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.
The Fall of Jerusalem
21 In the twelfth year of our exile, in the tenth month, on the fifth of the month,[a] a refugee came to me from Jerusalem saying, “The city has been defeated!”[b] 22 Now the hand of the Lord had been on me[c] the evening before the refugee reached me, but the Lord[d] opened my mouth by the time the refugee arrived[e] in the morning; he opened my mouth and I was able to speak once more.[f] 23 The Lord’s message came to me: 24 “Son of man, the ones living in these ruins in the land of Israel are saying, ‘Abraham was only one man, yet he possessed the land, but we are many; surely the land has been given to us for a possession.’[g] 25 Therefore say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: You eat the meat with the blood still in it,[h] pray to[i] your idols, and shed blood. Do you really think you will possess[j] the land? 26 You rely[k] on your swords and commit abominable deeds; each of you defiles his neighbor’s wife. Will you possess the land?’
27 “This is what you must say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: As surely as I live, those living in the ruins will die[l] by the sword, those in the open field I will give to the wild beasts for food, and those who are in the strongholds and caves will die of disease. 28 I will turn the land into a desolate ruin; her confident pride will come to an end. The mountains of Israel will be so desolate no one will pass through them. 29 Then they will know that I am the Lord when I turn the land into a desolate ruin because of all the abominable deeds they have committed.’[m]
30 “But as for you, son of man, your people[n] (who are talking about you by the walls and at the doors of the houses) say to one another,[o] ‘Come hear the word that comes[p] from the Lord.’ 31 They come to you in crowds,[q] and they sit in front of you as[r] my people. They hear your words, but do not obey[s] them. For they talk lustfully,[t] and their heart is set on[u] their own advantage.[v] 32 Realize[w] that to them you are like a sensual song, a beautiful voice and skilled musician.[x] They hear your words, but they do not obey them.[y] 33 When all this comes true—and it certainly will[z]—then they will know that a prophet was among them.”
2 1 (My little children,[a] I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.[b]) But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate[c] with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One,[d] 2 and he himself is the atoning sacrifice[e] for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world.[f]
Keeping God’s Commandments
3 Now[g] by this we know that we have come to know God:[h] if we keep his commandments. 4 The one who says “I have come to know God”[i] and yet does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person. 5 But whoever obeys his[j] word, truly in this person[k] the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him. 6 The one who says he resides[l] in God[m] ought himself to walk[n] just as Jesus[o] walked.
7 Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning.[p] The old commandment is the word that you have already[q] heard. 8 On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you which is true in him[r] and in you, because[s] the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.[t] 9 The one who says he is in the light but still hates[u] his fellow Christian[v] is still in the darkness. 10 The one who loves his fellow Christian[w] resides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.[x] 11 But the one who hates his fellow Christian[y] is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.[z]
Workers for the Harvest
35 Then Jesus went throughout all the towns[a] and villages, teaching in their synagogues,[b] preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness.[c] 36 When[d] he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless,[e] like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. 38 Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest[f] to send out workers into his harvest-ready fields.”[g]
Sending Out the Twelve Apostles
10 Jesus[h] called his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits[i] so they could cast them out and heal every kind of disease and sickness.[j] 2 Now these are the names of the twelve apostles:[k] first, Simon[l] (called Peter), and Andrew his brother; James son of Zebedee and John his brother; 3 Philip and Bartholomew;[m] Thomas[n] and Matthew the tax collector;[o] James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;[p] 4 Simon the Zealot[q] and Judas Iscariot,[r] who betrayed him.[s]
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