Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 131[a]
A song of ascents,[b] by David.
131 O Lord, my heart is not proud,
nor do I have a haughty look.[c]
I do not have great aspirations,
or concern myself with things that are beyond me.[d]
2 Indeed,[e] I have calmed and quieted myself[f]
like a weaned child with its mother;[g]
I am content like a young child.[h]
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
now and forevermore!
Psalm 132[i]
A song of ascents.[j]
132 O Lord, for David’s sake remember
all his strenuous effort,[k]
2 and how he made a vow to the Lord,
and swore an oath to the Powerful One of Jacob.
3 He said,[l] “I will not enter my own home,[m]
or get into my bed.[n]
4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep,
or my eyelids to slumber,
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a fine dwelling place[o] for the Powerful One of Jacob.”[p]
6 Look, we heard about it[q] in Ephrathah;[r]
we found it in the territory of Jaar.[s]
7 Let us go to his dwelling place.
Let us worship[t] before his footstool.
8 Ascend, O Lord, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your strength.
9 May your priests be clothed with integrity.[u]
May your loyal followers shout for joy.
10 For the sake of David, your servant,
do not reject your chosen king.[v]
11 The Lord made a reliable promise to David;[w]
he will not go back on his word.[x]
He said,[y] “I will place one of your descendants[z] on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and the rules I teach them,
their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”
13 Certainly[aa] the Lord has chosen Zion;
he decided to make it his home.[ab]
14 He said,[ac] “This will be my resting place forever;
I will live here, for I have chosen it.[ad]
15 I will abundantly supply what she needs;[ae]
I will give her poor all the food they need.[af]
16 I will protect her priests,[ag]
and her godly people will shout exuberantly.[ah]
17 There I will make David strong;[ai]
I have determined that my chosen king’s dynasty will continue.[aj]
18 I will humiliate his enemies,[ak]
and his crown will shine.”
Psalm 133[al]
A song of ascents;[am] by David.
133 Look! How good and how pleasant it is
when brothers truly live in unity.[an]
2 It is like fine oil poured on the head,
which flows down the beard[ao]—
Aaron’s beard,
and then flows down his garments.[ap]
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,[aq]
which flows down upon the hills of Zion.[ar]
Indeed,[as] that is where the Lord has decreed
a blessing will be available—eternal life.[at]
Psalm 134[au]
A song of ascents.[av]
134 Attention![aw] Praise the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord,
who serve[ax] in the Lord’s temple during the night.
2 Lift your hands toward the sanctuary
and praise the Lord.
3 May the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth,
bless you[ay] from Zion.[az]
Psalm 135[ba]
135 Praise the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord.
Offer praise, you servants of the Lord,
2 who serve[bb] in the Lord’s temple,
in the courts of the temple of our God.
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.
Sing praises to his name, for it is pleasant.[bc]
4 Indeed,[bd] the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel to be his special possession.[be]
5 Yes,[bf] I know the Lord is great,
and our Lord is superior to all gods.
6 He does whatever he pleases
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the ocean depths.
7 He causes the clouds to arise from the end of the earth,
makes lightning bolts accompany the rain,
and brings the wind out of his storehouses.
8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
including both men and animals.
9 He performed awesome deeds[bg] and acts of judgment[bh]
in your midst, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He defeated many nations,
and killed mighty kings—
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan.
12 He gave their land as an inheritance,
as an inheritance to Israel his people.
13 O Lord, your name endures,[bi]
your reputation, O Lord, lasts.[bj]
14 For the Lord vindicates[bk] his people,
and has compassion on his servants.[bl]
15 The nations’ idols are made of silver and gold;
they are man-made.[bm]
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see,
17 and ears, but cannot hear.
Indeed, they cannot breathe.[bn]
18 Those who make them will end up[bo] like them,
as will everyone who trusts in them.
19 O family[bp] of Israel, praise the Lord.
O family of Aaron, praise the Lord.
20 O family of Levi, praise the Lord.
You loyal followers[bq] of the Lord, praise the Lord.
21 The Lord deserves praise in Zion[br]—
he who dwells in Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord.
