Book of Common Prayer
ק Qoph
145 Lord, I call out to you with all my heart.
Answer me, and I will obey your orders.
146 I call out to you.
Save me, and I will keep your covenant laws.
147 I get up before the sun rises. I cry out for help.
I’ve put my hope in your word.
148 My eyes stay open all night long.
I spend my time thinking about your promises.
149 Listen to me, because you love me.
Lord, keep me alive as you have promised.
150 Those who think up evil plans are near.
They have wandered far away from your law.
151 But Lord, you are near.
All your commands are true.
152 Long ago I learned from your covenant laws
that you made them to last forever.
ר Resh
153 Look at how I’m suffering!
Save me, because I haven’t forgotten to obey your law.
154 Stand up for me and set me free.
Keep me alive as you have promised.
155 Those who are evil are far from being saved.
They don’t want to obey your orders.
156 Lord, you have deep concern for me.
Keep me alive as you have promised.
157 Many enemies attack me.
But I haven’t turned away from your covenant laws.
158 I get very angry when I see people who aren’t faithful to you.
They don’t obey your word.
159 See how I love your rules!
Lord, keep me alive, because you love me.
160 All your words are true.
All your laws are right. They last forever.
ש Sin and Shin
161 Rulers attack me for no reason.
But I tremble because of your word.
162 I’m filled with joy because of your promise.
It’s like finding a great fortune.
163 I hate lies with a deep hatred.
But I love your law.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
for your laws, because they are right.
165 Those who love your law enjoy great peace.
Nothing can make them trip and fall.
166 Lord, I wait for you to save me.
I follow your commands.
167 I obey your covenant laws,
because I love them greatly.
168 I obey your rules and your covenant laws,
because you know all about how I live.
ת Taw
169 Lord, may you hear my cry.
Give me understanding, just as you said you would.
170 May you hear my prayer.
Save me, just as you promised.
171 May my lips pour out praise to you,
because you teach me your orders.
172 May my tongue sing about your word,
because all your commands are right.
173 May your hand be ready to help me,
because I have chosen to obey your rules.
174 Lord, I long for you to save me.
Your law gives me delight.
175 Let me live so that I can praise you.
May your laws keep me going.
176 Like a lost sheep, I’ve gone down the wrong path.
Come and look for me,
because I haven’t forgotten to obey your commands.
A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.
128 Blessed are all those who have respect for the Lord.
They live as he wants them to live.
2 Your work will give you what you need.
Blessings and good things will come to you.
3 As a vine bears a lot of fruit,
so may your wife have many children by you.
May they sit around your table
like young olive trees.
4 Only a man who has respect for the Lord
will be blessed like that.
5 May the Lord bless you from Zion.
May you enjoy the good things that come to Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
6 May you live to see your grandchildren.
May Israel enjoy peace.
A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.
129 Here is what Israel should say.
“My enemies have treated me badly ever since I was a young nation.
2 My enemies have treated me badly ever since I was a young nation.
But they haven’t won the battle.
3 They have made deep wounds in my back.
It looks like a field a farmer has plowed.
4 The Lord does what is right.
Sinners had tied me up with ropes. But the Lord has set me free.”
5 May all those who hate Zion
be driven back in shame.
6 May they be like grass that grows on the roof of a house.
It dries up before it can grow.
7 There isn’t enough of it to fill a person’s hand.
There isn’t enough to tie up and carry away.
8 May no one who passes by say to those who hate Zion,
“May the blessing of the Lord be on you.
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.
130 Lord, I cry out to you
because I’m suffering so deeply.
2 Lord, listen to me.
Pay attention to my cry for your mercy.
3 Lord, suppose you kept a close watch on sins.
Lord, who then wouldn’t be found guilty?
4 But you forgive.
So we can serve you with respect.
5 With all my heart I wait for the Lord to help me.
I put my hope in his word.
6 I wait for the Lord to help me.
I want his help more than night watchmen want the morning to come.
I’ll say it again.
I want his help more than night watchmen want the morning to come.
7 Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
because the Lord’s love never fails.
He sets his people completely free.
