Book of Common Prayer
The Word of God
119 Happy are those who live pure lives,
who follow the Lord’s teachings.
2 Happy are those who keep his rules,
who try to obey him with their whole heart.
3 They don’t do what is wrong;
they follow his ways.
4 Lord, you gave your orders
to be obeyed completely.
5 I wish I were more loyal
in obeying your demands.
6 Then I would not be ashamed
when I study your commands.
7 When I learned that your laws are fair,
I praised you with an honest heart.
8 I will obey your demands,
so please don’t ever leave me.
9 How can a young person live a pure life?
By obeying your word.
10 With all my heart I try to obey you.
Don’t let me break your commands.
11 I have taken your words to heart
so I would not sin against you.
12 Lord, you should be praised.
Teach me your demands.
13 My lips will tell about
all the laws you have spoken.
14 I enjoy living by your rules
as people enjoy great riches.
15 I think about your orders
and study your ways.
16 I enjoy obeying your demands,
and I will not forget your word.
17 Do good to me, your servant, so I can live,
so I can obey your word.
18 Open my eyes to see
the miracles in your teachings.
19 I am a stranger on earth.
Do not hide your commands from me.
20 I wear myself out with desire
for your laws all the time.
21 You scold proud people;
those who ignore your commands are cursed.
22 Don’t let me be insulted and hated
because I keep your rules.
23 Even if princes speak against me,
I, your servant, will think about your demands.
24 Your rules give me pleasure;
they give me good advice.
A Prayer Against Liars
For the director of music. Upon the sheminith. A psalm of David.
12 Save me, Lord, because the good people are all gone;
no true believers are left on earth.
2 Everyone lies to his neighbors;
they say one thing and mean another.
3 The Lord will stop those flattering lips
and cut off those bragging tongues.
4 They say, “Our tongues will help us win.
We can say what we wish; no one is our master.”
5 But the Lord says,
“I will now rise up,
because the poor are being hurt.
Because of the moans of the helpless,
I will give them the help they want.”
6 The Lord’s words are pure,
like silver purified by fire,
like silver purified seven times over.
7 Lord, you will keep us safe;
you will always protect us from such people.
8 But the wicked are all around us;
everyone loves what is wrong.
A Prayer for God to Be Near
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
13 How long will you forget me, Lord? Forever?
How long will you hide from me?
2 How long must I worry
and feel sad in my heart all day?
How long will my enemy win over me?
3 Lord, look at me.
Answer me, my God;
tell me, or I will die.
4 Otherwise my enemy will say, “I have won!”
Those against me will rejoice that I’ve been defeated.
5 I trust in your love.
My heart is happy because you saved me.
6 I sing to the Lord
because he has taken care of me.
The Unbelieving Fool
For the director of music. Of David.
14 Fools say to themselves,
“There is no God.”
Fools are evil and do terrible things;
there is no one who does anything good.
2 The Lord looked down from heaven on all people
to see if anyone understood,
if anyone was looking to God for help.
3 But all have turned away.
Together, everyone has become evil.
There is no one who does anything good,
not even one.
4 Don’t the wicked understand?
They destroy my people as if they were eating bread.
They do not ask the Lord for help.
5 But the wicked are filled with terror,
because God is with those who do what is right.
6 The wicked upset the plans of the poor,
but the Lord will protect them.
7 I pray that victory will come to Israel from Mount Zion!
May the Lord bring them back.
Then the people of Jacob will rejoice,
and the people of Israel will be glad.
17 The Lord caused a big fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights.
2 While Jonah was inside the fish, he prayed to the Lord his God and said,
2 “When I was in danger,
I called to the Lord,
and he answered me.
I was about to die,
so I cried to you,
and you heard my voice.
3 You threw me into the sea,
down, down into the deep sea.
The water was all around me,
and your powerful waves flowed over me.
4 I said, ‘I was driven out of your presence,
but I hope to see your Holy Temple again.’
5 The waters of the sea closed around my throat.
The deep sea was all around me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
6 When I went down to where the mountains of the sea start to rise,
I thought I was locked in this prison forever,
but you saved me from the pit of death,
Lord my God.
7 “When my life had almost gone,
I remembered the Lord.
I prayed to you,
and you heard my prayers in your Holy Temple.
8 “People who worship useless idols
give up their loyalty to you.
9 But I will praise and thank you
while I give sacrifices to you,
and I will keep my promises to you.
Salvation comes from the Lord!”
10 Then the Lord spoke to the fish, and the fish threw up Jonah onto the dry land.
9 We had lost much time, and it was now dangerous to sail, because it was already after the Day of Cleansing.[a] So Paul warned them, 10 “Men, I can see there will be a lot of trouble on this trip. The ship, the cargo, and even our lives may be lost.” 11 But the captain and the owner of the ship did not agree with Paul, and the officer believed what the captain and owner of the ship said. 12 Since that harbor was not a good place for the ship to stay for the winter, most of the men decided that the ship should leave. They hoped we could go to Phoenix and stay there for the winter. Phoenix, a city on the island of Crete, had a harbor which faced southwest and northwest.
The Storm
13 When a good wind began to blow from the south, the men on the ship thought, “This is the wind we wanted, and now we have it.” So they pulled up the anchor, and we sailed very close to the island of Crete. 14 But then a very strong wind named the “northeaster” came from the island. 15 The ship was caught in it and could not sail against it. So we stopped trying and let the wind carry us. 16 When we went below a small island named Cauda, we were barely able to bring in the lifeboat. 17 After the men took the lifeboat in, they tied ropes around the ship to hold it together. The men were afraid that the ship would hit the sandbanks of Syrtis,[b] so they lowered the sail and let the wind carry the ship. 18 The next day the storm was blowing us so hard that the men threw out some of the cargo. 19 A day later with their own hands they threw out the ship’s equipment. 20 When we could not see the sun or the stars for many days, and the storm was very bad, we lost all hope of being saved.
21 After the men had gone without food for a long time, Paul stood up before them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me. You should not have sailed from Crete. Then you would not have all this trouble and loss. 22 But now I tell you to cheer up because none of you will die. Only the ship will be lost. 23 Last night an angel came to me from the God I belong to and worship. 24 The angel said, ‘Paul, do not be afraid. You must stand before Caesar. And God has promised you that he will save the lives of everyone sailing with you.’ 25 So men, have courage. I trust in God that everything will happen as his angel told me. 26 But we will crash on an island.”
Jesus Sends Out the Apostles
9 Jesus called the twelve apostles together and gave them power and authority over all demons and the ability to heal sicknesses. 2 He sent the apostles out to tell about God’s kingdom and to heal the sick. 3 He said to them, “Take nothing for your trip, neither a walking stick, bag, bread, money, or extra clothes. 4 When you enter a house, stay there until it is time to leave. 5 If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off of your feet[a] as you leave the town, as a warning to them.”
6 So the apostles went out and traveled through all the towns, preaching the Good News and healing people everywhere.
Herod Is Confused About Jesus
7 Herod, the governor, heard about all the things that were happening and was confused, because some people said, “John the Baptist has risen from the dead.” 8 Others said, “Elijah has come to us.” And still others said, “One of the prophets who lived long ago has risen from the dead.” 9 Herod said, “I cut off John’s head, so who is this man I hear such things about?” And Herod kept trying to see Jesus.
More than Five Thousand Fed
10 When the apostles returned, they told Jesus everything they had done. Then Jesus took them with him to a town called Bethsaida where they could be alone together. 11 But the people learned where Jesus went and followed him. He welcomed them and talked with them about God’s kingdom and healed those who needed to be healed.
12 Late in the afternoon, the twelve apostles came to Jesus and said, “Send the people away. They need to go to the towns and countryside around here and find places to sleep and something to eat, because no one lives in this place.”
13 But Jesus said to them, “You give them something to eat.”
They said, “We have only five loaves of bread and two fish, unless we go buy food for all these people.” 14 (There were about five thousand men there.)
Jesus said to his followers, “Tell the people to sit in groups of about fifty people.”
15 So the followers did this, and all the people sat down. 16 Then Jesus took the five loaves of bread and two fish, and looking up to heaven, he thanked God for the food. Then he divided the food and gave it to the followers to give to the people. 17 They all ate and were satisfied, and what was left over was gathered up, filling twelve baskets.
The Holy Bible, New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.