Book of Common Prayer
The Lord, the Keeper of Israel.
A Song of Ascents.
121 I will (A)raise my eyes to (B)the mountains;
From where will 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)watches over you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who watches over Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your [a](G)protector;
The Lord is your (H)shade on your right hand.
6 The (I)sun will not [b]beat down on you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will [c](J)protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The Lord will [d](K)guard your going out and your coming in
(L)From this time and forever.
Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let’s (M)go to the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet are standing
Within your (N)gates, Jerusalem,
3 Jerusalem, that has been (O)built
As a city that is (P)firmly joined together;
4 To which the tribes (Q)go up, the tribes of [e]the Lord—
[f]An ordinance for Israel—
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For (R)thrones were set there 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 Lord, my heart is not (A)proud, nor my eyes (B)arrogant;
Nor do I [a]involve myself in (C)great matters,
Or in things (D)too [b]difficult for me.
2 I have certainly (E)soothed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned (F)child resting [c]against his mother,
My soul [d]within me is like a weaned child.
3 Israel, (G)wait for the Lord
(H)From this time on and forever.
Prayer for the Lord’s Blessing upon the Sanctuary.
A Song of Ascents.
132 Remember, Lord, in David’s behalf,
All (I)his affliction;
2 How he swore to the Lord
And vowed to (J)the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I certainly will not [e]enter (K)my house,
Nor [f]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,
[g]A dwelling place for (N)the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard about it in (O)Ephrathah,
We found it in the (P)field of [h]Jaar.
7 Let’s go into His [i](Q)dwelling place;
Let’s (R)worship at His (S)footstool.
8 (T)Arise, Lord, to Your (U)resting place,
You and the ark of Your (V)strength.
9 May Your priests be (W)clothed with righteousness,
And may Your (X)godly ones sing for joy.
10 For the sake of Your servant David,
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:
“I will set upon your throne one (AA)from the fruit of your body.
12 If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their sons also will (AB)sit upon your throne forever.”
13 For the Lord has (AC)chosen Zion;
He has (AD)desired it as His dwelling place.
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 food;
I will (AH)satisfy her needy with bread.
16 I will also clothe her (AI)priests with salvation,
And her (AJ)godly ones will sing aloud for joy.
17 I will make the (AK)horn of David spring forth there;
I have prepared a (AL)lamp for My anointed.
18 I will (AM)clothe his enemies with shame,
But upon himself his (AN)crown will gleam.”
14 This is what the Lord says:
“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 plead with you:
‘[c](F)God certainly is [d]with you, and (G)there is no one else,
No other God.’”
15 Truly, You are a God who (H)hides Himself,
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 this is what the Lord says, He 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]as 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 am supplementing what is lacking [a]in Christ’s afflictions in behalf of (C)His body, which is the church. 25 (D)I [b]was made a minister of this church according to the (E)commission from God granted to me for your benefit, so that I might [c]fully carry out the preaching of the word of God, 26 that is, (F)the mystery which had been hidden from the past ages and generations, but now has been revealed to His [d]saints, 27 to whom (G)God willed to make known what (H)the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles is, the mystery that is (I)Christ in you, the (J)hope of glory. 28 We proclaim Him, (K)admonishing every person and teaching every person [e]with all (L)wisdom, so that we may (M)present every person [f](N)complete in Christ. 29 For this purpose I also (O)labor, (P)striving (Q)according to His [g]power which [h]works mightily within me.
You Are Built Up in Christ
2 For I want you to know how great a (R)struggle I have in your behalf and for those who are at (S)Laodicea, and for all those who have not [i]personally seen my face, 2 that their (T)hearts may be encouraged, having been (U)knit together in love, and that they would attain to all (V)the wealth [j]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 deceive you with (AA)persuasive arguments. 5 For even though I am (AB)absent in body, I am nevertheless with you in spirit, rejoicing [k]to see [l]your (AC)orderly manner and the (AD)stability of your faith in Christ.
6 Therefore, as you have received (AE)Christ Jesus the Lord, so [m](AF)walk in Him, 7 having been firmly (AG)rooted and now being (AH)built up in Him and (AI)established [n]in [o]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)the one 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 am testifying about Myself, My testimony is [b]true, because 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 people 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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