Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer of Someone Far from Home
A psalm for going up to worship.
120 When I was in trouble, I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
2 Lord, save me from liars
and from those who plan evil.
3 You who plan evil, what will God do to you?
How will he punish you?
4 He will punish you with the sharp arrows of a warrior
and with burning coals of wood.
5 How terrible it is for me to live in the land of Meshech,
to live among the people of Kedar.
6 I have lived too long
with people who hate peace.
7 When I talk peace,
they want war.
The Lord Guards His People
A song for going up to worship.
121 I look up to the hills,
but where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let you be defeated.
He who guards you never sleeps.
4 He who guards Israel
never rests or sleeps.
5 The Lord guards you.
The Lord is the shade that protects you from the sun.
6 The sun cannot hurt you during the day,
and the moon cannot hurt you at night.
7 The Lord will protect you from all dangers;
he will guard your life.
8 The Lord will guard you as you come and go,
both now and forever.
Happy People in Jerusalem
A song for going up to worship. Of David.
122 I was happy when they said to me,
“Let’s go to the Temple of the Lord.”
2 Jerusalem, we are standing
at your gates.
3 Jerusalem is built as a city
with the buildings close together.
4 The tribes go up there,
the tribes who belong to the Lord.
It is the rule in Israel
to praise the Lord at Jerusalem.
5 There the descendants of David
set their thrones to judge the people.
6 Pray for peace in Jerusalem:
“May those who love her be safe.
7 May there be peace within her walls
and safety within her strong towers.”
8 To help my relatives and friends,
I say, “Let Jerusalem have peace.”
9 For the sake of the Temple of the Lord our God,
I wish good for her.
A Prayer for Mercy
A song for going up to worship.
123 Lord, I look upward to you,
you who live in heaven.
2 Slaves depend on their masters,
and a female servant depends on her mistress.
In the same way, we depend on the Lord our God;
we wait for him to show us mercy.
3 Have mercy on us, Lord. Have mercy on us,
because we have been insulted.
4 We have suffered many insults from lazy people
and much cruelty from the proud.
The Lord Saves His People
A song for going up to worship. Of David.
124 What if the Lord had not been on our side?
(Let Israel repeat this.)
2 What if the Lord had not been on our side
when we were attacked?
3 When they were angry with us,
they would have swallowed us alive.
4 They would have been like a flood drowning us;
they would have poured over us like a river.
5 They would have swept us away like a mighty stream.
6 Praise the Lord,
who did not let them chew us up.
7 We escaped like a bird
from the hunter’s trap.
The trap broke,
and we escaped.
8 Our help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
God Protects Those Who Trust Him
A song for going up to worship.
125 Those who trust the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which sits unmoved forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
the Lord surrounds his people
now and forever.
3 The wicked will not rule
over those who do right.
If they did, the people who do right
might use their power to do evil.
4 Lord, be good to those who are good,
whose hearts are honest.
5 But, Lord, when you remove those who do evil,
also remove those who stop following you.
Let there be peace in Israel.
Lord, Bring Your People Back
A song for going up to worship.
126 When the Lord brought the prisoners back to Jerusalem,
it seemed as if we were dreaming.
2 Then we were filled with laughter,
and we sang happy songs.
Then the other nations said,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we are very glad.
4 Lord, return our prisoners again,
as you bring streams to the desert.
5 Those who cry as they plant crops
will sing at harvest time.
6 Those who cry
as they carry out the seeds
will return singing
and carrying bundles of grain.
All Good Things Come from God
A song for going up to worship. Of Solomon.
127 If the Lord doesn’t build the house,
the builders are working for nothing.
If the Lord doesn’t guard the city,
the guards are watching for nothing.
2 It is no use for you to get up early
and stay up late,
working for a living.
The Lord gives sleep to those he loves.
3 Children are a gift from the Lord;
babies are a reward.
4 Children who are born to a young man
are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.
5 Happy is the man
who has his bag full of arrows.
They will not be defeated
when they fight their enemies at the city gate.
Absalom Dies
9 Then Absalom happened to meet David’s troops. As Absalom was riding his mule, it went under the thick branches of a large oak tree. Absalom’s head got caught in the tree, and his mule ran out from under him. So Absalom was left hanging above the ground.
