Book of Common Prayer
A Cry for Help
For the director of music. To the tune of “Lilies.” A song of David.
69 God, save me.
The water has risen to my neck.
2 I’m sinking down into the mud.
There is nothing to stand on.
I am in deep water.
The flood covers me.
3 I am tired from calling for help.
My throat is sore.
My eyes are tired from waiting
for God to help me.
4 There are more people who hate me for no reason
than hairs on my head.
Those who want to destroy me are powerful.
My enemies are liars.
They make me pay back
what I did not steal.
5 God, you know what I have done wrong.
I cannot hide my guilt from you.
6 Master, the Lord of heaven’s armies,
do not let those who hope in you be ashamed because of me.
God of Israel,
do not let your worshipers
be disgraced because of me.
7 For you, I carry this shame.
My face is covered with disgrace.
8 I am like a stranger to my brothers.
I am like a foreigner to my mother’s sons.
9 My strong love for your Temple completely controls me.
When people insult you, it hurts me.
10 When I cry and go without food,
they make fun of me.
11 When I wear rough cloth to show my sadness,
they joke about me.
12 They make fun of me in public places.
The drunkards make up songs about me.
13 But I pray to you, Lord.
I pray that you will accept me.
God, because of your great love, answer me.
You are truly able to save.
14 Pull me from the mud.
Do not let me sink.
Save me from those who hate me
and from the deep water.
15 Do not let the flood drown me.
Do not let the deep water swallow me.
Do not let the grave close its mouth over me.
16 Lord, answer me because your love is so good.
Because of your great kindness, turn to me.
17 Do not hide from me, your servant.
I am in trouble. Hurry to help me!
18 Come near and save me.
Rescue me from my enemies.
19 You see my shame and disgrace.
You know all my enemies and what they have said.
20 Insults have broken my heart.
I am weak.
I looked for sympathy, but there was none.
I found no one to comfort me.
21 They put poison in my food.
They gave me vinegar to drink.
22 Let their own feasts cause their ruin.
Let their feasts trap them and pay them back.
23 Let their eyes be closed so they cannot see.
Let their backs be forever weak from troubles.
24 Pour your anger out on them.
Show them how angry you are.
25 May their place be empty.
Leave no one to live in their tents.
26 They chase after those you have hurt.
They talk about the pain of those you have wounded.
27 Charge them with crime after crime.
Do not let them have anything good.
28 Wipe their names from the book of life.
Do not list them with those who do what is right.
29 I am sad and hurting.
God, save me and protect me.
30 I will praise God in a song.
I will honor him by giving thanks.
31 That will please the Lord more than offering him cattle.
It will please him more than the sacrifice of a bull with horns and hooves.
32 People who are not proud will see this and be glad.
Be encouraged, you who worship God.
33 The Lord listens to those in need.
He does not look down on captives.
34 Heaven and earth should praise him.
The seas and everything in them should also.
35 God will save Jerusalem.
He will rebuild the cities of Judah.
Then people will live there and own the land.
36 The descendants of his servants will inherit that land.
Those who love him will live there.
Book 3
Psalms 73—89
Should the Wicked Be Rich?
A song of Asaph.
73 God is truly good to Israel,
to those who have pure hearts.
2 But I had almost stopped believing this truth.
I had almost lost my faith
3 because I was jealous of proud people.
I saw wicked people doing well.
4 They are not suffering.
They are healthy and strong.
5 They don’t have troubles like the rest of us.
They don’t have problems like other people.
6 So they wear pride like a necklace.
They put on violence as their clothing.
7 They are looking for profits.
They do not control their selfish desires.
8 They make fun of others and speak evil.
Proudly they speak of hurting others.
9 They brag to the sky.
Their mouths gossip on the earth.
10 So their people turn to them
and give them whatever they want.
11 They say, “How can God know?
What does God Most High know?”
12 These people are wicked,
always at ease and getting richer.
13 So why have I kept my heart pure?
Why have I kept my hands from doing wrong?
14 I have suffered all day long.
I have been punished every morning.
15 God, if I had decided to talk about this,
I would have let your people down.
16 I tried to understand all this.
But it was too hard for me to see
17 until I went to the Temple of God.
Then I understood what will happen to them.
18 You have put them in danger.
You cause them to be destroyed.
19 They are destroyed in a moment.
They are swept away by terrors.
20 It will be like waking from a dream.
Lord, when you come, they will disappear.
21 When my heart was sad and
I was angry,
22 I was senseless and stupid.
I acted like an animal toward you.
23 But I am always with you.
You have held my hand.
24 You guide me with your advice.
And later you will receive me in honor.
25 I have no one in heaven but you.
I want nothing on earth besides you.
26 My mind and my body may become weak.
But God is my strength.
He is mine forever.
27 Those who are far from God will die.
You destroy those who are unfaithful.
28 But I am close to God, and that is good.
The Lord God is my protection.
I will tell all that you have done.
6 By some time later, Joseph and his brothers had died, along with all the people who had lived at that same time. 7 But the people of Israel had many children, and their number grew greatly. They became very strong, and the country of Egypt was filled with them.
Trouble for the People of Israel
8 Then a new king began to rule Egypt. He did not know who Joseph was. 9 This king said to his people, “Look! The people of Israel are too many! And they are too strong for us to handle! 10 We must make plans against them. If we don’t, the number of their people will grow even more. Then if there is a war, they might join our enemies. Then they could fight us and escape from the country!”
11 So the Egyptians made life hard for the people of Israel. They put slave masters over the Israelites. The slave masters forced the Israelites to build the cities Pithom and Rameses for the king. These cities were supply centers in which the Egyptians stored things. 12 The Egyptians forced the Israelites to work even harder. But this made the Israelites grow in number and spread more. So the Egyptians became more afraid of them. 13 They forced the Israelites to work even harder. 14 The Egyptians made life hard for the Israelites. They forced the Israelites to work very hard making bricks and mortar. They also forced them to do all kinds of hard work in the fields. The Egyptians were not merciful to them in all their hard work.
15 There were two Hebrew nurses named Shiphrah and Puah. These nurses helped the Israelite women give birth to their babies. The king of Egypt said to the nurses, 16 “When you are helping the Hebrew women give birth to their babies, watch! If the baby is a girl, let the baby live. But if it is a boy, kill it!” 17 But the nurses feared God. So they did not do as the king told them. They let all the boy babies live. 18 Then the king of Egypt sent for the nurses. He said, “Why did you do this? Why did you let the boys live?”
19 The nurses said to him, “The Hebrew women are much stronger than the Egyptian women. They give birth to their babies before we can get there.” 20 God was good to the nurses. And the Hebrew people continued to grow in number. So they became even stronger. 21 Because the nurses feared God, he gave them families of their own.
22 So the king commanded all his people: “Every time a boy is born to the Hebrews, you must throw him into the Nile River. But let all the girl babies live.”
The Body of Christ
12 A person’s body is one thing, but it has many parts. Yes, there are many parts to a body, but all those parts make only one body. Christ is like that too. 13 Some of us are Jews, and some of us are Greeks. Some of us are slaves, and some of us are free. But we were all baptized into one body through one Spirit. And we were all made to share in the one Spirit.
14 And a person’s body has more than one part. It has many parts. 15 The foot might say, “I am not a hand. So I am not part of the body.” But saying this would not stop the foot from being a part of the body. 16 The ear might say, “I am not an eye. So I am not part of the body.” But saying this would not make the ear stop being a part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, the body would not be able to hear. If the whole body were an ear, the body would not be able to smell anything. 18-19 If each part of the body were the same part, there would be no body. But truly God put the parts in the body as he wanted them. He made a place for each one of them. 20 And so there are many parts, but only one body.
21 The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the foot, “I don’t need you!” 22 No! Those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are really very important. 23 And the parts of the body that we think are not worth much are the parts that we give the most care to. And we give special care to the parts of the body that we want to hide. 24 The more beautiful parts of our body need no special care. But God put the body together and gave more honor to the parts that need it. 25 God did this so that our body would not be divided. God wanted the different parts to care the same for each other. 26 If one part of the body suffers, then all the other parts suffer with it. Or if one part of our body is honored, then all the other parts share its honor.
Peter Says Jesus Is the Christ
27 Jesus and his followers went to the towns around Caesarea Philippi. While they were traveling, Jesus asked them, “Who do people say I am?”
28 They answered, “Some people say you are John the Baptist. Others say you are Elijah.[a] And others say that you are one of the prophets.”
29 Then Jesus asked, “Who do you say I am?”
Peter answered, “You are the Christ.”
30 Jesus ordered his followers, “Don’t tell anyone who I am.”
31 Then Jesus began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things. He taught that the Son of Man would not be accepted by the Jewish elders, the leading priests, and the teachers of the law. He taught that the Son of Man must be killed and then rise from death after three days. 32 Jesus told them plainly what would happen. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to criticize him. 33 But Jesus turned and looked at his followers. Then he criticized Peter and said, “Go away from me, Satan![b] You don’t care about the things of God. You care only about things men think are important.”
34 Then Jesus called the crowd to him, along with his followers. He said, “If anyone wants to follow me, he must say ‘no’ to the things he wants. He must be willing to die on a cross, and he must follow me. 35 Whoever wants to save his life will give up true life. But whoever gives up his life for me and for the Good News will have true life forever. 36 It is worth nothing for a person to have the whole world, if he loses his soul. 37 A person could never pay enough to buy back his soul. 38 The people who live now are living in a sinful and evil time. If anyone is ashamed of me and my teaching, then I will be ashamed of him. I will be ashamed of him when I come with the glory of my Father and the holy angels.”
9 Then Jesus said to the people, “I tell you the truth. Some of you standing here will see the kingdom of God come with power before you die.”
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.