Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 131
A Childlike Spirit
A Davidic song of ascents.
1 Lord, my heart is not proud;
my eyes are not haughty.(A)
I do not get involved with things
too great or too difficult for me.(B)
2 Instead, I have calmed and quieted myself
like a little weaned child with its mother;
I am like a little child.(C)
3 Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
both now and forever.(D)
Psalm 132
David and Zion Chosen
A song of ascents.
1 Lord, remember David
and all the hardships he endured,(E)
2 and how he swore an oath to the Lord,
making a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:(F)
3 “I will not enter my house[a]
or get into my bed,[b]
4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep
or my eyelids to slumber(G)
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”(H)
6 We heard of the ark in Ephrathah;[c](I)
we found it in the fields of Jaar.[d](J)
7 Let us go to His dwelling place;
let us worship at His footstool.(K)
8 Rise up, Lord, come to Your resting place,
You and Your powerful ark.(L)
9 May Your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and may Your godly people shout for joy.(M)
10 Because of Your servant David,
do not reject Your anointed one.[e](N)
11 The Lord swore an oath to David,
a promise He will not abandon:
“I will set one of your descendants[f]
on your throne.(O)
12 If your sons keep My covenant
and My decrees that I will teach them,
their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”(P)
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His home:(Q)
14 “This is My resting place forever;
I will make My home here
because I have desired it.(R)
15 I will abundantly bless its food;
I will satisfy its needy with bread.(S)
16 I will clothe its priests with salvation,
and its godly people will shout for joy.(T)
17 There I will make a horn grow for David;(U)
I have prepared a lamp for My anointed one.(V)
18 I will clothe his enemies with shame,(W)
but the crown he wears[g] will be glorious.”(X)
Psalm 133
Living in Harmony
A Davidic song of ascents.
1 How good and pleasant it is
when brothers live together in harmony!(Y)
2 It is like fine oil on the head,
running down on the beard,
running down Aaron’s beard
onto his robes.(Z)
3 It is like the dew of Hermon[h]
falling on the mountains of Zion.(AA)
For there the Lord has appointed the blessing—
life forevermore.(AB)
Psalm 134
Call to Evening Worship
A song of ascents.
1 Now praise the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord
who stand in the Lord’s house at night!(AC)
2 Lift up your hands in the holy place
and praise the Lord!(AD)
3 May the Lord,
Maker of heaven and earth,
bless you from Zion.(AE)
Psalm 135
Yahweh Is Great
1 Hallelujah!
Praise the name of Yahweh.
Give praise, you servants of Yahweh(AF)
2 who stand in the house of Yahweh,
in the courts of the house of our God.(AG)
3 Praise Yahweh, for Yahweh is good;
sing praise to His name, for it is delightful.(AH)
4 For Yahweh has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel as His treasured possession.(AI)
5 For I know that Yahweh is great;
our Lord is greater than all gods.(AJ)
6 Yahweh does whatever He pleases
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the depths.(AK)
7 He causes the clouds to rise from the ends of the earth.
He makes lightning for the rain
and brings the wind from His storehouses.(AL)
8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
both man and beast.(AM)
9 He sent signs and wonders against you, Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his officials.(AN)
10 He struck down many nations
and slaughtered mighty kings:(AO)
11 Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
and all the kings of Canaan.(AP)
12 He gave their land as an inheritance,
an inheritance to His people Israel.(AQ)
13 Yahweh, Your name endures forever,
Your reputation, Yahweh,
through all generations.(AR)
14 For Yahweh will vindicate His people
and have compassion on His servants.(AS)
11 “What have you done to me?” Balak asked Balaam. “I brought you to curse my enemies, but look, you have only blessed them!”
12 He answered, “Shouldn’t I say exactly what the Lord puts in my mouth?”(A)
Balaam’s Second Oracle
13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place where you can see them. You will only see the outskirts of their camp; you won’t see all of them. From there, put a curse on them for me.” 14 So Balak took him to Lookout Field[a] on top of Pisgah, built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15 Balaam said to Balak, “Stay here by your burnt offering while I seek the Lord over there.”
