Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137
Lament of the Exiles
1 By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion.(A)
2 There we hung up our lyres
on the poplar trees,(B)
3 for our captors there asked us for songs,
and our tormentors, for rejoicing:
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”(C)
Psalm 144
A King’s Prayer
Davidic.
1 May the Lord, my rock, be praised,(A)
who trains my hands for battle
and my fingers for warfare.(B)
2 He is my faithful love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer.
He is my shield,(C) and I take refuge in Him;(D)
He subdues my people[a] under me.(E)
3 Lord, what is man, that You care for him,
the son of man, that You think of him?(F)
4 Man is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow.(G)
5 Lord, part Your heavens and come down.(H)
Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.(I)
6 Flash Your lightning and scatter the foe;[b]
shoot Your arrows and rout them.(J)
7 Reach down[c] from heaven;(K)
rescue me from deep water, and set me free
from the grasp of foreigners(L)
8 whose mouths speak lies,
whose right hands are deceptive.(M)
9 God, I will sing a new song to You;
I will play on a ten-stringed harp for You(N)—
10 the One who gives victory to kings,
who frees His servant David
from the deadly sword.(O)
11 Set me free and rescue me
from the grasp of foreigners(P)
whose mouths speak lies,
whose right hands are deceptive.(Q)
12 Then our sons will be like plants
nurtured in their youth,
our daughters, like corner pillars
that are carved in the palace style.(R)
13 Our storehouses will be full,
supplying all kinds of produce;(S)
our flocks will increase by thousands
and tens of thousands in our open fields.(T)
14 Our cattle will be well fed.[d]
There will be no breach in the walls,
no going into captivity,[e]
and no cry of lament in our public squares.(U)
15 Happy are the people with such blessings.
Happy are the people whose God is Yahweh.(V)
Psalm 104
God the Creator
1 My soul, praise Yahweh!
Lord my God, You are very great;
You are clothed with majesty and splendor.(A)
2 He wraps Himself in light as if it were a robe,
spreading out the sky like a canopy,(B)
3 laying the beams of His palace
on the waters above,(C)
making the clouds His chariot,(D)
walking on the wings of the wind,(E)
4 and making the winds His messengers,[a]
flames of fire His servants.(F)
5 He established the earth on its foundations;
it will never be shaken.(G)
6 You covered it with the deep
as if it were a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.(H)
7 At Your rebuke the waters fled;
at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away(I)—
8 mountains rose and valleys sank[b]—
to the place You established for them.(J)
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;
they will never cover the earth again.(K)
10 He causes the springs to gush into the valleys;
they flow between the mountains.(L)
11 They supply water for every wild beast;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.(M)
12 The birds of the sky live beside the springs;
they sing among the foliage.(N)
13 He waters the mountains from His palace;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of Your labor.(O)
14 He causes grass to grow for the livestock
and provides crops for man to cultivate,
producing food from the earth,(P)
15 wine that makes man’s heart glad—
making his face shine with oil—
and bread that sustains man’s heart.(Q)
16 The trees of the Lord flourish,[c]
the cedars of Lebanon that He planted.(R)
17 There the birds make their nests;
the stork makes its home in the pine trees.(S)
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
the cliffs are a refuge for hyraxes.(T)
19 He made the moon to mark the[d] festivals;[e]
the sun knows when to set.(U)
20 You bring darkness, and it becomes night,
when all the forest animals stir.(V)
21 The young lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.(W)
22 The sun rises; they go back
and lie down in their dens.(X)
23 Man goes out to his work
and to his labor until evening.(Y)
24 How countless are Your works, Lord!
In wisdom You have made them all;
the earth is full of Your creatures.[f](Z)
25 Here is the sea, vast and wide,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.(AA)
26 There the ships move about,
and Leviathan, which You formed to play there.(AB)
27 All of them wait for You
to give them their food at the right time.(AC)
28 When You give it to them,
they gather it;
when You open Your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.(AD)
29 When You hide Your face,
they are terrified;
when You take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.(AE)
30 When You send Your breath,[g]
they are created,
and You renew the face of the earth.(AF)
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in His works.(AG)
32 He looks at the earth, and it trembles;
He touches the mountains,
and they pour out smoke.(AH)
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live.(AI)
34 May my meditation be pleasing to Him;
I will rejoice in the Lord.(AJ)
35 May sinners vanish from the earth
and wicked people be no more.(AK)
My soul, praise Yahweh!
Hallelujah!
