Book of Common Prayer
I Have Quieted My Soul
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
131 O Yahweh, my heart is not (A)exalted, and my eyes are not (B)raised high;
And I do not [a]involve myself in (C)great matters,
Or in matters (D)too marvelous for me.
2 Surely I have (E)soothed and quieted my soul,
Like a weaned (F)child with his mother,
Like a weaned child is my soul [b]within me.
3 O Israel, (G)wait for Yahweh
(H)From now until forever.
Yahweh Has Chosen Zion
A Song of Ascents.
132 Remember, O Yahweh, on David’s behalf,
All (I)his affliction;
2 How he swore to Yahweh
And vowed to (J)the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “Surely I will not come into [c](K)my house,
Nor [d]lie in the [e]comfort of 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 Yahweh,
[f]A dwelling place for (N)the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard of it in (O)Ephrathah,
We found it in the (P)fields of [g]Jaar.
7 Let us come into His [h](Q)dwelling place;
Let us (R)worship at the (S)footstool of His feet.
8 (T)Arise, O Yahweh, to Your (U)resting place,
You and the ark of Your (V)strength.
9 Let Your priests be (W)clothed with righteousness,
And let Your (X)holy ones sing for joy.
10 For the sake of David Your servant,
Do not turn away the face of Your (Y)anointed.
11 Yahweh has (Z)sworn to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“(AA)Of the fruit of your [i]body I will set upon your throne.
12 If your sons keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their sons also shall (AB)sit upon your throne forever.”
13 For Yahweh has (AC)chosen Zion;
He has (AD)desired it for His habitation.
14 “This is My (AE)resting place forever;
Here I will (AF)inhabit, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly (AG)bless her provision;
I will (AH)satisfy her needy with bread.
16 Her (AI)priests also I will clothe with salvation,
And her (AJ)holy ones will sing loudly for joy.
17 There I will cause the (AK)horn of David to spring up;
I have prepared a (AL)lamp for Mine anointed.
18 His enemies I will (AM)clothe with shame,
But upon him, his (AN)crown shall blossom.”
How Good and Pleasant Is Unity
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For (AO)brothers to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the good (AP)oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Aaron’s beard,
Coming 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 there, Yahweh (AU)commanded the blessing—(AV)life forever.
Behold, Bless Yahweh
A Song of Ascents.
134 Behold, (AW)bless Yahweh, all you (AX)slaves of Yahweh,
Who (AY)stand in the house of Yahweh (AZ)by night!
2 (BA)Lift up your hands to the (BB)sanctuary
And bless Yahweh.
3 May Yahweh (BC)bless you from Zion,
Who (BD)made heaven and earth.
O Yahweh, Your Name Is Everlasting
135 [j](BE)Praise Yah!
Praise the name of Yahweh;
Praise Him, O (BF)slaves of Yahweh,
2 You who stand in the house of Yahweh,
In the (BG)courts of the house of our God!
3 [k]Praise Yah, for (BH)Yahweh is good;
(BI)Sing praises to His name, (BJ)for it is lovely.
4 For Yah has (BK)chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His [l](BL)treasured possession.
5 For I know that (BM)Yahweh is great
And that our Lord is greater (BN)than all gods.
6 (BO)Whatever Yahweh pleases, He does,
In heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all deeps.
7 The One who (BP)causes the clouds to ascend from the end of the earth;
Who (BQ)makes lightnings for the rain,
Who (BR)brings forth the wind from His storehouses.
8 [m]He (BS)struck the firstborn of Egypt,
From man to beast.
9 [n]He sent (BT)signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt,
Amongst (BU)Pharaoh and all his slaves.
10 [o](BV)He (BW)struck many nations
And slew mighty kings,
11 (BX)Sihon, king of the Amorites,
And (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 Israel His people.
13 O Yahweh, Your (CB)name is everlasting,
O Yahweh, Your [p]remembrance is [q]from generation to generation.
14 For Yahweh will (CC)render justice for His people
And (CD)will give comfort to His slaves.
15 The (CE)idols of the nations are silver and gold,
The work of man’s 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,
Surely, there is not any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will be like them,
All who trust in them.
Joab Tells David to Speak to His Servants
19 Then it was told to Joab, “Behold, (A)the king is weeping and mourns for Absalom.” 2 And the salvation that day was turned to mourning for all the people, for the people heard it said that day, “The king is grieved for his son.” 3 So the people stole away to enter into the city that day, as people who are dishonored steal away when they flee in battle. 4 But as for the king, he (B)wrapped his face up. Then the king cried out with a loud voice, “(C)O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!” 5 Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “Today you have shamed the faces of all your servants, who today have provided escape for your life and the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines, 6 by loving those who hate you, and by hating those who love you. For you have informed all of us today that [a]princes and servants are nothing to you; for I know this day that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, surely then it would be right in your eyes. 7 So now, arise, go out and speak to the heart of your servants, for I swear by Yahweh, if you do not go out, surely (D)not a man will pass the night with you, and this will be of greater evil for you than all the evil that has come upon you from your youth until now.”
