Book of Common Prayer
A song for going up to worship.
121 I look up toward the mountains.
Where can I find help?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let you fall.
Your guardian will not fall asleep.
4 Indeed, the Guardian of Israel never rests or sleeps.
5 The Lord is your guardian.
The Lord is the shade over your right hand.
6 The sun will not beat down on you during the day,
nor will the moon at night.
7 The Lord guards you from every evil.
He guards your life.
8 The Lord guards you as you come and go,
now and forever.
A song by David for going up to worship.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let’s go to the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet are standing inside your gates, Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is built to be a city
where the people are united.
4 All of the Lord’s tribes go to that city
because it is a law in Israel
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 The court of justice sits there.
It consists of ⌞princes who are⌟ David’s descendants.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you prosper.
7 May there be peace inside your walls
and prosperity in your palaces.”
8 For the sake of my relatives and friends, let me say,
“May it go well for you!”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek what is good for you.
A song for going up to worship.
123 I look up to you,
to the one who sits enthroned in heaven.
2 As servants depend on their masters,
as a maid depends on her mistress,
so we depend on the Lord our God
until he has pity on us.
3 Have pity on us, O Lord.
Have pity on us
because we have suffered more than our share of contempt.
4 We have suffered more than our share of ridicule
from those who are carefree.
We have suffered more than our share of contempt
from those who are arrogant.
A song by David for going up to worship.
131 O Lord, my heart is not conceited.
My eyes do not look down on others.
I am not involved in things too big or too difficult for me.
2 Instead, I have kept my soul calm and quiet.
My soul is content as a weaned child is content in its mother’s arms.
3 Israel, put your hope in the Lord now and forever.
A song for going up to worship.
132 O Lord, remember David and all the hardships he endured.
2 Remember how he swore an oath to the Lord
and made this vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 “I will not step inside my house,
4 get into my bed, shut my eyes, or close my eyelids
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Now, we have heard about the ark ⌞of the promise⌟ being in Ephrathah.
We have found it in Jaar.
7 Let’s go to his dwelling place.
Let’s worship at his footstool.
8 O Lord, arise, and come to your resting place
with the ark of your power.
9 Clothe your priests with righteousness.
Let your godly ones sing with joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not reject your anointed one.
11 The Lord swore an oath to David.
This is a truth he will not take back:
“I will set one of your own descendants on your throne.
12 If your sons are faithful to my promise [a]
and my written instructions that I will teach them,
then their descendants will also sit on your throne forever.”
13 The Lord has chosen Zion.
He wants it for his home.
14 “This will be my resting place forever.
Here I will sit enthroned because I want Zion.
15 I will certainly bless all that Zion needs.
I will satisfy its needy people with food.
16 I will clothe its priests with salvation.
Then its godly ones will sing joyfully.
17 There I will make a horn sprout up for David.
I will prepare a lamp for my anointed one.
18 I will clothe his enemies with shame,
but the crown on my anointed one will shine.”
14 This is what the Lord says:
The products from Egypt, the merchandise from Sudan,
and the important Sabaeans will come to you.
They will belong to you.
They will follow you.
They will come to you in chains.
They will bow to you and pray to you,
“Certainly God is with you alone, and there is no other God.”
15 Certainly, you are a God who has hidden himself.
You are the God of Israel, the Savior!
16 Those who make idols will be ashamed and disgraced.
They will go away completely disgraced.
17 Israel has been saved by the Lord forever.
You will never again be ashamed or disgraced.
18 The Lord created the heavens.
God formed the earth and made it.
He set it up.
He did not create it to be empty
but formed it to be inhabited.
This is what the Lord says:
I am the Lord, and there is no other.
19 I haven’t spoken privately or in some dark corner of the world.
I didn’t say to Jacob’s descendants,
“Search for me in vain!”
I, the Lord, speak what is fair and say what is right.
Paul Describes His Work
24 I am happy to suffer for you now. In my body I am completing whatever remains of Christ’s sufferings. I am doing this on behalf of his body, the church. 25 I became a servant of the church when God gave me the work of telling you his entire message. 26 In the past God hid this mystery, but now he has revealed it to his people. 27 God wanted his people throughout the world to know the glorious riches of this mystery—which is Christ living in you, giving you the hope of glory.
28 We spread the message about Christ as we instruct and teach everyone with all the wisdom there is. We want to present everyone as mature Christian people. 29 I work hard and struggle to do this while his mighty power works in me.
2 I want you to know how hard I work for you, for the people of Laodicea, and for people I have never met. 2 Because they are united in love, I work so that they may be encouraged by all the riches that come from a complete understanding of Christ. He is the mystery of God. 3 God has hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge in Christ. 4 I say this so that no one will mislead you with arguments that merely sound good. 5 Although I’m absent from you physically, I’m with you in spirit. I’m happy to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
6 You received Christ Jesus the Lord, so continue to live as Christ’s people. 7 Sink your roots in him and build on him. Be strengthened by the faith that you were taught, and overflow with thanksgiving.
Jesus Speaks with the Pharisees about His Father
12 Jesus spoke to the Pharisees again. He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will have a life filled with light and will never live in the dark.”
13 The Pharisees said to him, “You testify on your own behalf, so your testimony isn’t true.”
14 Jesus replied to them, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is true because I know where I came from and where I’m going. However, you don’t know where I came from or where I’m going. 15 You judge the way humans do. I don’t judge anyone. 16 Even if I do judge, my judgment is valid because I don’t make it on my own. I make my judgment with the Father who sent me. 17 Your own teachings say that the testimony of two people is true. 18 I testify on my own behalf, and so does the Father who sent me.”
19 The Pharisees asked him, “Where is your father?”
Jesus replied, “You don’t know me or my Father. If you knew me, you would also know my Father.”
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