Book of Common Prayer
O Yahweh, Deliver My Soul
A Song of [a]Ascents.
120 (A)In my distress I called to Yahweh,
And He answered me.
2 O Yahweh, deliver my soul from a (B)lying lip,
From a (C)deceitful tongue.
3 What shall He give to you, and what shall He add to you,
O (D)deceitful tongue?
4 (E)Sharp arrows of the warrior,
With the burning (F)coals of the broom tree.
5 Woe is me, for I sojourn in (G)Meshech,
For I dwell among the (H)tents of (I)Kedar!
6 Too long has my soul had its dwelling
With those who (J)hate peace.
7 I (K)am for peace, but when I speak,
They are (L)for war.
My Help Comes from Yahweh
A Song of Ascents.
121 I will (M)lift up my eyes to (N)the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
2 My (O)help comes from Yahweh,
Who (P)made heaven and earth.
3 [b]He will not (Q)allow your foot to stumble;
[c]He who (R)keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will not slumber and will not sleep.
5 Yahweh is your (S)keeper;
Yahweh is your (T)shade on your right hand.
6 The (U)sun will not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 Yahweh will (V)keep you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 Yahweh will (W)keep your going out and your coming in
(X)From now until forever.
Go to the House of Yahweh
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us (Y)go to the house of Yahweh.”
2 Our feet are standing
Within your (Z)gates, O Jerusalem,
3 Jerusalem, which is (AA)built
As a city (AB)joined altogether;
4 To which the tribes, the tribes of Yah, (AC)go up—
A testimony for Israel—
To give thanks to the name of Yahweh.
5 For there, (AD)thrones sit for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the (AE)peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who (AF)love you.
7 May peace be within your (AG)walls,
And tranquility within your (AH)palaces.”
8 For the sake of my (AI)brothers and my friends,
I will now say, “(AJ)May peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of Yahweh our God,
I will (AK)seek your good.
To You I Lift Up My Eyes
A Song of Ascents.
123 To You I (AL)lift up my eyes,
The One (AM)enthroned in the heavens!
2 Behold, as the eyes of (AN)slaves look to the hand of their master,
As the eyes of a servant-girl to the hand of her mistress,
So our (AO)eyes look to Yahweh our God,
Until He is gracious to us.
3 (AP)Be gracious to us, O Yahweh, be gracious to us,
For we are greatly saturated (AQ)with contempt.
4 Our soul is greatly saturated
With the (AR)mockery of (AS)those who are at ease,
And with the (AT)contempt of the proud.
Yahweh Was on Our Side
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
124 “(AU)Had it not been Yahweh who was on our side,”
(AV)Let Israel now say,
2 “Had it not been Yahweh who was on our side
When men rose up against us,
3 Then they would have (AW)swallowed us alive,
When their (AX)anger was kindled against us;
4 Then the (AY)waters would have flowed over us,
The stream would have [d]swept over our soul;
5 Then the (AZ)raging waters would have [e]swept over our soul.”
6 Blessed be Yahweh,
Who has not given us to be (BA)prey for their teeth.
7 Our soul has (BB)escaped (BC)as a bird out of the (BD)snare of the trapper;
The snare is broken and we have escaped.
8 Our (BE)help is in the name of Yahweh,
Who (BF)made heaven and earth.
Yahweh Surrounds His People
A Song of Ascents.
125 Those who trust in Yahweh
Are as Mount Zion, which (BG)will not be shaken but (BH)will abide forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So (BI)Yahweh surrounds His people
(BJ)From now until forever.
3 For the (BK)scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the [f]land of the righteous,
So that the righteous (BL)would not send forth their hands in unrighteousness.
4 (BM)Do good, O Yahweh, to those who are good
And to those who are (BN)upright in their hearts.
5 But as for those who (BO)turn aside to their (BP)crooked ways,
Yahweh will lead them away with the (BQ)workers of iniquity.
(BR)Peace be upon Israel.
Those Who Sow in Tears Shall Reap with Joy
A Song of Ascents.
126 When Yahweh [g](BS)returned [h]the captive ones of Zion,
We were (BT)like those who dream.
2 Then our (BU)mouth was filled with laughter
And our (BV)tongue with shouts of joy;
Then they said among the nations,
“Yahweh has (BW)done great things for them.”
3 Yahweh has done great things for us;
We are (BX)glad.
4 Restore our captivity, O Yahweh,
As the [i](BY)streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow in (BZ)tears shall reap with (CA)shouts of joy.
6 He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,
Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves with him.
Unless Yahweh Builds the House
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
127 Unless Yahweh (CB)builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless Yahweh (CC)watches the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early,
That you sit out late,
O you who (CD)eat the bread of [j]painful labors;
For in this manner, He gives (CE)sleep to His (CF)beloved.
3 Behold, (CG)children are [k]an inheritance of Yahweh,
The (CH)fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a (CI)warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5 How (CJ)blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them;
(CK)They will not be ashamed
When they (CL)speak with enemies (CM)in the gate.
