Book of Common Prayer
Childlike Trust in the Lord.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
131 Lord, my heart is not (A)proud, nor my eyes (B)arrogant;
Nor do I [a]involve myself in (C)great matters,
Or in things (D)too [b]difficult for me.
2 I have certainly (E)soothed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned (F)child resting [c]against his mother,
My soul [d]within me is like a weaned child.
3 Israel, (G)wait for the Lord
(H)From this time on and forever.
Prayer for the Lord’s Blessing upon the Sanctuary.
A Song of Ascents.
132 Remember, Lord, in David’s behalf,
All (I)his affliction;
2 How he swore to the Lord
And vowed to (J)the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I certainly will not [e]enter (K)my house,
Nor [f]lie on my bed;
4 I will not (L)give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
5 Until I find a (M)place for the Lord,
[g]A dwelling place for (N)the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard about it in (O)Ephrathah,
We found it in the (P)field of [h]Jaar.
7 Let’s go into His [i](Q)dwelling place;
Let’s (R)worship at His (S)footstool.
8 (T)Arise, Lord, to Your (U)resting place,
You and the ark of Your (V)strength.
9 May Your priests be (W)clothed with righteousness,
And may Your (X)godly ones sing for joy.
10 For the sake of Your servant David,
Do not turn away the face of Your (Y)anointed.
11 The Lord has (Z)sworn to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“I will set upon your throne one (AA)from the fruit of your body.
12 If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their sons also will (AB)sit upon your throne forever.”
13 For the Lord has (AC)chosen Zion;
He has (AD)desired it as His dwelling place.
14 “This is My (AE)resting place forever;
Here I will (AF)dwell, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly (AG)bless her food;
I will (AH)satisfy her needy with bread.
16 I will also clothe her (AI)priests with salvation,
And her (AJ)godly ones will sing aloud for joy.
17 I will make the (AK)horn of David spring forth there;
I have prepared a (AL)lamp for My anointed.
18 I will (AM)clothe his enemies with shame,
But upon himself his (AN)crown will gleam.”
The Excellency of Brotherly Unity.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For (AO)brothers to live together in unity!
2 It is like the precious (AP)oil on the head,
Running down upon the beard,
As on Aaron’s beard,
The oil which ran down upon the (AQ)edge of his robes.
3 It is like the (AR)dew of (AS)Hermon
Coming down upon the (AT)mountains of Zion;
For the Lord (AU)commanded the blessing there—(AV)life forever.
Greetings of Night Watchers.
A Song of Ascents.
134 Behold, (AW)bless the Lord, all you (AX)servants of the Lord,
Who [j](AY)serve (AZ)by night in the house of the Lord!
2 (BA)Lift up your hands to the (BB)sanctuary
And bless the Lord.
3 May the Lord (BC)bless you from Zion,
He who (BD)made heaven and earth.
Praise the Lord’s Wonderful Works. Futility of Idols.
135 [k](BE)Praise [l]the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise Him, you (BF)servants of the Lord,
2 You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In the (BG)courtyards of the house of our God!
3 [m]Praise [n]the Lord, for (BH)the Lord is good;
(BI)Sing praises to His name, (BJ)for it is lovely.
4 For [o]the Lord has (BK)chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel as His (BL)own possession.
5 For I know that (BM)the Lord is great
And that our Lord is (BN)above all gods.
6 (BO)Whatever the Lord pleases, He does,
In heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the ocean depths.
7 [p]He (BP)causes the [q]mist to ascend from the ends of the earth,
[r]He (BQ)makes lightning for the rain;
[s]He (BR)brings forth the wind from His treasuries.
8 [t]He (BS)struck the firstborn of Egypt,
[u]Both human firstborn and animal.
9 [v]He sent (BT)signs and wonders into your midst, Egypt,
Upon (BU)Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 [w](BV)He (BW)struck many nations
And brought death to mighty kings,
11 (BX)Sihon, king of the Amorites,
(BY)Og, king of Bashan,
And (BZ)all the kingdoms of Canaan;
12 And He (CA)gave their land as an inheritance,
An inheritance to His people Israel.
13 Your (CB)name, Lord, is everlasting,
The mention of You, Lord, is [x]throughout all generations.
14 For the Lord will (CC)judge His people
And (CD)will have compassion on His servants.
15 The (CE)idols of the nations are nothing but silver and gold,
The work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
They have eyes, but they do not see;
17 They have ears, but they do not hear,
Nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will become like them,
Yes, everyone who trusts in them.
Woe to Jerusalem and the Nations
3 Woe to her who is (A)rebellious and (B)defiled,
The (C)oppressive city!
2 She (D)obeyed no voice,
She (E)accepted no discipline.
She did not (F)trust in the Lord,
She did not (G)approach her God.
3 Her (H)leaders within her are roaring lions,
Her judges are (I)wolves at evening;
They have no bones to gnaw in the morning.
4 Her prophets are (J)insolent, treacherous men;
Her (K)priests have profaned the sanctuary.
