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.
21 (A)So Balaam arose in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab.
Balaam’s Donkey and the Angel
22 But God was angry because he was going, (B)so the angel of Yahweh took his stand in the way as an adversary against him. Now he was riding on his donkey, and his two young men were with him. 23 Then the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand, and the donkey turned off from the way and went into the field; so Balaam struck the donkey to turn it back into the way. 24 Then the angel of Yahweh stood in a narrow path of the vineyards, with a wall on this side and a wall on that side. 25 And the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh, and it pressed itself to the wall and pressed Balaam’s foot against the wall, so he struck it again. 26 And the angel of Yahweh passed on ahead and stood in a narrow place where there was no way to turn to the right hand or the left. 27 Then the donkey saw the angel of Yahweh and lay down under Balaam; so (C)Balaam was angry and struck the donkey with his stick. 28 And (D)Yahweh opened the mouth of the donkey, and it said to Balaam, “What have I done to you, that you have struck me these three times?” 29 Then Balaam said to the donkey, “Because you have made a mockery of me! If there had been a sword in my hand, (E)I would have killed you by now.” 30 And the donkey said to Balaam, “Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden all your life to this day? Have I ever been accustomed to do so to you?” And he said, “No.”
31 Then Yahweh opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw (F)the angel of Yahweh standing in the way with his drawn sword in his hand; and he bowed his head down [a]and prostrated himself to the ground. 32 And the angel of Yahweh said to him, “Why have you struck your donkey these three times? Behold, I have come out as an adversary because your way was [b](G)contrary to me. 33 And the donkey saw me and turned aside from me these three times. If it had not turned aside from me, I would surely have killed you just now, and let it live.” 34 And Balaam said to the angel of Yahweh, “(H)I have sinned, for I did not know that you were standing in the way against me. So now, if it is evil in your sight, I will turn back.” 35 But the angel of Yahweh said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but (I)you shall speak only the word which I [c]tell you.” So Balaam went along with the leaders of Balak.
36 Then Balak heard that Balaam was coming and went out to meet him at the city of Moab, which is on the Arnon border, [d]at the end of the border. 37 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Did I not urgently send to you to call you? Why did you not come to me? Am I indeed unable to honor you?” 38 So Balaam said to Balak, “Behold, I have come now to you! (J)Am I able to speak anything at all? The word that God puts in my mouth, that I shall speak.”
Released from the Law
7 Or do you not know, (A)brothers—for I am speaking to those who know the law—that the law is master over a person as long as he lives? 2 For (B)the married woman has been bound by law to her [a]husband while he is living, but if her husband dies, she is released from the law [b]concerning the husband. 3 So then, if while her husband is living she is joined to another man, she shall be called an adulteress. But if her husband dies, she is free from the law, so that she is not an adulteress though she is joined to another man.
4 So, my brothers, you also were (C)made to die (D)to the Law (E)through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5 For while we were (F)in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were (G)aroused by the Law, were at work (H)in our members to bear fruit for death. 6 But now we have been (I)released from the Law, having (J)died to that by which we were constrained, so that we serve in (K)newness of [c](L)the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.
7 (M)What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? (N)May it never be! Rather, (O)I would not have come to know sin except [d]through the Law. For I would not have known about [e]coveting if the Law had not said, “(P)You shall not [f]covet.” 8 But sin, (Q)taking opportunity (R)through the commandment, worked out in me [g]coveting of every kind. For (S)apart [h]from the Law sin is dead. 9 Now I was once alive apart [i]from the Law, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died; 10 and this commandment, which was [j](T)to lead to life, was found [k]to lead to death for me. 11 For sin, (U)taking an opportunity (V)through the commandment, (W)deceived me and through it killed me. 12 (X)So, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.
The Authority of Jesus Challenged
23 (A)And when He entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to Him (B)while He was teaching, and said, “By what authority are You doing these things, and who gave You this authority?” 24 And Jesus answered and said to them, “I will also ask you one [a]thing, which if you tell Me, I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. 25 The baptism of John was from what source, from heaven or from men?” And they began reasoning among themselves, saying, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ He will say to us, ‘Then why did you not believe him?’ 26 But if we say, ‘From men,’ we fear the crowd; for they all regard John as (C)a prophet.” 27 And they answered Jesus and said, “We do not know.” He also said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.
Parable of Two Sons
28 “But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, ‘Son, go work today in the (D)vineyard.’ 29 And he answered and said, ‘I will not’; but afterward he regretted it and went. 30 And the man came to the second and said the same thing; and he answered and said, ‘I will, sir’; but he did not go. 31 Which of the two did the will of his father?” They *said, “The first.” Jesus *said to them, “Truly I say to you that (E)the tax collectors and prostitutes [b]will get into the kingdom of God before you. 32 For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him; but (F)the tax collectors and prostitutes did believe him; and you, seeing this, did not even regret afterward so as to believe him.
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