Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137
Lament of the Exiles
1 By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion.(A)
2 There we hung up our lyres
on the poplar trees,(B)
3 for our captors there asked us for songs,
and our tormentors, for rejoicing:
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”(C)
Psalm 144
A King’s Prayer
Davidic.
1 May the Lord, my rock, be praised,(A)
who trains my hands for battle
and my fingers for warfare.(B)
2 He is my faithful love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer.
He is my shield,(C) and I take refuge in Him;(D)
He subdues my people[a] under me.(E)
3 Lord, what is man, that You care for him,
the son of man, that You think of him?(F)
4 Man is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow.(G)
5 Lord, part Your heavens and come down.(H)
Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.(I)
6 Flash Your lightning and scatter the foe;[b]
shoot Your arrows and rout them.(J)
7 Reach down[c] from heaven;(K)
rescue me from deep water, and set me free
from the grasp of foreigners(L)
8 whose mouths speak lies,
whose right hands are deceptive.(M)
9 God, I will sing a new song to You;
I will play on a ten-stringed harp for You(N)—
10 the One who gives victory to kings,
who frees His servant David
from the deadly sword.(O)
11 Set me free and rescue me
from the grasp of foreigners(P)
whose mouths speak lies,
whose right hands are deceptive.(Q)
12 Then our sons will be like plants
nurtured in their youth,
our daughters, like corner pillars
that are carved in the palace style.(R)
13 Our storehouses will be full,
supplying all kinds of produce;(S)
our flocks will increase by thousands
and tens of thousands in our open fields.(T)
14 Our cattle will be well fed.[d]
There will be no breach in the walls,
no going into captivity,[e]
and no cry of lament in our public squares.(U)
15 Happy are the people with such blessings.
Happy are the people whose God is Yahweh.(V)
Psalm 104
God the Creator
1 My soul, praise Yahweh!
Lord my God, You are very great;
You are clothed with majesty and splendor.(A)
2 He wraps Himself in light as if it were a robe,
spreading out the sky like a canopy,(B)
3 laying the beams of His palace
on the waters above,(C)
making the clouds His chariot,(D)
walking on the wings of the wind,(E)
4 and making the winds His messengers,[a]
flames of fire His servants.(F)
5 He established the earth on its foundations;
it will never be shaken.(G)
6 You covered it with the deep
as if it were a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.(H)
7 At Your rebuke the waters fled;
at the sound of Your thunder they hurried away(I)—
8 mountains rose and valleys sank[b]—
to the place You established for them.(J)
9 You set a boundary they cannot cross;
they will never cover the earth again.(K)
10 He causes the springs to gush into the valleys;
they flow between the mountains.(L)
11 They supply water for every wild beast;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.(M)
12 The birds of the sky live beside the springs;
they sing among the foliage.(N)
13 He waters the mountains from His palace;
the earth is satisfied by the fruit of Your labor.(O)
14 He causes grass to grow for the livestock
and provides crops for man to cultivate,
producing food from the earth,(P)
15 wine that makes man’s heart glad—
making his face shine with oil—
and bread that sustains man’s heart.(Q)
16 The trees of the Lord flourish,[c]
the cedars of Lebanon that He planted.(R)
17 There the birds make their nests;
the stork makes its home in the pine trees.(S)
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
the cliffs are a refuge for hyraxes.(T)
19 He made the moon to mark the[d] festivals;[e]
the sun knows when to set.(U)
20 You bring darkness, and it becomes night,
when all the forest animals stir.(V)
21 The young lions roar for their prey
and seek their food from God.(W)
22 The sun rises; they go back
and lie down in their dens.(X)
23 Man goes out to his work
and to his labor until evening.(Y)
24 How countless are Your works, Lord!
In wisdom You have made them all;
the earth is full of Your creatures.[f](Z)
25 Here is the sea, vast and wide,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.(AA)
26 There the ships move about,
and Leviathan, which You formed to play there.(AB)
27 All of them wait for You
to give them their food at the right time.(AC)
28 When You give it to them,
they gather it;
when You open Your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.(AD)
29 When You hide Your face,
they are terrified;
when You take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.(AE)
30 When You send Your breath,[g]
they are created,
and You renew the face of the earth.(AF)
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in His works.(AG)
32 He looks at the earth, and it trembles;
He touches the mountains,
and they pour out smoke.(AH)
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God while I live.(AI)
34 May my meditation be pleasing to Him;
I will rejoice in the Lord.(AJ)
35 May sinners vanish from the earth
and wicked people be no more.(AK)
My soul, praise Yahweh!
