Book of Common Prayer
Childlike Trust in the Lord
A song for going up to worship. Of David.
131 Lord, my heart is not proud;
I don’t look down on others.
I don’t do great things,
and I can’t do miracles.
2 But I am calm and quiet,
like a baby with its mother.
I am at peace, like a baby with its mother.
3 People of Israel, put your hope in the Lord
now and forever.
In Praise of the Temple
A song for going up to worship.
132 Lord, remember David
and all his suffering.
2 He made an oath to the Lord,
a promise to the Mighty God of Jacob.
3 He said, “I will not go home to my house,
or lie down on my bed,
4 or close my eyes,
or let myself sleep
5 until I find a place for the Lord.
I want to provide a home for the Mighty God of Jacob.”
6 We heard about the Ark in Bethlehem.
We found it at Kiriath Jearim.
7 Let’s go to the Lord’s house.
Let’s worship at his footstool.
8 Rise, Lord, and come to your resting place;
come with the Ark that shows your strength.
9 May your priests do what is right.
May your people sing for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not reject your appointed king.
11 The Lord made a promise to David,
a sure promise that he will not take back.
He promised, “I will make one of your descendants
rule as king after you.
12 If your sons keep my agreement
and the rules that I teach them,
then their sons after them will rule
on your throne forever and ever.”
13 The Lord has chosen Jerusalem;
he wants it for his home.
14 He says, “This is my resting place forever.
Here is where I want to stay.
15 I will bless her with plenty;
I will fill her poor with food.
16 I will cover her priests with salvation,
and those who worship me will really sing for joy.
17 “I will make a king come from the family of David.
I will provide my appointed one descendants to rule after him.
18 I will cover his enemies with shame,
but his crown will shine.”
The Love of God’s People
A song for going up to worship. Of David.
133 It is good and pleasant
when God’s people live together in peace!
2 It is like perfumed oil poured on the priest’s head
and running down his beard.
It ran down Aaron’s beard
and on to the collar of his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Mount Hermon
falling on the hills of Jerusalem.
There the Lord gives his blessing
of life forever.
Temple Guards, Praise the Lord
A song for going up to worship.
134 Praise the Lord, all you servants of the Lord,
you who serve at night in the Temple of the Lord.
2 Raise your hands in the Temple
and praise the Lord.
3 May the Lord bless you from Mount Zion,
he who made heaven and earth.
The Lord Saves, Idols Do Not
135 Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
praise him, you servants of the Lord,
2 you who stand in the Lord’s Temple
and in the Temple courtyards.
3 Praise the Lord, because he is good;
sing praises to him, because it is pleasant.
4 The Lord has chosen the people of Jacob for himself;
he has chosen the people of Israel for his very own.
5 I know that the Lord is great.
Our Lord is greater than all the gods.
6 The Lord does what he pleases,
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and the deep oceans.
7 He brings the clouds from the ends of the earth.
He sends the lightning with the rain.
He brings out the wind from his storehouses.
8 He destroyed the firstborn sons in Egypt
the firstborn of both people and animals.
9 He did many signs and miracles in Egypt
against the king and his servants.
10 He defeated many nations
and killed powerful kings:
11 Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
and all the kings of Canaan.
12 Then he gave their land as a gift,
a gift to his people, the Israelites.
13 Lord, your name is everlasting;
Lord, you will be remembered forever.
14 The Lord defends his people
and has mercy on his servants.
15 The idols of other nations are made of silver and gold,
the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but they cannot speak.
They have eyes, but they cannot see.
17 They have ears, but they cannot hear.
They have no breath in their mouths.
18 People who make idols will be like them,
and so will those who trust them.
19 Family of Israel, praise the Lord.
Family of Aaron, praise the Lord.
20 Family of Levi, praise the Lord.
You who respect the Lord should praise him.
21 You people of Jerusalem, praise the Lord on Mount Zion.
Praise the Lord!
The Leaders of Israel Are Guilty of Evil
3 Then I said,
“Listen, leaders of the people of Jacob;
listen, you rulers of the nation of Israel.
You should know how to decide cases fairly,
2 but you hate good and love evil.
You skin my people alive
and tear the flesh off their bones.
3 You eat my people’s flesh
and skin them and break their bones;
you chop them up like meat for the pot,
like meat in a cooking pan.
4 They will cry to the Lord,
but he won’t answer them.
At that time he will hide his face from them,
because what they have done is evil.”
