Book of Common Prayer
Qoph.
145 I cried (A)with all my heart; answer me, O Lord!
I will (B)observe Your statutes.
146 I cried to You; (C)save me
And I shall keep Your testimonies.
147 I [a](D)rise before dawn and cry for help;
I [b]wait for Your words.
148 My eyes anticipate the (E)night watches,
That I may (F)meditate on Your [c]word.
149 Hear my voice (G)according to Your lovingkindness;
(H)Revive me, O Lord, according to Your ordinances.
150 Those who follow after wickedness draw near;
They are far from Your law.
151 You are (I)near, O Lord,
And all Your commandments are (J)truth.
152 Of old I have (K)known from Your testimonies
That You have founded them (L)forever.
Resh.
153 (M)Look upon my (N)affliction and rescue me,
For I do not (O)forget Your law.
154 (P)Plead my cause and (Q)redeem me;
Revive me according to Your [d]word.
155 Salvation is (R)far from the wicked,
For they (S)do not seek Your statutes.
156 [e](T)Great are Your mercies, O Lord;
Revive me according to Your ordinances.
157 Many are my (U)persecutors and my adversaries,
Yet I do not (V)turn aside from Your testimonies.
158 I behold the (W)treacherous and (X)loathe them,
Because they do not keep Your [f]word.
159 Consider how I (Y)love Your precepts;
(Z)Revive me, O Lord, according to Your lovingkindness.
160 The (AA)sum of Your word is (AB)truth,
And every one of Your righteous ordinances (AC)is everlasting.
Shin.
161 (AD)Princes persecute me without cause,
But my heart (AE)stands in awe of Your words.
162 I (AF)rejoice at Your [g]word,
As one who (AG)finds great spoil.
163 I (AH)hate and despise falsehood,
But I (AI)love Your law.
164 Seven times a day I praise You,
Because of Your (AJ)righteous ordinances.
165 Those who love Your law have (AK)great peace,
And [h](AL)nothing causes them to stumble.
166 I (AM)hope for Your salvation, O Lord,
And do Your commandments.
167 My (AN)soul keeps Your testimonies,
And I (AO)love them exceedingly.
168 I (AP)keep Your precepts and Your testimonies,
For all my (AQ)ways are before You.
Tav.
169 Let my (AR)cry [i]come before You, O Lord;
(AS)Give me understanding (AT)according to Your word.
170 Let my (AU)supplication come before You;
(AV)Deliver me according to Your [j]word.
171 Let my (AW)lips utter praise,
For You (AX)teach me Your statutes.
172 Let my (AY)tongue sing of Your [k]word,
For all Your (AZ)commandments are righteousness.
173 Let Your (BA)hand be [l]ready to help me,
For I have (BB)chosen Your precepts.
174 I (BC)long for Your salvation, O Lord,
And Your law is my (BD)delight.
175 Let my (BE)soul live that it may praise You,
And let Your ordinances help me.
176 I have (BF)gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant,
For I do (BG)not forget Your commandments.
Blessedness of the Fear of the Lord.
A Song of Ascents.
128 (A)How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
Who (B)walks in His ways.
2 When you shall (C)eat of the [a](D)fruit of your hands,
You will be happy and (E)it will be well with you.
3 Your wife shall be like a (F)fruitful vine
[b]Within your house,
Your children like (G)olive plants
Around your table.
4 Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the Lord.
5 (H)The Lord bless you (I)from Zion,
And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
6 Indeed, may you see your (J)children’s children.
(K)Peace be upon Israel!
Prayer for the Overthrow of Zion’s Enemies.
A Song of Ascents.
129 “[c]Many times they have [d](L)persecuted me from my (M)youth up,”
(N)Let Israel now say,
2 “[e]Many times they have [f]persecuted me from my youth up;
Yet they have (O)not prevailed against me.
3 “The plowers plowed upon my back;
They lengthened their furrows.”
4 The Lord (P)is righteous;
He has cut in two the (Q)cords of the wicked.
