Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
A song of ascents.[a]
120 In my distress I called to Yahweh,
and he answered me.
2 “Deliver my life, O Yahweh, from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.”
3 What shall be given to you,[b]
and what more shall be done to you,
deceitful tongue?
4 The sharpened arrows of a warrior,
with burning charcoals from broom trees.
5 Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
that I dwell among the tents of Kedar.
6 Too long my soul has had its dwelling
near one who hates peace.
7 I am for peace, but when I speak,
they are for war.
Trust in God’s Protection
A song for the ascents.[c]
121 I lift up my eyes to the mountains;
whence will my help come?
2 My help is from Yahweh,
maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;
he who protects you will not slumber.
4 Look, he will not slumber and he will not sleep—
he who protects Israel.
5 Yahweh is your protector;
Yahweh is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun will not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 Yahweh will protect you from all evil;[d]
he will protect your life.
8 Yahweh will protect your going out and your coming in
from now until forever.
Jerusalem the Site of God’s Presence
A song of ascents. Of David.[e]
122 I rejoiced in those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house[f] of Yahweh.”
2 Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem—
3 Jerusalem that is built
as a city that is joined together,
4 where the tribes go up,
the tribes of Yah[g] as a testimony for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of Yahweh.
5 For there the thrones sit[h] for judgment,
thrones of David’s house.
6 Pray[i] for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be at ease.
7 May peace be within your walls,
security within your palaces.”
8 For the sake of my brothers and my friends,
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house[j] of Yahweh our God,
I will seek your good.
Prayer for Yahweh’s Action in the Face of Scorn
A song of ascents.[k]
123 I lift up my eyes to you,
the one enthroned[l] in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,[m]
as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to Yahweh our God,
until he is gracious to us.
3 Be gracious to us, O Yahweh, be gracious to us,
for long enough we have had our fill of contempt.
4 For long enough our soul has had its fill of
the derision of the self-confident,
the contempt of the arrogant.
Thanksgiving for Yahweh’s Help
A song of ascents. Of David.[n]
124 “If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side,”
do let Israel say,
2 “If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side,
when men rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us alive,
when their anger was kindled against us.
4 Then the waters would have flooded over us,
the torrent would have passed over our soul.
5 Then over our soul would have passed
the raging waters.”
6 Blessed be Yahweh,
who has not made[o] us prey for their teeth.
7 Our soul has escaped like a bird
from the snare of fowlers.
The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of Yahweh,
maker of heaven and earth.
Confidence in Yahweh’s Protection
A song of ascents.[p]
125 Those who trust in Yahweh
are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved,
but abides forever.
2 As mountains are round about Jerusalem,
so Yahweh is round about his people,
from now until forever.
3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land[q] of the righteous,
lest the righteous stretch out
their hands to do wickedness.[r]
4 Do good, O Yahweh, to the good,
and to those upright in their hearts.
5 But regarding those who turn aside to their crooked ways,
Yahweh will lead them away with the evildoers.
Peace be upon Israel.
A Prayer for Restoration
A song of ascents.[s]
126 When Yahweh restored the fortunes[t] of Zion,[u]
we were like dreamers.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
Then they said among the nations,
“Yahweh has done great things for these people.”
3 Yahweh has done great things for us;
we are glad.
4 Restore, O Yahweh, our fortunes[v]
like the streams in the Negeb.[w]
5 Those who sow with tears
shall reap with rejoicing.
6 He who diligently goes out with weeping,
carrying the seed bag,
shall certainly come in with rejoicing,
carrying his sheaves.
A Prayer for Protection and Prosperity
A song of ascents. Of Solomon.[x]
127 Unless Yahweh builds a house,
its builders labor at it in vain.
Unless Yahweh guards a city,
a guard watches in vain.
2 It is in vain for you who rise early and sit late,
eating the bread of anxious toil,
when thus he[y] provides[z] for his beloved in his sleep.[aa]
3 Look, children[ab] are the heritage[ac] of Yahweh;
the fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
so are the children[ad] of one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them.[ae]
They shall not be put to shame
when they speak with enemies at the gate.
