Book of Common Prayer
God Loves Jerusalem
A song. A psalm of the sons of Korah.
87 The Lord built Jerusalem on the holy mountain.
2 He loves its gates more than any other place in Israel.
3 City of God,
wonderful things are said about you. Selah
4 God says, “I will put Egypt and Babylonia
on the list of nations that know me.
People from Philistia, Tyre, and Cush
will be born there.”
5 They will say about Jerusalem,
“This one and that one were born there.
God Most High will strengthen her.”
6 The Lord will keep a list of the nations.
He will note, “This person was born there.” Selah
7 They will dance and sing,
“All good things come from Jerusalem.”
God Is Eternal, and We Are Not
A prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90 Lord, you have been our home
since the beginning.
2 Before the mountains were born
and before you created the earth and the world,
you are God.
You have always been, and you will always be.
3 You turn people back into dust.
You say, “Go back into dust, human beings.”
4 To you, a thousand years
is like the passing of a day,
or like a few hours in the night.
5 While people sleep, you take their lives.
They are like grass that grows up in the morning.
6 In the morning they are fresh and new,
but by evening they dry up and die.
7 We are destroyed by your anger;
we are terrified by your hot anger.
8 You have put the evil we have done right in front of you;
you clearly see our secret sins.
9 All our days pass while you are angry.
Our years end with a moan.
10 Our lifetime is seventy years
or, if we are strong, eighty years.
But the years are full of hard work and pain.
They pass quickly, and then we are gone.
11 Who knows the full power of your anger?
Your anger is as great as our fear of you should be.
12 Teach us how short our lives really are
so that we may be wise.
13 Lord, how long before you return
and show kindness to your servants?
14 Fill us with your love every morning.
Then we will sing and rejoice all our lives.
15 We have seen years of trouble.
Now give us as much joy as you gave us sorrow.
16 Show your servants the wonderful things you do;
show your greatness to their children.
17 Lord our God, treat us well.
Give us success in what we do;
yes, give us success in what we do.
God’s Love Continues Forever
136 Give thanks to the Lord because he is good.
His love continues forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
His love continues forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His love continues forever.
4 Only he can do great miracles.
His love continues forever.
5 With his wisdom he made the skies.
His love continues forever.
6 He spread out the earth on the seas.
His love continues forever.
7 He made the sun and the moon.
His love continues forever.
8 He made the sun to rule the day.
His love continues forever.
9 He made the moon and stars to rule the night.
His love continues forever.
10 He killed the firstborn sons of the Egyptians.
His love continues forever.
11 He brought the people of Israel out of Egypt.
His love continues forever.
12 He did it with his great power and strength.
His love continues forever.
13 He parted the water of the Red Sea.
His love continues forever.
14 He brought the Israelites through the middle of it.
His love continues forever.
15 But the king of Egypt and his army drowned in the Red Sea.
His love continues forever.
16 He led his people through the desert.
His love continues forever.
17 He defeated great kings.
His love continues forever.
18 He killed powerful kings.
His love continues forever.
19 He defeated Sihon king of the Amorites.
His love continues forever.
20 He defeated Og king of Bashan.
His love continues forever.
21 He gave their land as a gift.
His love continues forever.
22 It was a gift to his servants, the Israelites.
His love continues forever.
23 He remembered us when we were in trouble.
His love continues forever.
24 He freed us from our enemies.
His love continues forever.
25 He gives food to every living creature.
His love continues forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His love continues forever.
15 Then Nathan went home. And the Lord caused the son of David and Bathsheba, Uriah’s widow, to be very sick. 16 David prayed to God for the baby. David fasted and went into his house and stayed there, lying on the ground all night. 17 The elders of David’s family came to him and tried to pull him up from the ground, but he refused to get up or to eat food with them.
18 On the seventh day the baby died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the baby was dead. They said, “Look, we tried to talk to David while the baby was alive, but he refused to listen to us. If we tell him the baby is dead, he may do something awful.”
19 When David saw his servants whispering, he knew that the baby was dead. So he asked them, “Is the baby dead?”
They answered, “Yes, he is dead.”
20 Then David got up from the floor, washed himself, put lotions on, and changed his clothes. Then he went into the Lord’s house to worship. After that, he went home and asked for something to eat. His servants gave him some food, and he ate.
21 David’s servants said to him, “Why are you doing this? When the baby was still alive, you fasted and you cried. Now that the baby is dead, you get up and eat food.”
22 David said, “While the baby was still alive, I fasted, and I cried. I thought, ‘Who knows? Maybe the Lord will feel sorry for me and let the baby live.’ 23 But now that the baby is dead, why should I fast? I can’t bring him back to life. Someday I will go to him, but he cannot come back to me.”
24 Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife. He slept with her and had sexual relations with her. She became pregnant again and had another son, whom David named Solomon. The Lord loved Solomon. 25 The Lord sent word through Nathan the prophet to name the baby Jedidiah,[a] because the Lord loved the child.
David Captures Rabbah
26 Joab fought against Rabbah, a royal city of the Ammonites, and he was about to capture it. 27 Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured its water supply. 28 Now bring the other soldiers together and attack this city. Capture it before I capture it myself and it is called by my name!”
29 So David gathered all the army and went to Rabbah and fought against it and captured it. 30 David took the crown off their king’s head and had it placed on his own head. That gold crown weighed about seventy-five pounds, and it had valuable gems in it. And David took many valuable things from the city. 31 He also brought out the people of the city and forced them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. He also made them build with bricks. David did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and all his army returned to Jerusalem.
Paul in Macedonia and Greece
20 When the trouble stopped, Paul sent for the followers to come to him. After he encouraged them and then told them good-bye, he left and went to the country of Macedonia. 2 He said many things to strengthen the followers in the different places on his way through Macedonia. Then he went to Greece, 3 where he stayed for three months. He was ready to sail for Syria, but some evil people were planning something against him. So Paul decided to go back through Macedonia to Syria. 4 The men who went with him were Sopater son of Pyrrhus, from the city of Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus, from the city of Thessalonica; Gaius, from Derbe; Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus, two men from Asia. 5 These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. 6 We sailed from Philippi after the Feast of Unleavened Bread. Five days later we met them in Troas, where we stayed for seven days.
Paul’s Last Visit to Troas
7 On the first day of the week,[a] we all met together to break bread,[b] and Paul spoke to the group. Because he was planning to leave the next day, he kept on talking until midnight. 8 We were all together in a room upstairs, and there were many lamps in the room. 9 A young man named Eutychus was sitting in the window. As Paul continued talking, Eutychus was falling into a deep sleep. Finally, he went sound asleep and fell to the ground from the third floor. When they picked him up, he was dead. 10 Paul went down to Eutychus, knelt down, and put his arms around him. He said, “Don’t worry. He is alive now.” 11 Then Paul went upstairs again, broke bread, and ate. He spoke to them a long time, until it was early morning, and then he left. 12 They took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.
The Trip from Troas to Miletus
13 We went on ahead of Paul and sailed for the city of Assos, where he wanted to join us on the ship. Paul planned it this way because he wanted to go to Assos by land. 14 When he met us there, we took him aboard and went to Mitylene. 15 We sailed from Mitylene and the next day came to a place near Kios. The following day we sailed to Samos, and the next day we reached Miletus. 16 Paul had already decided not to stop at Ephesus, because he did not want to stay too long in Asia. He was hurrying to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, if that were possible.
Jesus Talks About His Death
30 Then Jesus and his followers left that place and went through Galilee. He didn’t want anyone to know where he was, 31 because he was teaching his followers. He said to them, “The Son of Man will be handed over to people, and they will kill him. After three days, he will rise from the dead.” 32 But the followers did not understand what Jesus meant, and they were afraid to ask him.
Who Is the Greatest?
33 Jesus and his followers went to Capernaum. When they went into a house there, he asked them, “What were you arguing about on the road?” 34 But the followers did not answer, because their argument on the road was about which one of them was the greatest.
35 Jesus sat down and called the twelve apostles to him. He said, “Whoever wants to be the most important must be last of all and servant of all.”
36 Then Jesus took a small child and had him stand among them. Taking the child in his arms, he said, 37 “Whoever accepts a child like this in my name accepts me. And whoever accepts me accepts the One who sent me.”
Anyone Not Against Us Is for Us
38 Then John said, “Teacher, we saw someone using your name to force demons out of a person. We told him to stop, because he does not belong to our group.”
39 But Jesus said, “Don’t stop him, because anyone who uses my name to do powerful things will not easily say evil things about me. 40 Whoever is not against us is with us. 41 I tell you the truth, whoever gives you a drink of water because you belong to the Christ will truly get his reward.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.