Book of Common Prayer
A Cry for Help
A prayer of a person who is suffering when he is discouraged and tells the Lord his complaints.
102 Lord, listen to my prayer;
let my cry for help come to you.
2 Do not hide from me
in my time of trouble.
Pay attention to me.
When I cry for help, answer me quickly.
3 My life is passing away like smoke,
and my bones are burned up with fire.
4 My heart is like grass
that has been cut and dried.
I forget to eat.
5 Because of my grief,
my skin hangs on my bones.
6 I am like a desert owl,
like an owl living among the ruins.
7 I lie awake.
I am like a lonely bird on a housetop.
8 All day long enemies insult me;
those who make fun of me use my name as a curse.
9 I eat ashes for food,
and my tears fall into my drinks.
10 Because of your great anger,
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 forever,
and your fame goes on and on.
13 You will come and have mercy on Jerusalem,
because the time has now come to be kind to her;
the right time has come.
14 Your servants love even her stones;
they even care about her dust.
15 Nations will fear the name of the Lord,
and all the kings on earth will honor you.
16 The Lord will rebuild Jerusalem;
there his glory will be seen.
17 He will answer the prayers of the needy;
he will not reject their prayers.
18 Write these things for the future
so that people who are not yet born will praise the Lord.
19 The Lord looked down from his holy place above;
from heaven he looked down at the earth.
20 He heard the moans of the prisoners,
and he freed those sentenced to die.
21 The name of the Lord will be heard in Jerusalem;
his praise will be heard there.
22 People will come together,
and kingdoms will serve the Lord.
23 God has made me tired of living;
he has cut short my life.
24 So I said, “My God, do not take me in the middle of my life.
Your years go on and on.
25 In the beginning you made the earth,
and your hands made the skies.
26 They will be destroyed, but you will remain.
They will all wear out like clothes.
And, like clothes, you will change them
and throw them away.
27 But you never change,
and your life will never end.
28 Our children will live in your presence,
and their children will remain with you.”
God Saves from Many Dangers
107 Thank the Lord because he is good.
His love continues forever.
2 That is what those whom the Lord has saved should say.
He has saved them from the enemy
3 and has gathered them from other lands,
from east and west, north and south.
4 Some people had wandered in the desert lands.
They found no city in which to live.
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
and they were discouraged.
6 In their misery they cried out to the Lord,
and he saved them from their troubles.
7 He led them on a straight road
to a city where they could live.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his love
and for the miracles he does for people.
9 He satisfies the thirsty
and fills up the hungry.
10 Some sat in gloom and darkness;
they were prisoners suffering in chains.
11 They had turned against the words of God
and had refused the advice of God Most High.
12 So he broke their pride by hard work.
They stumbled, and no one helped.
13 In their misery they cried out to the Lord,
and he saved them from their troubles.
14 He brought them out of their gloom and darkness
and broke their chains.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his love
and for the miracles he does for people.
16 He breaks down bronze gates
and cuts apart iron bars.
17 Some fools turned against God
and suffered for the evil they did.
18 They refused to eat anything,
so they almost died.
19 In their misery they cried out to the Lord,
and he saved them from their troubles.
20 God gave the command and healed them,
so they were saved from dying.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his love
and for the miracles he does for people.
22 Let them offer sacrifices to thank him.
With joy they should tell what he has done.
23 Others went out to sea in ships
and did business on the great oceans.
24 They saw what the Lord could do,
the miracles he did in the deep oceans.
25 He spoke, and a storm came up,
which blew up high waves.
26 The ships were tossed as high as the sky and fell low to the depths.
The storm was so bad that they lost their courage.
27 They stumbled and fell like people who were drunk.
They did not know what to do.
28 In their misery they cried out to the Lord,
and he saved them from their troubles.
29 He stilled the storm
and calmed the waves.
30 They were happy that it was quiet,
and God guided them to the port they wanted.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his love
and for the miracles he does for people.
32 Let them praise his greatness in the meeting of the people;
let them praise him in the meeting of the elders.
Jerusalem Will Be Saved
19 When King Hezekiah heard the message, he tore his clothes and put on rough cloth to show how sad he was. Then he went into the Temple of the Lord. 2 Hezekiah sent Eliakim, the palace manager, and Shebna, the royal secretary, and the older priests to Isaiah. They were all wearing rough cloth when they came to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. 3 They told Isaiah, “This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of sorrow and punishment and disgrace, as when a child should be born, but the mother is not strong enough to give birth to it. 4 The king of Assyria sent his field commander to make fun of the living God. Maybe the Lord your God will hear what the commander said and will punish him for it. So pray for the few of us who are left alive.”