21 So Balaam got up in the morning and saddled his donkey, and he went with the princes of Moab.
Balaam and the Angel
22 But God became angry[a] because he was going, and the angel of Yahweh stood in the road as an adversary to him; he was riding on his donkey, and two servants were with him. 23 The donkey saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the road with his sword drawn in his hand, and the donkey turned aside from the road and went into the field. And Balaam struck the donkey to turn her back to the road. 24 The angel of Yahweh stood in the narrow path of the vineyards, with a wall on either side.[b] 25 When the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh, she pressed herself into the wall, and she pressed the foot of Balaam into the wall, so he struck her again. 26 Then the angel of Yahweh went further ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was not a way to turn aside to the right or left. 27 When the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh, she lay down under Balaam, so Balaam became angry,[c] and he struck the donkey with his staff. 28 Yahweh opened the mouth of the donkey, and she said to Balaam, “What did I do to you that you struck me these three times?” 29 Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you made a mockery of me! If only I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now!” 30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life until this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?” He said, “No.”
31 Then Yahweh exposed the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the road with his sword drawn in his hand, and he bowed down and worshiped to his face. 32 The angel of Yahweh said to him, “Why have you struck this donkey three times? Look, I have come out as an adversary because your conduct is perverse before me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned aside from me these three times. If she had not turned aside from my face, then I would have killed you and kept her alive.” 34 Balaam said to the angel of Yahweh, “I have sinned because I did not know that you were standing to meet me in the road. Now, if it is displeasing to you,[d] I will turn back.” 35 The angel of Yahweh said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but speak only the word that I will speak to you.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him by the city of Moab, which was on the boundary of Aaron at the end of the territory. 37 And Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not urgently send to meet with you? Why did you not come to me? Am I really not able to honor you?” 38 Balaam said to Balak, “Look, I came to you now. Am I really able to speak anything at all? I speak the word that God puts in my mouth.”
Released from the Law through Death
7 Or do you not know, brothers (for I am speaking to those who know the law), that the law is master of a person for as long a time as he lives? 2 For the married woman is bound by law to her husband while he lives, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law of the husband. 3 Therefore as a result, if she belongs to another man while[a] her husband is living, she will be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress if she[b] belongs to another man. 4 So then, my brothers, you also were brought to death with respect to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to the one who was raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God. 5 For when we were in the flesh, sinful desires were working through the law in our members, to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the law, because we[c] have died to that by which we were bound, so that we may serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter of the law.
Knowledge of Sin Comes through the Law
7 What then shall we say? Is the law sin? May it never be! But I would not have known sin except through the law, for I would not have known covetousness if the law had not said, “Do not covet.”[d] 8 But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin is dead. 9 And I was alive once, apart from the law, but when[e] the commandment came, sin sprang to life 10 and I died, and this commandment which was to lead to life was found with respect to me to lead to death. 11 For sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12 So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
Jesus’ Authority Challenged
23 And after[a] he arrived at the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him while he[b] was teaching, saying, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” 24 And Jesus answered and[c] said to them, “I also will ask you one question. If you tell the answer[d] to me, I also will tell you by what authority I am doing these things. 25 From where was the baptism of John—from heaven or from men?” And they began to discuss[e] this[f] among themselves, saying, “If we say ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we are afraid of the crowd, because they all look upon John as a prophet.” 27 And they answered and[g] said to Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things.
The Parable of the Two Sons
28 “Now what do you think? A man had two sons. He approached[h] the first and[i] said, ‘Son, go work in the vineyard today.’ 29 And he answered and[j] said, ‘I do not want to!’ But later he changed his mind and[k] went. 30 And he approached the second[l] and[m] said the same thing. So he answered and[n] said, ‘I will, sir,’ and he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his[o] father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I say to you that the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going ahead of you into the kingdom of God! 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did believe him. And when[p] you saw it,[q] you did not even change your minds later so as to believe in him.
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