Book of Common Prayer
120 In my distress I cried unto the Lord, and He heard me.
2 Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips and from a deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given unto thee, or what shall be done unto thee, thou false tongue?
4 Sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals of juniper!
5 Woe is me that I sojourn in Meshech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar!
6 My soul hath long dwelt with him that hateth peace.
7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.
121 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help!
2 My help cometh from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not permit thy foot to be moved; He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, He that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is thy keeper; the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil; He shall preserve thy soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
122 I was glad when they said unto me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is built as a city that is united together,
4 whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, according to the testimony of Israel to give thanks unto the name of the Lord.
5 For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: “They shall prosper that love thee.
7 Peace be within thy walls and prosperity within thy palaces.”
8 For my brethren and companions’ sakes I will now say, “Peace be within thee.”
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek thy good.
123 Unto Thee I lift up mine eyes, O Thou that dwellest in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress, so our eyes wait upon the Lord our God until He has mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud.
124 “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side”—now may Israel say—
2 “if it had not been the Lord who was on our side when men rose up against us,
3 then would they have swallowed us up alive when their wrath was kindled against us;
4 then would the waters have overwhelmed us, the stream would have gone over our soul;
5 then the proud waters would have gone over our soul.”
6 Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth.
7 Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
125 They that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.
2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from henceforth, even for ever.
3 For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the allotment of the righteous, lest the righteous put forth their hands to do iniquity.
4 Do good, O Lord, unto those that are good and to them that are upright in their hearts.
5 As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, the Lord shall lead them away with the workers of iniquity; but peace shall be upon Israel.
126 When the Lord returned the captives to Zion, we were like them that dream.
2 Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing. Then said they among the heathen, “The Lord hath done great things for them.”
3 The Lord hath done great things for us, whereof we are glad.
4 Turn back our captivity, O Lord, as the streams in the South.
5 They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
6 He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
127 Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows; for so He giveth His beloved sleep.
3 Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord, and the fruit of the womb is His reward.
4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man, so are the children of the youth.
5 Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them; they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies at the gate.
9 And Absalom met the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon a mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak; and his head caught hold of the oak, and he was taken up between the heaven and the earth, and the mule that was under him went away.
10 And a certain man saw it, and told Joab and said, “Behold, I saw Absalom hanged in an oak.”
11 And Joab said unto the man who told him, “And behold, thou sawest him, and why did thou not smite him there to the ground? And I would have given thee ten shekels of silver and a girdle.”
12 And the man said unto Joab, “Though I should receive a thousand shekels of silver in mine hand, yet would I not put forth mine hand against the king’s son; for in our hearing the king charged thee and Abishai and Ittai, saying, ‘Beware that none touch the young man Absalom.’
13 Otherwise I should have wrought falsehood against mine own life; for there is no matter hid from the king, and thou thyself wouldest have set thyself against me.”
14 Then said Joab, “I may not tarry thus with thee.” And he took three darts in his hand, and thrust them through the heart of Absalom while he was yet alive in the midst of the oak.
15 And ten young men who bore Joab’s armor compassed about and smote Absalom, and slew him.
16 And Joab blew the trumpet, and the people returned from pursuing after Israel, for Joab held back the people.
17 And they took Absalom and cast him into a great pit in the wood, and laid a very great heap of stones upon him; and all Israel fled every one to his tent.
18 Now Absalom in his lifetime had taken and reared up for himself a pillar, which is in the King’s Dale, for he said, “I have no son to keep my name in remembrance.” And he called the pillar after his own name; and it is called unto this day, Absalom’s Place.
12 And when it was day, certain of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul.
13 And there were more than forty who entered into this conspiracy.
14 And they came to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have bound ourselves under a great curse, that we will eat nothing until we have slain Paul.
15 Now, therefore, ye, of the council, ask the chief captain that he bring him down unto you tomorrow, as though ye would inquire somewhat more thoroughly concerning him; and we, even before he comes near, are ready to kill him.”
16 But when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their lying in wait, he went and entered into the castle and told Paul.
17 Then Paul called one of the centurions unto him and said, “Bring this young man unto the chief captain, for he hath a certain thing to tell him.”
18 So he took him and brought him to the chief captain and said, “Paul, the prisoner, called me unto him and prayed me to bring this young man unto thee, as he hath something to say unto thee.”
19 Then the chief captain took him by the hand, and going aside with him privately, asked him, “What is it that thou hast to tell me?”
20 And he said, “The Jews have agreed to request thee that thou wouldest bring down Paul tomorrow into the council, as though they wished to inquire of him somewhat more thoroughly.
21 But do not thou yield unto them, for there lie in wait for him more than forty of their men, who have bound themselves with an oath that they will neither eat nor drink until they have killed him. And now they are ready, looking for consent from thee.”
22 So the chief captain then let the young man depart and charged him, “See thou tell no man that thou hast revealed these things to me.”
23 And he called unto him two centurions, saying, “Make ready two hundred soldiers to go to Caesarea, and threescore and ten horsemen, and two hundred spearmen, at the third hour of the night;
24 and provide them with beasts that they may set Paul on, and bring him safe unto Felix the governor.”
27 And they came again to Jerusalem. And as He was walking in the temple, there came to Him the chief priests and the scribes and the elders,
28 and said unto Him, “By what authority doest thou these things? And who gave thee this authority to do these things?”
29 And Jesus answered and said unto them, “I will also ask of you one question; answer Me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things.
30 The baptism of John: was it from Heaven, or of men? Answer Me.”
31 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, “If we shall say ‘From Heaven,’ he will say ‘Why then did ye not believe him?’
32 But if we shall say ‘Of men’” — they feared the people, for all men counted John that he was a prophet indeed.
33 And they answered and said unto Jesus, “We cannot tell.” And Jesus answering, said unto them, “Neither do I tell you by what authority I do these things.”
12 And He began to speak unto them by parables: “A certain man planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and dug a place for the wine vat, and built a watchtower; and he leased it out to husbandmen and went into a far country.
2 And at the harvest season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard.
3 And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty.
4 And again he sent unto them another servant, and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled.
5 And again he sent another, and him they killed, and many others, beating some and killing some.
6 Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, ‘They will reverence my son.’
7 But those husbandmen said among themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours.’
8 And they took him and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard.
9 What therefore shall the lord of the vineyard do? He will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.
10 And have ye not read this Scripture? ‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner;
11 this was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.’”
12 And they sought to lay hold on Him, but they feared the people, for they knew that He had spoken the parable against them. And they left Him, and went their way.
Copyright © 1994 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc.