Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Rescue from the Treacherous.
A Song of [a]Ascents.
120 (A)I cried to the Lord in my trouble,
And He answered me.
2 Rescue my soul, Lord, from (B)lying lips,
From a (C)deceitful tongue.
3 What will He give to you, and what more will He do to you,
You (D)deceitful tongue?
4 (E)Sharp arrows of the warrior,
With the burning (F)coals of the broom tree!
5 Woe to me, for I reside in (G)Meshech,
For I have settled 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)raise my eyes to (N)the mountains;
From where will 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)watches over you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who watches over Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your [b](S)protector;
The Lord is your (T)shade on your right hand.
6 The (U)sun will not [c]beat down on you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will [d](V)protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The Lord will [e](W)guard your going out and your coming in
(X)From this time and forever.
Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let’s (Y)go to the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet are standing
Within your (Z)gates, Jerusalem,
3 Jerusalem, that has been (AA)built
As a city that is (AB)firmly joined together;
4 To which the tribes (AC)go up, the tribes of [f]the Lord—
[g]An ordinance for Israel—
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For (AD)thrones were set there 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 have (AL)raised my eyes,
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 female servant 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, Lord, be gracious to us,
For we have had much more than enough of (AQ)contempt.
4 Our soul has had much more than enough
Of 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 say,
2 “Had it not been the Lord who was on our side
When people 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 flooded over us,
The stream would have [h]swept over our souls;
5 Then the (AZ)raging waters would have [i]swept over our souls.”
6 Blessed be the Lord,
Who has not given us [j]to be (BA)torn by their teeth.
7 Our souls have (BB)escaped (BC)like a bird from the trapper’s (BD)snare;
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 like Mount Zion, which (BG)cannot be moved but (BH)remains forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So (BI)the Lord surrounds His people
(BJ)From this time and forever.
3 For the (BK)scepter of wickedness will not rest upon the [k]land of the righteous,
So that the righteous (BL)will not extend their hands to do wrong.
4 (BM)Do good, 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 those who (BQ)practice injustice.
(BR)Peace be upon Israel.
Thanksgiving for Return from Captivity.
A Song of Ascents.
126 When the Lord (BS)brought back [l]the captives 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)joyful.
4 Restore our fortunes, Lord,
As the [m](BY)streams in the [n]South.
5 Those who sow in (BZ)tears shall harvest with (CA)joyful shouting.
6 One who goes here and there 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 a house,
They who build it labor in vain;
Unless the Lord (CC)guards a city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is futile for you to rise up early,
To [o]stay up late,
To (CD)eat the bread of painful labor;
This is how He gives to His (CE)beloved (CF)sleep.
3 Behold, (CG)children are a [p]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 (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.
Saul Defeats the Ammonites
11 Now (A)Nahash the Ammonite went up and besieged (B)Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make (C)a covenant with us and we will serve you.” 2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “I will make it with you on this condition, (D)that I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you, and thereby I will inflict (E)a disgrace on all Israel.” 3 So (F)the elders of Jabesh said to him, “Allow us seven days to send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to save us, we will come out to you.” 4 Then the messengers came (G)to Gibeah of Saul and spoke these words in the hearing of the people, and all the people (H)raised their voices and wept.
5 Now behold, Saul was coming from the field (I)behind the oxen, and Saul said, “What is the matter with the people that they weep?” So they reported to him the words of the men of Jabesh. 6 Then (J)the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and [a]he became very angry. 7 He then took a yoke of oxen and (K)cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “(L)Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, the same shall be done to his oxen.” Then the dread of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out (M)as one person. 8 He [b]counted them in (N)Bezek; and the (O)sons of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah, thirty thousand. 9 They said to the messengers who had come, “This is what you shall say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will be saved.’” So the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh; and they rejoiced. 10 Then the men of Jabesh said, “(P)Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good [c]to you.” 11 The next morning Saul put the people (Q)in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp at the morning watch, and struck and killed the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived scattered, so that no two of them were left together.
12 Then the people said to Samuel, “(R)Who is he that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ [d](S)Bring the men, so that we may put them to death!” 13 But Saul said, “(T)Not a single person shall be put to death this day, for today (U)the Lord has brought about [e]victory in Israel.”
14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, and let us go to (V)Gilgal and (W)renew the kingdom there.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king (X)before the Lord in Gilgal. There they also (Y)offered sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
Saul Persecutes the Church
8 (A)Now Saul approved of putting [a]Stephen to death.
And on that day a great persecution [b]began against (B)the church in Jerusalem, and they were all (C)scattered throughout the regions of Judea and (D)Samaria, except for the apostles. 2 Some devout men buried Stephen, and mourned loudly for him. 3 But (E)Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house; and he would (F)drag away men and women and put them in prison.
Philip in Samaria
4 Therefore, those (G)who had been scattered went through places [c](H)preaching the word. 5 (I)Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming the [d]Christ to them. 6 The crowds were paying attention with one mind to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the [e]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 or limped on crutches were healed. 8 So there was (L)much rejoicing in that city.
9 Now a man named Simon had previously been practicing (M)magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, (N)claiming to be someone great; 10 and all the people, from small to great, were paying attention to him, saying, “(O)This man is the Power of God that is called Great.” 11 And they were paying attention to him because for a long time he had astounded them with his (P)magic arts. 12 But when they believed Philip (Q)as he was preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, both men and women were being (R)baptized. 13 Now 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 repeatedly amazed.
63 (A)The men who were holding [a]Jesus in custody began mocking Him and beating Him, 64 and they blindfolded Him and repeatedly asked Him, saying, “(B)Prophesy, who is the one who hit You?” 65 And they were saying many other things against Him, (C)blaspheming.
Jesus before the Sanhedrin
66 (D)When it was day, (E)the [b]Council of elders of the people assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and they led Him away to their (F)council chamber, saying, 67 “(G)If You are the [c]Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe; 68 and if I ask a question, you will not answer. 69 (H)But from now on (I)the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” 70 And they all said, “So You are (J)the Son of God?” And He said to them, “(K)You say correctly that I am.” 71 And then they said, “What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth!”
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