Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 120
A pilgrimage song.[a]
120 I cried out to the Lord when I was in trouble
(and he answered me):
2 “Lord, deliver me[b] from lying lips
and a dishonest tongue!”
3 What more will be given to you,
what more will be done to you,
you dishonest tongue?
4 Just this:[c] a warrior’s sharpened arrows,
coupled with burning coals from a wood[d] fire!
5 Oh, I’m doomed
because I have been an immigrant in Meshech,
because I’ve made my home among Kedar’s tents.
6 I’ve lived far too long
with people who hate peace.
7 I’m for peace,
but when I speak, they are for war.
Psalm 121
A pilgrimage song.
121 I raise my eyes toward the mountains.
Where will my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
3 God won’t let your foot slip.
Your protector won’t fall asleep on the job.
4 No! Israel’s protector
never sleeps or rests!
5 The Lord is your protector;
the Lord is your shade right beside you.
6 The sun won’t strike you during the day;
neither will the moon at night.
7 The Lord will protect you from all evil;
God will protect your very life.[e]
8 The Lord will protect you on your journeys—
whether going or coming—
from now until forever from now.
Psalm 122
A pilgrimage song. Of David.
122 I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let’s go to the Lord’s house!”
2 Now our feet are standing
in your gates, Jerusalem!
3 Jerusalem is built like a city
joined together in unity.
4 That is where the tribes go up—
the Lord’s tribes!
It is the law for Israel
to give thanks there to the Lord’s name,
5 because the thrones of justice are there—
the thrones of the house of David!
6 Pray that Jerusalem has peace:
“Let those who love you have rest.
7 Let there be peace on your walls;
let there be rest on your fortifications.”
8 For the sake of my family and friends,
I say, “Peace be with you, Jerusalem.”
9 For the sake of the Lord our God’s house
I will pray for your good.
Psalm 123
A pilgrimage song.
123 I raise my eyes to you—
you who rule heaven.
2 Just as the eyes of servants attend to their masters’ hand,
just as the eyes of a female servant attend to her mistress’ hand—
that’s how our eyes attend to the Lord our God
until he has mercy on us.
3 Have mercy on us, Lord! Have mercy
because we’ve had more than enough shame.
4 We’ve had more than enough mockery from the self-confident,
more than enough shame from the proud.
Psalm 124
A pilgrimage song. Of David.
124 If the Lord hadn’t been for us—
let Israel now repeat!—
2 if the Lord hadn’t been for us,
when those people attacked us
3 then they would have swallowed us up whole
with their rage burning against us!
4 Then the waters would have drowned us;
the torrent would have come over our necks;[f]
5 then the raging waters would have come over our necks!
6 Bless the Lord
because he didn’t hand us over
like food for our enemies’ teeth!
7 We escaped like a bird from the hunters’ trap;
the trap was broken so we escaped!
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 125
A pilgrimage song.
125 The people who trust in the Lord
are like Mount Zion:
never shaken, lasting forever.
2 Mountains surround Jerusalem.
That’s how the Lord surrounds his people
from now until forever from now!
3 The wicked rod won’t remain
in the land given to the righteous
so that they don’t use their hands to do anything wrong.[g]
4 Lord, do good to people who are good,
to people whose hearts are right.
5 But as for those people who turn to their own twisted ways—
may the Lord march them off with other evildoers!
Peace be on Israel!
Psalm 126
A pilgrimage song.
126 When the Lord changed Zion’s circumstances for the better,
it was like we had been dreaming.
2 Our mouths were suddenly filled with laughter;
our tongues were filled with joyful shouts.
It was even said, at that time, among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them!”
3 Yes, the Lord has done great things for us,
and we are overjoyed.
4 Lord, change our circumstances for the better,
like dry streams in the desert waste!
5 Let those who plant with tears
reap the harvest with joyful shouts.
6 Let those who go out,
crying and carrying their seed,
come home with joyful shouts,
carrying bales of grain!
Psalm 127
A pilgrimage song. Of Solomon.
127 Unless it is the Lord who builds the house,
the builders’ work is pointless.
Unless it is the Lord who protects the city,
the guard on duty is pointless.
2 It is pointless that you get up early and stay up late,
eating the bread of hard labor
because God gives sleep to those he loves.
