Book of Common Prayer
A song of praise from the Korah family.
87 The Lord built his city on the holy hills.
2 He loves the gates of Zion more than any other place in Israel.
3 Wonderful things are said about you, City of God. Selah
4 God says, “Some of my people live in Egypt[a] and Babylon.
Some of them were born in Philistia, Tyre, and even Ethiopia.”
5 But about Zion he says,
“I know each and every person born there.”
It is the city built by God Most High.
6 The Lord keeps a list of all his people,
and he knows where each of them was born. Selah
7 At the festivals, people will dance and sing,
“All good things come from Zion.”
Book 4
(Psalms 90-106)
The prayer of Moses, the man of God.
90 My Lord, you have been our home forever and ever.
2 You were God before the mountains were born,
before the earth and the world were made.
You have always been and will always be God!
3 You bring people into this world,
and you change them into dust again.
4 To you, a thousand years is like yesterday,
like a few hours in the night.
5 Our life is like a dream that ends when morning comes.
We are like grass
6 that grows and looks so fresh in the morning,
but in the evening it is dry and dying.
7 Your anger could destroy us.
Your anger frightens us!
8 You know about all our sins.
You see every one of our secret sins.
9 Your anger can end our life.
Our lives fade away like a whisper.
10 We live about 70 years
or, if we are strong, 80 years.
But most of them are filled with hard work and pain.
Then, suddenly, the years are gone, and we fly away.
11 No one really knows the full power of your anger,
but our fear and respect for you is as great as your anger.
12 Teach us how short our lives are
so that we can become wise.
13 Lord, come back to us.
Be kind to your servants.
14 Fill us with your love every morning.
Let us be happy and enjoy our lives.
15 For years you have made life hard for us and have given us many troubles.
Now make us happy for just as long.
16 Let your servants see the wonderful things you can do for them.
And let their children see your glory.
17 Lord, our God, be kind to us.
Make everything we do successful.
Yes, make it all successful.
136 Praise the Lord because he is good.
His faithful love will last forever.
2 Praise the God of gods!
His faithful love will last forever.
3 Praise the Lord of lords!
His faithful love will last forever.
4 Praise him who alone does wonderful miracles!
His faithful love will last forever.
5 Praise the one who used wisdom to make the skies!
His faithful love will last forever.
6 He spread the land over the sea.
His faithful love will last forever.
7 He made the great lights.
His faithful love will last forever.
8 He made the sun to rule the day.
His faithful love will last forever.
9 He made the moon and stars to rule the night.
His faithful love will last forever.
10 He killed the firstborn males in Egypt, both men and animals.
His faithful love will last forever.
11 He took Israel out of Egypt.
His faithful love will last forever.
12 He used his powerful arms and strong hands.
His faithful love will last forever.
13 He split the Red Sea into two parts.
His faithful love will last forever.
14 He led Israel through the sea.
His faithful love will last forever.
15 He drowned Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea.
His faithful love will last forever.
16 He led his people through the desert.
His faithful love will last forever.
17 He defeated powerful kings.
His faithful love will last forever.
18 He defeated strong kings.
His faithful love will last forever.
19 He defeated Sihon king of the Amorites.
His faithful love will last forever.
20 He defeated Og king of Bashan.
His faithful love will last forever.
21 He gave their land to Israel.
His faithful love will last forever.
22 He gave it as a gift to Israel, his servant.
His faithful love will last forever.
23 He remembered us when we were defeated.
His faithful love will last forever.
24 He saved us from our enemies.
His faithful love will last forever.
25 He provides food for all living things.
His faithful love will last forever.
26 Praise the God of heaven!
His faithful love will last forever.
David and Bathsheba’s Baby Dies
15 Then Nathan went home. And the Lord caused the baby boy who was born to David and Uriah’s wife to become very sick. 16 David prayed to God for the baby. David refused to eat or drink. He went into his house and stayed there and lay on the ground all night.
17 The leaders of David’s family came and tried to pull David up from the ground, but he refused to get up. He refused to eat with these leaders. 18 On the seventh day the baby died. David’s servants were afraid to tell him that the baby was dead. They said, “Look, we tried to talk to David while the baby was alive, but he refused to listen to us. If we tell David that the baby is dead, he might do something bad to himself.”
19 David saw his servants whispering and understood that the baby was dead. So David asked his servants, “Is the baby dead?”
The servants answered, “Yes, he is dead.”
20 Then David got up from the floor. He washed himself. He changed his clothes and got dressed. Then he went into the Lord’s house to worship. After that he went home and asked for something to eat. His servants gave him some food, and he ate.
21 David’s servants asked him, “Why are you doing this? When the baby was alive, you cried and refused to eat. But when the baby died you got up and ate food.”
