Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 120[a]
Prayer of a Returned Exile
1 A song of ascents.[b]
The Lord answered me
when I called in my distress:(A)
2 Lord, deliver my soul from lying lips,
from a treacherous tongue.(B)
3 What will he inflict on you,
O treacherous tongue,
and what more besides?[c]
4 A warrior’s arrows
sharpened with coals of brush wood
5 [e]Alas, I am a foreigner in Meshech,
I live among the tents of Kedar!
6 Too long do I live
among those who hate peace.
7 When I speak of peace,
they are for war.(D)
Psalm 121[f]
The Lord My Guardian
1 A song of ascents.
I raise my eyes toward the mountains.[g]
From whence shall come my help?(E)
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.(F)
3 He will not allow your foot to slip;(G)
or your guardian to sleep.
4 Behold, the guardian of Israel
never slumbers nor sleeps.
5 [h]The Lord is your guardian;
the Lord is your shade
at your right hand.(H)
6 By day the sun will not strike you,
nor the moon by night.(I)
7 The Lord will guard you from all evil;
he will guard your soul.(J)
8 The Lord will guard your coming and going
both now and forever.(K)
Psalm 122[i]
A Pilgrim’s Prayer for Jerusalem
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
I
I rejoiced when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”(L)
2 And now our feet are standing
within your gates, Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem, built as a city,
walled round about.[j](M)
4 There the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
As it was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.(N)
5 There are the thrones of justice,
the thrones of the house of David.
II
6 For the peace of Jerusalem pray:
“May those who love you prosper!
7 May peace be within your ramparts,
prosperity within your towers.”(O)
8 For the sake of my brothers and friends I say,
“Peace be with you.”(P)
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord, our God,
I pray for your good.
Psalm 123[k]
Reliance on the Lord
1 A song of ascents.
To you I raise my eyes,
to you enthroned in heaven.(Q)
2 Yes, like the eyes of servants
on the hand of their masters,
Like the eyes of a maid
on the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes are on the Lord our God,
till we are shown favor.
3 Show us favor, Lord, show us favor,
for we have our fill of contempt.(R)
4 Our souls are more than sated
with mockery from the insolent,
with contempt from the arrogant.
Psalm 124[l]
God, the Rescuer of the People
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
Had not the Lord been with us,
let Israel say,(S)
2 Had not the Lord been with us,
when people rose against us,
3 Then they would have swallowed us alive,(T)
for their fury blazed against us.
4 Then the waters would have engulfed us,
the torrent overwhelmed us;(U)
5 then seething water would have drowned us.
6 Blessed is the Lord, who did not leave us
to be torn by their teeth.
7 We escaped with our lives like a bird
from the fowler’s snare;
the snare was broken,
and we escaped.
8 [m]Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.(V)
Psalm 125[n]
Israel’s Protector
1 A song of ascents.
Those trusting in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
unshakable, forever enduring.(W)
2 As mountains surround Jerusalem,
the Lord surrounds his people
both now and forever.(X)
3 The scepter of the wicked will not prevail
in the land allotted to the just,[o]
Lest the just themselves
turn their hands to evil.
4 Do good, Lord, to the good,
to those who are upright of heart.(Y)
5 But those who turn aside to crooked ways
may the Lord send down with the evildoers.(Z)
Peace upon Israel!(AA)
Psalm 126[p]
The Reversal of Zion’s Fortunes
1 A song of ascents.
I
When the Lord restored the captives of Zion,(AB)
we thought we were dreaming.
2 Then our mouths were filled with laughter;
our tongues sang for joy.(AC)
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord had done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
Oh, how happy we were!
4 Restore our captives, Lord,
like the dry stream beds of the Negeb.[q]
II
5 Those who sow in tears
will reap with cries of joy.(AD)
6 Those who go forth weeping,
carrying sacks of seed,
Will return with cries of joy,
carrying their bundled sheaves.
Psalm 127[r]
The Need of God’s Blessing
1 A song of ascents. Of Solomon.
I
Unless the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain who build.
Unless the Lord guard the city,
in vain does the guard keep watch.
