lowly; L naked];
he will not ·reject [despise] their prayers.
18 Write these things for ·the future [L a future generation]
so that people who are not yet ·born [created] will praise the Lord.
19 The Lord looked down from his holy place above;
from heaven he ·looked [gazed] down at the earth.
20 He heard the ·moans [groans] of the prisoners,
and he ·freed [released] those sentenced to die.
21 The name of the Lord will be ·heard [recounted] in ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple];
his praise ·will be heard there [L in Jerusalem].
22 People will ·come [gather] together,
and kingdoms will serve the Lord.
23 ·God has made me tired of living [He broke my strength in midcourse/L the way];
he has cut short my ·life [L days].
24 So I said, “My God, do not take me in the middle of my ·life [L days].
Your years ·go on and on [endure for generations].
25 In the beginning you ·made [founded] the earth,
and ·your hands made the skies [L the heavens are the work of your hands; Gen. 1].
26 They will be destroyed, but you will ·remain [endure].
They will all wear out like ·clothes [garments].
And, like clothes, you will change them
and throw them away.
27 But you ·never change [are the same/L he],
and your ·life [L years] will never end.
28 ·Our children [L The children of your servants] will live in your presence,
and their ·children [offspring; L seed] will remain with you.”
Book 5: Psalms 107–150
God Saves from Many Dangers
107 Thank the Lord because he is good.
His ·love [loyalty] continues forever.
2 That is what those whom the Lord has ·saved [redeemed] should say.
He has ·saved [redeemed] them from the ·enemy [foe]
3 and has gathered them from other lands,
from east and west, north and south [Is. 51:11; C perhaps after the Babylonian exile].
4 Some people had wandered in the ·desert lands [L wilderness, wasteland].
They found no way to a city in which to live.
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
and they were ·discouraged [faint].
6 In their ·misery [distress] they cried out to the Lord,
and he ·saved [rescued; protected] them from their troubles [vv. 13, 19, 28].
7 He led them on a straight road
to a city where they could live.
8 Let them ·give thanks to [praise] the Lord for his ·love [loyalty]
and for the ·miracles [wonderful works] he does for people [vv. 15, 21, 31].
9 He satisfies the thirsty
and fills ·up [L with good things] the hungry [Is. 58:10–11; Jer. 31:25; Luke 1:53].
10 Some sat in ·gloom [darkness] and ·darkness [deep darkness];
they were prisoners ·suffering [afflicted] in ·chains [irons].
11 They had ·turned [rebelled] against the words of God
and had ·refused [rejected] the advice of God Most High.
12 So he ·broke their pride by [L made their hearts cower with] hard work.
They stumbled, and no one helped.
13 In their ·misery [distress] they cried out to the Lord,
and he ·saved them from [gave them victory over] their troubles [vv. 6, 19, 28].
14 He brought them out of their ·gloom [darkness] and ·darkness [deep darkness]
and ·broke [burst] their chains.
15 Let them ·give thanks to [praise] the Lord for his ·love [loyalty]
and for the ·miracles [wonderful works] he does for people [vv. 8, 21, 31].
16 He ·breaks down [shatters] bronze gates
and cuts apart iron bars.
17 Some ·fools turned against God [L became fools in the way of transgression]
and ·suffered [were afflicted] ·for the evil they did [L because of their guilt].
18 ·They refused to eat anything [L Their appetite loathed any food],
so they ·almost died [L approached the gates of death].
19 In their ·misery [distress] they cried out to the Lord,
and he ·saved them [gave them victory] from their troubles [vv. 6, 13, 28].
20 God ·gave the command [L sent forth his word] and healed them,
so they were ·saved [rescued] from ·dying [destruction; or their pits].
21 Let them ·give thanks to [praise] the Lord for his ·love [loyalty]
and for the ·miracles [wonderful works] he does for people [vv. 8, 15, 31].
22 Let them offer ·sacrifices to thank him [thanksgiving offerings].
With joy they should ·tell [recount] what he has done.
