Book of Common Prayer
120 In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and He heard me.
2 Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given unto thee, or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper!
5 Woe is me that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
6 My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.
121 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help!
2 My help cometh from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not permit thy foot to be moved; He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; He shall preserve thy soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
122 I was glad when they said unto me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is built as a city that is united together,
4 whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, according to the testimony of Israel to give thanks unto the name of the Lord.
5 For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “They shall prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy palaces.”
8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes I will now say, “Peace be within thee.”
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek thy good.
123 Unto Thee I lift up mine eyes, O Thou that dwellest in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until He has mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.
124 “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side”—now may Israel say—
2 “if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us,
3 then would they have swallowed us up alive when their wrath was kindled against us;
4 then would the waters have overwhelmed us, the stream would have gone over our soul;
5 then the proud waters would have gone over our soul.”
6 Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
7 Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
125 They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth, even for ever.
3 For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the allotment of the righteous, lest the righteous put forth their hands to do iniquity.
4 Do good, O Lord, unto those that are good and to them that are upright in their hearts.
5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them away with the workers of iniquity; but peace shall be upon Israel.
126 When the Lord returned the captives to Zion, we were like them that dream.
2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then said they among the heathen, “The Lord hath done great things for them.”
3 The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.
4 Turn back our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the South.
5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
127 Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He giveth His beloved sleep.
3 Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.
4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of the youth.
5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies at the gate.
21 And Balaam rose up in the morning and saddled his ass, and went with the princes of Moab.
22 And God’s anger was kindled because he went, and the angel of the Lord stood in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding upon his ass, and his two servants were with him.
23 And the ass saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way and his sword drawn in his hand. And the ass turned aside out of the way and went into the field, and Balaam smote the ass to turn her into the way.
24 But the angel of the Lord stood in a path of the vineyards, a wall being on this side and a wall on that side.
25 And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she thrust herself unto the wall and crushed Balaam’s foot against the wall; and he smote her again.
26 And the angel of the Lord went further, and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn either to the right hand or to the left.
27 And when the ass saw the angel of the Lord, she fell down under Balaam; and Balaam’s anger was kindled, and he smote the ass with a staff.
28 And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said unto Balaam, “What have I done unto thee, that thou hast smitten me these three times?”
29 And Balaam said unto the ass, “Because thou hast mocked me. I would there were a sword in mine hand, for now would I kill thee.”
30 And the ass said unto Balaam, “Am not I thine ass, upon which thou hast ridden ever since I was thine unto this day? Was I ever wont to do so unto thee?” And he said, “Nay.”
31 Then the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the angel of the Lord standing in the way and his sword drawn in his hand; and he bowed down his head, and fell flat on his face.
32 And the angel of the Lord said unto him, “Why hast thou smitten thine ass these three times? Behold, I went out to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse before me.
33 And the ass saw me, and turned from me these three times. Unless she had turned from me, surely now also I would have slain thee and saved her alive.”
34 And Balaam said unto the angel of the Lord, “I have sinned, for I knew not that thou stoodest in the way against me. Now therefore, if it displease thee, I will get me back again.”
35 And the angel of the Lord said unto Balaam, “Go with the men; but only the word that I shall speak unto thee, that shalt thou speak.” So Balaam went with the princes of Balak.
36 And when Balak heard that Balaam had come, he went out to meet him unto a city of Moab, which is in the border of Arnon, which is in the utmost border.
37 And Balak said unto Balaam, “Did I not earnestly send unto thee to call thee? Why camest thou not unto me? Am I not able indeed to promote thee to honor?”
38 And Balaam said unto Balak, “Lo, I have come unto thee. Have I now any power at all to say anything? The word that God putteth in my mouth, that shall I speak.”
7 Know ye not, brethren (for I speak to those who know the law), how the law hath dominion over a man as long as he liveth?
2 For the woman who hath a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of the husband.
3 So then, if while her husband liveth she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man.
4 Therefore, my brethren, ye also have become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.
5 For when we were in the flesh, the passions of sins, which were by the law, worked in our members to bring forth fruit unto death.
6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.
7 What shall we say then? Is the law sin? God forbid! Nay, I would not have known sin, but through the law; for I would not have known lust, except that the law had said, “Thou shalt not covet.”
8 But sin, taking occasion through the commandment, wrought in me all manner of concupiscence; for without the law sin was dead.
9 For I was alive apart from the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died;
10 and the commandment, which was ordained to bring life, I found to be unto death.
11 For sin, taking occasion by the commandment, deceived me and by it slew me.
12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
23 And when He had come into the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came unto Him as He was teaching and said, “By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority?”
24 And Jesus answered and said unto them, “I also will ask you one thing, which if ye tell Me, I in like manner will tell you by what authority I do these things.
25 The baptism of John: whence was it? From Heaven, or of men?” And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we shall say, ‘From Heaven,’ he will say unto us, ‘Why did ye not then believe him?’
26 But if we shall say, ‘Of men,’ we fear the people, for all hold John to be a prophet.”
27 And they answered Jesus and said, “We cannot tell.” And He said unto them, “Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things.
28 “But what think ye? A certain man had two sons. And he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in my vineyard.’
29 He answered and said, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he repented and went.
30 And he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, ‘I go, sir,’ and went not.
31 Which of those two did the will of his father?” They said unto Him, “The first.” Jesus said unto them, “Verily I say unto you, that the publicans and the harlots go into the Kingdom of God before you.
32 For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not; but the publicans and harlots believed him. And ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
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