Book of Common Prayer
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.”
The Excellency of Brotherly Unity.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For (AO)brothers to live together in unity!
2 It is like the precious (AP)oil on the head,
Running down upon the beard,
As on Aaron’s beard,
The oil which ran down upon the (AQ)edge of his robes.
3 It is like the (AR)dew of (AS)Hermon
Coming down upon the (AT)mountains of Zion;
For the Lord (AU)commanded the blessing there—(AV)life forever.
Greetings of Night Watchers.
A Song of Ascents.
134 Behold, (AW)bless the Lord, all you (AX)servants of the Lord,
Who [j](AY)serve (AZ)by night in the house of the Lord!
2 (BA)Lift up your hands to the (BB)sanctuary
And bless the Lord.
3 May the Lord (BC)bless you from Zion,
He who (BD)made heaven and earth.
Praise the Lord’s Wonderful Works. Futility of Idols.
135 [k](BE)Praise [l]the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise Him, you (BF)servants of the Lord,
2 You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In the (BG)courtyards of the house of our God!
3 [m]Praise [n]the Lord, for (BH)the Lord is good;
(BI)Sing praises to His name, (BJ)for it is lovely.
4 For [o]the Lord has (BK)chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel as His (BL)own possession.
5 For I know that (BM)the Lord is great
And that our Lord is (BN)above all gods.
6 (BO)Whatever the Lord pleases, He does,
In heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the ocean depths.
7 [p]He (BP)causes the [q]mist to ascend from the ends of the earth,
[r]He (BQ)makes lightning for the rain;
[s]He (BR)brings forth the wind from His treasuries.
8 [t]He (BS)struck the firstborn of Egypt,
[u]Both human firstborn and animal.
9 [v]He sent (BT)signs and wonders into your midst, Egypt,
Upon (BU)Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 [w](BV)He (BW)struck many nations
And brought death to mighty kings,
11 (BX)Sihon, king of the Amorites,
(BY)Og, king of Bashan,
And (BZ)all the kingdoms of Canaan;
12 And He (CA)gave their land as an inheritance,
An inheritance to His people Israel.
13 Your (CB)name, Lord, is everlasting,
The mention of You, Lord, is [x]throughout all generations.
14 For the Lord will (CC)judge His people
And (CD)will have compassion on His servants.
15 The (CE)idols of the nations are nothing but silver and gold,
The work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
They have eyes, but they do not see;
17 They have ears, but they do not hear,
Nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will become like them,
Yes, everyone who trusts in them.
The Lures of the Prostitute
7 My son, (A)keep my words
And treasure my commandments within you.
2 (B)Keep my commandments and live,
And my [a]teaching (C)as the [b]apple of your eye.
3 (D)Bind them on your fingers;
(E)Write them on the tablet of your heart.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
And call understanding your intimate friend,
5 So that they may keep you from an [c]adulteress,
From the foreigner who flatters with her words.
6 For (F)at the window of my house
I looked out (G)through my lattice,
7 And I saw among the (H)naive,
And discerned among the [d]youths
A young man (I)lacking [e]sense,
8 Passing through the street near (J)her corner;
And he walks along the way to (K)her house,
9 In the (L)twilight, in the [f]evening,
In the [g]middle of the night and the darkness.
10 And behold, a woman comes to meet him,
(M)Dressed as a prostitute and cunning of heart.
11 She is (N)boisterous and rebellious,
Her (O)feet do not remain at home;
12 She is now in the streets, now (P)in the public squares,
And (Q)lurks by every corner.
13 So she seizes him and kisses him,
[h]And with a (R)brazen face she says to him:
14 “[i]I was due to offer (S)peace offerings;
Today I have (T)paid my vows.
15 Therefore I have come out to meet you,
To seek your presence diligently, and I have found you.
16 I have spread my couch with (U)coverings,
With colored (V)linens of Egypt.
17 I have sprinkled my bed
With (W)myrrh, aloes, and (X)cinnamon.
18 Come, let’s drink our fill of love until morning;
Let’s delight ourselves with caresses.
19 For [j]my husband is not at home;
He has gone on a long journey.
20 He has taken a (Y)bag of money [k]with him.
At the full moon he will come home.”
21 With her many persuasions she entices him;
With her [l](Z)flattering lips she seduces him.
22 Suddenly he follows her
As an ox goes to the slaughter,
Or as [m]one walks in ankle bracelets to the discipline of a fool,
23 Until an arrow pierces through his liver;
As a (AA)bird hurries to the snare,
So he does not know that it will cost him his life.
24 Now therefore, my sons, (AB)listen to me,
And pay attention to the words of my mouth.
25 Do not let your heart (AC)turn aside to her ways,
Do not stray into her paths.
26 For many are the [n]victims she has brought to ruin,
And (AD)numerous are all those slaughtered by her.
27 Her (AE)house is the way to Sheol,
Descending to the chambers of death.
This Is Written That You May Know
13 (A)These things I have written to you who (B)believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have (C)eternal life. 14 This is (D)the confidence which we have [a]before Him, that, (E)if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, (F)we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
16 If anyone sees his brother or sister [b]committing a sin not leading to death, (G)he shall ask and [c]God will, for him, give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. (H)There is sin leading to death; (I)I am not saying that he should ask about that. 17 (J)All unrighteousness is sin, and (K)there is sin not leading to death.
18 (L)We know that (M)no one who has been born of God [d]sins; but He who was born of God (N)keeps him, and (O)the evil one does not (P)touch him. 19 (Q)We know that (R)we are of God, and that (S)the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 20 And (T)we know that (U)the Son of God has come, and has (V)given us understanding so that we may know (W)Him who is true; and we (X)are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. (Y)This is the true God and (Z)eternal life.
55 Now (A)the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country prior to the Passover, (B)in order to [a]purify themselves. 56 So they (C)were looking for Jesus, and saying to one another as they stood in the temple area, “What do you think; that He will not come to the feast at all?” 57 Now (D)the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might arrest Him.
Mary Anoints Jesus
12 (E)Therefore, six days before (F)the Passover, Jesus came to (G)Bethany where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they made Him a dinner there, and (H)Martha was serving; and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with Him. 3 (I)Mary then took a [b]pound of very expensive (J)perfume of pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped His feet with her hair; and the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But (K)Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, the one who intended to [c]betray Him, *said, 5 “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred [d]denarii and the proceeds given to poor people?” 6 Now he said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he (L)kept the money box, he used to [e]steal from (M)what was put into it. 7 Therefore Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it [f]for (N)the day of My burial. 8 (O)For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.”
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