Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 131[a]
A song of ascents,[b] by David.
131 O Lord, my heart is not proud,
nor do I have a haughty look.[c]
I do not have great aspirations,
or concern myself with things that are beyond me.[d]
2 Indeed,[e] I have calmed and quieted myself[f]
like a weaned child with its mother;[g]
I am content like a young child.[h]
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
now and forevermore!
Psalm 132[i]
A song of ascents.[j]
132 O Lord, for David’s sake remember
all his strenuous effort,[k]
2 and how he made a vow to the Lord,
and swore an oath to the Powerful One of Jacob.
3 He said,[l] “I will not enter my own home,[m]
or get into my bed.[n]
4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep,
or my eyelids to slumber,
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a fine dwelling place[o] for the Powerful One of Jacob.”[p]
6 Look, we heard about it[q] in Ephrathah;[r]
we found it in the territory of Jaar.[s]
7 Let us go to his dwelling place.
Let us worship[t] before his footstool.
8 Ascend, O Lord, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your strength.
9 May your priests be clothed with integrity.[u]
May your loyal followers shout for joy.
10 For the sake of David, your servant,
do not reject your chosen king.[v]
11 The Lord made a reliable promise to David;[w]
he will not go back on his word.[x]
He said,[y] “I will place one of your descendants[z] on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and the rules I teach them,
their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”
13 Certainly[aa] the Lord has chosen Zion;
he decided to make it his home.[ab]
14 He said,[ac] “This will be my resting place forever;
I will live here, for I have chosen it.[ad]
15 I will abundantly supply what she needs;[ae]
I will give her poor all the food they need.[af]
16 I will protect her priests,[ag]
and her godly people will shout exuberantly.[ah]
17 There I will make David strong;[ai]
I have determined that my chosen king’s dynasty will continue.[aj]
18 I will humiliate his enemies,[ak]
and his crown will shine.”
Psalm 133[al]
A song of ascents;[am] by David.
133 Look! How good and how pleasant it is
when brothers truly live in unity.[an]
2 It is like fine oil poured on the head,
which flows down the beard[ao]—
Aaron’s beard,
and then flows down his garments.[ap]
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,[aq]
which flows down upon the hills of Zion.[ar]
Indeed,[as] that is where the Lord has decreed
a blessing will be available—eternal life.[at]
Psalm 134[au]
A song of ascents.[av]
134 Attention![aw] Praise the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord,
who serve[ax] in the Lord’s temple during the night.
2 Lift your hands toward the sanctuary
and praise the Lord.
3 May the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth,
bless you[ay] from Zion.[az]
Psalm 135[ba]
135 Praise the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord.
Offer praise, you servants of the Lord,
2 who serve[bb] in the Lord’s temple,
in the courts of the temple of our God.
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.
Sing praises to his name, for it is pleasant.[bc]
4 Indeed,[bd] the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel to be his special possession.[be]
5 Yes,[bf] I know the Lord is great,
and our Lord is superior to all gods.
6 He does whatever he pleases
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the ocean depths.
7 He causes the clouds to arise from the end of the earth,
makes lightning bolts accompany the rain,
and brings the wind out of his storehouses.
8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
including both men and animals.
9 He performed awesome deeds[bg] and acts of judgment[bh]
in your midst, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He defeated many nations,
and killed mighty kings—
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan.
12 He gave their land as an inheritance,
as an inheritance to Israel his people.
13 O Lord, your name endures,[bi]
your reputation, O Lord, lasts.[bj]
14 For the Lord vindicates[bk] his people,
and has compassion on his servants.[bl]
15 The nations’ idols are made of silver and gold;
they are man-made.[bm]
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see,
17 and ears, but cannot hear.
Indeed, they cannot breathe.[bn]
18 Those who make them will end up[bo] like them,
as will everyone who trusts in them.
19 O family[bp] of Israel, praise the Lord.
O family of Aaron, praise the Lord.
20 O family of Levi, praise the Lord.
You loyal followers[bq] of the Lord, praise the Lord.
21 The Lord deserves praise in Zion[br]—
he who dwells in Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord.
Jerusalem is Corrupt
3 Beware to the filthy,[a] stained city;
the city filled with oppressors![b]
2 She is disobedient;[c]
she has refused correction.[d]
She does not trust the Lord;
she has not sought the advice of[e] her God.
3 Her princes[f] are as fierce as roaring lions;[g]
her rulers[h] are as hungry as wolves in the desert,[i]
who completely devour their prey by morning.[j]
4 Her prophets are proud;[k]
they are deceitful men.