David’s Last Words
23 These are the last words of David:
The declaration of David son of Jesse,(A)
the declaration of the man raised on high,[a]
the one anointed by the God of Jacob,(B)
the favorite singer of Israel:
2 The Spirit of the Lord spoke through me,
His word was on my tongue.(C)
3 The God of Israel spoke;
the Rock of Israel said to me,
“The one who rules the people with justice,
who rules in the fear of God,(D)
4 is like the morning light when the sun rises
on a cloudless morning,
the glisten of rain on sprouting grass.”
5 Is it not true my house is with God?
For He has established an everlasting covenant(E) with me,
ordered and secured in every detail.(F)
Will He not bring about
my whole salvation and my every desire?
6 But all the wicked are like thorns raked aside;
they can never be picked up by hand.
7 The man who touches them
must be armed with iron and the shaft of a spear.
They will be completely burned up on the spot.
13 Three of the 30 leading warriors went down at harvest time and came to David at the cave of Adullam,(A) while a company of Philistines was camping in the Valley of Rephaim. 14 At that time David was in the stronghold,(B) and a Philistine garrison was at Bethlehem. 15 David was extremely thirsty[a] and said, “If only someone would bring me water to drink from the well at the city gate of Bethlehem!” 16 So three of the warriors broke through the Philistine camp and drew water from the well at the gate of Bethlehem. They brought it back to David, but he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out to the Lord. 17 David said, “Lord, I would never do such a thing! Is this not the blood of men who risked their lives?” So he refused to drink it. Such were the exploits of the three warriors.
King Agrippa and Bernice Visit Festus
13 After some days had passed, King Agrippa[a] and Bernice arrived in Caesarea and paid a courtesy call on Festus. 14 Since they stayed there many days, Festus presented Paul’s case to the king, saying, “There’s a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix. 15 When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews presented their case and asked for a judgment against him.(A) 16 I answered them that it’s not the Romans’ custom to give any man up[b] before the accused confronts the accusers face to face and has an opportunity to give a defense concerning the charges.(B) 17 Therefore, when they had assembled here, I did not delay. The next day I sat at the judge’s bench and ordered the man to be brought in. 18 Concerning him, the accusers stood up and brought no charge of the sort I was expecting. 19 Instead they had some disagreements(C) with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, a dead man Paul claimed to be alive. 20 Since I was at a loss in a dispute over such things, I asked him if he wished to go to Jerusalem and be tried there concerning these matters. 21 But when Paul appealed to be held for trial by the Emperor, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I could send him to Caesar.”
22 Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.”
“Tomorrow you will hear him,” he replied.(D)
Paul before Agrippa
23 So the next day, Agrippa and Bernice(E) came with great pomp and entered the auditorium with the commanders and prominent men of the city. When Festus gave the command, Paul was brought in. 24 Then Festus said: “King Agrippa and all men present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish community has appealed to me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he should not live any longer.(F) 25 Now I realized that he had not done anything deserving of death, but when he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him.(G) 26 I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore, I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after this examination is over, I may have something to write. 27 For it seems unreasonable to me to send a prisoner and not to indicate the charges against him.”
Destruction of the Temple Predicted
13 As(A) He was going out of the temple complex,(B) one of His disciples said to Him, “Teacher,(C) look! What massive stones! What impressive buildings!”(D)
2 Jesus said to him, “Do you see these great buildings?(E) Not one stone will be left here on another that will not be thrown down!”
Signs of the End of the Age
3 While He was sitting on the Mount of Olives(F) across from the temple complex,(G) Peter,(H) James,(I) John,(J) and Andrew(K) asked Him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen? And what will be the sign when all these things are about to take place?”
5 Then Jesus began by telling them: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in My name,(L) saying, ‘I am He,’(M) and they will deceive(N) many. 7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars,(O) don’t be alarmed;(P) these things must take place,(Q) but the end is not yet. 8 For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.(R) There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines.[a] These are the beginning(S) of birth pains.(T)
Persecutions Predicted
9 “But you, be on your guard! They will hand you over to sanhedrins,[b](U) and you will be flogged(V) in the synagogues.(W) You will stand before governors and kings(X) because of Me,(Y) as a witness(Z) to them.(AA) 10 And the good news[c](AB) must first be proclaimed to all nations. 11 So when they arrest you and hand you over, don’t worry beforehand what you will say. On the contrary, whatever is given to you in that hour—say it. For it isn’t you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. 12 Then brother will betray(AC) brother to death,(AD) and a father his child. Children will rise up against parents and put them to death. 13 And you will be hated by everyone because of My name.(AE) But the one who endures to the end will be delivered.[d](AF)
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