Book of Common Prayer
137 We were sitting by the rivers of Babylon.
We wept when we remembered what had happened to Zion.
2 On the nearby poplar trees
we hung up our harps.
3 Those who held us as prisoners asked us to sing.
Those who enjoyed hurting us ordered us to sing joyful songs.
They said, “Sing one of the songs of Zion to us!”
4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord
while we are in another land?
5 Jerusalem, if I forget you,
may my right hand never be able to play the harp again.
6 If I don’t remember you,
may my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth so I can’t sing.
May it happen if I don’t consider Jerusalem
to be my greatest joy.
7 Lord, remember what the people of Edom did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
“Tear it down!” they cried.
“Tear it down to the ground!”
8 People of Babylon, you are sentenced to be destroyed.
Happy is the person who pays you back
according to what you have done to us.
9 Happy is the person who grabs your babies
and smashes them against the rocks.
A psalm of David.
144 Give praise to the Lord, my Rock.
He trains my hands for war.
He trains my fingers for battle.
2 He is my loving God and is like a fort to me.
He is my place of safety and the God who saves me.
He is like a shield that keeps me safe.
He brings nations under my control.
3 Lord, what are human beings that you take care of them?
What are mere people that you think about them?
4 Their lives don’t last any longer than a breath.
Their days are like a shadow that quickly disappears.
5 Lord, open up your heavens and come down.
Touch the mountains, and they will pour out smoke.
6 Send flashes of lightning and scatter my enemies.
Shoot your arrows and chase them away.
7 My enemies are like a mighty flood.
Reach down from heaven and save me.
Save me from outsiders who attack me.
8 They tell all kinds of lies with their mouths.
Even when they make a promise by raising their right hands, they don’t mean it.
9 My God, I will sing a new song to you.
I will make music to you on a lyre that has ten strings.
10 You are the God who helps kings win battles.
You save your servant David.
From death by the sword 11 save me.
Set me free from outsiders who attack me.
They tell all kinds of lies with their mouths.
Even when they make a promise by raising their right hands, they don’t mean it.
12 While our sons are young,
they will be like healthy plants.
Our daughters will be like pillars
that have been made to decorate a palace.
13 Our storerooms will be filled
with every kind of food.
The sheep in our fields will increase by thousands.
They will increase by tens of thousands.
14 Our oxen will pull heavy loads.
None of our city walls will be broken down.
No one will be carried off as a prisoner.
No cries of pain will be heard in our streets.
15 Blessed is the nation about whom all these things are true.
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord.
104 I will praise the Lord.
Lord my God, you are very great.
You are dressed in glory and majesty.
2 The Lord wraps himself in light as if it were a robe.
He spreads out the heavens like a tent.
3 He builds his palace high in the heavens.
He makes the clouds serve as his chariot.
He rides on the wings of the wind.
4 He makes the winds serve as his messengers.
He makes flashes of lightning serve him.
5 He placed the earth on its foundations.
It can never be moved.
6 You, Lord, covered it with the oceans like a blanket.
The waters covered the mountains.
7 But you commanded the waters, and they ran away.
At the sound of your thunder they rushed off.
8 They flowed down the mountains.
They went into the valleys.
They went to the place you appointed for them.
9 You drew a line they can’t cross.
They will never cover the earth again.
10 The Lord makes springs pour water into the valleys.
It flows between the mountains.
11 The springs give water to all the wild animals.
The wild donkeys satisfy their thirst.
12 The birds in the sky build nests by the waters.
They sing among the branches.
13 The Lord waters the mountains from his palace high in the clouds.
The earth is filled with the things he has made.
14 He makes grass grow for the cattle
and plants for people to take care of.
That’s how they get food from the earth.
15 There is wine to make people glad.
There is olive oil to make their skin glow.
And there is bread to make them strong.
16 The cedar trees of Lebanon belong to the Lord.
He planted them and gave them plenty of water.
17 There the birds make their nests.
The stork has its home in the juniper trees.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats.
The cliffs are a safe place for the rock badgers.
19 The Lord made the moon to mark off the seasons.
The sun knows when to go down.
20 You, Lord, bring darkness, and it becomes night.
Then all the animals of the forest prowl around.
21 The lions roar while they hunt.
All their food comes from God.
22 The sun rises, and they slip away.
They return to their dens and lie down.
23 Then people get up and go to work.
They keep working until evening.
24 Lord, you have made so many things!
How wise you were when you made all of them!
