Book of Common Prayer
A Davidic Song of Ascents
Hope in the Lord
131 Lord, my heart is not arrogant,
nor do I look haughty.
I do not aspire[a] to great things,
nor concern myself with things beyond my ability.
2 Instead, I have composed and quieted myself
like a weaned child with its mother;
I am like a weaned child.
3 Place your hope in the Lord, Israel,
both now and forever.
A Song of Ascents
The Lord Lives in Zion
132 Lord, remember in David’s favor
all of his troubles;
2 how he swore an oath to the Lord,
vowing to the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I will not enter[b] my house,
or lie down on[c] my bed,
4 or let myself go to sleep[d]
or even take a nap,[e]
5 until I locate a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 We heard about it[f] in Ephrata;[g]
we found it in the fields of Jaar.[h]
7 Let’s go to his dwelling place
and worship at his footstool.
8 Arise, Lord,
and go to your resting place,
you and the ark of your strength.
9 May your priests be clothed with righteousness
and may your godly ones shout for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
don’t turn away the face of your anointed one.
11 The Lord made an oath to David
from which he will not retreat:
“One of your sons
I will set in place on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and my statutes that I will teach them,
then their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion,
desiring it as his dwelling place.
14 “This is my resting place forever.
Here I will live,
because I desire to do so.
15 I will bless its provisions abundantly;
I will satiate its poor with food.[i]
16 I will clothe its priests with salvation
and its godly ones will shout for joy.
17 There I will create a power base[j] for David—
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
18 I will clothe his enemies with disgrace,
but on him his crown will shine.”
A Davidic Song of Ascents
The Significance of Unity
133 Look how good and how pleasant it is
when brothers live together in unity!
2 It is like precious oil on the head,
descending to the beard—
even to Aaron’s beard—
and flowing down to the edge of his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon
falling on Zion’s mountains.
For there the Lord commanded his blessing—
life everlasting.
A Song of Ascents
Praise to the Creator
134 Now bless the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord
who serve[k] nightly in the Lord’s Temple.
2 Lift up your hands to the Holy Place
and bless the Lord.
3 May the Lord who fashions heaven and earth
bless you from Zion.
Praising God for His Graciousness
135 Hallelujah!
Praise the name of the Lord!
Give praise, you servants of the Lord,
2 you who are standing in the Lord’s Temple,
in the courtyards of the house of our God.
3 Praise the Lord,
because the Lord is good;
Sing to his name,
for he is gracious.
4 It is Jacob whom the Lord chose for himself—
Israel as his personal possession.
5 Indeed, I know that the Lord is great,
and that our Lord[l] surpasses all gods.
6 The Lord does whatever pleases him
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all its[m] deep regions.
7 He makes the clouds rise from the ends of the earth,
fashioning lightning for the rain,
bringing the wind from his storehouses.
8 It was the Lord[n] who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
including both men and animals.
9 He sent signs and wonders among you, Egypt,
before[o] Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He struck down many nations,
killing many kings—
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
Og, king of Bashan,
and every kingdom of Canaan—
12 and he gave their land as an inheritance,
an inheritance to his people Israel.
13 Your name, Lord, exists forever,
and your reputation, Lord, throughout the ages.
14 For the Lord will vindicate his people,
and he will show compassion on his servants.
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
worked by[p] the hands of human beings.
16 Mouths are attributed to them,
but they cannot speak;
sight is attributed to them,
but they cannot see;
17 ears are attributed to them,
but they do not hear,
and there is no breath in their mouths.
18 Those who craft them—
and all[q] who trust in them—
will become like them.
19 House of Israel, bless the Lord!
House of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20 House of Levi, bless the Lord!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
he who lives in Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!
The Lord’s Rebuke to Jerusalem
3 Woe to this filthy, polluted, and oppressive city!
2 It won’t obey anyone.[a]
It won’t accept discipline.
It does not trust in the Lord.
It does not approach God.
3 Its national officials[b] are roaring lions;
its judges are like wolves of the night
that don’t leave the bones for the morning.
4 Its prophets are arrogant and treacherous.
Its priests have contaminated the sanctuary.
They give perverse interpretations of the Law.[c]
5 The righteous Lord who lives[d] within her will do no wrong;
he will bring justice to light morning by morning.
He never fails,
but the unjust are shameless.
