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.
BOOK II (Psalms 42-72)
To the Director: An instruction[a] of the Sons of Korah.
Hope in God When Times of Trouble Come
42 As an antelope pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, God.
2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When may I come and appear in God’s presence?
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while people[b] keep asking me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things I will recall as I pour out my troubles[c] within me:
I used to go with the crowd in a procession to the house of God,
accompanied with shouts of joy and thanksgiving.
5 Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God,
for once again I will praise him,
since his presence saves me.
6 My God, my soul feels depressed[d] within me;
therefore I will remember you from the land of Jordan,
from the heights of Hermon,
even from the foothills.[e]
7 Deep waters call out to what is deeper still;[f]
at the roar of your waterfalls
all your breakers and your waves swirled over me.
8 By day the Lord will command his gracious love,
and by night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will ask God, my Rock, “Why have you forsaken me?
Why do I go around mourning under the enemy’s oppression?”
10 Like the shattering of my bones are the taunts of my oppressors,
saying to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God,
for once again I will praise him,
since his presence saves me
and he is my God.
God is my Hope during Times of Trouble
43 [g]You be my judge,[h] God,
and plead my case against an unholy nation;
rescue me from the deceitful and unjust man.
2 Since you are the God who strengthens me,
why have you forsaken me?
Why do I go around mourning under the enemy’s oppression?”
3 Send forth your light and your truth
so they may guide me.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain and to your dwelling places.[i]
4 Then I will approach the altar of God,
even to God in whom my joy finds its source.[j]
Then I will praise you with the lyre,
God, my God,
5 Why are you in despair, my soul?
Why are you disturbed within me?
Hope in God,
because I will praise him once again,
since his presence saves me
and he is my God.
The Plague of Darkness
21 Then the Lord told Moses, “Stretch your hand toward the sky and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that one can feel.” 22 So Moses stretched his hand toward the sky, and there was thick darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days. 23 No one could see anyone else, nor could anyone get up from his place for three days. But there was light for all the Israelis in their dwellings.
24 Pharaoh called Moses and said, “Go serve[a] the Lord, but your flocks and your cattle are to remain. Even your little ones can go with you!”
25 Moses said, “You must let us have[b] sacrifices and burnt offerings to offer to the Lord our God. 26 And even our livestock must go with us. Not a hoof will be left behind because we will use[c] some of them to serve the Lord our God, and until we get there we won’t know what we need to serve[d] the Lord.”
27 The Lord made Pharaoh’s heart stubborn,[e] and he did not want to let them go. 28 Then Pharaoh told him, “Get away from me! Watch out that you never see my face again, because on the day you see my face, you will die!”
29 Moses said, “Just as you have said, I won’t see your face again!”
Warning of the Death of the Firstborn
11 Then the Lord told Moses, “I’ll bring one more plague on Pharaoh and Egypt. After that he’ll let you leave from here, and when he lets you go, he will certainly drive you out from here. 2 Tell[f] the people that each man is to ask his neighbor and each woman her neighbor for articles of silver and gold.”
3 The Lord made the Egyptians look on the people with favor. Also the man Moses was highly regarded[g] in the land of Egypt, both in the opinion[h] of Pharaoh’s officials[i] and in the opinion[j] of the people.
4 So Moses announced to Pharaoh,[k] “This is what the Lord says: ‘About midnight I’m going throughout Egypt, 5 and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the slave girl who operates[l] the hand mill, along with the firstborn of the animals. 6 There will be a great cry throughout the land of Egypt, like there has never been and never will be again. 7 But among the Israelis, from people to animals, not even a dog will bark,[m] so you may know that the Lord is distinguishing between the Egyptians and the Israelis.’ 8 All these officials[n] of yours will come down to me, prostrate themselves to me, and say, ‘Get out, you and all the people following[o] you!’ After that I’ll go out.” Then Moses[p] angrily left Pharaoh.
13 Now since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with this Scripture: “I believed, and so I spoke,”[a] we also believe and therefore speak. 14 We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus and present us to God[b] together with you. 15 All this is for your sake so that, as his grace spreads, more and more people will give thanks and glorify God.
Life in an Earthly Tent
16 That’s why we are not discouraged. No, even if outwardly we are wearing out, inwardly we are being renewed each and every day. 17 This light, temporary nature of our suffering is producing for us an everlasting weight of glory, far beyond any comparison, 18 because we do not look for things that can be seen but for things that cannot be seen. For things that can be seen are temporary, but things that cannot be seen are eternal.
Jesus Heals Blind Bartimaeus(A)
46 Then they came to Jericho. As Jesus,[a] his disciples, and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, a blind beggar named Bartimaeus (that is, the son of Timaeus) was sitting by the road. 47 When he heard that Jesus of Nazareth was there, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 48 Many people sternly told him to be quiet, but he started shouting even louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
49 So Jesus stopped and said, “Call him!”
So they called the blind man and told him, “Have courage! Get up. He’s calling you.” 50 He threw off his coat, jumped up, and went to Jesus.
51 Then Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?”
The blind man told him, “Rabbouni,[b] I want to see again.”
52 Jesus told him, “Go. Your faith has made you well.” At once the man[c] could see again, and he began to follow Jesus[d] down the road.
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