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 140[a]
For the music director, a psalm of David.
140 O Lord, rescue me from wicked men.[b]
Protect me from violent men,[c]
2 who plan ways to harm me.[d]
All day long they stir up conflict.[e]
3 Their tongues wound like a serpent;[f]
a viper’s[g] venom is behind[h] their lips. (Selah)
4 O Lord, shelter me from the power[i] of the wicked.
Protect me from violent men,
who plan to knock me over.[j]
5 Proud men hide a snare for me;
evil men[k] spread a net by the path.
They set traps for me. (Selah)
6 I say to the Lord, “You are my God.”
O Lord, pay attention to my plea for mercy.
7 O Sovereign Lord, my strong deliverer,[l]
you shield[m] my head in the day of battle.
8 O Lord, do not let the wicked have their way.[n]
Do not allow their[o] plan to succeed when they attack.[p] (Selah)
9 As for the heads of those who surround me—
may the harm done by[q] their lips overwhelm them.
10 May he rain down[r] fiery coals upon them.
May he throw them into the fire.
From bottomless pits they will not escape.[s]
11 A slanderer[t] will not endure on[u] the earth;
calamity will hunt down a violent man and strike him down.[v]
12 I know[w] that the Lord defends the cause of the oppressed
and vindicates the poor.[x]
13 Certainly the godly will give thanks to your name;
the morally upright will live in your presence.
Psalm 142[a]
A well-written song[b] by David, when he was in the cave;[c] a prayer.
142 To the Lord I cry out;[d]
to the Lord I plead for mercy.[e]
2 I pour out my lament before him;
I tell him about[f] my troubles.
3 Even when my strength leaves me,[g]
you watch my footsteps.[h]
In the path where I walk
they have hidden a trap for me.
4 Look to the right and see.
No one cares about me.[i]
I have nowhere to run;[j]
no one is concerned about my life.[k]
5 I cry out to you, O Lord;
I say, “You are my shelter,
my security[l] in the land of the living.”
6 Listen to my cry for help,
for I am in serious trouble.[m]
Rescue me from those who chase me,
for they are stronger than I am.
7 Free me[n] from prison,
that I may give thanks to your name.
Because of me the godly will assemble,[o]
for you will vindicate me.[p]
Jeremiah Is Put on Trial as a False Prophet[a]
26 The Lord spoke to Jeremiah[b] at the beginning of the reign[c] of Josiah’s son, King Jehoiakim of Judah. 2 The Lord said, “Go stand in the courtyard of the Lord’s temple.[d] Speak out to all the people who are coming from the towns of Judah to worship in the Lord’s temple. Tell them everything I command you to tell them. Do not leave out a single word. 3 Maybe they will pay attention and each of them will stop living the evil way they do.[e] If they do that, then I will forgo destroying them[f] as I had intended to do because of the wicked things they have been doing.[g] 4 Tell them that the Lord says,[h] ‘You must obey me; you must live according to the way I have instructed you in my laws.[i] 5 You must pay attention to the exhortations of my servants the prophets. I have sent them to you over and over again.[j] But you have not paid any attention to them. 6 If you do not obey me,[k] then I will do to this temple what I did to Shiloh.[l] And I will make this city an example to be used in curses by people from all the nations on the earth.’”
7 The priests, the prophets, and all the people heard Jeremiah say these things in the Lord’s temple. 8 Jeremiah had just barely finished saying all the Lord had commanded him to say to all the people when all at once some[m] of the priests, the prophets, and the people grabbed him and shouted, “You deserve to die![n] 9 How dare you claim the Lord’s authority to prophesy such things! How dare you claim his authority to prophesy that this temple will become like Shiloh and that this city will become an uninhabited ruin!”[o] Then all the people crowded around Jeremiah in the Lord’s temple.
10 However, some of the officials[p] of Judah heard about what was happening[q] and they rushed up to the Lord’s temple from the royal palace. They set up court[r] at the entrance of the New Gate of the Lord’s temple.[s] 11 Then the priests and the prophets made their charges before the officials and all the people. They said,[t] “This man should be condemned to die[u] because he prophesied against this city. You have heard him do so[v] with your own ears.”
