Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 120[a]
A song of ascents.[b]
120 In my distress I cried out
to the Lord and he answered me.
2 I said,[c] “O Lord, rescue me[d]
from those who lie with their lips[e]
and those who deceive with their tongues.[f]
3 How will he severely punish you,
you deceptive talker?[g]
4 Here’s how![h] With the sharp arrows of warriors,
with arrowheads forged over the hot coals.[i]
5 How miserable I am.[j]
For I have lived temporarily[k] in Meshech;
I have resided among the tents of Kedar.[l]
6 For too long I have had to reside
with those who hate[m] peace.
7 I am committed to peace,[n]
but when I speak, they want to make war.[o]
Psalm 121[p]
A song of ascents.[q]
121 I look up[r] toward the hills.
From where[s] does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,[t]
the Creator[u] of heaven and earth.
3 May he not allow your foot to slip.
May your Protector[v] not sleep.[w]
4 Look! Israel’s Protector[x]
does not sleep or slumber.
5 The Lord is your protector;
the Lord is the shade at your right hand.
6 The sun will not harm you by day,
or the moon by night.[y]
7 The Lord will protect you from all harm;
he will protect your life.
8 The Lord will protect you in all you do,[z]
now and forevermore.
Psalm 122[aa]
A song of ascents;[ab] by David.
122 I was glad because[ac] they said to me,
“We will go to the Lord’s temple.”
2 Our feet are[ad] standing
inside your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is a city designed
to accommodate an assembly.[ae]
4 The tribes go up[af] there,[ag]
the tribes of the Lord,
where it is required that Israel
give thanks to the name of the Lord.[ah]
5 Indeed,[ai] the leaders sit[aj] there on thrones and make legal decisions,
on the thrones of the house of David.[ak]
6 Pray[al] for the peace of Jerusalem.
May those who love her prosper.[am]
7 May there be peace inside your defenses,
and prosperity[an] inside your fortresses.[ao]
8 For the sake of my brothers and my neighbors
I will say, “May there be peace in you.”
9 For the sake of the temple of the Lord our God
I will pray for you to prosper.[ap]
Psalm 123[aq]
A song of ascents.[ar]
123 I look up[as] toward you,
the one enthroned[at] in heaven.
2 Look, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a female servant look to the hand of her mistress,[au]
so our eyes will look to the Lord, our God, until he shows us favor.
3 Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor!
For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some.[av]
4 We have had our fill[aw]
of the taunts of the self-assured,
of the contempt of the proud.
Psalm 124[ax]
A song of ascents;[ay] by David.
124 “If the Lord had not been on our side”—
let Israel say this.—
2 if the Lord had not been on our side,
when men attacked us,[az]
3 they would have swallowed us alive,
when their anger raged against us.
4 The water would have overpowered us;
the current[ba] would have overwhelmed[bb] us.[bc]
5 The raging water
would have overwhelmed us.[bd]
6 The Lord deserves praise,[be]
for[bf] he did not hand us over as prey to their teeth.
7 We escaped with our lives,[bg] like a bird from a hunter’s snare.
The snare broke, and we escaped.
8 Our deliverer is the Lord,[bh]
the Creator[bi] of heaven and earth.
Psalm 125[bj]
A song of ascents.[bk]
125 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved and will endure forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people,
now and forevermore.
3 Indeed,[bl] the scepter of a wicked king[bm] will not settle[bn]
upon the allotted land of the godly.
Otherwise the godly
might do what is wrong.[bo]
4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
to the morally upright.[bp]
5 As for those who are bent on traveling a sinful path,[bq]
may the Lord remove them,[br] along with those who behave wickedly.[bs]
May Israel experience peace.[bt]
Psalm 126[bu]
A song of ascents.[bv]
126 When the Lord restored the well-being of Zion,[bw]
we thought we were dreaming.[bx]
2 At that time we laughed loudly
and shouted for joy.[by]
At that time the nations said,[bz]
“The Lord has accomplished great things for these people.”
3 The Lord did indeed accomplish great things for us.
We were happy.
4 O Lord, restore our well-being,
just as the streams in the arid south are replenished.[ca]
5 Those who shed tears as they plant
will shout for joy when they reap the harvest.[cb]
6 The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag[cc] of seed,
will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain.[cd]
Psalm 127[ce]
A song of ascents;[cf] by Solomon.
127 If the Lord does not build a house,[cg]
then those who build it work in vain.
If the Lord does not guard a city,[ch]
then the watchman stands guard in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise early, come home late,
and work so hard for your food.[ci]
Yes,[cj] he provides for those whom he loves even when they sleep.[ck]
3 Yes,[cl] sons[cm] are a gift from the Lord;
the fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Sons born during one’s youth
are like arrows in a warrior’s hand.[cn]
5 How blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them.
They will not be put to shame[co] when they confront[cp] enemies at the city gate.
15 Look down from heaven and take notice,
from your holy, majestic palace!
Where are your zeal[a] and power?
Do not hold back your tender compassion![b]
16 For you are our father,
though Abraham does not know us
and Israel does not recognize us.
You, Lord, are our father;
you have been called our Protector from ancient times.[c]
17 Why, Lord, do you make us stray[d] from your ways,[e]
and make our minds stubborn so that we do not obey you?[f]
Return for the sake of your servants,
the tribes of your inheritance!
18 For a short time your special[g] nation possessed a land,[h]
but then our adversaries knocked down[i] your holy sanctuary.
19 We existed from ancient times,[j]
but you did not rule over them;
they were not your subjects.[k]
64 (63:19b)[l] If only you would tear apart the sky[m] and come down!
The mountains would tremble[n] before you!
2 (64:1) As when fire ignites dry wood,
or fire makes water boil,
let your adversaries know who you are,[o]
and may the nations shake at your presence!
3 When you performed awesome deeds that took us by surprise,[p]
you came down, and the mountains trembled[q] before you.
4 Since ancient times no one has heard or perceived,[r]
no eye has seen any God besides you,
who intervenes for those who wait for him.
5 You assist[s] those who delight in doing what is right,[t]
who observe your commandments.[u]
Look, you were angry because we violated them continually.
How then can we be saved?[v]
6 We are all like one who is unclean,
all our so-called righteous acts are like a menstrual rag in your sight.[w]
We all wither like a leaf;
our sins carry us away like the wind.
7 No one invokes[x] your name,
or makes an effort[y] to take hold of you.
For you have rejected us[z]
and handed us over to our own sins.[aa]
8 Yet,[ab] Lord, you are our father.
We are the clay, and you are our potter;
we are all the product of your labor.[ac]
9 Lord, do not be too angry!
Do not hold our sins against us continually.[ad]
Take a good look at your people, at all of us.[ae]
15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia[a] deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my imprisonment.[b] 17 But when he arrived in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me. 18 May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day![c] And you know very well all the ways he served me in Ephesus.[d]
Serving Faithfully Despite Hardship
2 So you, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And what you heard me say[e] in the presence of many witnesses[f] entrust to faithful people[g] who will be competent[h] to teach others as well. 3 Take your share of suffering[i] as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. 4 No one in military service gets entangled in matters of everyday life; otherwise he will not please[j] the one who recruited him. 5 Also, if anyone competes as an athlete, he will not be crowned as the winner[k] unless he competes according to the rules.[l] 6 The farmer who works hard ought to have the first share of the crops. 7 Think about what I am saying and[m] the Lord will give you understanding of all this.[n]
8 Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David;[o] such is my gospel,[p] 9 for which I suffer hardship to the point of imprisonment[q] as a criminal, but God’s message[r] is not imprisoned![s] 10 So I endure all things for the sake of those chosen by God,[t] that they too may obtain salvation in Christ Jesus and its eternal glory.[u] 11 This saying[v] is trustworthy:[w]
Rebuking the Pharisees and Experts in the Law
37 As he spoke,[a] a Pharisee[b] invited Jesus[c] to have a meal with him, so he went in and took his place at the table.[d] 38 The[e] Pharisee was astonished when he saw that Jesus[f] did not first wash his hands[g] before the meal. 39 But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean[h] the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness.[i] 40 You fools![j] Didn’t the one who made the outside make the inside as well?[k] 41 But give from your heart to those in need,[l] and[m] then everything will be clean for you.[n]
42 “But woe to you Pharisees![o] You give a tenth[p] of your mint,[q] rue,[r] and every herb, yet you neglect justice[s] and love for God! But you should have done these things without neglecting the others.[t] 43 Woe to you Pharisees! You love the best seats[u] in the synagogues[v] and elaborate greetings[w] in the marketplaces![x] 44 Woe to you![y] You are like unmarked graves, and people[z] walk over them without realizing it!”[aa]
45 One of the experts in religious law[ab] answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things you insult[ac] us too.” 46 But Jesus[ad] replied,[ae] “Woe to you experts in religious law as well![af] You load people[ag] down with burdens difficult to bear, yet you yourselves refuse to touch[ah] the burdens with even one of your fingers! 47 Woe to you! You build[ai] the tombs of the prophets whom your ancestors[aj] killed. 48 So you testify that you approve of[ak] the deeds of your ancestors,[al] because they killed the prophets[am] and you build their[an] tombs![ao] 49 For this reason also the wisdom[ap] of God said, ‘I will send them prophets and apostles, some of whom they will kill and persecute,’ 50 so that this generation may be held accountable[aq] for the blood of all the prophets that has been shed since the beginning[ar] of the world,[as] 51 from the blood of Abel[at] to the blood of Zechariah,[au] who was killed[av] between the altar and the sanctuary.[aw] Yes, I tell you, it will be charged against[ax] this generation. 52 Woe to you experts in religious law! You have taken away[ay] the key to knowledge! You did not go in yourselves, and you hindered[az] those who were going in.”
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