Book of Common Prayer
The Lord the Keeper of Israel.
A Song of Ascents.
121 I will (A)lift up my eyes to (B)the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
2 My (C)help comes from the Lord,
Who (D)made heaven and earth.
3 He will not (E)allow your foot to slip;
He who (F)keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your (G)keeper;
The Lord is your (H)shade on your right hand.
6 The (I)sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will [a](J)protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The Lord will [b](K)guard your going out and your coming in
(L)From this time forth and forever.
Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us (M)go to the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet are standing
Within your (N)gates, O Jerusalem,
3 Jerusalem, that is (O)built
As a city that is (P)compact together;
4 To which the tribes (Q)go up, even the tribes of [c]the Lord—
[d]An ordinance for Israel—
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For there (R)thrones were set for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the (S)peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who (T)love you.
7 “May peace be within your (U)walls,
And prosperity within your (V)palaces.”
8 For the sake of my (W)brothers and my friends,
I will now say, “(X)May peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will (Y)seek your good.
Prayer for the Lord’s Help.
A Song of Ascents.
Childlike Trust in the Lord.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
131 O Lord, my heart is not (A)proud, nor my eyes [a](B)haughty;
Nor do I [b]involve myself in (C)great matters,
Or in things (D)too [c]difficult for me.
2 Surely I have (E)composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned (F)child rests [d]against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child [e]within me.
3 O Israel, (G)hope in the Lord
(H)From this time forth and forever.
Prayer for the Lord’s Blessing upon the Sanctuary.
A Song of Ascents.
132 Remember, O Lord, on David’s behalf,
All (I)his affliction;
2 How he swore to the Lord
And vowed to (J)the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “Surely I will not [f]enter (K)my house,
Nor [g]lie on my bed;
4 I will not (L)give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
5 Until I find a (M)place for the Lord,
[h]A dwelling place for (N)the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard of it in (O)Ephrathah,
We found it in the (P)field of [i]Jaar.
7 Let us go into His [j](Q)dwelling place;
Let us (R)worship at His (S)footstool.
8 (T)Arise, O Lord, to Your (U)resting place,
You and the ark of Your (V)strength.
9 Let Your priests be (W)clothed with righteousness,
And let Your (X)godly ones sing for joy.
10 For the sake of David Your servant,
Do not turn away the face of Your (Y)anointed.
11 The Lord has (Z)sworn to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“(AA)Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne.
12 “If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their sons also shall (AB)sit upon your throne forever.”
13 For the Lord has (AC)chosen Zion;
He has (AD)desired it for His habitation.
14 “This is My (AE)resting place forever;
Here I will (AF)dwell, for I have desired it.
15 “I will abundantly (AG)bless her provision;
I will (AH)satisfy her needy with bread.
16 “Her (AI)priests also I will clothe with salvation,
And her (AJ)godly ones will sing aloud for joy.
17 “There I will cause the (AK)horn of David to spring forth;
I have prepared a (AL)lamp for Mine anointed.
18 “His enemies I will (AM)clothe with shame,
But upon himself his (AN)crown shall shine.”
14 Thus says the Lord,
“The [a]products of (A)Egypt and the merchandise of [b](B)Cush
And the Sabeans, men of stature,
Will (C)come over to you and will be yours;
They will walk behind you, they will come over in (D)chains
And will (E)bow down to you;
They will make supplication to you:
‘[c]Surely, (F)God is [d]with you, and (G)there is none else,
No other God.’”
15 Truly, You are a God who (H)hides Himself,
O God of Israel, (I)Savior!
16 They will be (J)put to shame and even humiliated, all of them;
The (K)manufacturers of idols will go away together in humiliation.
17 Israel has been saved by the Lord
With an (L)everlasting salvation;
You (M)will not be put to shame or humiliated
To all eternity.
18 For thus says the Lord, who (N)created the heavens (He is the God who (O)formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it [e]a (P)waste place, but formed it to be (Q)inhabited),
24 (A)Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh (B)I [a]do my share on behalf of (C)His body, which is the church, in filling up what is lacking [b]in Christ’s afflictions. 25 (D)Of this church I [c]was made a minister according to the (E)stewardship from God bestowed on me for your benefit, so that I might [d]fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, (F)the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His [e]saints, 27 to whom (G)God willed to make known what is (H)the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is (I)Christ in you, the (J)hope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, (K)admonishing every man and teaching every man [f]with all (L)wisdom, so that we may (M)present every man [g](N)complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose also I (O)labor, (P)striving (Q)according to His [h]power, which [i]mightily works within me.
You Are Built Up in Christ
2 For I want you to know how great a (R)struggle I have on your behalf and for those who are at (S)Laodicea, and for all those who have not [j]personally seen my face, 2 that their (T)hearts may be encouraged, having been (U)knit together in love, and attaining to all (V)the wealth [k]that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a (W)true knowledge of (X)God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, 3 in whom are hidden all (Y)the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4 (Z)I say this so that no one will delude you with (AA)persuasive argument. 5 For even though I am (AB)absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit, rejoicing [l]to see [m]your (AC)good discipline and the (AD)stability of your faith in Christ.
6 Therefore as you have received (AE)Christ Jesus the Lord, so [n](AF)walk in Him, 7 having been firmly (AG)rooted and now being (AH)built up in Him and (AI)established [o]in your faith, just as you (AJ)were instructed, and overflowing [p]with gratitude.
Jesus Is the Light of the World
12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “(A)I am the Light of the world; (B)he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to Him, “(C)You are testifying about Yourself; Your testimony is not [a]true.” 14 Jesus answered and said to them, “(D)Even if I testify about Myself, My testimony is [b]true, for I know (E)where I came from and where I am going; but (F)you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 (G)You judge [c]according to the flesh; (H)I am not judging anyone. 16 But even (I)if I do judge, My judgment is true; for I am not alone in it, but I and the Father who sent Me. 17 Even in (J)your law it has been written that the testimony of (K)two men is [d]true. 18 I am He who testifies about Myself, and (L)the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” 19 So they were saying to Him, “Where is Your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither Me nor My Father; (M)if you knew Me, you would know My Father also.”
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