Book of Common Prayer
A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.
121 I look up to the mountains.
Where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord.
He is the Maker of heaven and earth.
3 He won’t let your foot slip.
He who watches over you won’t get tired.
4 In fact, he who watches over Israel
won’t get tired or go to sleep.
5 The Lord watches over you.
The Lord is like a shade tree at your right hand.
6 The sun won’t harm you during the day.
The moon won’t harm you during the night.
7 The Lord will keep you from every kind of harm.
He will watch over your life.
8 The Lord will watch over your life no matter where you go,
both now and forever.
A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. A psalm of David.
122 I was very glad when they said to me,
“Let us go up to the house of the Lord.”
2 Jerusalem, our feet are standing
inside your gates.
3 Jerusalem is built like a city
where everything is close together.
4 The tribes of the Lord go there to praise his name.
They do it in keeping with the law he gave to Israel.
5 The thrones of the family line of David are there.
That’s where the people are judged.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Say,
“May those who love you be secure.
7 May there be peace inside your walls.
May your people be kept safe.”
8 I’m concerned for my family and friends.
So I say to Jerusalem, “May you enjoy peace.”
9 I’m concerned about the house of the Lord our God.
So I pray that things will go well with Jerusalem.
A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.
123 I look up and pray to you.
Your throne is in heaven.
2 Slaves depend on their masters.
A female slave depends on the woman she works for.
In the same way, we depend on the Lord our God.
We wait for him to have mercy on us.
3 Lord, have mercy on us. Have mercy on us,
because people haven’t stopped making fun of us.
4 We have had to put up with a lot from those who are proud.
They were always laughing at us.
A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord. A psalm of David.
131 Lord, my heart isn’t proud.
My eyes aren’t proud either.
I don’t concern myself with important matters.
I don’t concern myself with things that are too wonderful for me.
2 I have made myself calm and content
like a young child in its mother’s arms.
Deep down inside me, I am as content as a young child.
3 Israel, put your hope in the Lord
both now and forever.
A song for those who go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord.
132 Lord, remember David
and all the times he didn’t do what he wanted.
2 Lord, he made a promise.
Mighty One of Jacob, he made a promise to you.
3 He said, “I won’t enter my house
or go to bed.
4 I won’t let my eyes sleep.
I won’t close my eyelids
5 until I find a place for the Lord.
I want to build a house for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Here are the words we heard in Ephrathah.
We heard them again in the fields of Kiriath Jearim.
7 “Let us go to the Lord’s house.
Let us worship at his feet. Let us say,
8 ‘Lord, rise up and come to your resting place.
Come in together with the ark. It’s the sign of your power.
9 May your priests put on godliness as if it were their clothes.
May your faithful people sing for joy.’ ”
10 In honor of your servant David,
don’t turn your back on your anointed king.
11 The Lord made a promise to David.
It is a firm promise that he will never break.
He said, “After you die,
I will place one of your own sons on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and the laws I teach them,
then their sons will sit
on your throne for ever and ever.”
13 The Lord has chosen Zion.
That’s the place where he wants to live.
14 He has said, “This will be my resting place for ever and ever.
Here I will sit on my throne, because that’s what I want.
15 I will greatly bless Zion with everything it needs.
I will give plenty of food to the poor people living there.
16 I will put salvation on its priests as if it were their clothes.
God’s faithful people will always sing for joy.
17 “Here in Jerusalem I will raise up a mighty king from the family of David.
I will set up the lamp of David’s kingdom for my anointed king.
Its flame will burn brightly forever.
18 I will put shame on his enemies as if it were their clothes.
But he will wear on his head a shining crown.”
God Will Save His People and Punish Their Enemies
63 Who is this man coming from the city of Bozrah in Edom?
His clothes are stained bright red.
Who is he? He is dressed up in all his glory.
He is marching toward us with great strength.
The Lord answers, “It is I.
I have won the battle.
I am mighty.
I have saved my people.”
2 Why are your clothes red?
They look as if you have been stomping
on grapes in a winepress.
3 The Lord answers, “I have been stomping on the nations
as if they were grapes.
No one was there to help me.
I walked all over the nations because I was angry.
That is why I stomped on them.
Their blood splashed all over my clothes.
So my clothes were stained bright red.
4 I decided it was time to pay back Israel’s enemies.
The year for me to set my people free had come.
5 I looked around, but no one was there to help me.
I was shocked that no one gave me any help.
So I used my own power to save my people.
I had the strength to do it because I was angry.
The Letter to the Church in Thyatira
18 “Here is what I command you to write to the church in Thyatira.
Here are the words of the Son of God. He is Jesus, whose eyes are like blazing fire. His feet are like polished bronze. He says,
19 ‘I know what you are doing. I know your love and your faith. I know how well you have served. I know you don’t give up easily. In fact, you are doing more now than you did at first.
20 ‘But here is what I have against you. You put up with that woman Jezebel. She calls herself a prophet. With her teaching, she has led my servants into sexual sin. She has tricked them into eating food offered to statues of gods. 21 I’ve given her time to turn away from her sinful ways. But she doesn’t want to. 22 She lay down to commit her sin so I will make her lie down in suffering. Those who commit adultery with her will suffer greatly too. Their only way out is to turn away from what she taught them to do. 23 I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I search hearts and minds. I will pay each of you back for what you have done.
24 ‘I won’t ask the rest of you in Thyatira to do anything else. You don’t follow the teaching of Jezebel. You haven’t learned what some people call Satan’s deep secrets. 25 Just hold on to what you have until I come.
26 ‘Here is what I will do for anyone who has victory over sin. I will do it for anyone who carries out my plans to the end. I will give that person authority over the nations. 27 It is written, “They will rule them with an iron scepter. They will break them to pieces like clay pots.” (Psalm 2:9) Their authority is like the authority I’ve received from my Father. 28 I will also give the morning star to all who have victory. 29 Whoever has ears should listen to what the Holy Spirit says to the churches.’
Jesus Heals a Man at the Pool
5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish feasts. 2 In Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate is a pool. In the Aramaic language it is called Bethesda. It is surrounded by five rows of columns with a roof over them. 3-4 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie down. Among them were those who were blind, those who could not walk, and those who could hardly move. 5 One person was there who had not been able to walk for 38 years. 6 Jesus saw him lying there. He knew that the man had been in that condition for a long time. So he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
7 “Sir,” the disabled man replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when an angel stirs up the water. I try to get in, but someone else always goes down ahead of me.”
8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 The man was healed right away. He picked up his mat and walked.
This happened on a Sabbath day. 10 So the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath day. The law does not allow you to carry your mat.”
11 But he replied, “The one who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”
12 They asked him, “Who is this fellow? Who told you to pick it up and walk?”
13 The one who was healed had no idea who it was. Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
14 Later Jesus found him at the temple. Jesus said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away. He told the Jewish leaders it was Jesus who had made him well.
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