Book of Common Prayer
The Songs of Ascents and Great Hallel—Pss 120–136[a]
Psalm 120[b]
A Complaint against Treacherous Tongues
1 A song of ascents.
Whenever I am in distress,
I cry out to the Lord and he answers me.
2 Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips
and from deceitful tongues.[c]
3 What will he[d] inflict upon you,
and what more will he add to it,
O deceitful tongue?
4 He has prepared a warrior’s sharp arrows
and red-hot coals[e] of the broom tree.
5 Why have I been doomed as an exile in Meshech
and forced to dwell among the tents of Kedar?[f]
6 Far too long have I lived
among people who despise peace.[g]
7 When I proclaim peace,
they shout for war.[h]
Psalm 121[i]
God, Guardian of His People
1 A song of ascents.
I lift up my eyes to the mountains;[j]
from where will I receive help?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.[k]
3 He will not permit your foot to stumble;
he who guards you will not fall asleep.[l]
4 Indeed, the one who guards Israel
never slumbers, never sleeps.[m]
5 [n]The Lord serves as your guardian;
he is at your right hand to serve as your shade.
6 The sun will not strike you during the day,
nor the moon during the night.
7 [o]The Lord will protect you against all evil;
he will watch over your life.
8 The Lord will watch over your coming and your going
both now and forevermore.
Psalm 122[p]
The Pilgrim’s Greeting to the Holy City
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
[q]I rejoiced when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
2 And finally our feet are standing
at your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is built as a city
that is firmly bound together[r] in unity.
4 There the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as it was decreed for Israel
to celebrate the name of the Lord.[s]
5 For there the thrones of judgment[t] were established,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace[u] of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you rest secure.
7 May there be peace within your walls
and security in your palaces.”
8 [v]Out of love for my relatives and friends,
I will say, “May peace be within you.”
9 Out of love for the house of the Lord, our God,
I will pray for your well-being.
Psalm 123[w]
Prayer in Time of Spiritual Need
1 A song of ascents.
I lift up my eyes to you,
to you who are enthroned in heaven.[x]
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants[y]
are on the hand of their master,
or as the eyes of a maid
focus on the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes are on the Lord, our God,
as we wait for him to show us his mercy.
3 Show us your mercy, O Lord, show us your mercy,
for we have suffered more than our share of contempt.[z]
4 We have had to suffer far too long
the insults of the haughty[aa]
and the contempt of the arrogant.
Psalm 124[ab]
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Help
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
[ac]If the Lord had not been on our side—
let Israel now proclaim—[ad]
2 if the Lord had not been on our side
when our enemies attacked[ae] us,
3 [af]then they would have swallowed us alive
as their wrath was kindled against us.
4 [ag]The waters would have washed us away,
the torrent would have swept over us,
5 and we would have drowned
in the raging waters.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who did not give us as prey to their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare was broken,
and we escaped.[ah]
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.[ai]
Psalm 125[aj]
God, Protector of His People
1 A song of ascents.
Those who put their trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be shaken but stands fast forever.[ak]
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people
both now and forevermore.[al]
3 The scepter of the wicked will not prevail
over the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous will not be tempted
to turn their hands to evil.[am]
4 [an]Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
to those who are upright of heart.[ao]
5 But the Lord will assign to the ranks of the evildoers
those who turn their hearts to wickedness.[ap]
May peace be granted to Israel.
Psalm 126[aq]
God, Our Joy and Our Hope
1 [ar]A song of ascents.
When the Lord brought home the captives to Zion,
we seemed to be dreaming.[as]
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter
and our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”[at]
3 The Lord has indeed done great deeds for us,
and we are overflowing with joy.[au]
4 [av]Once again restore our fortunes,[aw] O Lord,
as you did for the streams in the Negeb.
5 Those who sow in tears[ax]
will reap with songs of joy.
6 Those who go forth weeping,
carrying the seeds to be sown,[ay]
will return with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
Psalm 127[az]
Need of Divine Assistance
1 A song of ascents. Of Solomon.
[ba]If the Lord does not build the house,[bb]
those who construct it labor in vain.
If the Lord does not guard the city,
those who keep watch over it do so in vain.
2 It is useless for you to rise earlier
and delay taking your rest at night,
toiling relentlessly for the bread you eat;
for while those he loves sleep,
he provides all of this for them.[bc]
3 [bd]Behold, children are a gift from the Lord,
a reward of the fruit of the womb.
4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are the children born in one’s youth.[be]
5 Blessed is the man
who has filled his quiver with them.
He will never be forced to retreat
when he is confronted by his enemies at the city gate.[bf]
Death of Absalom. 9 Meanwhile, Absalom, by chance, happened to encounter some of David’s men. He was riding on his mule, and as it passed under the thick branches of a large oak, his head became caught in its branches, and he was left hanging in midair while the mule he had been riding continued on. 10 Someone who had seen this reported to Joab: “I saw Absalom hanging from an oak.”
