Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 120
A pilgrimage song.[a]
120 I cried out to the Lord when I was in trouble
(and he answered me):
2 “Lord, deliver me[b] from lying lips
and a dishonest tongue!”
3 What more will be given to you,
what more will be done to you,
you dishonest tongue?
4 Just this:[c] a warrior’s sharpened arrows,
coupled with burning coals from a wood[d] fire!
5 Oh, I’m doomed
because I have been an immigrant in Meshech,
because I’ve made my home among Kedar’s tents.
6 I’ve lived far too long
with people who hate peace.
7 I’m for peace,
but when I speak, they are for war.
Psalm 121
A pilgrimage song.
121 I raise my eyes toward the mountains.
Where will my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
3 God won’t let your foot slip.
Your protector won’t fall asleep on the job.
4 No! Israel’s protector
never sleeps or rests!
5 The Lord is your protector;
the Lord is your shade right beside you.
6 The sun won’t strike you during the day;
neither will the moon at night.
7 The Lord will protect you from all evil;
God will protect your very life.[e]
8 The Lord will protect you on your journeys—
whether going or coming—
from now until forever from now.
Psalm 122
A pilgrimage song. Of David.
122 I rejoiced with those who said to me,
“Let’s go to the Lord’s house!”
2 Now our feet are standing
in your gates, Jerusalem!
3 Jerusalem is built like a city
joined together in unity.
4 That is where the tribes go up—
the Lord’s tribes!
It is the law for Israel
to give thanks there to the Lord’s name,
5 because the thrones of justice are there—
the thrones of the house of David!
6 Pray that Jerusalem has peace:
“Let those who love you have rest.
7 Let there be peace on your walls;
let there be rest on your fortifications.”
8 For the sake of my family and friends,
I say, “Peace be with you, Jerusalem.”
9 For the sake of the Lord our God’s house
I will pray for your good.
Psalm 123
A pilgrimage song.
123 I raise my eyes to you—
you who rule heaven.
2 Just as the eyes of servants attend to their masters’ hand,
just as the eyes of a female servant attend to her mistress’ hand—
that’s how our eyes attend to the Lord our God
until he has mercy on us.
3 Have mercy on us, Lord! Have mercy
because we’ve had more than enough shame.
4 We’ve had more than enough mockery from the self-confident,
more than enough shame from the proud.
Psalm 124
A pilgrimage song. Of David.
124 If the Lord hadn’t been for us—
let Israel now repeat!—
2 if the Lord hadn’t been for us,
when those people attacked us
3 then they would have swallowed us up whole
with their rage burning against us!
4 Then the waters would have drowned us;
the torrent would have come over our necks;[f]
5 then the raging waters would have come over our necks!
6 Bless the Lord
because he didn’t hand us over
like food for our enemies’ teeth!
7 We escaped like a bird from the hunters’ trap;
the trap was broken so we escaped!
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
Psalm 125
A pilgrimage song.
125 The people who trust in the Lord
are like Mount Zion:
never shaken, lasting forever.
2 Mountains surround Jerusalem.
That’s how the Lord surrounds his people
from now until forever from now!
3 The wicked rod won’t remain
in the land given to the righteous
so that they don’t use their hands to do anything wrong.[g]
4 Lord, do good to people who are good,
to people whose hearts are right.
5 But as for those people who turn to their own twisted ways—
may the Lord march them off with other evildoers!
Peace be on Israel!
Psalm 126
A pilgrimage song.
126 When the Lord changed Zion’s circumstances for the better,
it was like we had been dreaming.
2 Our mouths were suddenly filled with laughter;
our tongues were filled with joyful shouts.
It was even said, at that time, among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them!”
3 Yes, the Lord has done great things for us,
and we are overjoyed.
4 Lord, change our circumstances for the better,
like dry streams in the desert waste!
5 Let those who plant with tears
reap the harvest with joyful shouts.
6 Let those who go out,
crying and carrying their seed,
come home with joyful shouts,
carrying bales of grain!
Psalm 127
A pilgrimage song. Of Solomon.
127 Unless it is the Lord who builds the house,
the builders’ work is pointless.
Unless it is the Lord who protects the city,
the guard on duty is pointless.
2 It is pointless that you get up early and stay up late,
eating the bread of hard labor
because God gives sleep to those he loves.
3 No doubt about it: children are a gift from the Lord;
the fruit of the womb is a divine reward.
4 The children born when one is young
are like arrows in the hand of a warrior.
5 The person who fills a quiver full with them is truly happy!
They won’t be ashamed when arguing with their enemies in the gate.
