Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 131
A pilgrimage song. Of David.
131 Lord, my heart isn’t proud;
my eyes aren’t conceited.
I don’t get involved with things too great or wonderful for me.
2 No. But I have calmed and quieted myself[a]
like a weaned child on its mother;
I’m like the weaned child that is with me.
3 Israel, wait for the Lord—
from now until forever from now!
Psalm 132
A pilgrimage song.
132 Lord, remember David—
all the ways he suffered
2 and how he swore to the Lord,
how he promised the strong one of Jacob:
3 “I won’t enter my house,
won’t get into my bed.
4 I won’t let my eyes close,
won’t let my eyelids sleep,
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for the strong one of Jacob.”
6 Yes, we heard about it in Ephrathah;
we found it[b] in the fields of Jaar.
7 Let’s enter God’s dwelling place;
let’s worship at the place God rests his feet!
8 Get up, Lord, go to your residence—
you and your powerful covenant chest!
9 Let your priests be dressed in righteousness;
let your faithful shout out with joy!
10 And for the sake of your servant David,
do not reject your anointed one.
11 The Lord swore to David
a true promise that God won’t take back:
“I will put one of your own children on your throne.
12 And if your children keep my covenant
and the laws that I will teach them,
then their children too will rule on your throne forever.”
13 Because the Lord chose Zion;
he wanted it for his home.
14 “This is my residence forever.
I will live here because I wanted it for myself.[c]
15 I will most certainly bless its food supply;
I will fill its needy full of food!
16 I will dress its priests in salvation,
and its faithful will shout out loud with joy!
17 It is there that I will make David’s strength thrive.[d]
I will prepare a lamp for my anointed one there.
18 I will dress his enemies in shame,
but the crown he wears will shine.”
Psalm 133
A pilgrimage song. Of David.
133 Look at how good and pleasing it is
when families[e] live together as one!
2 It is like expensive oil poured over the head,
running down onto the beard—
Aaron’s beard!—
which extended over the collar of his robes.
3 It is like the dew on Mount Hermon
streaming down onto the mountains of Zion,
because it is there that the Lord has commanded the blessing:
everlasting life.
Psalm 140
For the music leader. A psalm of David.
140 Rescue me from evil people, Lord!
Guard me from violent people
2 who plot evil things in their hearts,
who pick fights every single day!
3 They sharpen their tongues like a snake’s;
spider poison[a] is on their lips. Selah
4 Protect me from the power of the wicked, Lord!
Guard me from violent people
who plot to trip me up!
5 Arrogant people have laid a trap for me with ropes.
They’ve spread out a net alongside the road.
They’ve set snares for me. Selah
6 I tell the Lord, “You are my God!
Listen to my request for mercy, Lord!”
7 My Lord God, my strong saving help—
you’ve protected my head on the day of battle.
8 Lord, don’t give the wicked what they want!
Don’t allow their plans to succeed,
or they’ll exalt themselves even more![b] Selah
9 Let the heads of the people surrounding me
be covered with the trouble their own lips caused![c]
10 Let burning coals fall on them!
Let them fall into deep pits and never get out again!
11 Let no slanderer be safe in the land.
Let calamity hunt down violent people—and quickly![d]
12 I know that the Lord will take up the case of the poor
and will do what is right for the needy.
13 Yes, the righteous will give thanks to your name,
and those who do right will live in your presence.
Psalm 142
A maskil[a] of David, when he was in the cave. A prayer.
142 I cry out loud for help from the Lord.
I beg out loud for mercy from the Lord.
2 I pour out my concerns before God;
I announce my distress to him.
3 When my spirit is weak inside me, you still know my way.
But they’ve hidden a trap for me in the path I’m taking.
4 Look right beside me: See?
No one pays attention to me.
There’s no escape for me.
No one cares about my life.
5 I cry to you, Lord, for help.
“You are my refuge,” I say.
“You are all I have in the land of the living.”
6 Pay close attention to my shouting,
because I’ve been brought down so low!
Deliver me from my oppressors
because they’re stronger than me.
7 Get me out of this prison
so I can give thanks to your name.
Then the righteous will gather all around me
because of your good deeds to me.
25 Seven days went by after the Lord had struck the Nile River.
Invasion of frogs
8 [a] Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and tell him: This is what the Lord says: Let my people go so that they can worship me. 2 If you refuse to let them go, then I’ll send a plague of frogs over your whole country. 3 The Nile will overflow with frogs. They’ll get into your palace, into your bedroom and onto your bed, into your officials’ houses, and among all your people, and even into your ovens and bread pans. 4 The frogs will crawl up on you, your people, and all your officials.” 5 And[b] the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your shepherd’s rod over the rivers, the canals, and the marshes, and make the frogs crawl up all over the land of Egypt.’” 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt. The frogs crawled up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 However, the Egyptian religious experts were able to do the same thing by their secret knowledge. They too made frogs crawl up onto the land of Egypt.
8 Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, “If you pray to the Lord to get rid of the frogs from me and my people, then I’ll let the people go so that they can offer sacrifices to the Lord.”
9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “Have it your way. When should I pray for you and your officials and your people to remove the frogs from your houses, courtyards, and fields? They’ll stay only in the Nile.”
10 Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow!”
Moses said, “Just as you say! That way you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. 11 The frogs will leave you, your houses, your officials, and your people. They’ll stay only in the Nile.” 12 After Moses and Aaron had left Pharaoh, Moses cried out to the Lord about the frogs that the Lord had brought on Pharaoh. 13 The Lord did as Moses asked. The frogs died inside the houses, out in the yards, and in the fields. 14 They gathered them together in big piles, and the land began to stink. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that the disaster was over, he became stubborn again and wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
Swarming lice
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Stretch out your shepherd’s rod and hit the land’s dirt so that lice[c] appear in the whole land of Egypt.’” 17 They did this. Aaron stretched out his hand with his shepherd’s rod, hit the land’s dirt, and lice appeared on both people and animals. All the land’s dirt turned into lice throughout the whole land of Egypt.
18 The religious experts[d] tried to produce lice by their secret knowledge, but they weren’t able to do it. There were lice on people and animals. 19 The religious experts said to Pharaoh, “This is something only God could do!” But Pharaoh was stubborn, and he wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had said.
Ministers of the new covenant
7 The ministry that brought death was carved in letters on stone tablets. It came with such glory that the Israelites couldn’t look for long at Moses’ face because his face was shining with glory, even though it was a fading glory. 8 Won’t the ministry of the Spirit be much more glorious? 9 If the ministry that brought condemnation has glory, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness? 10 In fact, what was glorious isn’t glorious now, because of the glory that is brighter. 11 If the glory that fades away was glorious, how much more glorious is the one that lasts!
12 So, since we have such a hope, we act with great confidence. 13 We aren’t like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelites couldn’t watch the end of what was fading away. 14 But their minds were closed. Right up to the present day the same veil remains when the old covenant is read. The veil is not removed because it is taken away by Christ. 15 Even today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But whenever someone turns back to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Lord’s Spirit is, there is freedom. 18 All of us are looking with unveiled faces at the glory of the Lord as if we were looking in a mirror. We are being transformed into that same image from one degree of glory to the next degree of glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
A rich man’s question
17 As Jesus continued down the road, a man ran up, knelt before him, and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to obtain eternal life?”
18 Jesus replied, “Why do you call me good? No one is good except the one God. 19 You know the commandments: Don’t commit murder. Don’t commit adultery. Don’t steal. Don’t give false testimony. Don’t cheat. Honor your father and mother.”[a]
20 “Teacher,” he responded, “I’ve kept all of these things since I was a boy.”
21 Jesus looked at him carefully and loved him. He said, “You are lacking one thing. Go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor. Then you will have treasure in heaven. And come, follow me.” 22 But the man was dismayed at this statement and went away saddened, because he had many possessions.
23 Looking around, Jesus said to his disciples, “It will be very hard for the wealthy to enter God’s kingdom!” 24 His words startled the disciples, so Jesus told them again, “Children, it’s difficult to enter God’s kingdom! 25 It’s easier for a camel to squeeze through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter God’s kingdom.”
26 They were shocked even more and said to each other, “Then who can be saved?”
27 Jesus looked at them carefully and said, “It’s impossible with human beings, but not with God. All things are possible for God.”
28 Peter said to him, “Look, we’ve left everything and followed you.”
29 Jesus said, “I assure you that anyone who has left house, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or farms because of me and because of the good news 30 will receive one hundred times as much now in this life—houses, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and farms (with harassment)—and in the coming age, eternal life. 31 But many who are first will be last. And many who are last will be first.”
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible