Book of Common Prayer
Remembering Jerusalem
137 There we sat down and cried—
by the rivers of Babylon—
as we remembered Zion.
2 On the willows there
we hung our harps,
3 for it was there that our captors
asked us for songs
and our torturers demanded joy from us,
“Sing us one of the songs about Zion!”
4 How are we to sing the song of the Lord
on foreign soil?
5 If I forget you, Jerusalem,
may my right hand cease to function.[a]
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I don’t remember you,
if I don’t consider Jerusalem
to be more important than my highest joy.
7 Remember the day of Jerusalem’s fall,[b] Lord,
because of[c] the Edomites,
who kept saying, “Tear it down!
Tear it right down to its foundations!”
8 Daughter of Babylon! You devastator!
How blessed will be the one who pays you back
for what you have done to us.
9 How blessed will be the one who seizes your young children
and pulverizes them against the cliff!
Davidic
A Song for God’s Provision
144 Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
who trains my hands for battle
and my fingers for warfare,
2 he is my gracious love and my fortress,
my strong tower and my deliverer,
my shield and the one in whom I find refuge,
who subdues[a] peoples[b] under me.
3 Lord, what are human beings,
that you should care about them,
or mortal man,
that you should think about him?
4 The human person is a mere empty breath;
his days are like a fading shadow.
5 Bow your heavens, Lord, and descend;[c]
touch the mountains, and they will smolder.
6 Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy,[d]
shoot your arrows and confuse them.
7 Reach down your hand from your high place;
rescue me and deliver me from mighty waters,
from the control of foreigners.[e]
8 Their mouths speak lies,
and their right hand deceives,[f]
9 God, I will sing a new song to you.
On a harp of ten strings I will play to you—
10 to you who gives victory to kings,
rescuing his servant David from cruel swords.
11 Rescue me and deliver me
from the control of foreigners,[g]
whose mouths speak lies,
and whose right hand deceives.[h]
12 May our sons in their youth be like full-grown plants,
and our daughters like pillars
destined to decorate a palace.
13 May our granaries be filled,
storing produce in abundance;
may our sheep bring forth thousands,
even tens of thousands in our fields.
14 May our cattle grow heavy with young,
with no damage or loss.
May there be no cry of anguish in our streets!
15 Happy are the people to whom these things come;
happy are the people whose God is the Lord.
Davidic[a]
Praise God, who Creates
104 Bless the Lord, my soul;
Lord, my God, you are very great.
You are clothed in splendor and majesty;
2 you are wrapped in light like a garment,
stretching out the sky like a curtain.
3 He lays the beams of his roof loft on the water above,[b]
making clouds his chariot,
walking on the wings of the wind.
4 He makes the winds his messengers,
blazing fires his servants.
5 He established the earth on its foundations,
so that it never falters.
6 You covered the primeval ocean like a garment;
the water stood above the mountains.
7 They flee at your rebuke;
they rush away at the sound of your thunders.
8 Mountains rise up and valleys sink
to the place you have ordained for them.
9 You have set a boundary they cannot cross;
they will never again cover the earth.
10 He causes springs to gush forth into rivers
that flow between the[c] mountains.
11 They give water[d] for animals of the field to drink;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Birds of the sky live beside them
and chirp a song[e] among the foliage.
13 He waters the mountains from his heavenly rooms;
the earth is satisfied from the fruit of your work.
14 He causes grass to sprout for the cattle
and plants for people to cultivate,
to produce food from the land,
15 like wine that makes the heart of people[f] happy,
oil that makes the face glow,
and food[g] that sustains people.[h]
16 The loftiest trees[i] are satisfied,
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted,
17 the birds build their nests there,
and the heron builds[j] its nest among the evergreen.
18 The high mountains are for wild goats;
the cliffs are a refuge for the rock badger.
19 He made the moon to mark time;[k]
the sun knows its setting time.
20 You bring darkness and it becomes night;
when every beast of the forest prowls.
21 Young lions roar for prey,
seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they[l] gather
and lie down in their dens.
23 People go out to their work
and labor until evening.
24 How numerous are your works, Lord!
You have made them all wisely;
the earth is filled with your creations.[m]
25 There is the deep and wide sea,
teeming with numberless creatures,
living things small and great.
26 There, the ships pass through;
Leviathan, which you created, frolics in it.
27 All of them look to you
to provide them[n] their food at the proper time.
28 They receive what you give them;
when you open your hand,
they are filled with good things.
29 When you withdraw your favor,[o]
they are disappointed;
Take away their breath,
and[p] they die[q] and return to dust.
30 When you send your spirit,[r] they are[s] created,
and you replenish the surface of the earth.