21 So Balaam arose in the morning, saddled his donkey, and went with the officials of Moab.
Balaam and the Lord’s messenger
22 Then God became angry because he went. So while he was riding on his donkey accompanied by his two servants, the Lord’s messenger stood in the road as his adversary. 23 The donkey saw the Lord’s messenger standing in the road with his sword drawn in his hand, so the donkey turned from the road and went into the field. Balaam struck the donkey in order to turn him back onto the road. 24 Then the Lord’s messenger stood in the narrow path between vineyards with a stone wall on each side. 25 When the donkey saw the Lord’s messenger, it leaned against the wall and squeezed Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he continued to beat it. 26 The Lord’s messenger persisted and crossed over and stood in a narrow place, where it wasn’t possible to turn either right or left. 27 The donkey saw the Lord’s messenger and lay down underneath Balaam. Balaam became angry and beat the donkey with the rod. 28 Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you’ve beaten me these three times?”
29 Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you’ve tormented me. If I had a sword in my hand, I’d kill you now.”
30 The donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey, on whom you’ve often ridden to this day? Have I been in the habit of doing this to you?”
Balaam said, “No.”
31 Then the Lord uncovered Balaam’s eyes, and Balaam saw the Lord’s messenger standing in the road with his sword drawn in his hand. Then he bowed low and worshipped. 32 The Lord’s messenger said to him, “Why have you beaten your donkey these three times? I’ve come out here as an adversary, because you took the road recklessly in front of me. 33 The donkey saw me and turned away from me these three times. If it hadn’t turned away from me, I would just now have killed you and let it live.”
34 Balaam said to the Lord’s messenger, “I’ve sinned, because I didn’t know that you were standing against me in the road. Now, if you think it’s wrong, I’ll go back.”
35 The Lord’s messenger said to Balaam, “Go with the men. But don’t say anything. Say only that which I tell you.” So Balaam went with Balak’s officials.
Balaam and Balak meet
36 When Balak heard that Balaam was coming, he went out to meet him at Ir-moab, which is on the border of the Arnon at the farthest point of the border. 37 Balak said to Balaam, “Didn’t I send urgently and summon you? Why didn’t you come to me? Am I really not able to honor you?”
38 Balaam said to Balak, “I’ve now come to you. But I’m only able to speak whatever word God gives me to say. That is what I will speak.”
Freedom from the Law
7 Brothers and sisters, I’m talking to you as people who know the Law. Don’t you know that the Law has power over someone only as long as he or she lives? 2 A married woman is united with her husband under the Law while he is alive. But if her husband dies, she is released from the Law concerning her husband. 3 So then, if she lives with another man while her husband is alive, she’s committing adultery. But if her husband dies, she’s free from the Law, so she won’t be committing adultery if she marries someone else. 4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you also died with respect to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you could be united with someone else. You are united with the one who was raised from the dead so that we can bear fruit for God. 5 When we were self-centered, the sinful passions aroused through the Law were at work in all the parts of our body, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now we have been released from the Law. We have died with respect to the thing that controlled us, so that we can be slaves in the new life under the Spirit, not in the old life under the written Law.
The function of the Law
7 So what are we going to say? That the Law is sin? Absolutely not! But I wouldn’t have known sin except through the Law. I wouldn’t have known the desire for what others have if the Law had not said, Don’t desire to take what others have.[a] 8 But sin seized the opportunity and used this commandment to produce all kinds of desires in me. Sin is dead without the Law. 9 I used to be alive without the Law, but when the commandment came, sin sprang to life, 10 and I died. So the commandment that was intended to give life brought death. 11 Sin seized the opportunity through the commandment, deceived me, and killed me. 12 So the Law itself is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous, and good.
Jesus’ authority questioned
23 When Jesus entered the temple, the chief priests and elders of the people came to him as he was teaching. They asked, “What kind of authority do you have for doing these things? Who gave you this authority?”
24 Jesus replied, “I have a question for you. If you tell me the answer, I’ll tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things. 25 Where did John get his authority to baptize? Did he get it from heaven or from humans?”
They argued among themselves, “If we say ‘from heaven,’ he’ll say to us, ‘Then why didn’t you believe him?’ 26 But we can’t say ‘from humans’ because we’re afraid of the crowd, since everyone thinks John was a prophet.” 27 Then they replied, “We don’t know.”
Jesus also said to them, “Neither will I tell you what kind of authority I have to do these things.
Parable of two sons
28 “What do you think? A man had two sons. Now he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’
29 “‘No, I don’t want to,’ he replied. But later he changed his mind and went.
30 “The father said the same thing to the other son, who replied, ‘Yes, sir.’ But he didn’t go.
31 “Which one of these two did his father’s will?”
They said, “The first one.”
Jesus said to them, “I assure you that tax collectors and prostitutes are entering God’s kingdom ahead of you. 32 For John came to you on the righteous road, and you didn’t believe him. But tax collectors and prostitutes believed him. Yet even after you saw this, you didn’t change your hearts and lives and you didn’t believe him.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible