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]
Chapter 22
Reign of Josiah.[a] 1 Josiah was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned for thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah, and she was the daughter of Adaiah from Bozkath.
2 He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, and he walked in the ways of David, his father. He did not wander off to the right or to the left.
The Book of the Law.[b] 3 During the eighteenth year of the reign of King Josiah, the king sent Shaphan the scribe, the son of Azaliah, the son of Meshullam, to the temple. He said, 4 “Go up to Hilkiah, the high priest. Have him count the money that the doorkeepers have collected from the people in the temple of the Lord. 5 Have him give it to the supervisors of the workmen in the temple of the Lord. Have them pay those who are working to repair the damage in the temple of the Lord: 6 the carpenters, the builders, and the masons. Also have them buy timber and hewn stone to repair the temple. 7 They do not need to make an accounting of the money that has been given to them because they have acted honestly.”
8 Hilkiah, the high priest, said to Shaphan, the scribe, “I have found the book of the law in the temple of the Lord.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan who read it.
9 Then Shaphan the scribe went to the king and he brought the king a report saying, “Your servants have gathered together the money that has been collected in the temple, and they have handed it over to the supervisors of the workmen in the temple of the Lord.” 10 Then Shaphan the scribe informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.” Shaphan read it in the presence of the king.
11 When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his clothes. 12 King Josiah gave orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, Achbor, the son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah, the king’s servant, saying, 13 “Go and inquire of the Lord for me and for all of the people and for all of Judah about the words of the book that had been found. The Lord’s anger against us is great for our fathers have not heeded the words of this book. They did not do everything that is written in it concerning us.”
The Lord’s Supper, Sign of Unity[a]
17 Do You Despise the Church of God? Now in giving you this instruction I cannot praise you, because your meetings tend to do more harm than good. 18 To begin with, when you come together in your assembly, I hear that there are divisions among you, and to some extent I am inclined to believe it. 19 There must be such factions among you so that it will become clear to you which groups should be trusted.
20 [b]When you do assemble, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper, 21 for each of you goes ahead with his own supper, and one goes hungry while another has too much to drink. 22 Do you not have homes in which you can eat and drink? Or do you have such contempt for the Church of God that you humiliate those who have nothing? What should I say to you? Should I praise you? In this matter, I cannot praise you.
Chapter 9
The Healing of a Paralyzed Man.[a] 1 Therefore, Jesus got into a boat and, crossing over the lake, arrived at his hometown.[b] 2 Some people then approached him, carrying a paralyzed man lying on a bed. On perceiving their faith, Jesus said to the man, “Take heart, son. Your sins are forgiven.”
3 On hearing this, some of the scribes said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.”[c] 4 Jesus perceived what they were thinking, and he said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts in your hearts? 5 [d]Which is easier, to say: ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say: ‘Stand up and walk’? 6 But so that you may come to realize that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralyzed man—“Stand up, take your bed, and go to your home.” 7 The man got up and returned to his home. 8 When the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe, and they glorified God for having given such authority to men.
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