3 No doubt about it: children are a gift from the Lord;
the fruit of the womb is a divine reward.
4 The children born when one is young
are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.
5 The person who fills a quiver full with them is truly happy!
They won’t be ashamed when arguing with their enemies in the gate.
Love wisdom
4 Hear, children, fatherly instruction;
pay attention to gain understanding.
2 I’ll teach you well.
Don’t abandon my instruction.
3 When I was a son to my father,
tender and my mother’s favorite,
4 he taught me and said to me:
“Let your heart hold on to my words:
Keep my commands and live.
5 Get wisdom; get understanding.
Don’t forget and don’t turn away from my words.
6 Don’t abandon her, and she will guard you.
Love her, and she will protect you.
7 The beginning of wisdom:
Get wisdom!
Get understanding before anything else.
8 Highly esteem her, and she will exalt you.
She will honor you if you embrace her.
9 She will place a graceful wreath on your head;
she will give you a glorious crown.”
Stay on the path of wisdom
10 Listen, my son, and take in my speech,
then the years of your life will be many.
11 I teach you the path of wisdom.
I lead you in straight courses.
12 When you walk, you won’t be hindered;
when you run, you won’t stumble.
13 Hold on to instruction; don’t slack off;
protect it, for it is your life.
14 Don’t go on the way of the wicked;
don’t walk on the path of evil people.
15 Avoid it! Don’t turn onto it;
stay off of it and keep going!
16 They don’t sleep unless they do evil;
they are robbed of sleep unless they make someone stumble.
17 They eat the bread of evil,
and they drink the wine of violence.
18 The way of the righteous is like morning light
that gets brighter and brighter till it is full day.
19 The path of the wicked is like deep darkness;
they don’t know where they will stumble.
Be careful about what you say
20 My son, pay attention to my words.
Bend your ear to my speech.
21 Don’t let them slip from your sight.
Guard them in your mind.
22 They are life to those who find them,
and healing for their entire body.
23 More than anything you guard, protect your mind, for life flows from it.
24 Have nothing to do with a corrupt mouth;
keep devious lips far from you.
25 Focus your eyes straight ahead;
keep your gaze on what is in front of you.
26 Watch your feet on the way,
and all your paths will be secure.
27 Don’t deviate a bit to the right or the left;
turn your feet away from evil.
Love and God
7 Dear friends, let’s love each other, because love is from God, and everyone who loves is born from God and knows God. 8 The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how the love of God is revealed to us: God has sent his only Son into the world so that we can live through him. 10 This is love: it is not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son as the sacrifice that deals with our sins.
11 Dear friends, if God loved us this way, we also ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. If we love each other, God remains in us and his love is made perfect in us. 13 This is how we know we remain in him and he remains in us, because he has given us a measure of his Spirit. 14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the savior of the world. 15 If any of us confess that Jesus is God’s Son, God remains in us and we remain in God. 16 We have known and have believed the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who remain in love remain in God and God remains in them. 17 This is how love has been perfected in us, so that we can have confidence on the Judgment Day, because we are exactly the same as God is in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear expects punishment. The person who is afraid has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love because God first loved us. 20 Those who say, “I love God” and hate their brothers or sisters are liars. After all, those who don’t love their brothers or sisters whom they have seen can hardly love God whom they have not seen! 21 This commandment we have from him: Those who claim to love God ought to love their brother and sister also.
30 He hadn’t entered the village but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were comforting Mary in the house saw her get up quickly and leave, they followed her. They assumed she was going to mourn at the tomb.
32 When Mary arrived where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her crying and the Jews who had come with her crying also, he was deeply disturbed and troubled. 34 He asked, “Where have you laid him?”
They replied, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus began to cry. 36 The Jews said, “See how much he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “He healed the eyes of the man born blind. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”
Jesus at Lazarus’ tomb
38 Jesus was deeply disturbed again when he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone covered the entrance. 39 Jesus said, “Remove the stone.”
Martha, the sister of the dead man, said, “Lord, the smell will be awful! He’s been dead four days.”
40 Jesus replied, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see God’s glory?” 41 So they removed the stone. Jesus looked up and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. 42 I know you always hear me. I say this for the benefit of the crowd standing here so that they will believe that you sent me.” 43 Having said this, Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his feet bound and his hands tied, and his face covered with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible