Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 131[a]
A song of ascents,[b] by David.
131 O Lord, my heart is not proud,
nor do I have a haughty look.[c]
I do not have great aspirations,
or concern myself with things that are beyond me.[d]
2 Indeed,[e] I have calmed and quieted myself[f]
like a weaned child with its mother;[g]
I am content like a young child.[h]
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
now and forevermore!
Psalm 132[i]
A song of ascents.[j]
132 O Lord, for David’s sake remember
all his strenuous effort,[k]
2 and how he made a vow to the Lord,
and swore an oath to the Powerful One of Jacob.
3 He said,[l] “I will not enter my own home,[m]
or get into my bed.[n]
4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep,
or my eyelids to slumber,
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a fine dwelling place[o] for the Powerful One of Jacob.”[p]
6 Look, we heard about it[q] in Ephrathah;[r]
we found it in the territory of Jaar.[s]
7 Let us go to his dwelling place.
Let us worship[t] before his footstool.
8 Ascend, O Lord, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your strength.
9 May your priests be clothed with integrity.[u]
May your loyal followers shout for joy.
10 For the sake of David, your servant,
do not reject your chosen king.[v]
11 The Lord made a reliable promise to David;[w]
he will not go back on his word.[x]
He said,[y] “I will place one of your descendants[z] on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and the rules I teach them,
their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”
13 Certainly[aa] the Lord has chosen Zion;
he decided to make it his home.[ab]
14 He said,[ac] “This will be my resting place forever;
I will live here, for I have chosen it.[ad]
15 I will abundantly supply what she needs;[ae]
I will give her poor all the food they need.[af]
16 I will protect her priests,[ag]
and her godly people will shout exuberantly.[ah]
17 There I will make David strong;[ai]
I have determined that my chosen king’s dynasty will continue.[aj]
18 I will humiliate his enemies,[ak]
and his crown will shine.”
Psalm 133[al]
A song of ascents;[am] by David.
133 Look! How good and how pleasant it is
when brothers truly live in unity.[an]
2 It is like fine oil poured on the head,
which flows down the beard[ao]—
Aaron’s beard,
and then flows down his garments.[ap]
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,[aq]
which flows down upon the hills of Zion.[ar]
Indeed,[as] that is where the Lord has decreed
a blessing will be available—eternal life.[at]
Psalm 134[au]
A song of ascents.[av]
134 Attention![aw] Praise the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord,
who serve[ax] in the Lord’s temple during the night.
2 Lift your hands toward the sanctuary
and praise the Lord.
3 May the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth,
bless you[ay] from Zion.[az]
Psalm 135[ba]
135 Praise the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord.
Offer praise, you servants of the Lord,
2 who serve[bb] in the Lord’s temple,
in the courts of the temple of our God.
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.
Sing praises to his name, for it is pleasant.[bc]
4 Indeed,[bd] the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel to be his special possession.[be]
5 Yes,[bf] I know the Lord is great,
and our Lord is superior to all gods.
6 He does whatever he pleases
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the ocean depths.
7 He causes the clouds to arise from the end of the earth,
makes lightning bolts accompany the rain,
and brings the wind out of his storehouses.
8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
including both men and animals.
9 He performed awesome deeds[bg] and acts of judgment[bh]
in your midst, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He defeated many nations,
and killed mighty kings—
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan.
12 He gave their land as an inheritance,
as an inheritance to Israel his people.
13 O Lord, your name endures,[bi]
your reputation, O Lord, lasts.[bj]
14 For the Lord vindicates[bk] his people,
and has compassion on his servants.[bl]
15 The nations’ idols are made of silver and gold;
they are man-made.[bm]
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see,
17 and ears, but cannot hear.
Indeed, they cannot breathe.[bn]
18 Those who make them will end up[bo] like them,
as will everyone who trusts in them.
19 O family[bp] of Israel, praise the Lord.
O family of Aaron, praise the Lord.
20 O family of Levi, praise the Lord.
You loyal followers[bq] of the Lord, praise the Lord.
21 The Lord deserves praise in Zion[br]—
he who dwells in Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord.
5 Meanwhile the Philistines gathered to battle with Israel. Then they went up against Israel[a] with 3,000 chariots,[b] 6,000 horsemen, and an army as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Micmash, east of Beth Aven. 6 The men of Israel realized they had a problem because their army was hard pressed. So the army hid in caves, thickets, cliffs, strongholds,[c] and cisterns. 7 Some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan River[d] to the land of Gad and Gilead. But Saul stayed at Gilgal; the entire army that was with him was terrified. 8 He waited for seven days, the time period indicated by Samuel.[e] But Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and the army began to abandon Saul.[f]
9 So Saul said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” Then he offered a burnt offering. 10 Just when he had finished offering the burnt offering, Samuel appeared on the scene. Saul went out to meet him and to greet him.[g]
11 But Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul replied, “When I saw that the army had started to abandon me,[h] and that you didn’t come at the appointed time, and that the Philistines had assembled at Micmash, 12 I thought,[i] ‘Now the Philistines will come down on me at Gilgal and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt obligated[j] to offer the burnt offering.”
13 Then Samuel said to Saul, “You have made a foolish choice! You have not obeyed[k] the commandment that the Lord your God gave[l] you. Had you done that, the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom will not continue. The Lord has sought out[m] for himself a man who is loyal to him,[n] and the Lord has appointed[o] him to be leader over his people, for you have not obeyed what the Lord commanded you.”
15 Then Samuel set out and went up from Gilgal[p] to Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin.[q] Saul mustered the army that remained with him; there were about 600 men. 16 Saul, his son Jonathan, and the army that remained with them stayed in Gibeah in the territory of Benjamin, while the Philistines camped in Micmash.[r] 17 Raiding bands went out from the camp of the Philistines in three groups. One band turned toward the road leading to Ophrah by the land of Shual; 18 another band turned toward the road leading to Beth Horon; and yet another band turned toward the road leading to the border that overlooks the valley of Zeboyim in the direction of the desert.
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
26 Then an angel of the Lord[a] said to Philip,[b] “Get up and go south[c] on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert[d] road.)[e] 27 So[f] he got up[g] and went. There[h] he met[i] an Ethiopian eunuch,[j] a court official of Candace,[k] queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasury. He[l] had come to Jerusalem to worship,[m] 28 and was returning home, sitting[n] in his chariot, reading[o] the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran up[p] to it[q] and heard the man[r] reading the prophet Isaiah. He[s] asked him,[t] “Do you understand what you’re reading?” 31 The man[u] replied, “How in the world can I,[v] unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of scripture the man[w] was reading was this:
“He was led like a sheep to slaughter,
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did[x] not open his mouth.
33 In humiliation[y] justice was taken from him.[z]
Who can describe his posterity?[aa]
For his life was taken away[ab] from the earth.”[ac]
34 Then the eunuch said[ad] to Philip, “Please tell me,[ae] who is the prophet saying this about—himself or someone else?”[af] 35 So Philip started speaking,[ag] and beginning with this scripture[ah] proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. 36 Now as they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water! What is to stop me[ai] from being baptized?”[aj] 38 So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water,[ak] and Philip baptized[al] him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any more, but[am] went on his way rejoicing.[an] 40 Philip, however, found himself[ao] at Azotus,[ap] and as he passed through the area,[aq] he proclaimed the good news[ar] to all the towns[as] until he came to Caesarea.[at]
Jesus Brought Before the Crowd
13 Then[a] Pilate called together the chief priests, the[b] leaders, and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought me this man as one who was misleading[c] the people. When I examined him before you, I[d] did not find this man guilty[e] of anything you accused him of doing. 15 Neither did Herod, for he sent him back to us. Look, he has done nothing[f] deserving death.[g] 16 I will therefore have him flogged[h] and release him.”[i]
18 But they all shouted out together,[j] “Take this man[k] away! Release Barabbas for us!” 19 (This[l] was a man who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection[m] started in the city, and for murder.)[n] 20 Pilate addressed them once again because he wanted[o] to release Jesus. 21 But they kept on shouting,[p] “Crucify, crucify[q] him!” 22 A third time he said to them, “Why? What wrong has he done? I have found him guilty[r] of no crime deserving death.[s] I will therefore flog[t] him and release him.” 23 But they were insistent,[u] demanding with loud shouts that he be crucified. And their shouts prevailed. 24 So[v] Pilate[w] decided[x] that their demand should be granted. 25 He released the man they asked for, who had been thrown in prison for insurrection and murder. But he handed Jesus over[y] to their will.[z]
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