Book of Common Prayer
Childlike Trust in the Lord.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
131 Lord, my heart is not (A)proud, nor my eyes (B)arrogant;
Nor do I [a]involve myself in (C)great matters,
Or in things (D)too [b]difficult for me.
2 I have certainly (E)soothed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned (F)child resting [c]against his mother,
My soul [d]within me is like a weaned child.
3 Israel, (G)wait for the Lord
(H)From this time on and forever.
Prayer for the Lord’s Blessing upon the Sanctuary.
A Song of Ascents.
132 Remember, Lord, in David’s behalf,
All (I)his affliction;
2 How he swore to the Lord
And vowed to (J)the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I certainly will not [e]enter (K)my house,
Nor [f]lie on my bed;
4 I will not (L)give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
5 Until I find a (M)place for the Lord,
[g]A dwelling place for (N)the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard about it in (O)Ephrathah,
We found it in the (P)field of [h]Jaar.
7 Let’s go into His [i](Q)dwelling place;
Let’s (R)worship at His (S)footstool.
8 (T)Arise, Lord, to Your (U)resting place,
You and the ark of Your (V)strength.
9 May Your priests be (W)clothed with righteousness,
And may Your (X)godly ones sing for joy.
10 For the sake of Your servant David,
Do not turn away the face of Your (Y)anointed.
11 The Lord has (Z)sworn to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“I will set upon your throne one (AA)from the fruit of your body.
12 If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their sons also will (AB)sit upon your throne forever.”
13 For the Lord has (AC)chosen Zion;
He has (AD)desired it as His dwelling place.
14 “This is My (AE)resting place forever;
Here I will (AF)dwell, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly (AG)bless her food;
I will (AH)satisfy her needy with bread.
16 I will also clothe her (AI)priests with salvation,
And her (AJ)godly ones will sing aloud for joy.
17 I will make the (AK)horn of David spring forth there;
I have prepared a (AL)lamp for My anointed.
18 I will (AM)clothe his enemies with shame,
But upon himself his (AN)crown will gleam.”
The Excellency of Brotherly Unity.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For (AO)brothers to live together in unity!
2 It is like the precious (AP)oil on the head,
Running down upon the beard,
As on Aaron’s beard,
The oil which ran down upon the (AQ)edge of his robes.
3 It is like the (AR)dew of (AS)Hermon
Coming down upon the (AT)mountains of Zion;
For the Lord (AU)commanded the blessing there—(AV)life forever.
Greetings of Night Watchers.
A Song of Ascents.
134 Behold, (AW)bless the Lord, all you (AX)servants of the Lord,
Who [j](AY)serve (AZ)by night in the house of the Lord!
2 (BA)Lift up your hands to the (BB)sanctuary
And bless the Lord.
3 May the Lord (BC)bless you from Zion,
He who (BD)made heaven and earth.
Praise the Lord’s Wonderful Works. Futility of Idols.
135 [k](BE)Praise [l]the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise Him, you (BF)servants of the Lord,
2 You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In the (BG)courtyards of the house of our God!
3 [m]Praise [n]the Lord, for (BH)the Lord is good;
(BI)Sing praises to His name, (BJ)for it is lovely.
4 For [o]the Lord has (BK)chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel as His (BL)own possession.
5 For I know that (BM)the Lord is great
And that our Lord is (BN)above all gods.
6 (BO)Whatever the Lord pleases, He does,
In heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the ocean depths.
7 [p]He (BP)causes the [q]mist to ascend from the ends of the earth,
[r]He (BQ)makes lightning for the rain;
[s]He (BR)brings forth the wind from His treasuries.
8 [t]He (BS)struck the firstborn of Egypt,
[u]Both human firstborn and animal.
9 [v]He sent (BT)signs and wonders into your midst, Egypt,
Upon (BU)Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 [w](BV)He (BW)struck many nations
And brought death to mighty kings,
11 (BX)Sihon, king of the Amorites,
(BY)Og, king of Bashan,
And (BZ)all the kingdoms of Canaan;
12 And He (CA)gave their land as an inheritance,
An inheritance to His people Israel.
13 Your (CB)name, Lord, is everlasting,
The mention of You, Lord, is [x]throughout all generations.
14 For the Lord will (CC)judge His people
And (CD)will have compassion on His servants.
15 The (CE)idols of the nations are nothing but silver and gold,
The work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
They have eyes, but they do not see;
17 They have ears, but they do not hear,
Nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will become like them,
Yes, everyone who trusts in them.
Joab Disapproves of David’s Mourning
19 [a]Then it was reported to Joab, “Behold, (A)the king is weeping and he mourns for Absalom.” 2 So the [b]victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people, because the people heard it said that day, “The king is in mourning over his son.” 3 And the people entered the city surreptitiously that day, just as people who are humiliated surreptitiously flee in battle. 4 And the king (B)covered his face and [c]cried out with a loud voice, “(C)My son Absalom, Absalom, my son, my son!” 5 Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “Today you have shamed [d]all your servants, who have saved your life today and the lives of your sons and daughters, the lives of your wives, and the lives of your concubines, 6 by loving those who hate you, and by hating those who love you. For you have revealed today that [e]commanders and servants are nothing to you; for I know today that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then it would be right [f]as far as you are concerned. 7 Now therefore arise, go out and speak [g]kindly to your servants, for I swear by the Lord, if you do not go out, (D)no man will stay the night with you, and this will be worse for you than all the misfortune that has [h]happened to you from your youth until now!”