The Refinement of Judah
13 “In that day there will be a fountain opened up for the dynasty[a] of David and the people of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and impurity.[b] 2 And also on that day,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, “I will remove[c] the names of the idols from the land and they will never again be remembered. Moreover, I will remove the prophets and the unclean spirit from the land. 3 Then, if anyone prophesies in spite of this, his father and mother to whom he was born will say to him, ‘You cannot live, for you lie in the name of the Lord.’ Then his father and mother to whom he was born will run him through with a sword when he prophesies.[d]
4 “Therefore, on that day each prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies and will no longer wear the hairy garment[e] of a prophet to deceive the people.[f] 5 Instead he will say, ‘I am no prophet; indeed, I am a farmer, for a man has made me his indentured servant since my youth.’[g] 6 Then someone will ask him, ‘What are these wounds on your chest?’[h] and he will answer, ‘Some that I received in the house of my friends.’
7 “Awake, sword, against my shepherd,
against the man who is my associate,”
says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.
“Strike the shepherd that the flock may be scattered;[i]
I will turn my hand against the insignificant ones.
8 It will happen in all the land,” says the Lord,
“that two-thirds of the people[j] in it will be cut off and die,
but one-third will be left in it.[k]
9 Then I will bring the remaining third into the fire;
I will refine them like silver is refined
and will test them like gold is tested.
They will call on my name and I will answer;
I will say, ‘These are my people,’
and they will say, ‘The Lord is our God.’”[l]
Prayer for Wisdom and Revelation
15 For this reason,[a] because I[b] have heard[c] of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love[d] for all the saints, 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you when I remember you[e] in my prayers. 17 I pray that[f] the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father,[g] will give you spiritual wisdom and revelation[h] in your growing knowledge of him,[i] 18 —since the eyes of your[j] heart have been enlightened[k]—so that you can know what is the hope of his calling,[l] what is the wealth of his glorious[m] inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the incomparable[n] greatness of his power toward[o] us who believe, as displayed in[p] the exercise of his immense strength.[q] 20 This power[r] he exercised[s] in Christ when he raised him[t] from the dead and seated him[u] at his right hand in the heavenly realms[v] 21 far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And God[w] put[x] all things under Christ’s[y] feet,[z] and gave him to the church as head over all things.[aa] 23 Now the church is[ab] his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.[ac]
The Parable of the Ten Minas
11 While the people were listening to these things, Jesus[a] proceeded to tell a parable, because he was near to Jerusalem, and because they thought[b] that the kingdom of God[c] was going to[d] appear immediately. 12 Therefore he said, “A nobleman[e] went to a distant country to receive[f] for himself a kingdom and then return.[g] 13 And he summoned ten of his slaves,[h] gave them ten minas,[i] and said to them, ‘Do business with these until I come back.’ 14 But his citizens[j] hated[k] him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man[l] to be king[m] over us!’ 15 When[n] he returned after receiving the kingdom, he summoned[o] these slaves to whom he had given the money. He wanted[p] to know how much they had earned[q] by trading. 16 So[r] the first one came before him and said, ‘Sir,[s] your mina[t] has made ten minas more.’ 17 And the king[u] said to him, ‘Well done, good slave! Because you have been faithful[v] in a very small matter, you will have authority[w] over ten cities.’ 18 Then[x] the second one came and said, ‘Sir, your mina has made five minas.’ 19 So[y] the king[z] said to him, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 Then another[aa] slave[ab] came and said, ‘Sir, here is[ac] your mina that I put away for safekeeping[ad] in a piece of cloth.[ae] 21 For I was afraid of you, because you are a severe[af] man. You withdraw[ag] what you did not deposit[ah] and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 The king[ai] said to him, ‘I will judge you by your own words,[aj] you wicked slave![ak] So you knew, did you, that I was a severe[al] man, withdrawing what I didn’t deposit and reaping what I didn’t sow? 23 Why then didn’t you put[am] my money in the bank,[an] so that when I returned I could have collected it with interest?’ 24 And he said to his attendants,[ao] ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to the one who has ten.’[ap] 25 But[aq] they said to him, ‘Sir, he has ten minas already!’[ar] 26 ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more,[as] but from the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away.[at] 27 But as for these enemies of mine who did not want me to be their king,[au] bring them here and slaughter[av] them[aw] in front of me!’”
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