5 The Lord says this about the prophets who teach his people the wrong way of living:
“If these prophets are given food to eat,
they shout, ‘Peace!’
But if someone doesn’t give them what they ask for,
they call for a holy war against that person.
6 So it will become like night for them, without visions.
It will become dark for them, without any way to tell the future.
The sun is about to set for the prophets;
their day will become dark.
7 The seers will be ashamed;
the people who see the future will be embarrassed.
Yes, all of them will cover their mouths,
because there will be no answer from God.”
Micah Is an Honest Prophet of God
8 But I am filled with power,
with the Spirit of the Lord,
and with justice and strength,
to tell the people of Jacob how they have turned against God,
and the people of Israel how they have sinned.
Paul Is Accused
24 Five days later Ananias, the high priest, went to the city of Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus. They had come to make charges against Paul before the governor. 2 Paul was called into the meeting, and Tertullus began to accuse him, saying, “Most Excellent Felix! Our people enjoy much peace because of you, and many wrong things in our country are being made right through your wise help. 3 We accept these things always and in every place, and we are thankful for them. 4 But not wanting to take any more of your time, I beg you to be kind and listen to our few words. 5 We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up his people everywhere in the world. He is a leader of the Nazarene group. 6 Also, he was trying to make the Temple unclean, but we stopped him. [And we wanted to judge him by our own law. 7 But the officer Lysias came and used much force to take him from us. 8 And Lysias commanded those who wanted to accuse Paul to come to you.][a] By asking him questions yourself, you can decide if all these things are true.” 9 The others agreed and said that all of this was true.
10 When the governor made a sign for Paul to speak, Paul said, “Governor Felix, I know you have been a judge over this nation for a long time. So I am happy to defend myself before you. 11 You can learn for yourself that I went to worship in Jerusalem only twelve days ago. 12 Those who are accusing me did not find me arguing with anyone in the Temple or stirring up the people in the synagogues or in the city. 13 They cannot prove the things they are saying against me now. 14 But I will tell you this: I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way of Jesus. The others say that the Way of Jesus is not the right way. But I believe everything that is taught in the law of Moses and that is written in the books of the Prophets. 15 I have the same hope in God that they have—the hope that all people, good and bad, will surely be raised from the dead. 16 This is why I always try to do what I believe is right before God and people.
17 “After being away from Jerusalem for several years, I went back to bring money to my people and to offer sacrifices. 18 I was doing this when they found me in the Temple. I had finished the cleansing ceremony and had not made any trouble; no people were gathering around me. 19 But there were some people from Asia who should be here, standing before you. If I have really done anything wrong, they are the ones who should accuse me. 20 Or ask these people here if they found any wrong in me when I stood before the council in Jerusalem. 21 But I did shout one thing when I stood before them: ‘You are judging me today because I believe that people will rise from the dead!’”
22 Felix already understood much about the Way of Jesus. He stopped the trial and said, “When commander Lysias comes here, I will decide your case.” 23 Felix told the officer to keep Paul guarded but to give him some freedom and to let his friends bring what he needed.
A Woman Washes Jesus’ Feet
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to eat with him, so Jesus went into the Pharisee’s house and sat at the table. 37 A sinful woman in the town learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house. So she brought an alabaster jar of perfume 38 and stood behind Jesus at his feet, crying. She began to wash his feet with her tears, and she dried them with her hair, kissing them many times and rubbing them with the perfume. 39 When the Pharisee who asked Jesus to come to his house saw this, he thought to himself, “If Jesus were a prophet, he would know that the woman touching him is a sinner!”
40 Jesus said to the Pharisee, “Simon, I have something to say to you.”
Simon said, “Teacher, tell me.”
41 Jesus said, “Two people owed money to the same banker. One owed five hundred coins[a] and the other owed fifty. 42 They had no money to pay what they owed, but the banker told both of them they did not have to pay him. Which person will love the banker more?”
43 Simon, the Pharisee, answered, “I think it would be the one who owed him the most money.”
Jesus said to Simon, “You are right.” 44 Then Jesus turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? When I came into your house, you gave me no water for my feet, but she washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss of greeting, but she has been kissing my feet since I came in. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she poured perfume on my feet. 47 I tell you that her many sins are forgiven, so she showed great love. But the person who is forgiven only a little will love only a little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The people sitting at the table began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Because you believed, you are saved from your sins. Go in peace.”
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.