8 He himself will set Israel
free from all their sins.
The Lord Will Destroy Jerusalem’s Enemies
12 This is a prophecy. It is the Lord’s message about Israel.
The Lord spreads out the heavens. He lays the foundation of the earth. He creates the human spirit within a person. He says, 2 “Jerusalem will be like a cup in my hand. It will make all the surrounding nations drunk from the wine of my anger. Judah will be attacked by its enemies. So will Jerusalem. 3 At that time all the nations on earth will gather together against Jerusalem. Then it will become like a rock that can’t be moved. All the nations that try to move it will only hurt themselves. 4 On that day I will fill every horse with panic. I will make every rider crazy,” announces the Lord. “I will watch over the people of Judah. But I will make all the horses of the nations blind. 5 Then the family groups of Judah will say in their hearts, ‘The people of Jerusalem are strong. That’s because the Lord who rules over all is their God.’
6 “At that time Judah’s family groups will be like a fire pot in a pile of wood. They will be like a burning torch among bundles of grain. They will destroy all the surrounding nations on every side. But Jerusalem will remain unharmed in its place.
7 “I will save the houses in Judah first. The honor of David’s family line is great. So is the honor of those who live in Jerusalem. But their honor will not be greater than the honor of the rest of Judah. 8 At that time I will be like a shield to those who live in Jerusalem. Then even the weakest among them will be great warriors like David. And David’s family line will be like the angel of the Lord who leads them. 9 On that day I will begin to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.
Israel’s People Will Mourn Over the One They Pierced
10 “I will pour out a spirit of grace and prayer on David’s family line. I will also send it on those who live in Jerusalem. They will look to me. I am the one they have pierced. They will mourn over me as someone mourns over an only child who has died. They will be full of sorrow over me. Their sorrow will be just like someone’s sorrow over an oldest son.
Praise God for His Spiritual Blessings in Christ
3 Give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing. Those blessings come from the heavenly world. They belong to us because we belong to Christ. 4 God chose us to belong to Christ before the world was created. He chose us to be holy and without blame in his eyes. He loved us. 5 So he decided long ago to adopt us. He adopted us as his children with all the rights children have. He did it because of what Jesus Christ has done. It pleased God to do it. 6 All those things bring praise to his glorious grace. God freely gave us his grace because of the One he loves. 7 We have been set free because of what Christ has done. Because he bled and died our sins have been forgiven. We have been set free because God’s grace is so rich. 8 He poured his grace on us. By giving us great wisdom and understanding, 9 he showed us the mystery of his plan. It was in keeping with what he wanted to do. It was what he had planned through Christ. 10 It will all come about when history has been completed. God will then bring together all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
11 We were also chosen to belong to him. God decided to choose us long ago in keeping with his plan. He works out everything to fit his plan and purpose. 12 We were the first to put our hope in Christ. We were chosen to bring praise to his glory. 13 You also became believers in Christ. That happened when you heard the message of truth. It was the good news about how you could be saved. When you believed, he stamped you with an official mark. That official mark is the Holy Spirit that he promised. 14 The Spirit marks us as God’s own. We can now be sure that someday we will receive all that God has promised. That will happen after God sets all his people completely free. All these things will bring praise to his glory.
Zacchaeus the Tax Collector
19 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. 2 A man named Zacchaeus lived there. He was a chief tax collector and was very rich. 3 Zacchaeus wanted to see who Jesus was. But he was a short man. He could not see Jesus because of the crowd. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree. He wanted to see Jesus, who was coming that way.
5 Jesus reached the spot where Zacchaeus was. He looked up and said, “Zacchaeus, come down at once. I must stay at your house today.” 6 So Zacchaeus came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
7 All the people saw this. They began to whisper among themselves. They said, “Jesus has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”
8 But Zacchaeus stood up. He said, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of what I own to those who are poor. And if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay it back. I will pay back four times the amount I took.”
9 Jesus said to Zacchaeus, “Today salvation has come to your house. You are a member of Abraham’s family line. 10 The Son of Man came to look for the lost and save them.”
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