11 Joab said to the man who had informed him: “If you actually saw him, why then did you not strike him to the ground then and there? I would have willingly given you ten pieces of silver and a belt.”
12 However, the man replied to Joab: “Even if you were to weigh out a thousand shekels of silver and place them in the palm of my hand, I would not raise my hand against the king’s son. For in our hearing the king charged you and Abishai and Ittai: ‘Protect the young man Absalom for my sake.’ 13 On the other hand, if I had dealt treacherously with Absalom and thereby placed my life in jeopardy—and nothing is hidden from the king—then you would have dissociated yourself from me.”
14 Joab then answered him bluntly: “I cannot waste my time arguing with you.” Thereupon he took three javelins in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he was still alive, hanging in midair from the oak tree. 15 Then ten young men who served as Joab’s armor-bearers closed in on Absalom, struck him, and killed him.
16 After that, Joab ordered the trumpet to be sounded, and the soldiers ceased their pursuit of Israel because he had ordered them to halt. 17 They picked up Absalom, flung his body into a large pit in the forest, and piled up a great mound of stones over him. Meanwhile all the Israelites had fled to their tents.
18 During his lifetime Absalom had taken a pillar and erected it for himself in the King’s Valley, for he said: “I have no son to perpetuate the memory of my name.” He named the pillar after himself, and to the present day it is still called Absalom’s Monument.
12 A Plot To Kill Paul.[a] When morning came, the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves by an oath[b] not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty who entered this pact. 14 They went to the chief priests and elders and told them, “We have bound ourselves by a solemn oath not to consume any food until we have killed Paul. 15 You and the Sanhedrin should make an official request to the commander to bring him down to you on the pretext that you want to investigate his case more thoroughly. We on our part have arranged to kill him before he arrives.”
16 However, the son of Paul’s sister learned of the plot. He thereupon went to the barracks and related the news to Paul. 17 Paul then summoned one of the centurions and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.” 18 He brought him to the commander and said, “The prisoner Paul called me and requested that I bring this young man to you. He has something to tell you.”
19 The commander took him by the hand, drew him aside, and asked him in private, “What is it that you have to report to me?” 20 He replied, “The Jews have agreed to request you to bring Paul down to the Sanhedrin tomorrow on the pretext of inquiring more thoroughly into his case. 21 Do not believe them. More than forty of them are waiting for your consent to their request, for they have sworn an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him. They are ready now and are waiting only for your consent.” 22 The commander dismissed the young man, ordering him, “Tell no one that you have given me this information.”
Paul’s Imprisonment and Defenses at Caesarea
23 Paul Is Imprisoned at Caesarea.[c] Then he summoned two of his centurions and said, “Have two hundred soldiers ready to leave for Caesarea by nine o’clock tonight,[d] along with seventy cavalrymen and two hundred auxiliaries. 24 Also provide mounts for Paul to ride, and deliver him to Felix the governor.”
27 The Authority of Jesus Questioned.[a] They returned once again to Jerusalem. As Jesus was walking in the temple, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached him 28 and asked, “By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you the authority to do them?” 29 Jesus said to them, “I will ask you one question. Give me an answer, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. 30 Did John’s baptism originate from heaven or from men? Tell me!”
31 They argued among themselves, “If we say: ‘From heaven,’ he will say, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 32 But how can we say, ‘From men’?”—for they were afraid of the people, who all regarded John as a true prophet.
33 Therefore, they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And Jesus said to them, “Then neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
Chapter 12
The Parable of the Tenants.[b] 1 Then Jesus began to speak to them in parables: “A man planted a vineyard, put a fence around it, dug a pit for the winepress, and built a watchtower. Then he leased it to tenants and went off on a journey.
2 “When the time arrived, he sent a servant to the tenants to collect from them his share of the produce of the vineyard. 3 But they seized the servant, beat him, and sent him away empty-handed. 4 Again, he sent them another servant, but they beat him over the head and treated him shamefully. 5 Then he sent another, and that one they killed. He also sent many others, some of whom they beat, and others of whom they killed.
6 “Finally, he had only one other to send—his beloved son. And so he sent him to them, thinking: ‘They will respect my son.’ 7 But those tenants said to one another, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance will be ours!’ 8 And so they seized him, killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard.
9 “What then will the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and put those tenants to death and give the vineyard to others. 10 Have you not read this Scripture:
‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;
11 by the Lord this has been done,
and it is wonderful in our eyes’?”
12 They wanted to arrest him because they realized that this parable was directed at them, but they were afraid of the crowd. Therefore, they left him and went away.
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