23 Others went out to sea in ships
and did ·business [work] on the ·great oceans [L many waters].
24 They saw what the Lord could do,
the ·miracles [worderful works] he did in the deep oceans.
25 He spoke, and a ·storm [L stormy wind] ·came [L stood] up,
which ·blew [raised] up high waves.
26 ·The ships [L They] ·were tossed as high as [L went up to] the ·sky [heavens] and fell low to the depths.
·The storm was so bad that they lost their courage [L Their life/soul melted in evil/trouble].
27 They ·stumbled [reeled; leapt] and ·fell [tottered; staggered] like people who were drunk.
·They did not know what to do [L All their wisdom was confused].
28 In their ·misery [distress] they cried out to the Lord,
and he ·saved [L brought them out] them from their troubles [vv. 6, 13, 19].
29 He ·stilled [quieted] the storm
and ·calmed [hushed] the waves.
30 They were happy that it was quiet,
and God guided them to the ·port [harbor] they wanted.
31 Let them ·give thanks to [praise] the Lord for his ·love [loyalty]
and for the ·miracles [wonderful works] he does for people [vv. 8, 15, 21].
32 Let them ·praise his greatness [exalt him] in the ·meeting [assembly] of the people;
let them praise him in the meeting of the elders.
Saul Looks for His Father’s Donkeys
9 Kish, son of Abiel from the tribe of Benjamin, was an ·important man [man of wealth/rank/standing/valor]. (Abiel was the son of Zeror, who was the son of Becorath, who was the son of Aphiah of Benjamin.) 2 Kish had a son named Saul, who was a ·fine [handsome] young man. There was no Israelite ·better [more handsome] than he. Saul stood ·a head [head and shoulders] taller than any other man in Israel.
3 Now the donkeys of Saul’s father, Kish, were lost. So Kish said to Saul, his son, “Take one of the servants, and go and look for the donkeys.” 4 Saul went through the ·mountains [hill country] of Ephraim and the ·land [area; territory] of Shalisha, but he and the servant could not find the donkeys. They went into the ·land [area; territory] of Shaalim, but the donkeys were not there. They went through the ·land [area; territory] of Benjamin, but they still did not find them. 5 When they arrived in the area of Zuph, Saul said to his servant, “Let’s go back or my father will stop thinking about the donkeys and will start worrying about us.”
6 But the servant answered, “A man of God [C a title for a prophet] is in this town. People ·respect [honor] him because everything he says comes true. Let’s go ·into the town now [L there]. Maybe he can tell us ·something about the journey we have taken [or what way to go].”
7 Saul said to his servant, “If we go into the town, what can we give him? The ·food [bread] in our bags is gone. We have no gift to give him. ·Do we have anything [What do we have]?”
8 Again the servant answered Saul. “Look, I have ·one-tenth of an ounce [L a quarter of a shekel] of silver. ·Give [or I will give] it to the man of God. Then he will tell us ·about our journey [L what to do/way to go].” 9 (In ·the past [L those days], if someone in Israel wanted to ·ask something from [inquire of] God, he would say, “Let’s go to the seer.” We call the person a prophet today, but in ·the past [L those days] he was called a seer.)
10 Saul said to his servant, “·That’s a good idea [Well said]. Come, let’s go.” So they went toward the town where the man of God was.
11 As Saul and the servant were going up the hill to the town, they met some young women coming out to ·get [draw] water. Saul and the servant asked them, “Is the seer here?”
12 The young women answered, “Yes, he’s here. He’s ahead of you. Hurry now. He has just come to our town today, because the people will offer a sacrifice at the ·place of worship [high place]. 13 As soon as you enter the town, you ·will [can] find him before he goes up to the ·place of worship [high place] to eat. The people will not begin eating until the seer comes, because he must bless the sacrifice. After that, the guests will eat. Go now, and you should find him [L quickly; at once].”