Her priests have defiled what is holy;[l]
they have broken God’s laws.[m]
5 The just Lord resides[n] within her;
he commits no unjust acts.[o]
Every morning he reveals[p] his justice.
At dawn he appears without fail.[q]
Yet the unjust know no shame.
The Lord’s Judgment will Purify
6 “I destroyed[r] nations;
their walled cities[s] are in ruins.
I turned their streets into ruins;
no one passes through them.
Their cities are desolate;[t]
no one lives there.[u]
7 I thought,[v] ‘Certainly you will respect[w] me!
Now you will accept correction!’
If she had done so, her home[x] would not be destroyed[y]
by all the punishments I have threatened.[z]
But they eagerly sinned
in everything they did.[aa]
8 Therefore you must wait patiently[ab] for me,” says the Lord,
“for the day when I attack and take plunder.[ac]
I have decided[ad] to gather nations together
and assemble kingdoms,
so I can pour out my fury on them—
all my raging anger.
For[ae] the whole earth will be consumed
by my fiery anger.
9 Know for sure that I will then enable
the nations to give me acceptable praise.[af]
All of them will invoke the Lord’s name when they pray,[ag]
and will worship him in unison.[ah]
10 From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia,[ai]
those who pray to me, my dispersed people,[aj]
will bring me tribute.
11 In that day you[ak] will not be ashamed of all your rebelliousness against me,[al]
for then I will remove from your midst those who proudly boast,[am]
and you will never again be arrogant on my holy hill.
12 I will leave in your midst a humble and meek group of people,[an]
and they will find safety in the Lord’s presence.[ao]
13 The Israelites who remain[ap] will not act deceitfully.
They will not lie,
and a deceitful tongue will not be found in their mouths.
Indeed, they will graze peacefully like sheep[aq] and lie down;
no one will terrify them.”
11 Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul, 12 and maintain good conduct[a] among the non-Christians,[b] so that though[c] they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears.[d]
Submission to Authorities
13 Be subject to every human institution[e] for the Lord’s sake, whether to a king as supreme 14 or to governors as those he commissions[f] to punish wrongdoers and praise[g] those who do good. 15 For God wants you[h] to silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. 16 Live[i] as free people, not using your freedom as a pretext for evil, but as God’s slaves.[j] 17 Honor all people, love the family of believers,[k] fear God, honor the king.
18 Slaves,[l] be subject[m] to your masters with all reverence, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are perverse. 19 For this finds God’s favor,[n] if because of conscience toward God[o] someone endures hardships in suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is it if you sin and are mistreated and endure it? But if you do good and suffer and so endure, this finds favor with God.[p] 21 For to this you were called, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving an example for you to follow in his steps. 22 He[q] committed no sin nor was deceit found in his mouth.[r] 23 When he was maligned, he[s] did not answer back; when he suffered, he threatened[t] no retaliation,[u] but committed himself to God[v] who judges justly. 24 He[w] himself bore our sins[x] in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning[y] and live for righteousness. By his[z] wounds[aa] you were healed.[ab] 25 For you were going astray like sheep[ac] but now you have turned back to the shepherd and guardian of your souls.
Workers in the Vineyard
20 “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner[a] who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 And after agreeing with the workers for the standard wage,[b] he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When it was about nine o’clock in the morning,[c] he went out again and saw others standing around in the marketplace[d] without work. 4 He said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too, and I will give you whatever is right.’ 5 So they went. When[e] he went out again about noon and three o’clock that afternoon,[f] he did the same thing. 6 And about five o’clock that afternoon[g] he went out and found others standing around, and said to them, ‘Why are you standing here all day without work?’ 7 They said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You go and work in the vineyard too.’ 8 When[h] it was evening[i] the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the workers and pay them their wages[j] starting with the last hired until the first.’ 9 When those hired about five o’clock came, each received a full day’s pay.[k] 10 And when those hired first came, they thought they would receive more. But each one also received the standard wage. 11 When[l] they received it, they began to complain[m] against the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These last fellows worked one hour, and you have made them equal to us who bore the hardship and burning heat of the day.’ 13 And the landowner[n] replied to one of them,[o] ‘Friend, I am not treating you unfairly. Didn’t you agree with me to work for the standard wage?[p] 14 Take what is yours and go. I[q] want to give to this last man[r] the same as I gave to you. 15 Am I not[s] permitted to do what I want with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’[t] 16 So the last will be first, and the first last.”
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