Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Protection
For the director of music. With stringed instruments. Of David.
61 God, hear my cry;
listen to my prayer.
2 I call to you from the ends of the earth
when I am afraid.
Carry me away to a high mountain.
3 You have been my protection,
like a strong tower against my enemies.
4 Let me live in your Holy Tent forever.
Let me find safety in the shelter of your wings. Selah
5 God, you have heard my promises.
You have given me what belongs to those who fear you.
6 Give the king a long life;
let him live many years.
7 Let him rule in the presence of God forever.
Protect him with your love and truth.
8 Then I will praise your name forever,
and every day I will keep my promises.
Trust Only in God
For the director of music. For Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
62 I find rest in God;
only he can save me.
2 He is my rock and my salvation.
He is my defender;
I will not be defeated.
3 How long will you attack someone?
Will all of you kill that person?
Who is like a leaning wall, like a fence ready to fall?
4 They are planning to make that person fall.
They enjoy telling lies.
With their mouths they bless,
but in their hearts they curse. Selah
5 I find rest in God;
only he gives me hope.
6 He is my rock and my salvation.
He is my defender;
I will not be defeated.
7 My honor and salvation come from God.
He is my mighty rock and my protection.
8 People, trust God all the time.
Tell him all your problems,
because God is our protection. Selah
9 The least of people are only a breath,
and even the greatest are just a lie.
On the scales, they weigh nothing;
together they are only a breath.
10 Do not trust in force.
Stealing is of no use.
Even if you gain more riches,
don’t put your trust in them.
11 God has said this,
and I have heard it over and over:
God is strong.
12 The Lord is loving.
You reward people for what they have done.
Praise God Who Saved the Nation
For the director of music. A psalm of David. A song.
68 Let God rise up and scatter his enemies;
let those who hate him run away from him.
2 Blow them away as smoke
is driven away by the wind.
As wax melts before a fire,
let the wicked be destroyed before God.
3 But those who do right should be glad
and should rejoice before God;
they should be happy and glad.
4 Sing to God; sing praises to his name.
Prepare the way for him
who rides through the desert,
whose name is the Lord.
Rejoice before him.
5 God is in his holy Temple.
He is a father to orphans,
and he defends the widows.
6 God gives the lonely a home.
He leads prisoners out with joy,
but those who turn against God will live in a dry land.
7 God, you led your people out
when you marched through the desert. Selah
8 The ground shook
and the sky poured down rain
before God, the God of Mount Sinai,
before God, the God of Israel.
9 God, you sent much rain;
you refreshed your tired land.
10 Your people settled there.
God, in your goodness
you took care of the poor.
11 The Lord gave the command,
and a great army told the news:
12 “Kings and their armies run away.
In camp they divide the wealth taken in war.
13 Those who stayed by the campfires
will share the riches taken in battle.”
14 The Almighty scattered kings
like snow on Mount Zalmon.
15 The mountains of Bashan are high;
the mountains of Bashan have many peaks.
16 Why do you mountains with many peaks look with envy
on the mountain that God chose for his home?
The Lord will live there forever.
17 God comes with millions of chariots;
the Lord comes from Mount Sinai to his holy place.
18 When you went up to the heights,
you led a parade of captives.
You received gifts from the people,
even from those who turned against you.
And the Lord God will live there.
19 Praise the Lord, God our Savior,
who helps us every day. Selah
20 Our God is a God who saves us;
the Lord God saves us from death.
21 God will crush his enemies’ heads,
the hairy skulls of those who continue to sin.
22 The Lord said, “I will bring the enemy back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the sea.
23 Then you can stick your feet in their blood,
and your dogs can lick their share.”
24 God, people have seen your victory march;
God my King marched into the holy place.
25 The singers are in front and the instruments are behind.
In the middle are the girls with the tambourines.
26 Praise God in the meeting place;
praise the Lord in the gathering of Israel.
27 There is the smallest tribe, Benjamin, leading them.
And there are the leaders of Judah with their group.
There also are the leaders of Zebulun and of Naphtali.
28 God, order up your power;
show the mighty power you have used for us before.
29 Kings will bring their wealth to you,
to your Temple in Jerusalem.
30 Punish Egypt, the beast in the tall grass along the river.
Punish the leaders of nations, those bulls among the cows.
Defeated, they will bring you their silver.
Scatter those nations that love war.
31 Messengers will come from Egypt;
the people of Cush will pray to God.
32 Kingdoms of the earth, sing to God;
sing praises to the Lord. Selah
33 Sing to the one who rides through the skies, which are from long ago.
He speaks with a thundering voice.
34 Announce that God is powerful.
He rules over Israel,
and his power is in the skies.
35 God, you are wonderful in your Temple.
The God of Israel gives his people strength and power.
Praise God!
Abner Joins David
6 During the war between the supporters of Saul’s family and the supporters of David’s family, Abner made himself a main leader among the supporters of Saul.
7 Saul once had a slave woman named Rizpah, who was the daughter of Aiah. Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, “Why did you have sexual relations with my father’s slave woman?”
8 Abner was very angry because of what Ish-Bosheth said, and he replied, “I have been loyal to Saul and his family and friends! I didn’t hand you over to David. I am not a traitor working for Judah! But now you are saying I did something wrong with this woman! 9 May God help me if I don’t join David! I will make sure that what the Lord promised does happen! 10 I will take the kingdom from the family of Saul and make David king of Israel and Judah, from Dan to Beersheba!”[a]
11 Ish-Bosheth couldn’t say anything to Abner, because he was afraid of him.
12 Then Abner sent messengers to ask David, “Who is going to rule the land? Make an agreement with me, and I will help you unite all Israel.”
13 David answered, “Good! I will make an agreement with you, but I ask you one thing. I will not meet with you unless you bring Saul’s daughter Michal to me.” 14 Then David sent messengers to Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth, saying, “Give me my wife Michal. She was promised to me, and I killed a hundred Philistines to get her.”
15 So Ish-Bosheth sent men to take Michal from her husband Paltiel son of Laish. 16 Michal’s husband went with her, crying as he followed her to Bahurim. But Abner said to Paltiel, “Go back home.” So he went home.
17 Abner sent this message to the elders of Israel: “You have been wanting to make David your king. 18 Now do it! The Lord said of David, ‘Through my servant David, I will save my people Israel from the Philistines and all their enemies.’”
19 Abner also said these things to the people of Benjamin. He then went to Hebron to tell David what the Benjaminites and Israel wanted to do. 20 Abner came with twenty men to David at Hebron. There David prepared a feast for them. 21 Abner said to David, “My master and king, I will go and bring all the Israelites to you. Then they will make an agreement with you so you will rule over all Israel as you wanted.” So David let Abner go, and he left in peace.
Paul Is Called Out of Asia
6 Paul and those with him went through the areas of Phrygia and Galatia since the Holy Spirit did not let them preach the Good News in Asia. 7 When they came near the country of Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not let them. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went to Troas. 9 That night Paul saw in a vision a man from Macedonia. The man stood and begged, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we immediately prepared to leave for Macedonia, understanding that God had called us to tell the Good News to those people.
Lydia Becomes a Christian
11 We left Troas and sailed straight to the island of Samothrace. The next day we sailed to Neapolis.[a] 12 Then we went by land to Philippi, a Roman colony[b] and the leading city in that part of Macedonia. We stayed there for several days.
13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the river where we thought we would find a special place for prayer. Some women had gathered there, so we sat down and talked with them. 14 One of the listeners was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira whose job was selling purple cloth. She worshiped God, and he opened her mind to pay attention to what Paul was saying. 15 She and all the people in her house were baptized. Then she invited us to her home, saying, “If you think I am truly a believer in the Lord, then come stay in my house.” And she persuaded us to stay with her.
More than Five Thousand Fed
30 The apostles gathered around Jesus and told him about all the things they had done and taught. 31 Crowds of people were coming and going so that Jesus and his followers did not even have time to eat. He said to them, “Come away by yourselves, and we will go to a lonely place to get some rest.”
32 So they went in a boat by themselves to a lonely place. 33 But many people saw them leave and recognized them. So from all the towns they ran to the place where Jesus was going, and they got there before him. 34 When he arrived, he saw a great crowd waiting. He felt sorry for them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began to teach them many things.
35 When it was late in the day, his followers came to him and said, “No one lives in this place, and it is already very late. 36 Send the people away so they can go to the countryside and towns around here to buy themselves something to eat.”
37 But Jesus answered, “You give them something to eat.”
They said to him, “We would all have to work a month to earn enough money to buy that much bread!”
38 Jesus asked them, “How many loaves of bread do you have? Go and see.”
When they found out, they said, “Five loaves and two fish.”
39 Then Jesus told his followers to have the people sit in groups on the green grass. 40 So they sat in groups of fifty or a hundred. 41 Jesus took the five loaves and two fish and, looking up to heaven, he thanked God for the food. He divided the bread and gave it to his followers for them to give to the people. Then he divided the two fish among them all. 42 All the people ate and were satisfied. 43 The followers filled twelve baskets with the leftover pieces of bread and fish. 44 There were five thousand men who ate.
Jesus Walks on the Water
45 Immediately Jesus told his followers to get into the boat and go ahead of him to Bethsaida across the lake. He stayed there to send the people home. 46 After sending them away, he went into the hills to pray.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.