Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies
A song of ascents.[a]
120 In my distress I called to Yahweh,
and he answered me.
2 “Deliver my life, O Yahweh, from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.”
3 What shall be given to you,[b]
and what more shall be done to you,
deceitful tongue?
4 The sharpened arrows of a warrior,
with burning charcoals from broom trees.
5 Woe to me, that I sojourn in Meshech,
that I dwell among the tents of Kedar.
6 Too long my soul has had its dwelling
near one who hates peace.
7 I am for peace, but when I speak,
they are for war.
Trust in God’s Protection
A song for the ascents.[c]
121 I lift up my eyes to the mountains;
whence will my help come?
2 My help is from Yahweh,
maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;
he who protects you will not slumber.
4 Look, he will not slumber and he will not sleep—
he who protects Israel.
5 Yahweh is your protector;
Yahweh is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun will not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 Yahweh will protect you from all evil;[d]
he will protect your life.
8 Yahweh will protect your going out and your coming in
from now until forever.
Jerusalem the Site of God’s Presence
A song of ascents. Of David.[e]
122 I rejoiced in those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house[f] of Yahweh.”
2 Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem—
3 Jerusalem that is built
as a city that is joined together,
4 where the tribes go up,
the tribes of Yah[g] as a testimony for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of Yahweh.
5 For there the thrones sit[h] for judgment,
thrones of David’s house.
6 Pray[i] for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be at ease.
7 May peace be within your walls,
security within your palaces.”
8 For the sake of my brothers and my friends,
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house[j] of Yahweh our God,
I will seek your good.
Prayer for Yahweh’s Action in the Face of Scorn
A song of ascents.[k]
123 I lift up my eyes to you,
the one enthroned[l] in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,[m]
as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to Yahweh our God,
until he is gracious to us.
3 Be gracious to us, O Yahweh, be gracious to us,
for long enough we have had our fill of contempt.
4 For long enough our soul has had its fill of
the derision of the self-confident,
the contempt of the arrogant.
Thanksgiving for Yahweh’s Help
A song of ascents. Of David.[n]
124 “If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side,”
do let Israel say,
2 “If it had not been Yahweh who was on our side,
when men rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us alive,
when their anger was kindled against us.
4 Then the waters would have flooded over us,
the torrent would have passed over our soul.
5 Then over our soul would have passed
the raging waters.”
6 Blessed be Yahweh,
who has not made[o] us prey for their teeth.
7 Our soul has escaped like a bird
from the snare of fowlers.
The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of Yahweh,
maker of heaven and earth.
Confidence in Yahweh’s Protection
A song of ascents.[p]
125 Those who trust in Yahweh
are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved,
but abides forever.
2 As mountains are round about Jerusalem,
so Yahweh is round about his people,
from now until forever.
3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land[q] of the righteous,
lest the righteous stretch out
their hands to do wickedness.[r]
4 Do good, O Yahweh, to the good,
and to those upright in their hearts.
5 But regarding those who turn aside to their crooked ways,
Yahweh will lead them away with the evildoers.
Peace be upon Israel.
A Prayer for Restoration
A song of ascents.[s]
126 When Yahweh restored the fortunes[t] of Zion,[u]
we were like dreamers.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with rejoicing.
Then they said among the nations,
“Yahweh has done great things for these people.”
3 Yahweh has done great things for us;
we are glad.
4 Restore, O Yahweh, our fortunes[v]
like the streams in the Negeb.[w]
5 Those who sow with tears
shall reap with rejoicing.
6 He who diligently goes out with weeping,
carrying the seed bag,
shall certainly come in with rejoicing,
carrying his sheaves.
A Prayer for Protection and Prosperity
A song of ascents. Of Solomon.[x]
127 Unless Yahweh builds a house,
its builders labor at it in vain.
Unless Yahweh guards a city,
a guard watches in vain.
2 It is in vain for you who rise early and sit late,
eating the bread of anxious toil,
when thus he[y] provides[z] for his beloved in his sleep.[aa]
3 Look, children[ab] are the heritage[ac] of Yahweh;
the fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
so are the children[ad] of one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them.[ae]
They shall not be put to shame
when they speak with enemies at the gate.
The Two Shepherds
4 Thus says Yahweh my God: “Shepherd the flock[a] doomed to slaughter. 5 The ones buying them kill them and go unpunished, and the ones selling them say, ‘Blessed be Yahweh, for I have become rich.’ Their own shepherds have no compassion for them. 6 For I will no longer have compassion on the inhabitants of the land,” declares[b] Yahweh. “Look, I am going to cause humankind to fall, each into the hand of his neighbor, and into the hand of his king; and they will devastate the land, and I will not deliver anyone from their hand.”
7 And I shepherded the flock[c] doomed to slaughter, even[d] the afflicted[e] of the flock.[f] I took two staffs, one I called Kindness, and the other I called Unity, and I shepherded the flock.[g] 8 And I got rid of three shepherds in one month, for I grew impatient[h] with them, and they also became tired of me.[i] 9 So I said, “I will not shepherd you! The one dying will die, and the one to be destroyed will be destroyed. And the ones remaining, let them devour the flesh of each other.”[j] 10 And I took my staff Kindness and broke it, to break my covenant that I had made[k] with all the peoples. 11 And it was broken on that day. Then the afflicted[l] of the flock,[m] the ones who were watching me, knew that it was the word of Yahweh. 12 And I said to them, “If it seems right to you,[n] give me my wages, but if not, keep them.”[o] And they weighed out my wages, thirty silver shekels. 13 And Yahweh said to me, “Throw it to the potter,”[p] this noble price[q] at which I was valued by them!” So I took the thirty silver shekels and I threw them to the potter[r] in the house of Yahweh. 14 Then I broke my second staff Unity to break the family ties between Judah and Israel.
15 And Yahweh said to me, “Take again the implements[s] of a foolish shepherd. 16 For look, I am raising up a shepherd in the land who will not attend to the ones that are perishing; he will not seek the young man,[t] he will not heal the ones that are crushed and he will not sustain the healthy ones; he will devour the flesh of the fattened ones[u] and tear apart even their hoofs.
10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building upon it. But each one must direct his attention to how he is building upon it. 11 For no one is able to lay another foundation than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds upon the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, grass, straw, 13 the work of each one will become evident. For the day will reveal it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the work of each one, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work that he has built upon it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved, but so as through fire.
16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy this one. For God’s temple is holy, which you are.
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone thinks himself to be wise among you in this age, let him become a fool, in order that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, for it is written, “The one who catches the wise in their craftiness,”[a] 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”[b] 21 So then, let no one boast in people. For all things are yours, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all things are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection a Third Time
31 And taking aside the twelve, he said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all the things that are written by the prophets with reference to the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 For he will be handed over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and mistreated and spit on, 33 and after[a] flogging him[b] they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” 34 And they understood none of these things, and this saying was concealed from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.
A Blind Man Healed at Jericho
35 Now it happened that as he drew near to Jericho, a certain blind man was sitting on the side of the road begging. 36 And when he[c] heard a crowd going by, he inquired what this meant. 37 And they told him, “Jesus the Nazarene is passing by.” 38 And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 And those who were in front rebuked him, that he should be silent, but he cried out even more loudly,[d] “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 So Jesus stopped and[e] ordered him to be brought to him. And when[f] he approached, he asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, that I may regain my sight. 42 And Jesus said to him, “Regain your sight! Your faith has saved you.” 43 And immediately he regained his sight and began to follow[g] him, glorifying God. And all the people, when they[h] saw it,[i] gave praise to God.
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