31 May the glory of the Lord last forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works!
32 He looks at the earth and it shakes;
he touches the mountains and they smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord with my whole being;[t]
I will sing to my God continually!
34 May my thoughts be pleasing to him;
indeed, I will rejoice in the Lord!
35 May sinners disappear from the land
and the wicked live no longer.
Bless the Lord, my soul! Hallelujah!
David’s Oracle
23 This was David’s last composition:
The oracle of David, son of Jesse,
an oracle by the valiant one who was exalted—
anointed by the God of Jacob,
the contented psalm writer of Israel.
2 The Spirit of the Lord speaks within[a] me;
his word is on my tongue!
3 The God of Israel has spoken;
the Rock of Israel has talked to me.
“When one is governing men justly,
he fears God while governing.
4 He is like dawn’s first[b] light,
like bright sun blazing on a cloudless morning,
glistening on grassland that flourishes after a rain shower.
13 One day while the Philistine army was camping in the valley of giants,[a] three of the 30 leaders joined David at the cave of Adullam. 14 David was living in that stronghold at the time, while a Philistine garrison was then at Bethlehem.
15 David expressed his longing, “Oh, how I wish someone would get me a drink of water from the Bethlehem well that’s by the city gate!” 16 So the Three elite warriors broke through the Philistine ranks, drew some water from the Bethlehem well that was next to the city gate, and brought it back to David. But he refused to drink it. Instead, he poured it out in the Lord’s presence, 17 and said, “The Lord forbid that I drink this—this is the blood of men who endangered their own lives!” The Three elite warriors did these things.
King Agrippa Meets Paul
13 After several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to welcome Festus. 14 Since they were staying there for several days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king. He said, “There is a man here who was left in prison by Felix. 15 When I went to Jerusalem, the high priests and the Jewish elders informed me about him and asked me to condemn him. 16 I answered them that it was not the Roman custom to sentence a man to be punished until the accused met his accusers face to face and had an opportunity to defend himself against the charge. 17 So they came here with me, and the next day without any delay I sat down in the judge’s seat and ordered the man to be brought in. 18 When his accusers stood up, they didn’t accuse him of any of the crimes[a] I was expecting. 19 Instead, they had several arguments with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus who had died—but Paul kept asserting he was alive. 20 I was puzzled how I should investigate such matters, so I asked if he would like to go to Jerusalem and be tried there for these things. 21 But Paul appealed his case and asked to be held in prison until the decision of his Majesty. So I ordered him to be held in custody until I could send him to the emperor.”
22 Agrippa told Festus, “I would like to hear the man.”
“Tomorrow,” he said, “you will hear him.”
23 The next day, Agrippa and Bernice arrived with much fanfare and went into the auditorium along with the tribunes and the leading men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24 Then Festus said, “King Agrippa and all you men who are present with us! You see this man about whom the whole Jewish nation petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. 25 I find that he has not done anything deserving of death. But since he has appealed to his Majesty, I have decided to send him. 26 I have nothing reliable to write our Sovereign about him, so I have brought him to all of you, and especially to you, King Agrippa, so that I will have something to write after he is cross-examined. 27 For it seems to me absurd to send a prisoner without specifying the charges against him.”
Jesus Predicts the Destruction of the Temple(A)
13 While Jesus[a] was leaving the Temple, one of his disciples told him, “Look, Teacher! What stones! And what buildings!”
2 “Do you see these large buildings?” Jesus responded. “Not even a single stone here will be left on top of another that won’t be demolished.”
Cults, Revolutions, Famines, and Earthquakes(B)
3 As Jesus[b] was sitting on the Mount of Olives facing the Temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew were asking him privately, 4 “Tell us, when will these things happen, and what is to be the sign when these things will be put into effect?”
5 Jesus began by telling them, “See to it that no one deceives you. 6 Many will come in my name, proclaiming, ‘I AM,’ and they will deceive many people.[c] 7 But when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, don’t panic. These things must take place, but the end won’t have come yet, 8 because nation will rise up in arms against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. Furthermore, there will be earthquakes and famines in various places. These things are only a beginning of agonies.”
Future Persecution and Evangelism(C)
9 “As for yourselves, be on your guard! People[d] will hand you over to local councils, and you will be beaten in their synagogues. You will stand before governors and kings in order to testify to them because of me. 10 But first, the gospel must be proclaimed to all nations.[e] 11 When they take you away and hand you over for trial, don’t worry ahead of time about what you will say. Instead, say whatever is given to you at that time, because it won’t be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit. 12 Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child. Children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. 13 You will be hated continuously by everyone on account of my name. But the person who endures to the end will be saved.”
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