David Restored as King
8 So the king got up and sat at the gate. When they told all the people, saying, “Behold, the king is (E)sitting at the gate,” then all the people came before the king.
Now (F)Israel had fled, each to his tent. 9 And all the people were quarreling throughout the tribes of Israel, saying, “(G)The king rescued us from the [i]hands of our enemies and (H)saved us from the [j]hands of the Philistines, but now (I)he has fled out of the land from Absalom. 10 However, Absalom, whom we anointed over us, has died in battle. Now then, why are you silent about bringing the king back?”
11 Then King David sent word to (J)Zadok and Abiathar the priests, saying, “Speak to the elders of Judah, saying, ‘Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house, since the word of all Israel has come to the king, even to his house? 12 You are my brothers; (K)you are my bone and my flesh. Why then should you be the last to bring back the king?’ 13 And say to (L)Amasa, ‘Are you not my bone and my flesh? (M)May God do so to me, and more so, if you will not be (N)commander of the army [k]for me continually, (O)in place of Joab.’” 14 So he turned the hearts of all the men of Judah (P)as one man, so that they sent word to the king, saying, “Return, you and all your servants.” 15 The king then returned and came as far as the Jordan. And the men of Judah came to (Q)Gilgal in order to go to meet the king, to escort the king across the Jordan.
16 Then (R)Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjaminite who was from Bahurim, hurried and came down with the men of Judah to meet King David. 17 And there were a thousand men of Benjamin with him, and (S)Ziba the servant of the house of Saul, and his fifteen sons and his twenty servants with him; and they rushed to the Jordan before the king. 18 Then they crossed the shallow places repeatedly to bring over the king’s household, and to do what was good in his sight. And Shimei the son of Gera fell down before the king as he was about to cross the Jordan. 19 And he said to the king, “(T)May my lord not consider me guilty, nor call to mind what your servant did wrong on the day when my lord the king went out from Jerusalem, so that the king would [l]take it to heart. 20 For your servant knows that I have sinned; so behold, I have come today, (U)the first of all the house of Joseph to go down to meet my lord the king.” 21 But Abishai the son of Zeruiah responded, “(V)Should Shimei not be put to death for this, (W)the fact that he cursed the Lord’s anointed?” 22 David then said, “(X)What [m]is there between you and me, you sons of Zeruiah, that you should be an adversary to me today? (Y)Should anyone be put to death in Israel today? For do I not know that I am king over Israel today?” 23 So the king said to Shimei, “(Z)You shall not die.” The king also swore to him.
Paul before Felix
24 Now after (A)five days the high priest (B)Ananias came down with some elders and an attorney named Tertullus, and they [a]brought charges against Paul to (C)the governor. 2 After [b]Paul had been summoned, Tertullus began accusing him, saying to the governor,
“Since we have attained great peace through you, and since reforms are being carried out for this nation by your foresight, 3 we acknowledge this in every way and everywhere, (D)most excellent Felix, with all thankfulness. 4 But, that I may not [c]weary you further, I beg you [d]to grant us a brief hearing, by your kindness. 5 For we have found this man a public menace and one who stirs up dissensions among all the Jews throughout [e]the world, and a ringleader of the (E)sect of the Nazarenes. 6 And he even tried to (F)desecrate the temple, so indeed we arrested him.[f] 8 By interrogating him yourself concerning all these matters, you will be able to ascertain the things of which we are accusing him.” 9 (G)The Jews also joined in the attack, asserting that these things were so.
10 And when (H)the governor had nodded for him to speak, Paul responded:
“Knowing that for many years you have been a judge to this nation, I cheerfully make my defense, 11 since you can take note of the fact that no more than (I)twelve days ago I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12 (J)And neither in the temple did they find me carrying on a discussion with anyone or (K)causing [g]a riot, nor in the synagogues, nor in the city itself. 13 (L)Nor can they prove to you the things of which they now accuse me. 14 But I confess this to you, that in accordance with [h](M)the Way, which they call a (N)sect, I do serve (O)the God of our fathers, (P)believing everything that is in accordance with the Law and is written in the Prophets; 15 having a hope in God, which (Q)these men cherish themselves, that there shall certainly be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. 16 In view of this (R)I also do my best to maintain a blameless conscience both before God and before other people, always. 17 Now (S)after several years I (T)came to bring charitable gifts to my nation and to present offerings, 18 in which they found me occupied in the temple, having been (U)purified, without any (V)crowd or uproar. But there were some (W)Jews from [i]Asia— 19 who ought to have been present before you and to have been (X)bringing charges, if they should have anything against me. 20 Or else have these men themselves declare what violation they discovered when I stood before (Y)the [j]Council, 21 other than in regard to this one declaration which (Z)I shouted while standing among them, ‘For the resurrection of the dead I am on trial before you today!’”
22 But Felix, [k]having quite accurate knowledge about [l](AA)the Way, adjourned them, saying, “When Lysias the commander comes down, I will decide your case.” 23 He gave orders to the centurion for [m]Paul to be (AB)kept in custody and yet (AC)have some freedom, and not to prevent any of (AD)his friends from providing for his needs.
28 (A)One of the scribes came up and heard them arguing, and (B)recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, “What commandment is the [a]foremost of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The [b]foremost is, ‘(C)Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one; 30 (D)and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘(E)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 32 And the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher; You have truly stated that (F)He is One, and there is no other besides Him; 33 (G)and to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, (H)is much more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 34 When Jesus saw that he had answered intelligently, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (I)And then, no one dared any longer to question Him.
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