Book of Common Prayer
Qoph.
145
I cried with all my heart; answer me, O Lord!
I will observe Your statutes.
146
I cried to You; save me
And I will keep Your testimonies.
147
I rise before dawn and cry [in prayer] for help;
I wait for Your word.
148
My eyes anticipate the night watches and I awake before the call of the watchman,
That I may meditate on Your word.
149
Hear my voice according to Your [steadfast] lovingkindness;
O Lord, renew and refresh me according to Your ordinances.
150
Those who follow after wickedness approach;
They are far from Your law.
151
You are near, O Lord,
And all Your commandments are truth.
152
Of old I have known from Your testimonies
That You have founded them forever.(A)
Resh.
153
Look upon my agony and rescue me,
For I do not forget Your law.
154
Plead my cause and redeem me;
Revive me and give me life according to [the promise of] Your word.
155
Salvation is far from the wicked,
For they do not seek Your statutes.
156
Great are Your tender mercies and steadfast love, O Lord;
Revive me and give me life according to Your ordinances.
157
Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,
Yet I do not turn away from Your testimonies.
158
I see the treacherous and loathe them,
Because they do not respect Your law.
159
Consider how I love Your precepts;
Revive me and give me life, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.
160
The sum of Your word is truth [the full meaning of all Your precepts],
And every one of Your righteous ordinances endures forever.
Shin.
161
Princes persecute me without cause,
But my heart stands in [reverent] awe of Your words [so I can expect You to help me].(B)
162
I rejoice at Your word,
As one who finds great treasure.
163
I hate and detest falsehood,
But I love Your law.
164
[a]Seven times a day I praise You,
Because of Your righteous ordinances.
165
Those who love Your law have great peace;
Nothing makes them stumble.(C)
166
I hope and wait [with complete confidence] for Your salvation, O Lord,
And I do Your commandments.(D)
167
My soul keeps Your testimonies [hearing and accepting and obeying them];
I love them greatly.
168
I keep Your precepts and Your testimonies,
For all my ways are [fully known] before You.
Tav.
169
Let my [mournful] cry come before You, O Lord;
Give me understanding [the ability to learn and a teachable heart] according to Your word [of promise].
170
Let my supplication come before You;
Deliver me according to Your word.
171
Let my lips speak praise [with thanksgiving],
For You teach me Your statutes.
172
Let my tongue sing [praise for the fulfillment] of Your word,
For all Your commandments are righteous.
173
Let Your hand be ready to help me,
For I have chosen Your precepts.
174
I long for Your salvation, O Lord,
And Your law is my delight.
175
Let my soul live that it may praise You,
And let Your ordinances help me.
176
I have gone astray like a lost sheep;
Seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments.(E)
Blessedness of the Fear of the Lord.
A Song of [a]Ascents.
128 Blessed [happy and sheltered by God’s favor] is everyone who fears the Lord [and worships Him with obedience],
Who walks in His ways and lives according to His commandments.(A)
2
For you shall eat the fruit of [the labor of] your hands,
You will be happy and blessed and it will be well with you.
3
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
Within the innermost part of your house;
Your children will be like olive plants
Around your table.
4
Behold, for so shall the man be blessed and divinely favored
Who fears the Lord [and worships Him with obedience].
5
May the Lord bless you from Zion [His holy mountain],
And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life;
6
Indeed, may you see your [family perpetuated in your] children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel!
Prayer for the Overthrow of Zion’s Enemies.
A Song of [b]Ascents.
129 “Many times they have persecuted me (Israel) from my youth,”
Let Israel now say,
2
“Many times they have persecuted me from my youth,
Yet they have not prevailed against me.
3
“The [enemies, like] plowers plowed on my back;
They made their furrows [of suffering] long [in Israel].”
4
The Lord is righteous;
He has cut in two the [thick] cords of the wicked [which enslaved the people of Israel].
5
May all who hate Zion
Be put to shame and turned backward [in defeat].
6
Let them be like the grass on the housetops,
Which withers before it grows up,
7
With which the reaper does not fill his hand,
Nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
8
Nor do those who pass by say,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
Hope in the Lord’s Forgiving Love.
A Song of [c]Ascents.
130 Out of the [d]depths [of distress] I have cried to You, O Lord.
2
Lord, hear my voice!
Let Your ears be attentive
To the voice of my supplications.
3
If You, Lord, should keep an account of our sins and treat us accordingly,
O Lord, who could stand [before you in judgment and claim innocence]?(B)
4
But there is forgiveness with You,
That You may be feared and worshiped [with submissive wonder].(C)
5
I wait [patiently] for the Lord, my soul [expectantly] waits,
And in His word do I hope.
6
My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchmen for the morning;
More than the watchmen for the morning.
7
O Israel, hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is lovingkindness,
And with Him is abundant redemption.
8
And He will redeem Israel
From all his sins.
Parental Counsel
6 My son, if you have become surety (guaranteed a debt or obligation) for your neighbor,
If you have given your pledge for [the debt of] a stranger or another [outside your family],
2
If you have been snared with the words of your lips,
If you have been trapped by the speech of your mouth,
3
Do this now, my son, and release yourself [from the obligation];
[a]Since you have come into the hand of your neighbor,
Go humble yourself, and plead with your neighbor [to pay his debt and release you].
4
Give no [unnecessary] sleep to your eyes,
Nor slumber to your eyelids;
5
Tear yourself away like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter
And like a bird from the hand of the fowler.
6
Go to the ant, O lazy one;
Observe her ways and be wise,(A)
7
Which, having no chief,
Overseer or ruler,
8
She prepares her food in the summer
And brings in her provisions [of food for the winter] in the harvest.
9
How long will you lie down, O lazy one?
When will you arise from your sleep [and learn self-discipline]?(B)
10
“Yet a little sleep, a little slumber,
A little folding of the hands to lie down and rest”—
11
So your poverty will come like an approaching prowler who walks [slowly, but surely]
And your need [will come] like an armed man [making you helpless].(C)
12
A worthless person, a wicked man,
Is one who walks with a perverse (corrupt, vulgar) mouth.
13
Who winks with his eyes [in mockery], who shuffles his feet [to signal],
Who points with his fingers [to give subversive instruction];
14
Who perversely in his heart plots trouble and evil continually;
Who spreads discord and strife.
15
Therefore [the crushing weight of] his disaster will come suddenly upon him;
Instantly he will be broken, and there will be no healing or remedy [because he has no heart for God].
16
These six things the Lord hates;
Indeed, seven are repulsive to Him:
17
A proud look [the attitude that makes one overestimate oneself and discount others], a lying tongue,
And hands that shed innocent blood,(D)
18
A heart that creates wicked plans,
Feet that run swiftly to evil,
19
A false witness who breathes out lies [even half-truths],
And one who spreads discord (rumors) among brothers.
Overcoming the World
5 Everyone who believes [with a deep, abiding trust in the fact] that Jesus is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed) is born of God [that is, reborn from above—spiritually transformed, renewed, and set apart for His purpose], and everyone who loves the Father also loves [a]the child born of Him. 2 By this we know [without any doubt] that we love the children of God: [expressing that love] when we love God and obey His commandments. 3 For the [true] love of God is this: that we habitually keep His commandments and remain focused on His precepts. And His commandments and His precepts are not difficult [to obey]. 4 For [b]everyone born of God is victorious and overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has conquered and overcome the world—our [continuing, persistent] faith [in Jesus the Son of God].
5 Who is the one who is victorious and overcomes the world? It is the one who believes and recognizes the fact that Jesus is the Son of God. 6 This is He who came through water and blood [His baptism and death], Jesus Christ—not by the water only, but by the water and the blood. It is the [Holy] Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. [He is the essence and origin of truth itself.] 7 For there are three witnesses: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three are in agreement [their testimony is perfectly consistent]. 9 If we accept [as we do] the testimony of men [that is, if we are willing to take the sworn statements of fallible humans as evidence], the testimony of God is greater [far more authoritative]; for this is the testimony of God, that He has testified regarding His Son. 10 The one who believes in the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies confidently on Him as Savior] has the testimony within himself [because he can speak authoritatively about Christ from his own personal experience]. The one who does not believe God [in this way] has made Him [out to be] a liar, because he has not believed in the evidence that God has given regarding His Son. 11 And the testimony is this: God has given us eternal life [we already possess it], and this life is in His Son [resulting in our spiritual completeness, and eternal companionship with Him]. 12 He who has the Son [by accepting Him as Lord and Savior] has the life [that is eternal]; he who does not have the Son of God [by personal faith] does not have the life.
45 So then, many of the Jews who had come to [be with] Mary and who were eyewitnesses to what Jesus had done, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went back to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
Conspiracy to Kill Jesus
47 So the chief priests and Pharisees convened a council [of the leaders in Israel], and said, “What are we doing? For this man performs many signs (attesting miracles). 48 If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our [holy] place (the temple) and our nation.” 49 But one of them, [a]Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year [the year of Christ’s crucifixion], said to them, “You know nothing at all! 50 Nor do you understand that it is expedient and politically advantageous for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.” 51 Now he did not say this [simply] on his own initiative; but being the high priest that year, he [was unknowingly used by God and] prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation,(A) 52 and not only for the nation, but also for the purpose of gathering together into one body the children of God who have been scattered abroad.(B) 53 So from that day on they planned together to kill Him.
54 For that reason Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but left there and went to the district that borders on the uninhabited wilderness, to a town called Ephraim; and He stayed there with the disciples.
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