Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137
1 By the rivers of Babylon(A) we sat and wept(B)
when we remembered Zion.(C)
2 There on the poplars(D)
we hung our harps,(E)
3 for there our captors(F) asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded(G) songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”(H)
4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord(I)
while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you,(J) Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof(K) of my mouth
if I do not remember(L) you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem(M)
my highest joy.
7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites(N) did
on the day Jerusalem fell.(O)
“Tear it down,” they cried,
“tear it down to its foundations!”(P)
8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,(Q)
happy is the one who repays you
according to what you have done to us.
9 Happy is the one who seizes your infants
and dashes them(R) against the rocks.
Psalm 144
Of David.
1 Praise be to the Lord my Rock,(A)
who trains my hands for war,
my fingers for battle.
2 He is my loving God and my fortress,(B)
my stronghold(C) and my deliverer,
my shield,(D) in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples[a](E) under me.
3 Lord, what are human beings(F) that you care for them,
mere mortals that you think of them?
4 They are like a breath;(G)
their days are like a fleeting shadow.(H)
5 Part your heavens,(I) Lord, and come down;(J)
touch the mountains, so that they smoke.(K)
6 Send forth lightning(L) and scatter(M) the enemy;
shoot your arrows(N) and rout them.
7 Reach down your hand from on high;(O)
deliver me and rescue me(P)
from the mighty waters,(Q)
from the hands of foreigners(R)
8 whose mouths are full of lies,(S)
whose right hands(T) are deceitful.(U)
9 I will sing a new song(V) to you, my God;
on the ten-stringed lyre(W) I will make music to you,
10 to the One who gives victory to kings,(X)
who delivers his servant David.(Y)
From the deadly sword(Z) 11 deliver me;
rescue me(AA) from the hands of foreigners(AB)
whose mouths are full of lies,(AC)
whose right hands are deceitful.(AD)
12 Then our sons in their youth
will be like well-nurtured plants,(AE)
and our daughters will be like pillars(AF)
carved to adorn a palace.
13 Our barns will be filled(AG)
with every kind of provision.
Our sheep will increase by thousands,
by tens of thousands in our fields;
14 our oxen(AH) will draw heavy loads.[b]
There will be no breaching of walls,(AI)
no going into captivity,
no cry of distress in our streets.(AJ)
15 Blessed is the people(AK) of whom this is true;
blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.
Psalm 104
1 Praise the Lord, my soul.(A)
Lord my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.(B)
2 The Lord wraps(C) himself in light(D) as with a garment;
he stretches(E) out the heavens(F) like a tent(G)
3 and lays the beams(H) of his upper chambers on their waters.(I)
He makes the clouds(J) his chariot(K)
and rides on the wings of the wind.(L)
4 He makes winds his messengers,[a](M)
flames of fire(N) his servants.
5 He set the earth(O) on its foundations;(P)
it can never be moved.
6 You covered it(Q) with the watery depths(R) as with a garment;
the waters stood(S) above the mountains.
7 But at your rebuke(T) the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder(U) they took to flight;
8 they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned(V) for them.
9 You set a boundary(W) they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth.
10 He makes springs(X) pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water(Y) to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys(Z) quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky(AA) nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.(AB)
13 He waters the mountains(AC) from his upper chambers;(AD)
the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.(AE)
14 He makes grass grow(AF) for the cattle,
and plants for people to cultivate—
bringing forth food(AG) from the earth:
15 wine(AH) that gladdens human hearts,
oil(AI) to make their faces shine,
and bread that sustains(AJ) their hearts.
16 The trees of the Lord(AK) are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon(AL) that he planted.
17 There the birds(AM) make their nests;
the stork has its home in the junipers.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;(AN)
the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.(AO)
19 He made the moon to mark the seasons,(AP)
and the sun(AQ) knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness,(AR) it becomes night,(AS)
and all the beasts of the forest(AT) prowl.
21 The lions roar for their prey(AU)
and seek their food from God.(AV)
22 The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.(AW)
23 Then people go out to their work,(AX)
to their labor until evening.(AY)
24 How many are your works,(AZ) Lord!
In wisdom you made(BA) them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.(BB)
25 There is the sea,(BC) vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.(BD)
26 There the ships(BE) go to and fro,
and Leviathan,(BF) which you formed to frolic(BG) there.(BH)
27 All creatures look to you
to give them their food(BI) at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are satisfied(BJ) with good things.
29 When you hide your face,(BK)
they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.(BL)
30 When you send your Spirit,(BM)
they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord(BN) endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works(BO)—
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,(BP)
who touches the mountains,(BQ) and they smoke.(BR)
33 I will sing(BS) to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice(BT) in the Lord.
35 But may sinners vanish(BU) from the earth
and the wicked be no more.(BV)
Praise the Lord, my soul.
12 Balaam answered Balak, “Did I not tell the messengers you sent me,(A) 13 ‘Even if Balak gave me all the silver and gold in his palace, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the Lord(B)—and I must say only what the Lord says’?(C) 14 Now I am going back to my people, but come, let me warn you of what this people will do to your people in days to come.”(D)
Balaam’s Fourth Message
15 Then he spoke his message:
“The prophecy of Balaam son of Beor,
the prophecy of one whose eye sees clearly,
16 the prophecy of one who hears the words(E) of God,
who has knowledge from the Most High,(F)
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
who falls prostrate, and whose eyes are opened:
17 “I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not near.(G)
A star will come out of Jacob;(H)
a scepter will rise out of Israel.(I)
He will crush the foreheads of Moab,(J)
the skulls[a](K) of[b] all the people of Sheth.[c]
18 Edom(L) will be conquered;
Seir,(M) his enemy, will be conquered,(N)
but Israel(O) will grow strong.
19 A ruler will come out of Jacob(P)
and destroy the survivors of the city.”
Balaam’s Fifth Message
20 Then Balaam saw Amalek(Q) and spoke his message:
“Amalek was first among the nations,
but their end will be utter destruction.”(R)
Balaam’s Sixth Message
21 Then he saw the Kenites(S) and spoke his message:
“Your dwelling place is secure,(T)
your nest is set in a rock;
22 yet you Kenites will be destroyed
when Ashur(U) takes you captive.”
Balaam’s Seventh Message
23 Then he spoke his message:
“Alas! Who can live when God does this?[d]
24 Ships will come from the shores of Cyprus;(V)
they will subdue Ashur(W) and Eber,(X)
but they too will come to ruin.(Y)”
25 Then Balaam(Z) got up and returned home, and Balak went his own way.
Present Suffering and Future Glory
18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.(A) 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God(B) to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it,(C) in hope 21 that[a] the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay(D) and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.(E)
22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning(F) as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,(G) groan(H) inwardly as we wait eagerly(I) for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.(J) 24 For in this hope we were saved.(K) But hope that is seen is no hope at all.(L) Who hopes for what they already have? 25 But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.(M)
Marriage at the Resurrection(A)
23 That same day the Sadducees,(B) who say there is no resurrection,(C) came to him with a question. 24 “Teacher,” they said, “Moses told us that if a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and raise up offspring for him.(D) 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children, he left his wife to his brother. 26 The same thing happened to the second and third brother, right on down to the seventh. 27 Finally, the woman died. 28 Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be of the seven, since all of them were married to her?”
29 Jesus replied, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures(E) or the power of God. 30 At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage;(F) they will be like the angels in heaven. 31 But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’[a]?(G) He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”
33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at his teaching.(H)
The Greatest Commandment(I)
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees,(J) the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law,(K) tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[b](L) 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[c](M) 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”(N)
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