2 It is vain for you to rise early
and put off your rest at night,
To eat bread earned by hard toil—
all this God gives to his beloved in sleep.(AE)
II
Chapter 18
Migration of the Danites. 1 In those days there was no king in Israel.(A) In those days the tribe of the Danites were in search of a heritage to dwell in, for up to that time no heritage had been allotted[a] to them among the tribes of Israel.(B)
2 So the Danites sent from their clans five powerful men of Zorah and Eshtaol, to reconnoiter the land and scout it. “Go, scout the land,” they were told. They went into the mountain region of Ephraim, and they spent the night there. 3 While they were near the house of Micah,(C) they recognized the voice[b] of the young Levite,(D) so they turned aside. They asked him, “Who brought you here? What are you doing here? What is your interest here?” 4 “This is what Micah has done for me,” he replied to them. “He has hired me and I have become his priest.”(E) 5 They said to him, “Consult God, that we may know whether the journey we are making will lead to success.”(F) 6 The priest said to them, “Go in peace! The journey you are making is under the eye of the Lord.”
7 So the five men went on and came to Laish. They saw the people there living securely after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and trusting, with no lack of any natural resource. They were distant from the Sidonians and had no dealings with the Arameans.[c] 8 When the five returned to their kin in Zorah and Eshtaol, they were asked, “What do you have to report?” 9 They replied, “Come, let us attack them, for we have seen the land and it is very good. Are you going to hesitate? Do not be slow to go in and take possession of the land! 10 When you go you will come to a trusting people. The land stretches out in both directions, and God has indeed given it into your power—a place where no natural resource is lacking.”(G)
11 So six hundred of the clan of the Danites, men armed with weapons of war, set out from Zorah and Eshtaol. 12 They marched up into Judah and encamped near Kiriath-jearim; for this reason the place is called Mahaneh-dan[d] to this day (it lies west of Kiriath-jearim).(H)
13 From there they passed on into the mountain region of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah. 14 Then the five men who had gone to reconnoiter the land spoke up and said to their kindred, “Do you know that in these houses there are an ephod, teraphim, and an idol overlaid with silver?(I) Now decide what you must do!” 15 So turning in that direction, they went to the house of the young Levite at the home of Micah and greeted him.
Chapter 8
1 Now Saul was consenting to his execution.(A)
Persecution of the Church. On that day, there broke out a severe persecution[a] of the church in Jerusalem, and all were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.[b] 2 Devout men buried Stephen and made a loud lament over him. 3 Saul, meanwhile, was trying to destroy the church;[c] entering house after house and dragging out men and women, he handed them over for imprisonment.(B)
III. The Mission in Judea and Samaria
Philip in Samaria. 4 Now those who had been scattered went about preaching the word.(C) 5 Thus Philip went down to [the] city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them.(D) 6 With one accord, the crowds paid attention to what was said by Philip when they heard it and saw the signs he was doing. 7 For unclean spirits, crying out in a loud voice, came out of many possessed people, and many paralyzed and crippled people were cured.(E) 8 There was great joy in that city.
Simon the Magician. 9 A man named Simon used to practice magic[d] in the city and astounded the people of Samaria, claiming to be someone great. 10 All of them, from the least to the greatest, paid attention to him, saying, “This man is the ‘Power of God’ that is called ‘Great.’” 11 They paid attention to him because he had astounded them by his magic for a long time, 12 but once they began to believe Philip as he preached the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, men and women alike were baptized.(F) 13 Even Simon himself believed and, after being baptized, became devoted to Philip; and when he saw the signs and mighty deeds that were occurring, he was astounded.
30 “I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me.(A)
Witnesses to Jesus. 31 (B)“If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony cannot be verified. 32 But there is another[a] who testifies on my behalf, and I know that the testimony he gives on my behalf is true. 33 You sent emissaries to John, and he testified to the truth.(C) 34 I do not accept testimony from a human being, but I say this so that you may be saved.(D) 35 He was a burning and shining lamp,[b] and for a while you were content to rejoice in his light.(E) 36 But I have testimony greater than John’s. The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.(F) 37 Moreover, the Father who sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form,(G) 38 and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent.(H) 39 You search[c] the scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf.(I) 40 But you do not want to come to me to have life.
Unbelief of Jesus’ Hearers. 41 “I do not accept human praise;[d] 42 moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you.(J) 43 I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him.(K) 44 How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from the only God?(L) 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope.(M) 46 For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me.(N) 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.