12 Then Jeremiah made his defense before all the officials and all the people.[w] “The Lord sent me to prophesy everything you have heard me say against this temple and against this city. 13 But correct the way you have been living and do what is right.[x] Obey the Lord your God. If you do, the Lord will forgo destroying you as he threatened he would.[y] 14 As to my case, I am in your power.[z] Do to me what you deem fair and proper. 15 But you should take careful note of this: If you put me to death, you will bring on yourselves and this city and those who live in it the guilt of murdering an innocent man. For the Lord has sent me to speak all this where you can hear it. That is the truth!”[aa]
16 Then the officials and all the people rendered their verdict to the priests and the prophets. They said,[ab] “This man should not be condemned to die.[ac] For he has spoken to us under the authority of the Lord our God.”[ad]
Israel’s Rejection not Complete nor Final
11 So I ask, God has not rejected his people, has he? Absolutely not! For I too am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, from the tribe of Benjamin. 2 God has not rejected his people whom he foreknew! Do you not know what the scripture says about Elijah, how he pleads with God against Israel? 3 “Lord, they have killed your prophets, they have demolished your altars; I alone am left and they are seeking my life!”[a] 4 But what was the divine response[b] to him? “I have kept for myself 7,000 people[c] who have not bent the knee to Baal.”[d]
5 So in the same way at the present time there is a remnant chosen by grace. 6 And if it is by grace, it is no longer by works, otherwise grace would no longer be grace. 7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The[e] rest were hardened, 8 as it is written,
“God gave them a spirit of stupor,
eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,
to this very day.”[f]
9 And David says,
“Let their table become a snare and trap,
a stumbling block and a retribution for them;
10 let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see,
and make their backs bend continually.”[g]
11 I ask then, they did not stumble into an irrevocable fall,[h] did they? Absolutely not! But by their transgression salvation has come to the Gentiles, to make Israel[i] jealous. 12 Now if their transgression means riches for the world and their defeat means riches for the Gentiles, how much more will their full restoration[j] bring?
19 Another sharp division took place among the Jewish people[a] because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He is possessed by a demon and has lost his mind![b] Why do you listen to him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the words[c] of someone possessed by a demon. A demon cannot cause the blind to see,[d] can it?”[e]
Jesus at the Feast of Dedication
22 Then came the feast of the Dedication[f] in Jerusalem. 23 It was winter,[g] and Jesus was walking in the temple area[h] in Solomon’s Portico.[i] 24 The Jewish leaders[j] surrounded him and asked,[k] “How long will you keep us in suspense?[l] If you are the Christ,[m] tell us plainly.”[n] 25 Jesus replied,[o] “I told you and you do not believe. The deeds[p] I do in my Father’s name testify about me. 26 But you refuse to believe because you are not my sheep. 27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give[q] them eternal life, and they will never perish;[r] no one will snatch[s] them from my hand. 29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all,[t] and no one can snatch[u] them from my Father’s hand. 30 The Father and I[v] are one.”[w]
31 The Jewish leaders[x] picked up rocks again to stone him to death. 32 Jesus said to them,[y] “I have shown you many good deeds[z] from the Father. For which one of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jewish leaders[aa] replied,[ab] “We are not going to stone you for a good deed[ac] but for blasphemy,[ad] because[ae] you, a man, are claiming to be God.”[af]
34 Jesus answered,[ag] “Is it not written in your law, ‘I said, you are gods’?[ah] 35 If those people to whom the word of God came were called ‘gods’ (and the scripture cannot be broken),[ai] 36 do you say about the one whom the Father set apart[aj] and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I do not perform[ak] the deeds[al] of my Father, do not believe me. 38 But if I do them, even if you do not believe me, believe the deeds,[am] so that you may come to know[an] and understand that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” 39 Then[ao] they attempted[ap] again to seize him, but he escaped their clutches.[aq]
40 Jesus[ar] went back across the Jordan River[as] again to the place where John[at] had been baptizing at an earlier time,[au] and he stayed there. 41 Many[av] came to him and began to say, “John[aw] performed[ax] no miraculous sign, but everything John said about this man[ay] was true!” 42 And many believed in Jesus[az] there.
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