The Integrity of God’s Justice
6 “I have destroyed[e] nations—
their fortifications are deserted.
I have turned their main thoroughfares into wastelands
where no one will travel.
Their cities are desolate;
as a result, not one man remains—
no, not even a single resident.
7 I have said, ‘If only you would fear me,
if only you would take my instructions to heart.’
Then their houses would not have been torn down.
I have chastened them,
but they were eager to corrupt everything they were doing.”
The Future Deliverance of Israel
8 “Just you wait!” declares the Lord.
“The day will come when I stand up as a prosecutor,[f]
for I am determined to assemble the nations
and to gather the kingdoms,
in order to pour out my indignation upon them—
all of my fierce anger.
All the earth will be consumed by the fire of my jealousy.
9 Indeed, then I will return my people to a pure language[g]
so that they all may call upon the name of the Lord,
serving him with a united will.[h]
10 “From beyond the rivers of Sudan[i] my worshipers[j]—
including my dispersed people—
will present offerings to me.
11 When this happens,[k] you will not be ashamed of your actions
by which you sinned against me,
because I will remove from among you those who revel in pride.
Arrogance will have no place in my holy mountain.
12 I will keep a humble and gentle people among you,
and they will trust in the name of the Lord.
13 The survivors of Israel will not practice lawlessness
nor tell lies,
nor will a deceitful message be found in their mouths,
because they will eat and rest,
with no one to cause fear.”
Live as God’s Servants
11 Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and exiles to keep on abstaining from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. 12 Continue to live such upright lives among the gentiles that, when they slander you as practicers of evil, they may see your good actions and glorify God when he visits them.[a]
13 For the Lord’s sake submit yourselves to every human authority: whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. 15 For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorant talk[b] of foolish people. 16 Live like free people, and do not use your freedom as an excuse for doing evil. Instead, be God’s servants. 17 Honor everyone. Keep on loving the community of believers,[c] fearing God, and honoring the king.
Suffer Patiently
18 You household servants must submit yourselves to your masters out of respect, not only to those who are kind and fair, but also to those who are unjust. 19 For it is a fine thing if, when moved by your conscience to please God, you suffer patiently when wronged. 20 What good does it do if, when you sin, you patiently receive punishment for it? But if you suffer for doing good and receive it patiently, you have God’s approval. 21 This is, in fact, what you were called to do, because:
The Messiah[d] also suffered for you
and left an example for you
to follow in his steps.
22 “He never sinned,
and he never told a lie.”[e]
23 When he was insulted,
he did not retaliate.
When he suffered,
he did not threaten.
It was his habit
to commit the matter to the one who judges fairly.
24 “He himself bore our sins”[f] in his body on the tree,
so that we might die to those sins
and live righteously.
“By his wounds
you have been healed.”[g]
25 You were “like sheep that kept going astray,”[h]
but now you have returned to the shepherd
and overseer of your souls.
The Workers in the Vineyard
20 “The kingdom from[a] heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire workers for his vineyard. 2 After agreeing to pay the workers one denarius[b] a day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 When he went out about nine o’clock,[c] he saw others standing in the marketplace without work. 4 He told them, ‘You go into the vineyard, too, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ 5 So off they went. He went out again about noon[d] and about three o’clock[e] and did the same thing. 6 About five o’clock[f] he went out and found some others standing around. He asked them, ‘Why are you standing here all day long without work?’ 7 They told him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He told them, ‘You go into the vineyard as well.’
8 “When evening came, the owner of the vineyard told his manager, ‘Call the workers and give them their wages, beginning with the last and ending with[g] the first.’ 9 Those who were hired at five o’clock[h] came, and each received a denarius.
10 “When the first came, they thought they would receive more, but each received a denarius as well. 11 When they received it, they began to complain to the landowner, 12 ‘These last fellows worked only one hour, but you paid them the same as us, and we’ve been working all day,[i] enduring the scorching heat!’
13 “But he told one of them, ‘Friend, I’m not treating you unfairly. You did agree with me for a denarius, didn’t you? 14 Take what is yours and go. I want to give this last man as much as I gave you.[j] 15 I am allowed to do what I want with my own money,[k] am I not? Or are you envious[l] because I’m generous?’
16 “In the same way, the last will be first, and the first will be last, because many are called, but few are chosen.”[m]
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