David Returns to Jerusalem
8 So the king arose and sat in the gate. And they told all the people, saying, “Behold, the king is (E)sitting in the gate.” Then all the people came before the king.
Now (F)Israel had fled, each to his tent. 9 And it happened that all the people were disputing throughout all the tribes of Israel, saying, “(G)The king delivered us from the [b]hand of our enemies and (H)provided us escape from the [c]hand of the Philistines, but now (I)he has fled out of the land from Absalom. 10 However, Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. So now, why are you silent about having the king return?”
11 Now King David had sent to (J)Zadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last to have the king return to his house, while the word of all Israel has come to the king, even to his house? 12 You are my brothers; (K)you are my bone and my flesh. Why then should you be the last to have the king return?’ 13 And say to (L)Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? (M)May God do so to me, and more also, if you will not be (N)commander of the army before me continually (O)in place of Joab.’” 14 Thus he inclined the hearts of all the men of Judah (P)as one man, so they sent word to the king, saying, “Return, you and all your servants.” 15 The king then returned and came as far as the Jordan. And Judah came to (Q)Gilgal in order to go to meet the king, to cause the king to pass over across the Jordan.
16 Then (R)Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David. 17 Now there were one thousand men of Benjamin with him, with (S)Ziba the young man of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan before the king. 18 Then they kept passing over the ford to cause the king’s household to pass over, and to do what was good in his sight. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to pass over the Jordan. 19 So he said to the king, “(T)Let not my lord consider me guilty, nor remember what your servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king went out from Jerusalem, so that the king would [d]take it to heart. 20 For your servant knows that I have sinned; therefore behold, I have come today, (U)the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.” 21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah said, “(V)Should not Shimei be put to death for this, (W)because he cursed the anointed of Yahweh?” 22 David then said, “(X)What have I to do with you, O sons of Zeruiah, that you should this day be an adversary to me? (Y)Should any man be put to death in Israel today? For do I not know that I am king over Israel today?” 23 And the king said to Shimei, “(Z)You shall not die.” Thus the king swore to him.
Paul’s Trial Before Felix the Governor
24 Now after (A)five days the high priest (B)Ananias came down with some elders, [a]with an [b]attorney named Tertullus, and they [c]brought charges to (C)the governor against Paul. 2 And after Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him, saying,
“As we have attained much peace through you—and because by your provision reforms are being carried out for this nation— 3 we welcome this in every way and everywhere, (D)most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness. 4 But, that I may not weary you any further, I plead with you by your forbearance to hear us briefly. 5 For we have found this man a real pest and a fellow who stirs up dissension among all the Jews throughout [d]the world, and a ringleader of the (E)sect of the Nazarenes. 6 And he even tried to (F)desecrate the temple; and [e]then we arrested him. [f][We wanted to judge him according to our own Law. 7 But Lysias the commander came along, and with much violence took him out of our hands, 8 ordering his accusers to come before you.] By examining him yourself concerning all these matters you will be able to ascertain the things of which we accuse him.” 9 (G)And the Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.
10 And when (H)the governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul answered:
“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense, 11 since you are able to ascertain the fact that no more than (I)twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12 (J)And neither in the temple, nor in the synagogues, nor across the city did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or (K)causing [g]a riot. 13 (L)Nor are they able to prove to you of what they are now accusing me. 14 But this I confess to you, that according to (M)the Way, which they call a (N)sect, I do serve [h](O)the God of our fathers, (P)believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets; 15 having a hope in God, for which (Q)these men are waiting, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous. 16 In view of this, (R)I also [i]do my best to maintain always a conscience without fault both before God and before men. 17 Now (S)after several years I (T)came to bring [j]alms to my nation and offerings; 18 in which they found me, having been (U)purified in the temple, without any (V)crowd or uproar. But there were some (W)Jews from [k]Asia— 19 who ought to have been present before you and to (X)make accusation, if they should have anything against me. 20 Or else let these men themselves tell what wrongdoing they found when I stood before (Y)the Sanhedrin, 21 other than for this one statement which (Z)I shouted out while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today.’”
22 But Felix, having a more accurate knowledge about (AA)the Way, put them off, saying, “When Lysias the [l]commander comes down, I will decide your case.” 23 Then he gave orders to the centurion for him to be (AB)kept in custody and yet (AC)have some rest, and not to prevent any of (AD)his friends from ministering to him.
The Foremost Commandment
28 (A)And when one of the scribes came and heard them arguing, he (B)recognized that He had answered them well and asked Him, “What commandment is the [a]foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘(C)Hear, O Israel! The [b]Lord our God is one [c]Lord; 30 (D)and you shall love the [d]Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘(E)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to Him, “Right, Teacher; You have truly stated that (F)He is One, and there is no one else besides Him; 33 (G)and to love Him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as himself, (H)is much more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 And when Jesus saw that he had answered thoughtfully, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (I)After that, no one would dare to ask Him any more questions.
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