Book of Common Prayer
Simple Trust in the Lord
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
131 Lord, my heart is not [a]haughty,
Nor my eyes [b]lofty.
(A)Neither do I [c]concern myself with great matters,
Nor with things too [d]profound for me.
2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
(B)Like a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 (C)O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
The Eternal Dwelling of God in Zion
A Song of Ascents.
132 Lord, remember David
And all his afflictions;
2 How he swore to the Lord,
(D)And vowed to (E)the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house,
Or go up to the comfort of my bed;
4 I will (F)not give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
5 Until I (G)find a place for the Lord,
A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard of it (H)in Ephrathah;
(I)We found it (J)in the fields of [e]the woods.
7 Let us go into His tabernacle;
(K)Let us worship at His footstool.
8 (L)Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place,
You and (M)the ark of Your strength.
9 Let Your priests (N)be clothed with righteousness,
And let Your saints shout for joy.
10 For Your servant David’s sake,
Do not turn away the face of Your [f]Anointed.
11 (O)The Lord has sworn in truth to David;
He will not turn from it:
“I will set upon your throne (P)the [g]fruit of your body.
12 If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I shall teach them,
Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore.”
13 (Q)For the Lord has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His [h]dwelling place:
14 “This(R) is My resting place forever;
Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15 (S)I will abundantly bless her [i]provision;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 (T)I will also clothe her priests with salvation,
(U)And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
17 (V)There I will make the [j]horn of David grow;
(W)I will prepare a lamp for My [k]Anointed.
18 His enemies I will (X)clothe with shame,
But upon Himself His crown shall flourish.”
Blessed Unity of the People of God
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For (Y)brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Running down on the beard,
The beard of Aaron,
Running down on the edge of his garments.
3 It is like the dew of (Z)Hermon,
Descending upon the mountains of Zion;
For (AA)there the Lord commanded the blessing—
Life forevermore.
Praising the Lord in His House at Night
A Song of Ascents.
134 Behold, bless the Lord,
All you servants of the Lord,
Who by night stand in the house of the Lord!
2 (AB)Lift up your hands in the sanctuary,
And bless the Lord.
3 The Lord who made heaven and earth
Bless you from Zion!
Praise to God in Creation and Redemption
135 Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
(AC)Praise Him, O you servants of the Lord!
2 (AD)You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In (AE)the courts of the house of our God,
3 Praise the Lord, for (AF)the Lord is good;
Sing praises to His name, (AG)for it is pleasant.
4 For (AH)the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His [l]special treasure.
5 For I know that (AI)the Lord is great,
And our Lord is above all gods.
6 (AJ)Whatever the Lord pleases He does,
In heaven and in earth,
In the seas and in all deep places.
7 (AK)He causes the [m]vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
(AL)He makes lightning for the rain;
He brings the wind out of His (AM)treasuries.
8 (AN)He [n]destroyed the firstborn of Egypt,
[o]Both of man and beast.
9 (AO)He sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt,
(AP)Upon Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 (AQ)He defeated many nations
And slew mighty kings—
11 Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
And (AR)all the kingdoms of Canaan—
12 (AS)And gave their land as a [p]heritage,
A heritage to Israel His people.
13 (AT)Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
Your fame, O Lord, throughout all generations.
14 (AU)For the Lord will judge His people,
And He will have compassion on His servants.
15 (AV)The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
16 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
17 They have ears, but they do not hear;
Nor is there any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.
19 (AW)Bless the Lord, O house of Israel!
Bless the Lord, O house of Aaron!
20 Bless the Lord, O house of Levi!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed be the Lord (AX)out of Zion,
Who dwells in Jerusalem!
Praise the Lord!
Idolatry Cut Off
13 “In that (A)day (B)a fountain shall be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and for (C)uncleanness.
2 “It shall be in that day,” says the Lord of hosts, “that I will (D)cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered. I will also cause (E)the prophets and the unclean spirit to depart from the land. 3 It shall come to pass that if anyone still prophesies, then his father and mother who begot him will say to him, ‘You shall (F)not live, because you have spoken lies in the name of the Lord.’ And his father and mother who begot him (G)shall thrust him through when he prophesies.
4 “And it shall be in that day that (H)every prophet will be ashamed of his vision when he prophesies; they will not wear (I)a robe of coarse hair to deceive. 5 (J)But he will say, ‘I am no prophet, I am a farmer; for a man taught me to keep cattle from my youth.’ 6 And one will say to him, ‘What are these wounds between your [a]arms?’ Then he will answer, ‘Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.’
The Shepherd Savior
7 “Awake, O sword, against (K)My Shepherd,
Against the Man (L)who is My Companion,”
Says the Lord of hosts.
(M)“Strike the Shepherd,
And the sheep will be scattered;
Then I will turn My hand against (N)the little ones.
8 And it shall come to pass in all the land,”
Says the Lord,
“That (O)two-thirds in it shall be cut off and die,
(P)But one-third shall be left in it:
9 I will bring the one-third (Q)through the fire,
Will (R)refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
(S)They will call on My name,
And I will answer them.
(T)I will say, ‘This is My people’;
And each one will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’ ”
Prayer for Spiritual Wisdom
15 Therefore I also, (A)after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 (B)do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that (C)the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, (D)may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 (E)the eyes of your [a]understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is (F)the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, (G)according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when (H)He raised Him from the dead and (I)seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 (J)far above all (K)principality[b] and [c]power and [d]might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.
22 And (L)He put all things under His feet, and gave Him (M)to be head over all things to the church, 23 (N)which is His body, (O)the fullness of Him (P)who fills all in all.
The Parable of the Minas(A)
11 Now as they heard these things, He spoke another parable, because He was near Jerusalem and because (B)they thought the kingdom of God would appear immediately. 12 (C)Therefore He said: “A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. 13 So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten [a]minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.’ 14 (D)But his citizens hated him, and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We will not have this man to reign over us.’
15 “And so it was that when he returned, having received the kingdom, he then commanded these servants, to whom he had given the money, to be called to him, that he might know how much every man had gained by trading. 16 Then came the first, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned ten minas.’ 17 And he said to him, (E)‘Well done, good servant; because you were (F)faithful in a very little, have authority over ten cities.’ 18 And the second came, saying, ‘Master, your mina has earned five minas.’ 19 Likewise he said to him, ‘You also be over five cities.’
20 “Then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I have kept put away in a handkerchief. 21 (G)For I feared you, because you are [b]an austere man. You collect what you did not deposit, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 And he said to him, (H)‘Out of your own mouth I will judge you, you wicked servant. (I)You knew that I was an austere man, collecting what I did not deposit and reaping what I did not sow. 23 Why then did you not put my money in the bank, that at my coming I might have collected it with interest?’
24 “And he said to those who stood by, ‘Take the mina from him, and give it to him who has ten minas.’ 25 (But they said to him, ‘Master, he has ten minas.’) 26 ‘For I say to you, (J)that to everyone who has will be given; and from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 27 But bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them before me.’ ”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.