Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Deliverance from the Treacherous.
A Song of [a]Ascents.
120 (A)In my trouble I cried to the Lord,
And He answered me.
2 Deliver my soul, O Lord, from (B)lying lips,
From a (C)deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you,
You (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.
The Lord the Keeper of Israel.
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 the Lord,
Who (P)made heaven and earth.
3 He will not (Q)allow your foot to slip;
He who (R)keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your (S)keeper;
The Lord is your (T)shade on your right hand.
6 The (U)sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will [b](V)protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The Lord will [c](W)guard your going out and your coming in
(X)From this time forth and forever.
Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us (Y)go to the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet are standing
Within your (Z)gates, O Jerusalem,
3 Jerusalem, that is (AA)built
As a city that is (AB)compact together;
4 To which the tribes (AC)go up, even the tribes of [d]the Lord—
[e]An ordinance for Israel—
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For there (AD)thrones were set 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 prosperity 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 the Lord our God,
I will (AK)seek your good.
Prayer for the Lord’s Help.
A Song of Ascents.
123 To You I (AL)lift up my eyes,
O You who (AM)are enthroned in the heavens!
2 Behold, as the eyes of (AN)servants look to the hand of their master,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our (AO)eyes look to the Lord our God,
Until He is gracious to us.
3 (AP)Be gracious to us, O Lord, be gracious to us,
For we are greatly filled (AQ)with contempt.
4 Our soul is greatly filled
With the (AR)scoffing of (AS)those who are at ease,
And with the (AT)contempt of the proud.
Praise for Rescue from Enemies.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
124 “(AU)Had it not been the Lord who was on our side,”
(AV)Let Israel now say,
2 “Had it not been the Lord 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 engulfed us,
The stream would have [f]swept over our soul;
5 Then the (AZ)raging waters would have [g]swept over our soul.”
6 Blessed be the Lord,
Who has not given us [h]to be (BA)torn by 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 the Lord,
Who (BF)made heaven and earth.
The Lord Surrounds His People.
A Song of Ascents.
125 Those who trust in the Lord
Are as Mount Zion, which (BG)cannot be moved but (BH)abides forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So (BI)the Lord surrounds His people
(BJ)From this time forth and forever.
3 For the (BK)scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the [i]land of the righteous,
So that the righteous (BL)will not put forth their hands to do wrong.
4 (BM)Do good, O Lord, 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,
The Lord will lead them away with the (BQ)doers of iniquity.
(BR)Peace be upon Israel.
Thanksgiving for Return from Captivity.
A Song of Ascents.
126 When the Lord (BS)brought back [j]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 joyful shouting;
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has (BW)done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
We are (BX)glad.
4 Restore our captivity, O Lord,
As the [k](BY)streams in the [l]South.
5 Those who sow in (BZ)tears shall reap with (CA)joyful shouting.
6 He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,
Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
Prosperity Comes from the Lord.
A Song of Ascents, of Solomon.
127 Unless the Lord (CB)builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord (CC)guards the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early,
To [m]retire late,
To (CD)eat the bread of [n]painful labors;
For He gives to His (CE)beloved (CF)even in his sleep.
3 Behold, (CG)children are a [o]gift of the Lord,
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 whose quiver is full of them;
(CK)They will not be ashamed
When they (CL)speak with their enemies (CM)in the gate.
Danites Seek Territory
18 (A)In those days there was no king of Israel; and (B)in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in, for until that day [a]an inheritance had not [b]been allotted to them as a possession among the tribes of Israel. 2 So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, [c]valiant men from (C)Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it; and they said to them, “Go, search the land.” And they came to (D)the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. 3 When they were near the house of Micah, they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite; and they turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?” 4 He said to them, “Thus and so has Micah done to me, and he has hired me and (E)I have become his priest.” 5 They said to him, “Inquire of God, please, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will be prosperous.” 6 The priest said to them, “Go in peace; your way in which you are going [d]has the Lord’s approval.”
7 Then the five men departed and came to (F)Laish and saw the people who were in it living in security, after the manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no [e]ruler humiliating them for anything in the land, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. 8 When they came back to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, their brothers said to them, “What do you report?” 9 They said, “Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you [f]sit still? Do not delay to go, to enter, to possess the land. 10 When you enter, you will come to a secure people with a spacious land; for God has given it into your hand, (G)a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”
11 Then from the family of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, six hundred men armed with weapons of war set out. 12 They went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. Therefore they called that place [g](H)Mahaneh-dan to this day; behold, it is [h]west of Kiriath-jearim. 13 They passed from there to the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.
Danites Take Micah’s Idols
14 Then the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish said to their kinsmen, “Do you know that there are in these houses (I)an ephod and [i]household idols and a graven image and a molten image? Now therefore, consider what you should do.” 15 They turned aside there and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare.
Saul Persecutes the Church
8 (A)Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.
And on that day a great persecution [a]began against (B)the church in Jerusalem, and they were all (C)scattered throughout the regions of Judea and (D)Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. 3 But (E)Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and (F)dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.
Philip in Samaria
4 Therefore, those (G)who had been scattered went about [b](H)preaching the word. 5 (I)Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming [c]Christ to them. 6 The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the [d]signs which he was performing. 7 For in the case of many who had (J)unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been (K)paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 So there was (L)much rejoicing in that city.
9 Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing (M)magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, (N)claiming to be someone great; 10 and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “(O)This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” 11 And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his (P)magic arts. 12 But when they believed Philip (Q)preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being (R)baptized, men and women alike. 13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed (S)signs and (T)great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.
30 “(A)I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and (B)My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but (C)the will of Him who sent Me.
31 “(D)If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not [a]true. 32 There is (E)another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.
Witness of John
33 You have sent to John, and he (F)has testified to the truth. 34 But (G)the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was (H)the lamp that was burning and was shining and you (I)were willing to rejoice for [b]a while in his light.
Witness of Works
36 But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for (J)the works which the Father has given Me (K)to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father (L)has sent Me.
Witness of the Father
37 And the Father who sent Me, (M)He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. 38 You do not have (N)His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He (O)sent.
Witness of the Scripture
39 [c](P)You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is (Q)these that testify about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. 41 (R)I do not receive glory from men; 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 43 I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; (S)if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you (T)receive [d]glory from one another and you do not seek (U)the [e]glory that is from (V)the one and only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is (W)Moses, in whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for (X)he wrote about Me. 47 But (Y)if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.