Hallelujah!
22 “The Lord made[a] me
at the beginning of His creation,[b]
before His works of long ago.(A)
23 I was formed before ancient times,
from the beginning, before the earth began.(B)
24 I was born
when there were no watery depths(C)
and no springs filled with water.
25 I was delivered
before the mountains and hills were established,(D)
26 before He made the land, the fields,
or the first soil on earth.
27 I was there when He established the heavens,(E)
when He laid out the horizon on the surface of the ocean,(F)
28 when He placed the skies above,
when the fountains of the ocean gushed out,
29 when He set a limit for the sea
so that the waters would not violate His command,(G)
when He laid out the foundations of the earth.(H)
30 I was a skilled craftsman[c] beside Him.(I)
I was His[d] delight every day,
always rejoicing before Him.
31 I was rejoicing in His inhabited world,(J)
delighting in the human race.(K)
32 “And now, my sons, listen to me;
those who keep my ways are happy.(L)
33 Listen to instruction and be wise;(M)
don’t ignore it.
34 Anyone who listens to me is happy,(N)
watching at my doors every day,
waiting by the posts of my doorway.
35 For the one who finds me finds life(O)
and obtains favor from the Lord,(P)
36 but the one who misses me[e] harms himself;(Q)
all who hate me love death.”(R)
Greeting
1 Paul,(A) an apostle of Christ Jesus by God’s will,(B) for the promise of life(C) in Christ Jesus:
2 To Timothy, my dearly loved son.
Grace, mercy, and peace(D) from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Thanksgiving
3 I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience(E) as my ancestors did, when I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day.(F) 4 Remembering your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy, 5 clearly recalling your sincere faith(G) that first lived in your grandmother Lois, then in your mother Eunice,(H) and that I am convinced is in you also.
6 Therefore, I remind you to keep ablaze[a] the gift of God that is in you through the laying on of my hands.(I) 7 For God has not given us a spirit[b] of fearfulness,(J) but one of power,(K) love,(L) and sound judgment.
Not Ashamed of the Gospel
8 So don’t be ashamed(M) of the testimony about our Lord,(N) or of me His prisoner.(O) Instead, share in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power(P) of God.
9 He has saved us and called us
with a holy calling,(Q)
not according to our works,(R)
but according to His own purpose(S) and grace,
which was given to us in Christ Jesus
before time began.
10 This has now been made evident
through the appearing(T) of our Savior Christ Jesus,
who has abolished death(U)
and has brought life(V) and immortality to light
through the gospel.
11 For this gospel I was appointed(W) a herald, apostle, and teacher,[c] 12 and that is why I suffer(X) these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know the One I have believed in and am persuaded that He is able to guard what has been entrusted to me[d](Y) until that day.(Z)
Be Loyal to the Faith
13 Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching(AA) that you have heard from me,(AB) in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who lives in us, that good thing entrusted to you.
Jesus Predicts His Crucifixion
20 Now some Greeks were among those who went up to worship at the festival. 21 So they came to Philip,(A) who was from Bethsaida(B) in Galilee,(C) and requested of him, “Sir,(D) we want to see Jesus.”
22 Philip went and told Andrew;(E) then Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. 23 Jesus replied to them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man(F) to be glorified.
24 “I assure you: Unless a grain of wheat(G) falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces a large crop.[a](H) 25 The one who loves his life will lose it,(I) and the one who hates(J) his life(K) in this world will keep it for eternal life. 26 If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me. Where I am, there My servant(L) also will be.(M) If anyone serves Me, the Father will honor(N) him.
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