Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for the King
For the director of music. A song of David.
20 May the Lord answer you in times of trouble.
May the God of Jacob protect you.
2 May he send you help from his Temple.
May he support you from Mount Zion.
3 May he remember all your offerings.
May he accept all your sacrifices. Selah
4 May he give you what you want.
May all your plans succeed.
5 We will shout for joy when you succeed.
We will raise a flag in the name of our God.
May the Lord give you all that you ask for.
6 Now I know the Lord helps his appointed king.
He answers him from his holy heaven.
He saves him with his strong right hand.
7 Some trust in chariots, others in horses.
But we trust the Lord our God.
8 They are overwhelmed and defeated.
But we march forward and win.
9 Lord, save the king!
Answer us when we call for help.
Thanksgiving for the King
For the director of music. A song of David.
21 Lord, the king rejoices because of your strength.
He is so happy when you save him!
2 You gave the king what he wanted.
You did not refuse what he asked for. Selah
3 You put good things before him.
You placed a gold crown on his head.
4 He asked you for life.
And you gave it to him.
His years go on and on.
5 He has great glory because you gave him victories.
You gave him honor and praise.
6 You always gave him blessings.
You made him glad because you were with him.
7 The king truly trusts the Lord.
Because God Most High always loves him,
he will not be overwhelmed.
8 Your hand is against all your enemies.
Those who hate you will feel your power.
9 When you appear, you will burn them like wood in a furnace.
In your anger you will eat them up.
Your fire will burn them up.
10 You will destroy their families from the earth.
Their children will not live.
11 They made evil plans against you.
But their traps won’t work.
12 You will make them turn their backs
when you aim your arrows at them.
13 Be supreme, Lord, in your power.
We sing and praise your greatness.
The Lord Appoints a King
A song of David.
110 The Lord said to my Master,
“Sit by me at my right side
until I put your enemies under your control.”
2 The Lord will make you king in Jerusalem over all nations.
And you will rule your enemies in their own countries.
3 Your people will join you on the day you come to power.
You have been dressed in holiness from birth.
You have the freshness of a child.
4 The Lord has made a promise
and will not change his mind.
He said, “You are a priest forever,
a priest like Melchizedek.”
5 The Lord is beside you to help you.
When he becomes angry, he will crush kings.
6 He will judge those nations, filling them with dead bodies.
He will defeat rulers all over the world.
7 The king will drink from the brook on the way.
Then he will be strengthened and win the battle.
Thanksgiving for Escaping Death
116 I love the Lord because he listens
to my prayers for help.
2 He paid attention to me.
So I will call to him for help as long as I live.
3 The ropes of death bound me.
The fear of death took hold of me.
I was troubled and sad.
4 Then I called out the name of the Lord.
I said, “Please, Lord, save me!”
5 The Lord is kind and does what is right.
Our God is merciful.
6 The Lord watches over the foolish.
When I was helpless, he saved me.
7 I said to myself, “Relax,
because the Lord takes care of you.”
8 Lord, you have saved me from death.
You have stopped my eyes from crying.
You have kept me from being defeated.
9 So I will walk with the Lord
in the land of the living.
10 I believed, so I said,
“I am completely ruined.”
11 In my distress I said,
“All people are liars.”
12 What can I give the Lord
for all the good things he has given to me?
13 I will give him a drink offering for saving me.
And I will pray to the Lord.
14 In front of all his people,
I will give the Lord what I promised.
15 The death of one that belongs to him
is precious to the Lord.
16 Lord, I am your servant.
I am your servant and the son of your female servant.
You have freed me from my chains.
17 I will give an offering to show thanks to you.
And I will worship the Lord.
18 In front of all his people,
I will give the Lord what I promised.
19 I will do this in the Temple courtyards
in Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!
A Hymn of Praise
117 All you nations, praise the Lord.
All you people, praise him.
2 The Lord loves us very much.
His truth is everlasting.
Praise the Lord!
31 Some men heard what David said and told Saul. Then Saul ordered David to be sent to him.
32 David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged. I, your servant, will go and fight this Philistine!”
33 Saul answered, “You can’t go out against this Philistine and fight him. You’re only a boy. Goliath has been a warrior since he was a young man.”
34 But David said to Saul, “I, your servant, have been keeping my father’s sheep. When a lion or bear came and took a sheep from the flock, 35 I would chase it. I would attack it and save the sheep from its mouth. When it attacked me, I caught it by its fur. I would hit it and kill it. 36 I, your servant, have killed both a lion and a bear! Goliath, the Philistine who is not circumcised, will be like the lion or bear I killed. He will die because he has stood against the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord saved me from a lion and a bear. He will also save me from this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.” 38 Saul put his own clothes on David. He put a bronze helmet on David’s head and armor on his body. 39 David put on Saul’s sword and tried to walk around. But he was not used to all the armor Saul had put on him.