Saul Meets Samuel
14 Saul and the servant went up to the town. Just as they ·entered it [L arrived in the midst of the town], they saw Samuel coming toward them on his way up to the ·place of worship [high place].
17 “The promise God made to Abraham [Gen. 15:12–16] was soon to come true, and the number of people in Egypt ·grew large [L increased/flourished and multiplied]. 18 Then ·a new [L another] king, who ·did not know who Joseph was [or did not think Joseph was important], ·began to rule Egypt [L arose; Ex. 1:8]. 19 This king ·tricked [exploited; dealt treacherously with] our ·people [L race] and was cruel to our ·ancestors [L fathers], forcing them to ·leave [L expose; abandon] their babies outside to die [C such abandonment was a common ancient method of population control]. 20 At this time Moses was born, and he was ·very beautiful [beautiful before/to God; or of high status in God’s eyes]. For three months Moses was cared for in his father’s house. 21 When ·they put Moses outside [L he was abandoned/exposed; C when Moses’ mother “exposed” Moses to the elements, she was actually hiding him; Ex. 2:3–4], ·the king’s [L Pharaoh’s] daughter adopted him and raised him as if he were her own son. 22 ·The Egyptians taught Moses everything they knew [L So Moses was instructed in all the wisdom of the Egyptians], and he was a powerful man in ·what he said and did [L his words and actions].
23 “When Moses was about forty years old, ·he thought it would be good [L it rose up in his heart] to visit his own ·people [relatives; L brothers (and sisters)], the ·people [L sons; children] of Israel. 24 Moses saw an Egyptian ·mistreating [wronging] one of his people, so he defended the ·Israelite [L oppressed man] and ·punished the Egyptian by killing him [L avenged him by striking down the Egyptian; Ex. 2:11–12]. 25 Moses ·thought [assumed] his own ·people [relatives; L brothers (and sisters)] would understand that God was using him to save them, but they did not. 26 The next day when Moses saw two men of Israel fighting, he tried to ·make peace between [reconcile] them. He said, ‘Men, you are brothers. Why are you ·hurting [wronging] each other?’ 27 The man who was ·hurting [wronging] ·the other [L his neighbor] pushed Moses away and said, ‘Who made you our ruler and judge? 28 ·Are you going [or Do you want] to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday [Ex. 2:14]?’ 29 When Moses heard him say this, he ·left Egypt [L fled] and went to live in the land of Midian [C a land without distinct borders centered in northwestern Arabia] where he was a ·stranger [foreigner; resident alien; Ex. 2:15–25]. While Moses lived in Midian, he had two sons.
Don’t Lose Your Faith!(A)
31 “Simon [C Peter], Simon, [L look; T behold,] Satan has ·asked [de-manded; sought permission] to ·test all of you as a farmer sifts his [L sift all of you as] wheat. 32 [L But] I have prayed [L for you] that ·you will not lose your faith [your faith will not fail]! And when you ·come back to me [return; turn back], help your brothers be stronger.”
33 But Peter said to Jesus, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and even to die with you!”
34 But Jesus said, “[L I tell you,] Peter, before the rooster crows this day, you will ·say three times that you don’t [L deny three times that you] know me.”
Be Ready for Trouble
35 Then Jesus said to the apostles, “When I sent you out without ·a purse [money bag], a ·bag [traveling bag], or sandals, did you ·need [lack] anything?”
They said, “·No [L Nothing].”
36 He said to them, “But now if you have a ·purse [money bag] or a ·bag [traveling bag], carry that with you. If you don’t have a sword, sell your ·coat [cloak] and buy one. 37 [L For] I tell you this scripture must ·have its full meaning [be fulfilled] ·with reference to me [L in me]: ‘He was ·treated like a criminal [counted/numbered among the wicked/lawless ones; Is. 53:12],’ [Yes; L For] What was written about me ·is happening now [is being fulfilled].”
38 His ·followers [disciples] said, “Look, Lord, here are two swords.”
He said to them, “·That is enough [or That’s enough talk like that!].”
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