Book of Common Prayer
A song for going up to the Temple.
120 I was in trouble.
I called to the Lord for help,
and he answered me!
2 I said, “Lord, save me from liars,
from those who say things that are not true.”
3 Liars, do you know what the Lord has for you?
Do you know what you will get?
4 You will get a soldier’s sharp arrow
and hot coals to punish you.
5 How I hate living here among these people!
It’s like living in Meshech or in the tents of Kedar.[a]
6 I have lived too long
with those who hate peace.
7 I ask for peace,
but they want war.
A song for going up to the Temple.
121 I look up to the hills,
but where will my help really come from?
2 My help will come from the Lord,
the Creator of heaven and earth.
3 He will not let you fall.
Your Protector will not fall asleep.
4 Israel’s Protector does not get tired.
He never sleeps.
5 The Lord is your Protector.
The Lord stands by your side, shading and protecting you.
6 The sun cannot harm you during the day,
and the moon cannot harm you at night.
7 The Lord will protect you from every danger.
He will protect your soul.
8 The Lord will protect you as you come and go,[b]
both now and forever!
A song of David for going up to the Temple.
122 I was happy when the people said,
“Let us go to the Lord’s Temple.”
2 Here we are, standing at the gates of Jerusalem.
3 This is New Jerusalem!
The city has been rebuilt as one united city.
4 This is where the tribes come, the tribes who belong to the Lord.
The people of Israel come here to praise the Lord’s name.
5 The kings from David’s family put their thrones here.
They set up their thrones to judge the people.
6 Pray for peace in Jerusalem:
“May those who love you find peace.
7 May there be peace within your walls.
May there be safety in your great buildings.”
8 For the good of my family and neighbors,
I pray that there will be peace here.
9 For the good of the Temple of the Lord our God,
I pray that good things will happen to this city.
A song for going up to the Temple.
123 Lord, I look up and pray to you.
You sit as King in heaven.
2 A slave looks to his master to provide what he needs,
and a servant girl depends on the woman she serves.
So we depend on the Lord our God,
waiting for him to have mercy on us.
3 Lord, be merciful to us,
because we have been insulted much too long.
4 We have had enough of the hateful words of those proud people
who make fun of us and show us no respect.
A song of David for going up to the Temple.
124 What would have happened to us if the Lord had not been on our side?
Tell us about it, Israel.
2 What would have happened to us if the Lord had not been on our side
when people attacked us?
3 They would have swallowed us alive
when they became angry with us.
4 Their armies would have been
like a flood washing over us,
like a river drowning us.
5 Those proud people would have been
like water rising up to our mouth and drowning us.
6 Praise the Lord!
He did not let our enemies tear us apart.
7 We escaped like a bird from the net of a hunter.
The net broke, and we escaped!
8 Our help came from the Lord,
the one who made heaven and earth!
A song for going up to the Temple.
125 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion.
They will never be shaken.
They will continue forever.
2 Like the mountains that surround Jerusalem,
the Lord surrounds and protects his people now and forever.
3 The wicked will not always control the land of those who do right.
If they did, even those who do right might start doing wrong.
4 Lord, be good to those who are good,
to those who have pure hearts.
5 But, Lord, when you punish those who do evil,
also punish those who have stopped following your way.
Let Israel always enjoy peace!
A song for going up to the Temple.
126 It will be like a dream
when the Lord comes back with the captives of Zion.[c]
2 We will laugh and sing happy songs!
Then the other nations will say,
“The Lord did a great thing for Zion!”
3 Yes, we will be happy
because the Lord did a great thing for us.
4 So, Lord, bring back the good times,
like a desert stream filled again with flowing water.
5 Then those who were sad when they planted
will be happy when they gather the harvest!
6 Those who cried as they carried the seeds[d]
will be happy when they bring in the crops!
A song from Solomon for going up to the Temple.
127 If it is not the Lord who builds a house,
the builders are wasting their time.
If it is not the Lord who watches over the city,
the guards are wasting their time.
2 It is a waste of time to get up early and stay up late,
trying to make a living.
The Lord provides for those he loves,
even while they are sleeping.
Balaam and His Donkey
21 The next morning, Balaam got up, put a saddle on his donkey, and went with the Moabite leaders. 22 Balaam was riding on his donkey. Two of his servants were with him. While Balaam was traveling, God became angry. So the Lord’s angel stood in the road in front of Balaam to stop[a] him.
23 When Balaam’s donkey saw the Lord’s angel standing in the road with a sword in his hand, the donkey turned from the road and went into the field. Balaam could not see the angel, so he was very angry at the donkey. He hit the donkey and forced it to go back on the road.
24 Later, the Lord’s angel stood at a place where the road became narrow. This was between two vineyards. There were walls on both sides of the road. 25 Again the donkey saw the Lord’s angel. So the donkey walked very close to one wall. This crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall. So Balaam hit his donkey again.