5 May all who (R)hate Zion
Be (S)put to shame and turned backward;
6 Let them be like (T)grass upon the housetops,
Which withers before it [g]grows up;
7 With which the reaper does not fill his [h]hand,
Or the binder of sheaves his (U)bosom;
8 Nor do those who pass by say,
“The (V)blessing of the Lord be upon you;
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
Hope in the Lord’s Forgiving Love.
A Song of Ascents.
130 Out of the (W)depths I have cried to You, O Lord.
2 Lord, (X)hear my voice!
Let (Y)Your ears be attentive
To the (Z)voice of my supplications.
3 If You, [i]Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could (AA)stand?
4 But there is (AB)forgiveness with You,
That You may be (AC)feared.
5 I wait for the Lord, my (AD)soul does wait,
And [j](AE)in His word do I hope.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
More than the watchmen (AF)for the morning;
Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, (AG)hope in the Lord;
For with the Lord there is (AH)lovingkindness,
And with Him is (AI)abundant redemption.
8 And He will (AJ)redeem Israel
From all his iniquities.
41 Then it came about in the morning that Balak took Balaam and brought him up to [a](A)the high places of Baal, and he saw from there [b]a (B)portion of the people.
The Prophecies of Balaam
23 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Build seven altars for me here, and prepare seven bulls and seven rams for me here.” 2 Balak did just as Balaam had spoken, and Balak and Balaam offered up a bull and a ram on each altar. 3 Then Balaam said to Balak, “Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever He shows me I will tell you.” So he went to a bare hill.
4 Now God met Balaam, and he said to Him, “I have set up the seven altars, and I have offered up a bull and a ram on each altar.” 5 Then the Lord (C)put a word in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and you shall speak thus.” 6 So he returned to him, and behold, he was standing beside his burnt offering, he and all the leaders of Moab. 7 He took up his [c]discourse and said,
“From (D)Aram Balak has brought me,
Moab’s king from the mountains of the East,
‘(E)Come curse Jacob for me,
And come, denounce Israel!’
8 “(F)How shall I curse whom God has not cursed?
And how can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?
9 “As I see him from the top of the rocks,
And I look at him from the hills;
(G)Behold, a people who dwells apart,
And will not be reckoned among the nations.
10 “(H)Who can count the dust of Jacob,
Or number the fourth part of Israel?
(I)Let [d]me die the death of the upright,
(J)And let my end be like his!”
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? (K)I took you to curse my enemies, but behold, you have actually blessed them!” 12 He replied, “Must I not be careful to speak (L)what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
13 Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? (A)May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.
The Conflict of Two Natures
14 For we know that the Law is (B)spiritual, but I am (C)of flesh, (D)sold [a](E)into bondage to sin. 15 For what I am doing, (F)I do not understand; for I am not practicing (G)what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16 But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with (H)the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17 So now, (I)no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my (J)flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19 For (K)the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20 But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, (L)I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.
21 I find then (M)the [b]principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22 For I joyfully concur with the law of God [c]in (N)the inner man, 23 but I see (O)a different law in [d]the members of my body, waging war against the (P)law of my mind and making me a prisoner [e]of (Q)the law of sin which is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from [f](R)the body of this (S)death? 25 (T)Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh (U)the law of sin.
Parable of the Landowner
33 “Listen to another parable. (A)There was a [a]landowner who (B)planted a (C)vineyard and put a wall around it and dug a wine press in it, and built a tower, and rented it out to [b]vine-growers and (D)went on a journey. 34 When the [c]harvest time approached, he (E)sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. 35 The vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. 36 Again he (F)sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. 37 But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, ‘This is the heir; come, let us kill him and seize his inheritance.’ 39 They took him, and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 Therefore when the [d]owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers?” 41 They *said to Him, “He will bring those wretches to a wretched end, and (G)will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons.”
42 Jesus *said to them, “Did you never read in the Scriptures,
‘(H)The stone which the builders rejected,
This became the chief corner stone;
This came about from the Lord,
And it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a [e]people, producing the fruit of it. 44 And (I)he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust.”
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard His parables, they understood that He was speaking about them. 46 When they sought to seize Him, they (J)feared the [f]people, because they considered Him to be a (K)prophet.
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