10 When one of the men saw it happen, he told Joab, “I saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree!”
11 Joab said to him, “You saw him? Why didn’t you kill him and let him fall to the ground? I would have given you a belt and four ounces of silver!”
12 The man answered, “I wouldn’t touch the king’s son even if you gave me twenty-five pounds of silver. We heard the king command you, Abishai, and Ittai, ‘Be careful not to hurt young Absalom.’ 13 If I had killed him, the king would have found out, and you would not have protected me!”
14 Joab said, “I won’t waste time here with you!” Absalom was still alive in the oak tree, so Joab took three spears and stabbed him in the heart. 15 Ten young men who carried Joab’s armor also gathered around Absalom and struck him and killed him.
16 Then Joab blew the trumpet, so the troops stopped chasing the Israelites. 17 Then Joab’s men took Absalom’s body and threw it into a large pit in the forest and filled the pit with many stones. All the Israelites ran away to their homes.
18 When Absalom was alive, he had set up a pillar for himself in the King’s Valley. He said, “I have no son to keep my name alive.” So he named the pillar after himself, and it is called Absalom’s Monument even today.
12 In the morning some evil people made a plan to kill Paul, and they took an oath not to eat or drink anything until they had killed him. 13 There were more than forty men who made this plan. 14 They went to the leading priests and the elders and said, “We have taken an oath not to eat or drink until we have killed Paul. 15 So this is what we want you to do: Send a message to the commander to bring Paul out to you as though you want to ask him more questions. We will be waiting to kill him while he is on the way here.”
16 But Paul’s nephew heard about this plan and went to the army building and told Paul. 17 Then Paul called one of the officers and said, “Take this young man to the commander. He has a message for him.”
18 So the officer brought Paul’s nephew to the commander and said, “The prisoner, Paul, asked me to bring this young man to you. He wants to tell you something.”
19 The commander took the young man’s hand and led him to a place where they could be alone. He asked, “What do you want to tell me?”
20 The young man said, “The Jews have decided to ask you to bring Paul down to their council meeting tomorrow. They want you to think they are going to ask him more questions. 21 But don’t believe them! More than forty men are hiding and waiting to kill Paul. They have all taken an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. Now they are waiting for you to agree.”
22 The commander sent the young man away, ordering him, “Don’t tell anyone that you have told me about their plan.”
Paul Is Sent to Caesarea
23 Then the commander called two officers and said, “I need some men to go to Caesarea. Get two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred men with spears ready to leave at nine o’clock tonight. 24 Get some horses for Paul to ride so he can be taken to Governor Felix safely.”
Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority
27 Jesus and his followers went again to Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the Temple, the leading priests, the teachers of the law, and the elders came to him. 28 They said to him, “What authority do you have to do these things? Who gave you this authority?”
29 Jesus answered, “I will ask you one question. If you answer me, I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. 30 Tell me: When John baptized people, was that authority from God or just from other people?”
31 They argued about Jesus’ question, saying, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ Jesus will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 32 But if we say, ‘It was from other people,’ the crowd will be against us.” (These leaders were afraid of the people, because all the people believed that John was a prophet.)
33 So they answered Jesus, “We don’t know.”
Jesus said to them, “Then I won’t tell you what authority I have to do these things.”
A Story About God’s Son
12 Jesus began to use stories to teach the people. He said, “A man planted a vineyard. He put a wall around it and dug a hole for a winepress and built a tower. Then he leased the land to some farmers and left for a trip. 2 When it was time for the grapes to be picked, he sent a servant to the farmers to get his share of the grapes. 3 But the farmers grabbed the servant and beat him and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Then the man sent another servant. They hit him on the head and showed no respect for him. 5 So the man sent another servant, whom they killed. The man sent many other servants; the farmers beat some of them and killed others.
6 “The man had one person left to send, his son whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’
7 “But the farmers said to each other, ‘This son will inherit the vineyard. If we kill him, it will be ours.’ 8 So they took the son, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 “So what will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those farmers and will give the vineyard to other farmers. 10 Surely you have read this Scripture:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
became the cornerstone.
11 The Lord did this,
and it is wonderful to us.’” Psalm 118:22–23
12 The Jewish leaders knew that the story was about them. So they wanted to find a way to arrest Jesus, but they were afraid of the people. So the leaders left him and went away.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.