Book of Common Prayer
A Song of Ascents
The Guardian of God’s People
121 I lift up my eyes toward the mountains—
from where will my help come?
2 My help is from the Lord,
maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will never let[a] your foot slip,
nor[b] will[c] your guardian become drowsy.
4 Look! The one who is guarding Israel
never sleeps and does not take naps.
5 The Lord is your guardian;
the Lord is your shade at your right side.
6 The sun will not ravage you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will guard you from all evil,
preserving[d] your life.
8 The Lord will guard your goings and comings,[e]
from this time on and forever.
A Davidic Song of Ascents
Up to Jerusalem
122 I rejoiced when they kept on asking me,
“Let us go to the Lord’s Temple.”
2 Our feet are standing
inside your gates, Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem stands built up,
a city knitted together.
4 To it the tribes ascend—
the tribes of the Lord—
as decreed to Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For thrones are established there for judgment,
thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for peace for Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be at peace![f]
7 May peace be within your ramparts,
and[g] prosperity[h] within your fortresses.”
8 For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will now say, “May there be peace within you.”
9 For the sake of the Temple of the Lord our God,
I will seek your welfare.
A Song of Ascents
A Prayer for Relief
123 To you, who sit enthroned in heaven,
I lift up my eyes.
2 Consider this: as the eyes of a servant focus
on what his master provides,[i]
and as the eyes of a female servant focus[j]
on what her mistress provides,[k]
so our eyes focus on the Lord our God,
until he has mercy on us.
3 Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4 Our lives overflow
with scorn from those who live at ease,
with contempt from those who are proud.
A Davidic Song of Ascents
Hope in the Lord
131 Lord, my heart is not arrogant,
nor do I look haughty.
I do not aspire[a] to great things,
nor concern myself with things beyond my ability.
2 Instead, I have composed and quieted myself
like a weaned child with its mother;
I am like a weaned child.
3 Place your hope in the Lord, Israel,
both now and forever.
A Song of Ascents
The Lord Lives in Zion
132 Lord, remember in David’s favor
all of his troubles;
2 how he swore an oath to the Lord,
vowing to the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I will not enter[b] my house,
or lie down on[c] my bed,
4 or let myself go to sleep[d]
or even take a nap,[e]
5 until I locate a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 We heard about it[f] in Ephrata;[g]
we found it in the fields of Jaar.[h]
7 Let’s go to his dwelling place
and worship at his footstool.
8 Arise, Lord,
and go to your resting place,
you and the ark of your strength.
9 May your priests be clothed with righteousness
and may your godly ones shout for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
don’t turn away the face of your anointed one.
11 The Lord made an oath to David
from which he will not retreat:
“One of your sons
I will set in place on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and my statutes that I will teach them,
then their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion,
desiring it as his dwelling place.
14 “This is my resting place forever.
Here I will live,
because I desire to do so.
15 I will bless its provisions abundantly;
I will satiate its poor with food.[i]
16 I will clothe its priests with salvation
and its godly ones will shout for joy.
17 There I will create a power base[j] for David—
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
18 I will clothe his enemies with disgrace,
but on him his crown will shine.”
God’s Day of Vengeance
63 “Who is this coming from Edom,
from Bozrah, in garments stained crimson?
Who is this, robed in such splendor,
marching in his great might?
It is I, speaking in vindication,
mighty to save.
2 “Why is your clothing red,
and your garments like those worn by the ones who tread in the winepress?[a]
The Letter to the Church in Thyatira
18 “To the messenger[a] of the church in Thyatira, write:
‘The Son of God, whose eyes are like flaming fire and whose feet are like glowing bronze, says this:
19 ‘I know what you’ve been doing—your love, faithfulness,[b] service, and endurance—and that your last actions are greater than the first. 20 But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet and who teaches and leads my servants to practice immorality and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she refused to repent of her immorality. 22 Look! I am going to strike her with illness.[c] Those who commit adultery with her will also suffer greatly, unless they repent from acting like her. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches minds and hearts. I will reward each of you as your actions deserve.
24 ‘But as for the rest of you in Thyatira—you who do not hold to this teaching and who have not learned what some people call the deep things of Satan—I won’t burden you with anything else. 25 Just hold on to what you have until I come. 26 I will give authority over the nations to the person who overcomes[d] and continues to do what I’ve commanded[e] to the end, and
27 ‘He will rule them with an iron scepter;
shattering them like clay pots.’[f]
28 ‘Just as I have received authority from my Father, I will also give him the morning star.
29 ‘Let everyone[g] listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.’”
The Healing at the Pool
5 Later on, there was another[a] festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem is a pool called Bethesda[b] in Hebrew. It has five colonnades, 3 and under these a large number of sick people were lying—blind, lame, or paralyzed—waiting for the movement of the water.[c] 4 At certain times an angel of the Lord would go down into the pool and stir up the water, and whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.[d]
5 One particular man was there who had been ill for 38 years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I don’t have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I’m trying to get there, someone else steps down ahead of me.”
8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” 9 The man immediately became well, and he picked up his mat and started walking. Now that day was a Sabbath.
10 So the Jewish leaders[e] told the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.
11 But he answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”
12 They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Pick it up and walk’?”
13 But the one who had been healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away from the crowd in that place. 14 Later on, Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Look! You have become well. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went off and told the Jewish leaders[f] that it was Jesus who had made him well.
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