They have done violence to the Law.
5 The Lord is (L)righteous (M)within her;
He will (N)do no injustice.
(O)Every morning He brings His justice to light;
He [a]does not fail.
But the [b]criminal (P)knows no shame.
6 “I have eliminated nations;
Their corner towers are deserted.
I have (Q)laid waste their streets,
With no one passing by;
Their (R)cities have been laid waste,
Without a person, (S)without an inhabitant.
7 I said, ‘You will certainly revere Me,
You will (T)accept discipline.’
So her dwelling will (U)not be eliminated
In accordance with everything that I have stipulated for her.
Instead, they were eager to (V)corrupt all their deeds.
8 “Therefore (W)wait for Me,” declares the Lord,
“For the day when I rise up as a witness.
Indeed, My decision is to (X)gather nations,
To assemble kingdoms,
To pour out on them My indignation,
All My burning anger;
For (Y)all the earth will be devoured
By the fire of My zeal.
9 For then I will [c]restore to the peoples (Z)pure lips,
So that all of them may (AA)call on the name of the Lord,
To serve Him [d]shoulder to shoulder.
10 From beyond the rivers of (AB)Ethiopia
My worshipers, [e]My dispersed ones,
Will (AC)bring My offerings.
11 On that day you will (AD)feel no shame
Because of all your deeds
By which you have rebelled against Me;
For then I will remove from your midst
Your (AE)proud, arrogant ones,
And you will never again be haughty
On My (AF)holy mountain.
A Remnant of Israel
12 But I will leave among you
A (AG)humble and lowly people,
And they will (AH)take refuge in the name of the Lord.
13 The (AI)remnant of Israel will (AJ)do no wrong
And (AK)tell no lies,
Nor will a deceitful tongue
Be found in their mouths;
For they will (AL)feed and lie down
With no one to frighten them.”
11 (A)Beloved, (B)I urge you as (C)foreigners and strangers to abstain from (D)fleshly lusts, which wage (E)war against the soul. 12 (F)Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they (G)slander you as evildoers, they may [a]because of your good deeds, as they observe them, (H)glorify God (I)on the day of [b]visitation.
Honor Authority
13 (J)Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority, 14 or to governors as sent [c]by him (K)for the punishment of evildoers and the (L)praise of those who do right. 15 For [d](M)such is the will of God, that by doing right you (N)silence the ignorance of foolish people. 16 Act as (O)free people, and [e]do not use your freedom as a [f]covering for evil, but use it as (P)bond-servants of God. 17 (Q)Honor all people, (R)love the brotherhood, (S)fear God, (T)honor the [g]king.
18 (U)Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and (V)gentle, but also to those who are [h]harsh. 19 For this finds favor, if for the sake of (W)conscience toward God a person endures [i]grief when suffering unjustly. 20 For what credit is there if, when you sin and are harshly treated, you endure it with patience? But if (X)when you do what is right and suffer for it you patiently endure it, this finds favor with God.
Christ Is Our Example
21 For (Y)you have been called for this purpose, (Z)because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you (AA)an example, so that you would follow in His steps, 22 He who (AB)committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth; 23 [j]and while being (AC)abusively insulted, He did not insult in return; while suffering, He did not threaten, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 and He Himself [k](AD)brought our sins in His body up on the [l](AE)cross, so that we (AF)might die to [m]sin and live for righteousness; (AG)by His [n]wounds you were (AH)healed. 25 For you were (AI)continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the (AJ)Shepherd and [o]Guardian of your souls.
Laborers in the Vineyard
20 “For (A)the kingdom of heaven is like [a]a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his (B)vineyard. 2 When he had agreed with the laborers for a [b]denarius for the day, he sent them into his vineyard. 3 And he went out about the [c]third hour and saw others standing idle in the marketplace; 4 and to those he said, ‘You go into the vineyard also, and whatever is right, I will give you.’ And so they went. 5 Again he went out about the [d]sixth and the ninth hour, and did [e]the same thing. 6 And about the [f]eleventh hour he went out and found others standing around; and he *said to them, ‘Why have you been standing here idle all day long?’ 7 They *said to him, ‘Because no one hired us.’ He *said to them, ‘You go into the vineyard too.’
8 “Now when (C)evening came, the [g]owner of the vineyard *said to his (D)foreman, ‘Call the laborers and pay them their wages, starting with the last group to the first.’ 9 When those hired about the eleventh hour came, each one received a [h]denarius. 10 And so when those hired first came, they thought that they would receive more; [i]but each of them also received a denarius. 11 When they received it, they grumbled at the landowner, 12 saying, ‘These who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day’s work and the (E)scorching heat.’ 13 But he answered and said to one of them, ‘(F)Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for a denarius? 14 Take what is yours and go; but I want to give to this last person the same as to you. 15 Is it not lawful for me to do what I want with what is my own? Or is your (G)eye [j]envious because I am [k]generous?’ 16 So (H)the last shall be first, and the first, last.”
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