16 The Lord met with Balaam and put a message in his mouth. Then He said, “Return to Balak and say what I tell you.”
17 So he returned to Balak, who was standing there by his burnt offering with the officials of Moab. Balak asked him, “What did the Lord say?”
18 Balaam proclaimed his poem:
Balak, get up and listen;
son of Zippor, pay attention to what I say!
19 God is not a man who lies,
or a son of man who changes His mind.
Does He speak and not act,
or promise and not fulfill?(B)
20 I have indeed received a command to bless;
since He has blessed,[b] I cannot change it.
21 He considers no disaster for Jacob;
He sees no trouble for Israel.[c]
The Lord their God is with them,(C)
and there is rejoicing over the King among them.
22 God brought them out of Egypt;
He is like the horns of a wild ox for them.[d](D)
23 There is no magic curse against Jacob
and no divination against Israel.
It will now be said about Jacob and Israel,
“What great things God has done!”
24 A people rise up like a lioness;
They rouse themselves like a lion.(E)
They will not lie down until they devour the prey
and drink the blood of the slain.
25 Then Balak told Balaam, “Don’t curse them and don’t bless them!”
26 But Balaam answered him, “Didn’t I tell you: Whatever the Lord says, I must do?”(F)
The Life-Giving Spirit
8 Therefore, no condemnation(A) now exists for those in(B) Christ Jesus,[a](C) 2 because the Spirit’s law of life(D) in Christ Jesus has set you[b] free from the law of sin and of death.(E) 3 What the law could not do(F) since it was limited[c] by the flesh,(G) God did. He condemned sin in the flesh by sending His own Son in flesh like ours(H) under sin’s domain,[d] and as a sin offering,(I) 4 in order that the law’s requirement would be accomplished(J) in us who do not walk according to the flesh(K) but according to the Spirit. 5 For those who live[e] according to the flesh think about the things of the flesh,(L) but those who live[f] according to the Spirit, about the things of the Spirit. 6 For the mind-set of the flesh(M) is death,(N) but the mind-set of the Spirit is life and peace. 7 For the mind-set of the flesh is hostile(O) to God because it does not submit itself to God’s law, for it is unable to do so. 8 Those who are in the flesh(P) cannot please God. 9 You, however, are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, since[g] the Spirit of God lives in you.(Q) But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ,(R) he does not belong to Him. 10 Now if Christ is in you,(S) the body is dead[h] because of sin, but the Spirit[i] is life because of righteousness. 11 And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead(T) lives in you, then He who raised Christ from the dead will also bring your mortal bodies to life through[j] His Spirit who lives in you.
The Parable of the Wedding Banquet
22 Once more Jesus spoke to them in parables: 2 “The kingdom of heaven(A) may be compared to a king who gave a wedding banquet for his son.(B) 3 He sent out his slaves to summon those invited to the banquet,(C) but they didn’t want to come. 4 Again, he sent out other slaves, and said, ‘Tell those who are invited: Look, I’ve prepared my dinner; my oxen and fattened cattle have been slaughtered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’(D)
5 “But they paid no attention and went away, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 And the others seized his slaves, treated them outrageously and killed them. 7 The king[a] was enraged, so he sent out his troops, destroyed those murderers, and burned down their city.
8 “Then he told his slaves, ‘The banquet is ready, but those who were invited were not worthy.(E) 9 Therefore go to where the roads exit the city and invite everyone you find to the banquet.’(F) 10 So those slaves went out on the roads and gathered everyone they found, both evil and good. The wedding banquet was filled with guests.[b] 11 But when the king came in to view the guests, he saw a man there who was not dressed for a wedding.(G) 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend,(H) how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.
13 “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him up hand and foot,[c] and throw him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”(I)
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