He said to Saul, “I can’t go in this. I’m not used to it.” Then David took it all off. 40 He took his stick in his hand. And he chose five smooth stones from a stream. He put them in his pouch and held his sling in his hand. Then he went to meet Goliath.
41 At the same time, the Philistine was coming closer to David. The man who held his shield walked in front of him. 42 Goliath looked at David. He saw that David was only a boy, tanned and handsome. He looked down at David with disgust. 43 He said, “Do you think I am a dog, that you come at me with a stick?” He used his gods’ names to curse David. 44 He said to David, “Come here. I’ll feed your body to the birds of the air and the wild animals!”
45 But David said to him, “You come to me using a sword, a large spear and a small spear. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of heaven’s armies. He’s the God of the armies of Israel! You have spoken out against him. 46 Today the Lord will give you to me. I’ll kill you, and I’ll cut off your head. Today I’ll feed the bodies of the Philistine soldiers to the birds of the air and the wild animals. Then all the world will know there is a God in Israel! 47 Everyone gathered here will know the Lord does not need swords or spears to save people. The battle belongs to him! And he will help us defeat all of you.”
48 As Goliath came near to attack him, David ran quickly to meet him. 49 He took a stone from his pouch. He put it into his sling and slung it. The stone hit the Philistine on his forehead and sank into it. Goliath fell facedown on the ground.
Peter Returns to Jerusalem
11 The apostles and the believers in Judea heard that non-Jewish people had accepted God’s teaching too. 2 But when Peter came to Jerusalem, some Jewish believers argued with him. 3 They said, “You went into the homes of people who are not Jews and are not circumcised! You even ate with them!”
4 So Peter explained the whole story to them. 5 He said, “I was in the city of Joppa. While I was praying, I had a vision. In the vision, I saw something which looked like a big sheet coming down from heaven. It was being lowered to earth by its four corners. It came down very close to me, and 6 I looked inside it. I saw animals, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds. 7 I heard a voice say to me, ‘Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.’ 8 But I said, ‘No, Lord! I have never eaten anything that is unholy or unclean.’ 9 But the voice from heaven answered again, ‘God has made these things clean. Don’t call them unholy!’ 10 This happened three times. Then the whole thing was taken back to heaven. 11 Right then three men came to the house where I was staying. They were sent to me from Caesarea. 12 The Spirit told me to go with them without doubting. These six believers here also went with me. We went to the house of Cornelius. 13 He told us about the angel he saw standing in his house. The angel said to him, ‘Send some men to Joppa and invite Simon Peter to come. 14 He will speak to you. The things he will say will save you and all your family.’ 15 When I began my speech, the Holy Spirit came on them just as he came on us at the beginning. 16 Then I remembered the words of the Lord. He said, ‘John baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit!’ 17 God gave to them the same gift that he gave to us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. So could I stop the work of God? No!”
18 When the Jewish believers heard this, they stopped arguing. They praised God and said, “So God is allowing the non-Jewish people also to turn to him and live.”
Jesus Chooses Some Followers
14 After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee and preached the Good News from God. 15 Jesus said, “The right time has come. The kingdom of God is near. Change your hearts and lives and believe the Good News!”
16 When Jesus was walking by Lake Galilee, he saw Simon[a] and Simon’s brother, Andrew. They were fishermen and were throwing a net into the lake to catch fish. 17 Jesus said to them, “Come and follow me. I will make you fishermen for men.” 18 So Simon and Andrew immediately left their nets and followed him.
19 Jesus continued walking by Lake Galilee. He saw two more brothers, James and John, the sons of Zebedee. They were in their boat, preparing their nets to catch fish. 20 Their father Zebedee and the men who worked for him were in the boat with the brothers. When Jesus saw the brothers, he called them to come with him. They left their father and followed Jesus.
Jesus Removes an Evil Spirit
21 Jesus and his followers went to Capernaum. On the Sabbath day Jesus went to the synagogue and began to teach. 22 The people there were amazed at his teaching. He did not teach like their teachers of the law. He taught like a person who had authority. 23 While he was in the synagogue, a man was there who had an evil spirit in him. The man shouted, 24 “Jesus of Nazareth! What do you want with us? Did you come to destroy us? I know who you are—God’s Holy One!”
25 Jesus said strongly, “Be quiet! Come out of the man!” 26 The evil spirit made the man shake violently. Then the spirit gave a loud cry and came out of him.
27 The people were amazed. They asked each other, “What is happening here? This man is teaching something new. And he teaches with authority. He even gives commands to evil spirits, and they obey him.” 28 And the news about Jesus spread quickly everywhere in the area of Galilee.
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.