Book of Common Prayer
Childlike Trust in the Lord.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
131 O Lord, my heart is not (A)proud, nor my eyes [a](B)haughty;
Nor do I [b]involve myself in (C)great matters,
Or in things (D)too [c]difficult for me.
2 Surely I have (E)composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned (F)child rests [d]against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child [e]within me.
3 O Israel, (G)hope in the Lord
(H)From this time forth and forever.
Prayer for the Lord’s Blessing upon the Sanctuary.
A Song of Ascents.
132 Remember, O Lord, on David’s behalf,
All (I)his affliction;
2 How he swore to the Lord
And vowed to (J)the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “Surely I will not [f]enter (K)my house,
Nor [g]lie on my bed;
4 I will not (L)give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
5 Until I find a (M)place for the Lord,
[h]A dwelling place for (N)the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard of it in (O)Ephrathah,
We found it in the (P)field of [i]Jaar.
7 Let us go into His [j](Q)dwelling place;
Let us (R)worship at His (S)footstool.
8 (T)Arise, O Lord, to Your (U)resting place,
You and the ark of Your (V)strength.
9 Let Your priests be (W)clothed with righteousness,
And let Your (X)godly ones sing for joy.
10 For the sake of David Your servant,
Do not turn away the face of Your (Y)anointed.
11 The Lord has (Z)sworn to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“(AA)Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne.
12 “If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their sons also shall (AB)sit upon your throne forever.”
13 For the Lord has (AC)chosen Zion;
He has (AD)desired it for His habitation.
14 “This is My (AE)resting place forever;
Here I will (AF)dwell, for I have desired it.
15 “I will abundantly (AG)bless her provision;
I will (AH)satisfy her needy with bread.
16 “Her (AI)priests also I will clothe with salvation,
And her (AJ)godly ones will sing aloud for joy.
17 “There I will cause the (AK)horn of David to spring forth;
I have prepared a (AL)lamp for Mine anointed.
18 “His enemies I will (AM)clothe with shame,
But upon himself his (AN)crown shall shine.”
The Excellency of Brotherly Unity.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For (AO)brothers to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious (AP)oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the (AQ)edge of his robes.
3 It is like the (AR)dew of (AS)Hermon
Coming down upon the (AT)mountains of Zion;
For there the Lord (AU)commanded the blessing—(AV)life forever.
Greetings of Night Watchers.
A Song of Ascents.
134 Behold, (AW)bless the Lord, all (AX)servants of the Lord,
Who [k](AY)serve (AZ)by night in the house of the Lord!
2 (BA)Lift up your hands to the (BB)sanctuary
And bless the Lord.
3 May the Lord (BC)bless you from Zion,
He who (BD)made heaven and earth.
Praise the Lord’s Wonderful Works. Vanity of Idols.
135 [l](BE)Praise [m]the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise Him, O (BF)servants of the Lord,
2 You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In the (BG)courts of the house of our God!
3 [n]Praise [o]the Lord, for (BH)the Lord is good;
(BI)Sing praises to His name, (BJ)for it is lovely.
4 For [p]the Lord has (BK)chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His [q](BL)own possession.
5 For I know that (BM)the Lord is great
And that our Lord is (BN)above all gods.
6 (BO)Whatever the Lord pleases, He does,
In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.
7 [r]He (BP)causes the [s]vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
Who (BQ)makes lightnings for the rain,
Who (BR)brings forth the wind from His treasuries.
8 [t]He (BS)smote the firstborn of Egypt,
[u]Both of man and beast.
9 [v]He sent (BT)signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt,
Upon (BU)Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 [w](BV)He (BW)smote many nations
And slew mighty kings,
11 (BX)Sihon, king of the Amorites,
And (BY)Og, king of Bashan,
And (BZ)all the kingdoms of Canaan;
12 And He (CA)gave their land as a heritage,
A heritage to Israel His people.
13 Your (CB)name, O Lord, is everlasting,
Your [x]remembrance, O Lord, [y]throughout all generations.
14 For the Lord will (CC)judge His people
And (CD)will have compassion on His servants.
15 The (CE)idols of the nations are but silver and gold,
The work of man’s hands.
16 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
They have eyes, but they do not see;
17 They have ears, but they do not hear,
Nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will be like them,
Yes, everyone who trusts in them.
False Prophets Ashamed
13 “In that day a (A)fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for (B)sin and for (C)impurity.
2 “It will come about in that day,” declares the Lord of hosts, “that I will (D)cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the (E)prophets and the (F)unclean spirit from the land. 3 And if anyone still (G)prophesies, then his father and mother who gave birth to him will say to him, ‘You shall (H)not live, for you have spoken (I)falsely in the name of the Lord’; and his (J)father and mother who gave birth to him will pierce him through when he prophesies. 4 Also it will come about in that day that the prophets will each be (K)ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not put on a (L)hairy robe in order to deceive; 5 but he will say, ‘I am (M)not a prophet; I am a tiller of the ground, for a man [a]sold me as a slave in my youth.’ 6 And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds (N)between your [b]arms?’ Then he will say, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of [c]my friends.’
7 “Awake, O (O)sword, against My (P)Shepherd,
And against the man, My (Q)Associate,”
Declares the Lord of hosts.
“(R)Strike the Shepherd that the sheep may be scattered;
And I will (S)turn My hand [d]against the little ones.
8 “It will come about in all the land,”
Declares the Lord,
“That (T)two parts in it will be cut off and perish;
But the third will be left in it.
9 “And I will bring the third part through the (U)fire,
Refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
They will (V)call on My name,
And I will (W)answer them;
I will say, ‘They are (X)My people,’
And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”
15 For this reason I too, (A)having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and [a]your love for (B)all the [b]saints, 16 (C)do not cease giving thanks for you, (D)while making mention of you in my prayers; 17 that the (E)God of our Lord Jesus Christ, (F)the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of (G)wisdom and of (H)revelation in the [c]knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that (I)the eyes of your heart [d]may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the (J)hope of His (K)calling, what are (L)the riches of the glory of (M)His inheritance in (N)the [e]saints, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. (O)These are in accordance with the working of the (P)strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He (Q)raised Him from the dead and (R)seated Him at His right hand in (S)the heavenly places, 21 far above (T)all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every (U)name that is named, not only in (V)this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He (W)put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as (X)head over all things to the church, 23 which is His (Y)body, the (Z)fullness of Him who (AA)fills (AB)all in all.
Parable of Money Usage
11 While they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because (A)He was near Jerusalem, and they supposed that (B)the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. 12 So He said, “(C)A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then return. 13 And he called ten of his slaves, and gave them ten [a]minas and said to them, ‘Do business with this [b]until I come back.’ 14 But his citizens hated him and sent [c]a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 When he returned, after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be called to him so that he might know what business they had done. 16 The first appeared, saying, ‘[d]Master, your [e]mina has made ten minas more.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave, because you have been (D)faithful in a very little thing, you are to be in authority over ten cities.’ 18 The second came, saying, ‘Your [f]mina, [g]master, has made five minas.’ 19 And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept put away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are an exacting man; you take up what you did not lay down and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 He *said to him, ‘[h]By your own words I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am an exacting man, taking up what I did not lay down and reaping what I did not sow? 23 Then why did you not put my money in the bank, and having come, I would have collected it with interest?’ 24 Then he said to the bystanders, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas already.’ 26 (E)I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 27 But (F)these enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and (G)slay them in my presence.”
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