Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for God to Guide
Of David.
25 Lord, I give myself to you;
2 my God, I trust you.
Do not let me be disgraced;
do not let my enemies laugh at me.
3 No one who trusts you will be disgraced,
but those who sin without excuse will be disgraced.
4 Lord, tell me your ways.
Show me how to live.
5 Guide me in your truth,
and teach me, my God, my Savior.
I trust you all day long.
6 Lord, remember your mercy and love
that you have shown since long ago.
7 Do not remember the sins
and wrong things I did when I was young.
But remember to love me always
because you are good, Lord.
8 The Lord is good and right;
he points sinners to the right way.
9 He shows those who are humble how to do right,
and he teaches them his ways.
10 All the Lord’s ways are loving and true
for those who follow the demands of his agreement.
11 For the sake of your name, Lord,
forgive my many sins.
12 Are there those who respect the Lord?
He will point them to the best way.
13 They will enjoy a good life,
and their children will inherit the land.
14 The Lord tells his secrets to those who respect him;
he tells them about his agreement.
15 My eyes are always looking to the Lord for help.
He will keep me from any traps.
16 Turn to me and have mercy on me,
because I am lonely and hurting.
17 My troubles have grown larger;
free me from my problems.
18 Look at my suffering and troubles,
and take away all my sins.
19 Look at how many enemies I have!
See how much they hate me!
20 Protect me and save me.
I trust you, so do not let me be disgraced.
21 My hope is in you,
so may goodness and honesty guard me.
22 God, save Israel from all their troubles!
Thanksgiving for Victory
For the director of music. To the tune of “The Death of the Son.” A psalm of David.
9 I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart.
I will tell all the miracles you have done.
2 I will be happy because of you;
God Most High, I will sing praises to your name.
3 My enemies turn back;
they are overwhelmed and die because of you.
4 You have heard my complaint;
you sat on your throne and judged by what was right.
5 You spoke strongly against the foreign nations and destroyed the wicked;
you wiped out their names forever and ever.
6 The enemy is gone forever.
You destroyed their cities;
no one even remembers them.
7 But the Lord rules forever.
He sits on his throne to judge,
8 and he will judge the world in fairness;
he will decide what is fair for the nations.
9 The Lord defends those who suffer;
he defends them in times of trouble.
10 Those who know the Lord trust him,
because he will not leave those who come to him.
11 Sing praises to the Lord who is king on Mount Zion.
Tell the nations what he has done.
12 He remembers who the murderers are;
he will not forget the cries of those who suffer.
13 Lord, have mercy on me.
See how my enemies hurt me.
Do not let me go through the gates of death.
14 Then, at the gates of Jerusalem, I will praise you;
I will rejoice because you saved me.
15 The nations have fallen into the pit they dug.
Their feet are caught in the nets they laid.
16 The Lord has made himself known by his fair decisions;
the wicked get trapped by what they do. Higgaion. Selah
17 Wicked people will go to the grave,
and so will all those who forget God.
18 But those who have troubles will not be forgotten.
The hopes of the poor will never die.
19 Lord, rise up and judge the nations.
Don’t let people think they are strong.
20 Teach them to fear you, Lord.
The nations must learn that they are only human. Selah
What the Lord Demands
A psalm of David.
15 Lord, who may enter your Holy Tent?
Who may live on your holy mountain?
2 Only those who are innocent
and who do what is right.
Such people speak the truth from their hearts
3 and do not tell lies about others.
They do no wrong to their neighbors
and do not gossip.
4 They do not respect hateful people
but honor those who honor the Lord.
They keep their promises to their neighbors,
even when it hurts.
5 They do not charge interest on money they lend
and do not take money to hurt innocent people.
Whoever does all these things will never be destroyed.
5 Saul sent David to fight in different battles, and David was very successful. Then Saul put David over the soldiers, which pleased Saul’s officers and all the other people.
6 After David had killed the Philistine, he and the men returned home. Women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul. They sang songs of joy, danced, and played tambourines and stringed instruments. 7 As they played, they sang,
“Saul has killed thousands of his enemies,
but David has killed tens of thousands.”
8 The women’s song upset Saul, and he became very angry. He thought, “The women say David has killed tens of thousands, but they say I have killed only thousands. The only thing left for him to have is the kingdom!” 9 So Saul watched David closely from then on, because he was jealous.
10 The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he prophesied in his house. David was playing the harp as he usually did, but Saul had a spear in his hand. 11 He threw the spear, thinking, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David escaped from him twice.
12 The Lord was with David but had left Saul. So Saul was afraid of David. 13 He sent David away and made him commander of a thousand soldiers. So David led them in battle. 14 He had great success in everything he did because the Lord was with him. 15 When Saul saw that David was very successful, he feared David even more. 16 But all the people of Israel and Judah loved David because he led them well in battle.
27 So he and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. David brought all their foreskins to Saul so he could be the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal for his wife. 28 Saul saw that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David. 29 So he grew even more afraid of David, and he was David’s enemy all his life.
30 The Philistine commanders continued to go out to fight the Israelites, but every time, David was more skillful than Saul’s officers. So he became famous.
The Good News Comes to Antioch
19 Many of the believers were scattered when they were persecuted after Stephen was killed. Some of them went as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch telling the message to others, but only to Jews. 20 Some of these believers were people from Cyprus and Cyrene. When they came to Antioch, they spoke also to Greeks,[a] telling them the Good News about the Lord Jesus. 21 The Lord was helping the believers, and a large group of people believed and turned to the Lord.
22 The church in Jerusalem heard about all of this, so they sent Barnabas to Antioch. 23-24 Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith. When he reached Antioch and saw how God had blessed the people, he was glad. He encouraged all the believers in Antioch always to obey the Lord with all their hearts, and many people became followers of the Lord.
25 Then Barnabas went to the city of Tarsus to look for Saul, 26 and when he found Saul, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year Saul and Barnabas met with the church and taught many people there. In Antioch the followers were called Christians for the first time.
27 About that time some prophets came from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 One of them, named Agabus, stood up and spoke with the help of the Holy Spirit. He said, “A very hard time is coming to the whole world. There will be no food to eat.” (This happened when Claudius ruled.) 29 The followers all decided to help the believers who lived in Judea, as much as each one could. 30 They gathered the money and gave it to Barnabas and Saul, who brought it to the elders in Judea.
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.