22 David said, “While the baby was still living, I cried and refused to eat because I thought, ‘Who knows? Maybe the Lord will feel sorry for me and let the baby live.’ 23 But now the baby is dead, so why should I refuse to eat? Can I bring the baby back to life? No. Some day I will go to him, but he cannot come back to me.”
Solomon Is Born
24 Then David comforted Bathsheba his wife. He slept with her and had sexual relations with her. Bathsheba became pregnant again and had another son. David named the boy Solomon. The Lord loved Solomon 25 and sent word for Nathan the prophet to give Solomon the name Jedidiah.[a] So Nathan did this for the Lord.
David Captures Rabbah
26 Rabbah was the capital city of the Ammonites. Joab fought against Rabbah and captured it. 27 Joab sent messengers to David and said, “I have fought against Rabbah and have captured its water supply. 28 Now bring the rest of the army together and attack Rabbah. Capture this city before I do, or else it will be called by my name.”
29 So David gathered all the soldiers together and went to Rabbah. He fought against Rabbah and captured the city. 30 David took the crown off their king’s head.[b] The crown was gold and weighed about 75 pounds.[c] This crown had precious stones in it. They put the crown on David’s head. David took many valuable things out of the city.
31 David also brought out the people of the city of Rabbah and made them work with saws, iron picks, and axes. He also forced them to build things with bricks. He did the same thing to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and the army went back to Jerusalem.
Paul Goes to Macedonia and Greece
20 When the trouble stopped, Paul invited the Lord’s followers to come visit him. After encouraging them, he told them goodbye and left for Macedonia. 2 On his way through Macedonia he had many words of encouragement for the followers in various places. Then he went to Greece 3 and stayed there three months.
Paul was ready to sail for Syria, but some Jews were planning something against him. So he decided to go back through Macedonia to Syria. 4 These men were traveling with him: Sopater, the son of Pyrrhus, from the city of Berea; Aristarchus and Secundus, from the city of Thessalonica; Gaius, from the city of Derbe; Timothy; and two men from Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus. 5 These men went first, ahead of Paul. They waited for us in the city of Troas. 6 We sailed from the city of Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread. We met these men in Troas five days later and stayed there seven days.
Paul’s Last Visit to Troas
7 On Sunday[a] we all met together to eat the Lord’s Supper.[b] Paul talked to the group. Because he was planning to leave the next day, he continued talking until midnight. 8 We were all together in a room upstairs, and there were many lights in the room. 9 There was a young man named Eutychus sitting in the window. Paul continued talking, and Eutychus became very, very sleepy. Finally, he went to sleep and fell out of the window. He fell to the ground from the third floor. When the people went down and lifted him up, he was dead.
10 Paul went down to where Eutychus was, knelt down beside him, and put his arms around him. He said to the other believers, “Don’t worry. He is alive now.” 11 Then Paul went upstairs again, broke off some pieces of bread and ate. He spoke to them a long time. It was early morning when he finished, and then he left. 12 The Lord’s followers took Eutychus home alive, and they were all greatly comforted.
The Trip From Troas to Miletus
13 We went on ahead of Paul and sailed for the city of Assos, planning to meet him there. This is what he told us to do because he wanted to go by land. 14 When he caught up with us at Assos, we took him on board, and we all sailed to Mitylene. 15 The next day, we sailed away from there and came to a place near the island of Chios. Then the next day, we sailed to the island of Samos. A day later, we came to the city of Miletus. 16 Paul had already decided not to stop at Ephesus. He did not want to stay too long in Asia. He was hurrying because he wanted to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost if possible.
Jesus Talks About His Death(A)
30 Then Jesus and his followers left there and went through Galilee. Jesus did not want the people to know where they were. 31 He wanted to teach his followers alone. He said to them, “The Son of Man will be handed over to the control of other men, who will kill him. After three days, he will rise from death.” 32 But the followers did not understand what he meant, and they were afraid to ask him.
Who Is the Greatest?(B)
33 Jesus and his followers went to Capernaum. They went into a house, and Jesus said to them, “I heard you arguing on the way here today. What were you arguing about?” 34 But the followers did not answer, because their argument on the road was about which one of them was the greatest.
35 Jesus sat down and called the twelve apostles to him. He said, “Whoever wants to be the most important must make others more important than themselves. They must serve everyone else.”
36 Then Jesus took a small child and stood the child in front of the followers. He held the child in his arms and said, 37 “Whoever accepts children like these in my name is accepting me. And anyone who accepts me is also accepting the one who sent me.”
Whoever Is Not Against Us Is For Us(C)
38 Then John said, “Teacher, we saw a man using your name to force demons out of someone. He is not one of us. So we told him to stop, because he does not belong to our group.”
39 Jesus said, “Don’t stop him. Whoever uses my name to do powerful things will not soon say bad things about me. 40 Whoever is not against us is with us. 41 I can assure you that anyone who helps you by giving you a drink of water because you belong to the Messiah will definitely get a reward.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International