5 When Hezekiah’s officers came to Isaiah, 6 he said to them, “Tell your master this: The Lord says, ‘Don’t be afraid of what you have heard. Don’t be frightened by the words the servants of the king of Assyria have spoken against me. 7 Listen! I am going to put a spirit in the king of Assyria. He will hear a report that will make him return to his own country, and I will cause him to die by the sword there.’”
8 The field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish. When he went back, he found the king fighting against the city of Libnah.
9 The king received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king of Egypt, was coming to attack him. When the king of Assyria heard this, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Tell Hezekiah king of Judah: Don’t be fooled by the god you trust. Don’t believe him when he says Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria. 11 You have heard what the kings of Assyria have done. They have completely defeated every country, so do not think you will be saved. 12 Did the gods of those people save them? My ancestors destroyed them, defeating the cities of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and the people of Eden living in Tel Assar. 13 Where are the kings of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the kings of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivvah?”
Hezekiah Prays to the Lord
14 When Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the Temple of the Lord. He spread the letter out before the Lord 15 and prayed to the Lord: “Lord, God of Israel, whose throne is between the gold creatures with wings, only you are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth. 16 Hear, Lord, and listen. Open your eyes, Lord, and see. Listen to the words Sennacherib has said to insult the living God. 17 It is true, Lord, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed these countries and their lands. 18 They have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire, but they were only wood and rock statues that people made. So the kings have destroyed them. 19 Now, Lord our God, save us from the king’s power so that all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you, Lord, are the only God.”
God Answers Hezekiah
20 Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent a message to Hezekiah that said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I have heard your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria.
16 Telling the Good News does not give me any reason for bragging. Telling the Good News is my duty—something I must do. And how terrible it will be for me if I do not tell the Good News. 17 If I preach because it is my own choice, I have a reward. But if I preach and it is not my choice to do so, I am only doing the duty that was given to me. 18 So what reward do I get? This is my reward: that when I tell the Good News I can offer it freely. I do not use my full rights in my work of preaching the Good News.
19 I am free and belong to no one. But I make myself a slave to all people to win as many as I can. 20 To the Jews I became like a Jew to win the Jews. I myself am not ruled by the law. But to those who are ruled by the law I became like a person who is ruled by the law. I did this to win those who are ruled by the law. 21 To those who are without the law I became like a person who is without the law. I did this to win those people who are without the law. (But really, I am not without God’s law—I am ruled by Christ’s law.) 22 To those who are weak, I became weak so I could win the weak. I have become all things to all people so I could save some of them in any way possible. 23 I do all this because of the Good News and so I can share in its blessings.
24 You know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize. So run to win! 25 All those who compete in the games use self-control so they can win a crown. That crown is an earthly thing that lasts only a short time, but our crown will never be destroyed. 26 So I do not run without a goal. I fight like a boxer who is hitting something—not just the air. 27 I treat my body hard and make it my slave so that I myself will not be disqualified after I have preached to others.
Jesus Heals a Sick Man
8 When Jesus came down from the hill, great crowds followed him. 2 Then a man with a skin disease came to Jesus. The man bowed down before him and said, “Lord, you can heal me if you will.”
3 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man and said, “I will. Be healed!” And immediately the man was healed from his disease. 4 Then Jesus said to him, “Don’t tell anyone about this. But go and show yourself to the priest[a] and offer the gift Moses commanded[b] for people who are made well. This will show the people what I have done.”
Jesus Heals a Soldier’s Servant
5 When Jesus entered the city of Capernaum, an army officer came to him, begging for help. 6 The officer said, “Lord, my servant is at home in bed. He can’t move his body and is in much pain.”
7 Jesus said to the officer, “I will go and heal him.”
8 The officer answered, “Lord, I am not worthy for you to come into my house. You only need to command it, and my servant will be healed. 9 I, too, am a man under the authority of others, and I have soldiers under my command. I tell one soldier, ‘Go,’ and he goes. I tell another soldier, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and my servant does it.
10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. He said to those who were following him, “I tell you the truth, this is the greatest faith I have found, even in Israel. 11 Many people will come from the east and from the west and will sit and eat with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But those people who should be in the kingdom will be thrown outside into the darkness, where people will cry and grind their teeth with pain.”
13 Then Jesus said to the officer, “Go home. Your servant will be healed just as you believed he would.” And his servant was healed that same hour.
Jesus Heals Many People
14 When Jesus went to Peter’s house, he saw that Peter’s mother-in-law was sick in bed with a fever. 15 Jesus touched her hand, and the fever left her. Then she stood up and began to serve Jesus.
16 That evening people brought to Jesus many who had demons. Jesus spoke and the demons left them, and he healed all the sick. 17 He did these things to bring about what Isaiah the prophet had said:
“He took our suffering on him
and carried our diseases.” Isaiah 53:4
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.