Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 131[a]
Humble Trust in God
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
Lord, my heart is not proud;
nor are my eyes haughty.
I do not busy myself with great matters,
with things too sublime for me.(A)
2 Rather, I have stilled my soul,
Like a weaned child to its mother,
weaned is my soul.(B)
3 Israel, hope in the Lord,
now and forever.
Psalm 132[b]
The Covenant Between David and God
1 A song of ascents.
I
Remember, O Lord, for David
all his hardships;
2 How he swore an oath to the Lord,
vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:[c]
3 “I will not enter the house where I live,(C)
nor lie on the couch where I sleep;
4 I will give my eyes no sleep,
my eyelids no rest,
5 Till I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 “We have heard of it in Ephrathah;[d]
we have found it in the fields of Jaar.
7 Let us enter his dwelling;
let us worship at his footstool.”(D)
8 “Arise, Lord, come to your resting place,(E)
you and your mighty ark.
9 Your priests will be clothed with justice;
your devout will shout for joy.”
10 For the sake of David your servant,
do not reject your anointed.
II
11 The Lord swore an oath to David in truth,
he will never turn back from it:(F)
“Your own offspring(G) I will set upon your throne.
12 If your sons observe my covenant,
and my decrees I shall teach them,
Their sons, in turn,
shall sit forever on your throne.”
13 Yes, the Lord has chosen Zion,
desired it for a dwelling:
14 “This is my resting place forever;
here I will dwell, for I desire it.
15 I will bless Zion with provisions;
its poor I will fill with bread.
16 I will clothe its priests with salvation;
its devout shall shout for joy.(H)
17 There I will make a horn sprout for David;[e](I)
I will set a lamp for my anointed.
18 His foes I will clothe with shame,
but on him his crown shall shine.”
Psalm 133[f]
A Vision of a Blessed Community
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
How good and how pleasant it is,
when brothers[g] dwell together as one!
2 Like fine oil on the head,[h](J)
running down upon the beard,
Upon the beard of Aaron,
upon the collar of his robe.
3 Like dew[i] of Hermon coming down
upon the mountains of Zion.(K)
There the Lord has decreed a blessing,
life for evermore!(L)
Psalm 134[j]
Exhortation to the Night Watch to Bless God
1 A song of ascents.
O come, bless the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord[k]
You who stand in the house of the Lord
throughout the nights.(M)
2 Lift up your hands toward the sanctuary,(N)
and bless the Lord.
3 May the Lord bless you from Zion,
the Maker of heaven and earth.(O)
Psalm 135[l]
Praise of God, the Ruler and Benefactor of Israel
1 Hallelujah!
I
Praise the name of the Lord!
Praise, you servants of the Lord,(P)
2 Who stand in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God!(Q)
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good!
Sing to his name, for it brings joy!
4 [m]For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his treasured possession.(R)
II
5 For I know that the Lord is great,
that our Lord is greater than all gods.(S)
6 Whatever the Lord desires
he does in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the depths.(T)
7 It is he who raises storm clouds from the end of the earth,
makes lightning for the rain,
and brings forth wind from his storehouse.(U)
III
8 He struck down Egypt’s firstborn,(V)
of human being and beast alike,
9 And sent signs and wonders against you, Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 It is he who struck down many nations,(W)
and slew mighty kings—
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og, king of Bashan,
all the kings of Canaan—
12 And made their land a heritage,
a heritage for Israel his people.
13 O Lord, your name is forever,
your renown, from generation to generation!(X)
14 For the Lord defends his people,
shows mercy to his servants.(Y)
IV
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,(Z)
the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths but do not speak;
they have eyes but do not see;
17 They have ears but do not hear;
nor is there breath in their mouths.
18 Their makers will become like them,
and anyone who trusts in them.
V
19 House of Israel, bless the Lord!(AA)
House of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20 House of Levi, bless the Lord!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
who dwells in Jerusalem!
Hallelujah!
Chapter 7
The Seduction[a]
1 [b]My son, keep my words,
and treasure my commands.
2 Keep my commands and live,[c]
and my teaching as the apple of your eye;
3 Bind them on your fingers,
write them on the tablet of your heart.(A)
4 Say to Wisdom, “You are my sister!”[d]
Call Understanding, “Friend!”
5 That they may keep you from a stranger,
from the foreign woman with her smooth words.(B)
6 For at the window of my house,
through my lattice I looked out[e]
7 And I saw among the naive,
I observed among the young men,
a youth with no sense,
8 Crossing the street near the corner,
then walking toward her house,
9 In the twilight, at dusk of day,
in the very dark of night.
10 Then the woman comes to meet him,
dressed like a harlot, with secret designs.
11 She is raucous and unruly,
her feet cannot stay at home;
12 Now she is in the streets, now in the open squares,
lurking in ambush at every corner.
13 Then she grabs him, kisses him,
and with an impudent look says to him:
14 “I owed peace offerings,
and today I have fulfilled my vows;
15 So I came out to meet you,
to look for you, and I have found you!
16 With coverlets I have spread my couch,
with brocaded cloths of Egyptian linen;
17 I have sprinkled my bed[f] with myrrh,
with aloes, and with cinnamon.
18 Come, let us drink our fill of love,
until morning, let us feast on love!
19 For my husband is not at home,[g]
he has gone on a long journey;
20 A bag of money he took with him,
he will not return home till the full moon.”
21 She wins him over by repeated urging,
with her smooth lips she leads him astray.[h](C)
22 He follows her impulsively,
like an ox that goes to slaughter;
Like a stag that bounds toward the net,
23 till an arrow pierces its liver;
Like a bird that rushes into a snare,
unaware that his life is at stake.
24 So now, children, listen to me,[i]
be attentive to the words of my mouth!
25 Do not let your heart turn to her ways,
do not go astray in her paths;
26 For many are those she has struck down dead,
numerous, those she has slain.
27 Her house is a highway to Sheol,
leading down into the chambers of death.(D)
IV. Epilogue[a]
Prayer for Sinners. 13 I write these things to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God.(A) 14 And we have this confidence in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.(B) 15 And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask, we know that what we have asked him for is ours. 16 If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin, about which I do not say that you should pray.(C) 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that is not deadly.
18 We know that no one begotten by God sins; but the one begotten by God he protects, and the evil one cannot touch him. 19 We know that we belong to God, and the whole world is under the power of the evil one. 20 We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us discernment to know the one who is true. And we are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.(D) 21 Children, be on your guard against idols.
The Last Passover. 55 Now the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before Passover to purify[a] themselves.(A) 56 They looked for Jesus and said to one another as they were in the temple area, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast?” 57 For the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should inform them, so that they might arrest him.
Chapter 12
The Anointing at Bethany.(B) 1 [b]Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead.(C) 2 They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him.(D) 3 Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus[c] and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.(E) 4 Then Judas the Iscariot, one [of] his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, 5 “Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages[d] and given to the poor?” 6 He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions.(F) 7 So Jesus said, “Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial.[e] 8 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.”(G)
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.