The earth is full of your creatures.
25 Look at the ocean, so big and wide!
It is filled with more creatures than people can count.
It is filled with living things, from the largest to the smallest.
26 Ships sail back and forth on it.
Leviathan, the sea monster you made, plays in it.
27 All creatures depend on you
to give them their food when they need it.
28 When you give it to them,
they eat it.
When you open your hand,
they are satisfied with good things.
29 When you turn your face away from them,
they are terrified.
When you take away their breath,
they die and turn back into dust.
30 When you send your Spirit,
you create them.
You give new life to the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord continue forever.
May the Lord be happy with what he has made.
32 When he looks at the earth, it trembles.
When he touches the mountains, they pour out smoke.
33 I will sing to the Lord all my life.
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May these thoughts of mine please him.
I find my joy in the Lord.
35 But may sinners be gone from the earth.
May evil people disappear.
I will praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
22 “The Lord created me as the first of his works,
before his acts of long ago.
23 I was formed a long, long time ago.
I was formed at the very beginning, when the world was created.
24 Before there were any oceans, I was born.
It was before there were springs flowing with water.
25 Before the mountains were settled in place, I was born.
Before there were any hills, I was born.
26 It happened before the Lord made the world and its fields.
It was before he made the dust of the earth.
27 I was there when he set the heavens in place.
When he marked out the place where the sky meets the sea, I was there.
28 That was when he put the clouds above.
It was when he fixed the ocean springs in place.
29 It was when he set limits for the sea
so that the waters had to obey his command.
When the Lord marked out the foundations of the earth, I was there.
30 I was constantly at his side.
I was filled with delight day after day.
I was always happy to be with him.
31 His whole world filled me with joy.
I took delight in all human beings.
32 “My children, listen to me.
Blessed are those who keep my ways.
33 Listen to my teaching and be wise.
Don’t turn away from it.
34 Blessed are those who listen to me.
They watch every day at my doors.
They wait beside my doorway.
35 Those who find me find life.
They receive blessing from the Lord.
36 But those who don’t find me harm only themselves.
Everyone who hates me loves death.”
1 I, Paul, am writing this letter. I am an apostle of Christ Jesus just as God planned. He sent me to tell about the promise of life found in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy, I am sending you this letter. You are my dear son.
May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord give you grace, mercy and peace.
Paul Gives Thanks
3 I thank God, whom I serve as did our people of long ago. I serve God, knowing that what I have done is right. Night and day I thank God for you. Night and day I always remember you in my prayers. 4 I remember your tears. I long to see you so that I can be filled with joy. 5 I remember your honest and true faith. It was alive first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice. And I am certain that it is now alive in you also.
Paul Encourages Timothy to Be Faithful
6 This is why I remind you to help God’s gift grow, just as a small spark grows into a fire. God put his gift in you when I placed my hands on you. 7 God gave us his Spirit. And the Spirit doesn’t make us weak and fearful. Instead, the Spirit gives us power and love. He helps us control ourselves. 8 So don’t be ashamed of the message about our Lord. And don’t be ashamed of me, his prisoner. Instead, join with me as I suffer for the good news. God’s power will help us do that. 9 God has saved us. He has chosen us to live a holy life. It wasn’t because of anything we have done. It was because of his own purpose and grace. Through Christ Jesus, God gave us this grace even before time began. 10 It has now been made known through the coming of our Savior, Christ Jesus. He has broken the power of death. Because of the good news, he has brought life out into the light. That life never dies. 11 I was appointed to announce the good news. I was appointed to be an apostle and a teacher. 12 That’s why I’m suffering the way I am. But this gives me no reason to be ashamed. That’s because I know who I have believed in. I am sure he is able to take care of what I have given him. I can trust him with it until the day he returns as judge.
13 Follow what you heard from me as the pattern of true teaching. Follow it with faith and love because you belong to Christ Jesus. 14 Guard the truth of the good news that you were trusted with. Guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
Jesus Tells About His Coming Death
20 There were some Greeks among the people who went up to worship during the feast. 21 They came to ask Philip for a favor. Philip was from Bethsaida in Galilee. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” 22 Philip went to tell Andrew. Then Andrew and Philip told Jesus.
23 Jesus replied, “The time has come for the Son of Man to receive glory. 24 What I’m about to tell you is true. Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only one seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. 25 Anyone who loves their life will lose it. But anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it and have eternal life. 26 Anyone who serves me must follow me. And where I am, my servant will also be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
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