Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 120[a]
Prayer of a Returned Exile
1 A song of ascents.[b]
The Lord answered me
when I called in my distress:(A)
2 Lord, deliver my soul from lying lips,
from a treacherous tongue.(B)
3 What will he inflict on you,
O treacherous tongue,
and what more besides?[c]
4 A warrior’s arrows
sharpened with coals of brush wood
5 [e]Alas, I am a foreigner in Meshech,
I live among the tents of Kedar!
6 Too long do I live
among those who hate peace.
7 When I speak of peace,
they are for war.(D)
Psalm 121[f]
The Lord My Guardian
1 A song of ascents.
I raise my eyes toward the mountains.[g]
From whence shall come my help?(E)
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.(F)
3 He will not allow your foot to slip;(G)
or your guardian to sleep.
4 Behold, the guardian of Israel
never slumbers nor sleeps.
5 [h]The Lord is your guardian;
the Lord is your shade
at your right hand.(H)
6 By day the sun will not strike you,
nor the moon by night.(I)
7 The Lord will guard you from all evil;
he will guard your soul.(J)
8 The Lord will guard your coming and going
both now and forever.(K)
Psalm 122[i]
A Pilgrim’s Prayer for Jerusalem
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
I
I rejoiced when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”(L)
2 And now our feet are standing
within your gates, Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem, built as a city,
walled round about.[j](M)
4 There the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
As it was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.(N)
5 There are the thrones of justice,
the thrones of the house of David.
II
6 For the peace of Jerusalem pray:
“May those who love you prosper!
7 May peace be within your ramparts,
prosperity within your towers.”(O)
8 For the sake of my brothers and friends I say,
“Peace be with you.”(P)
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord, our God,
I pray for your good.
Psalm 123[k]
Reliance on the Lord
1 A song of ascents.
To you I raise my eyes,
to you enthroned in heaven.(Q)
2 Yes, like the eyes of servants
on the hand of their masters,
Like the eyes of a maid
on the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes are on the Lord our God,
till we are shown favor.
3 Show us favor, Lord, show us favor,
for we have our fill of contempt.(R)
4 Our souls are more than sated
with mockery from the insolent,
with contempt from the arrogant.
Psalm 124[l]
God, the Rescuer of the People
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
Had not the Lord been with us,
let Israel say,(S)
2 Had not the Lord been with us,
when people rose against us,
3 Then they would have swallowed us alive,(T)
for their fury blazed against us.
4 Then the waters would have engulfed us,
the torrent overwhelmed us;(U)
5 then seething water would have drowned us.
6 Blessed is the Lord, who did not leave us
to be torn by their teeth.
7 We escaped with our lives like a bird
from the fowler’s snare;
the snare was broken,
and we escaped.
8 [m]Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.(V)
Psalm 125[n]
Israel’s Protector
1 A song of ascents.
Those trusting in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
unshakable, forever enduring.(W)
2 As mountains surround Jerusalem,
the Lord surrounds his people
both now and forever.(X)
3 The scepter of the wicked will not prevail
in the land allotted to the just,[o]
Lest the just themselves
turn their hands to evil.
4 Do good, Lord, to the good,
to those who are upright of heart.(Y)
5 But those who turn aside to crooked ways
may the Lord send down with the evildoers.(Z)
Peace upon Israel!(AA)
Psalm 126[p]
The Reversal of Zion’s Fortunes
1 A song of ascents.
I
When the Lord restored the captives of Zion,(AB)
we thought we were dreaming.
2 Then our mouths were filled with laughter;
our tongues sang for joy.(AC)
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord had done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
Oh, how happy we were!
4 Restore our captives, Lord,
like the dry stream beds of the Negeb.[q]
II
5 Those who sow in tears
will reap with cries of joy.(AD)
6 Those who go forth weeping,
carrying sacks of seed,
Will return with cries of joy,
carrying their bundled sheaves.
Psalm 127[r]
The Need of God’s Blessing
1 A song of ascents. Of Solomon.
I
Unless the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain who build.
Unless the Lord guard the city,
in vain does the guard keep watch.
2 It is vain for you to rise early
and put off your rest at night,
To eat bread earned by hard toil—
all this God gives to his beloved in sleep.(AE)
II
4 Thus says the Lord, my God: Shepherd the flock to be slaughtered.(A) 5 For they who buy them slay them and are not held accountable; while those who sell them say, “Blessed be the Lord, I have become rich!” Even their own shepherds will not pity them. 6 For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the earth—oracle of the Lord.—Yes, I will deliver them into each other’s power, or into the power of their kings; they will crush the earth, and I will not deliver it out of their power.
7 So I shepherded the flock to be slaughtered for the merchants of the flock. I took two staffs: one I called Delight, and the other Union. Thus I shepherded the flock. 8 In a single month, I did away with the three shepherds, for I wearied of them, and they disdained me. 9 “I will not shepherd you,” I said. “Whoever is to die shall die; whoever is to be done away with shall be done away with; and those who are left shall devour one another’s flesh.”
10 Then I took my staff Delight and snapped it in two, breaking my covenant which I had made with all peoples. 11 So it was broken on that day. The merchants of the flock, who were watching me, understood that this was the word of the Lord. 12 Then I said to them, “If it seems good to you, give me my wages; but if not, withhold them.”(B) And they counted out my wages,(C) thirty pieces of silver. 13 Then the Lord said to me, Throw it in the treasury—the handsome price at which they valued me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the treasury in the house of the Lord. 14 Then I snapped in two my second staff, Union, breaking the kinship between Judah and Israel.
15 The Lord said to me: This time take the gear of a foolish shepherd.(D) 16 For I am raising up a shepherd in the land who will take no note of those that disappear, nor seek the strays, nor heal the injured,(E) nor feed the exhausted; but he will eat the flesh of the fat ones and tear off their hoofs!
Oracle to the Worthless Shepherd
17 Ah! my worthless shepherd
who forsakes the flock!(F)
May the sword fall upon his arm
and upon his right eye;
His arm will surely wither,
and his right eye surely go blind!
10 [a]According to the grace of God given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must be careful how he builds upon it, 11 for no one can lay a foundation other than the one that is there, namely, Jesus Christ. 12 If anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 the work of each will come to light, for the Day[b] will disclose it. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire [itself] will test the quality of each one’s work.(A) 14 If the work stands that someone built upon the foundation, that person will receive a wage. 15 But if someone’s work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved,[c] but only as through fire. 16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?(B) 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God, which you are, is holy.[d]
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you considers himself wise in this age, let him become a fool so as to become wise.(C) 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God, for it is written:(D)
“He catches the wise in their own ruses,”
20 and again:
“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”(E)
21 [e]So let no one boast about human beings, for everything belongs to you,(F) 22 Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or the present or the future: all belong to you, 23 and you to Christ, and Christ to God.
31 [a]Then he took the Twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem and everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled.[b] 32 (A)He will be handed over to the Gentiles and he will be mocked and insulted and spat upon; 33 and after they have scourged him they will kill him, but on the third day he will rise.” 34 But they understood nothing of this; the word remained hidden from them and they failed to comprehend what he said.(B)
The Healing of the Blind Beggar.(C) 35 Now as he approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, 36 and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening. 37 They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” 38 (D)He shouted, “Jesus, Son of David,[c] have pity on me!” 39 The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me!” 40 Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” He replied, “Lord, please let me see.”(E) 42 Jesus told him, “Have sight; your faith has saved you.”(F) 43 He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.
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