Pharaoh Will Not Let the People Go
5 And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “(A)Thus says Yahweh, the God of Israel, ‘(B)Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “(C)Who is Yahweh that I should listen to His voice to let Israel go? I do not know Yahweh, and also, (D)I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “(E)The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please, let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to Yahweh our God, lest He confront us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you [a]draw the people away from their [b]work? Get back to your [c](F)hard labors!” 5 And Pharaoh said, “Look, (G)the people of the land are now many, and you would have them cease from their hard labors!” 6 So on that day Pharaoh commanded (H)the taskmasters over the people and their (I)foremen, saying, 7 “You are no longer to give the people straw to make brick as previously; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But the quota of bricks which they were making previously, you shall set upon them; you are not to reduce any of it. Because they are (J)lazy, therefore they are crying out, ‘[d]Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Let their slavery be hard on the men, and let them work at it so that they will have no regard for false words.”
10 So (K)the taskmasters of the people and their foremen went out and spoke to the people, saying, “Thus says Pharaoh, ‘I am not going to give you any straw. 11 You go and get straw for yourselves wherever you can find it, but no amount of your slave labor will be reduced.’” 12 So the people scattered through all the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 And the taskmasters were pressing them, saying, “Complete your [e]work quota, [f]the daily amount, just as when there was straw.” 14 Moreover, (L)the foremen of the sons of Israel, whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them, (M)were beaten [g]and were asked, “Why have you not completed your required amount either yesterday or today in making brick as previously?”
15 Then the foremen of the sons of Israel came and cried out to Pharaoh, saying, “Why do you deal this way with your slaves? 16 There is no straw given to your slaves, yet they keep saying to us, ‘Make bricks!’ And behold, your slaves are being beaten; but it is the [h]sin of your own people.” 17 But he said, “You are (N)lazy—lazy! Therefore you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to Yahweh.’ 18 So now, go and labor; but straw will not be given to you, yet you must deliver the quota of bricks.” 19 Then the foremen of the sons of Israel saw that they were in trouble [i]because they were told, “You must not reduce [j]your daily amount of bricks.” 20 When they left Pharaoh’s presence, they confronted Moses and Aaron, [k]standing there to meet them. 21 (O)And they said to them, “(P)May Yahweh look upon you and judge, for you have (Q)made [l]us a foul smell in Pharaoh’s sight and in the sight of his servants, to put a sword in their hand to kill us.”
22 Then Moses returned to Yahweh and said, “(R)O Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? 23 Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, (S)and You have not delivered Your people at all.”
Yahweh Remembers His Covenant
6 Then Yahweh said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for (T)by a strong hand he will let them go, and by a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”
20 (A)Brothers, (B)do not be children in your thinking; rather in evil (C)be infants, but in your thinking be mature. 21 In (D)the Law it is written, “(E)By men of strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, and even so they will not listen to Me,” says the [a]Lord. 22 So then tongues are for a sign, not to those who believe but to unbelievers; but (F)prophecy is for a sign not to unbelievers but to those who believe. 23 Therefore if the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, and [b]uninformed men or unbelievers enter, will they not say that (G)you are out of your mind? 24 But if all (H)prophesy, and an unbeliever or an [c]uninformed man enters, he is (I)convicted by all, he is called to account by all; 25 (J)the secrets of his heart are disclosed; and so he will (K)fall on his face and worship God, declaring that (L)surely God is among you.
Orderly Worship
26 (M)What is the outcome then, (N)brothers? When you assemble, (O)each one has a (P)psalm, has a (Q)teaching, has a (R)revelation, has a (S)tongue, has a [d](T)translation. Let (U)all things be done for edification. 27 If anyone speaks in a (V)tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in turn, and one must [e](W)translate; 28 but if there is no [f]translator, he must keep silent in the church, and let him speak to himself and to God. 29 And let two or three (X)prophets speak, and let the others (Y)pass judgment. 30 But if a revelation is made to another who is seated, the first one must keep silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted. 32 And the spirits of prophets are subject to prophets; 33 for God is not a God of (Z)confusion but of [g]peace, as in (AA)all the churches of the (AB)saints.
42 “(A)And whoever causes one of these [a]little ones who believe to stumble, it [b]would be better for him if, with a heavy millstone hung around his neck, he [c]had been cast into the sea. 43 (B)And if your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life crippled, than, having your two hands, to go into [d](C)hell, into the (D)unquenchable fire, 44 [e][and where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] 45 And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame, than, having your two feet, to be cast into [f](E)hell, 46 [g][and where their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.] 47 (F)And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than, having two eyes, to be cast into [h](G)hell, 48 (H)where their worm does not die, and (I)the fire is not quenched.
49 “For everyone will be salted with fire. 50 Salt is good; but (J)if the salt becomes unsalty, with what will you [i]make it salty again? (K)Have salt in yourselves, and (L)be at peace with one another.”
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