26 Later, the Lord’s angel stood at another place where the road became narrow. There was no place where the donkey could go around him. It could not turn to the left or to the right. 27 The donkey saw the Lord’s angel. So the donkey lay down with Balaam sitting on top of it. Balaam was very angry at the donkey. So he hit it with his walking stick.
28 Then the Lord caused the donkey to speak. The donkey said to Balaam, “Why are you angry at me? What have I done to you? You have hit me three times!”
29 Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made me look foolish. If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now!”
30 But the donkey said to Balaam, “Look, I am your donkey. You have ridden me for so many years. And you know that I have never done this to you before!”
“That is true,” Balaam said.
31 Then the Lord allowed Balaam to see the angel. The Lord’s angel was standing in the road, holding a sword in his hand. Balaam bowed low to the ground.
32 Then the Lord’s angel asked Balaam, “Why did you hit your donkey three times? I am the one who came to stop you. But just in time,[b] 33 your donkey saw me and turned away from me. That happened three times. If the donkey had not turned away, I probably would have killed you already. And I would have let your donkey live.”
34 Then Balaam said to the Lord’s angel, “I have sinned. I did not know that you were standing in the road. If I am doing wrong, I will go back home.”
35 Then the Lord’s angel said to Balaam, “No, you can go with these men. But be careful. Speak only the words that I will tell you to say.” So Balaam went with the leaders that Balak had sent.
36 Balak heard that Balaam was coming. So Balak went out to meet him at the Moabite town[c] near the Arnon River. This was at the northern border of his country. 37 When Balak saw Balaam, he said to him, “I asked you before to come. I told you it was very important. Why didn’t you come to me? Did you think I might not be able to pay you?”
38 Balaam answered, “Well, I am here now. I came, but I might not be able to do what you asked. I can only say the words God tells me to say.”
An Example From Marriage
7 Brothers and sisters, you all understand the Law of Moses. So surely you know that the law rules over people only while they are alive. 2 It’s like what the law says about marriage: A woman must stay married to her husband as long as he is alive. But if her husband dies, she is made free from the law of marriage. 3 But if she marries another man while her husband is still alive, the law says she is guilty of adultery. But if her husband dies, she is made free from the law of marriage. So if she marries another man after her husband dies, she is not guilty of adultery.
4 In the same way, my brothers and sisters, your old selves died and you became free from the law through the body of Christ. Now you belong to someone else. You belong to the one who was raised from death. We belong to Christ so that we can be used in service to God. 5 In the past we were ruled by our sinful selves. The law made us want to do sinful things. And those sinful desires controlled our bodies, so that what we did only brought us spiritual death. 6 In the past the law held us as prisoners, but our old selves died, and we were made free from the law. So now we serve God in a new way, not in the old way, with the written rules. Now we serve God in the new way, with the Spirit.
Our Fight Against Sin
7 You might think I am saying that sin and the law are the same. That is not true. But the law was the only way I could learn what sin means. I would never have known it is wrong to want something that is not mine. But the law said, “You must not want what belongs to someone else.”[a] 8 And sin found a way to use that command and make me want all kinds of things that weren’t mine. So sin came to me because of the command. But without the law, sin has no power. 9 Before I knew the law, I was alive. But when I heard the law’s command, sin began to live, 10 and I died spiritually. The command was meant to bring life, but for me it brought death. 11 Sin found a way to fool me by using the command to make me die.
12 Now the law is holy, and the command is holy and right and good.
Jewish Leaders Doubt Jesus’ Authority(A)
23 Jesus went into the Temple area. While Jesus was teaching there, the leading priests and the older leaders of the people came to him. They said, “Tell us! What authority do you have to do these things you are doing? Who gave you this authority?”
24 Jesus answered, “I will ask you a question too. If you answer me, then I will tell you what authority I have to do these things. 25 Tell me: When John baptized people, did his authority come from God, or was it only from other people?”
The priests and the Jewish leaders talked about Jesus’ question. They said to each other, “If we answer, ‘John’s baptism was from God,’ then he will say, ‘Then why didn’t you believe John?’ 26 But we can’t say John’s baptism was from someone else. We are afraid of the people, because they all believe John was a prophet.”
27 So they told Jesus, “We don’t know the answer.”
Jesus said, “Then I will not tell you who gave me the authority to do these things.
Jesus Uses a Story About Two Sons
28 “Tell me what you think about this: There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’
29 “The son answered, ‘I will not go.’ But later he decided he should go, and he went.
30 “Then the father went to the other son and said, ‘Son, go and work today in the vineyard.’ He answered, ‘Yes, sir, I will go and work.’ But he did not go.
31 “Which of the two sons obeyed his father?”
The Jewish leaders answered, “The first son.”
Jesus said to them, “The truth is, you are worse than the tax collectors and the prostitutes. In fact, they will enter God’s kingdom before you enter. 32 John came showing you the right way to live, and you did not believe him. But the tax collectors and prostitutes believed John. You saw that happening, but you would not change. You still refused to believe him.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International