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.
Reforms under Josiah
4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, (A)the priests of the second order, and the [a]doorkeepers (B)to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the utensils that had been made for Baal, for [b]Asherah, and for all the heavenly [c]lights; and (C)he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron Valley, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 Then he did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, as well as those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the remaining (D)heavenly [d]lights. 6 He also brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and (E)ground it to dust, and (F)threw its dust on the graves of the [e]common people. 7 And he tore down the cubicles of the (G)male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where (H)the women were weaving [f]hangings for the Asherah. 8 Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from (I)Geba to Beersheba; and he tore down the high places of the gates that were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate. 9 Nevertheless (J)the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10 (K)He also defiled [g]Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, (L)so that no one would make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for (M)Molech. 11 And he did away with the horses that the kings of Judah had given to the (N)sun, at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was at the [h]covered courtyard; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 The king also tore down (O)the altars that were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and (P)the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courtyards of the house of the Lord; and he [i]smashed them there and (Q)threw their dust into the brook Kidron. 13 And the king defiled the high places that were opposite Jerusalem, which were on the right of (R)the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for (S)Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, for (T)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon. 14 (U)He also smashed to pieces the memorial stones and cut down the [j]Asherim, and (V)filled their places with human bones.
15 Furthermore, (W)the altar that was at Bethel and the (X)high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who misled Israel into sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he tore down. Then he (Y)burned the high place, ground the remains to dust, and burned the Asherah. 16 Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent men and took the bones from the graves, and burned them on the altar and defiled it (Z)in accordance with the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, the one who proclaimed these things. 17 Then he said, “What is this gravestone there that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “(AA)It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.” 18 And he said, “Leave him alone; no one is to disturb his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed (AB)with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. 19 Then Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were (AC)in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had constructed, [k]provoking the Lord to anger; and he did to them [l]just as he had done in Bethel. 20 And (AD)he slaughtered all the priests of the high places who were there on the altars, and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.
Passover Reinstituted
21 Then the king commanded all the people, saying, “(AE)Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God (AF)as it is written in this Book of the Covenant.” 22 (AG)Truly such a Passover had not been celebrated since the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was celebrated to the Lord in Jerusalem.
24 Moreover, Josiah removed (AH)the mediums, the spiritists, the [m](AI)household idols, (AJ)the idols, and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, (AK)so that he might [n]fulfill the words of the Law which were written (AL)in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 Before him there was no king (AM)like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart, all his soul, and all his might, in conformity to all the Law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.
The Use of Spiritual Gifts
12 Now concerning (A)spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters, (B)I do not want you to be unaware. 2 (C)You know that when you were [a]pagans, you were (D)led [b]astray to the (E)mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking [c](F)by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is [d](G)accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is (H)Lord,” except [e](I)by the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are (J)varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same (K)God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit (L)for the common good. 8 For to one is given the word of (M)wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of (N)knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another (O)faith [f]by the same Spirit, and to another (P)gifts of [g]healing [h]by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the [i]effecting of [j](Q)miracles, and to another (R)prophecy, and to another the [k](S)distinguishing of spirits, to another various (T)kinds of tongues, and to another the (U)interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, (V)distributing to each one individually just as He [l]wills.
Miracles of Healing
18 (A)While He was saying these things to them, behold, [a]a synagogue [b]official came and [c](B)bowed down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will become alive again.” 19 Jesus got up from the table and began to accompany him, along with His disciples.
20 And behold, a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years came up behind Him, and touched (C)the [d]border of His [e]cloak; 21 for she was [f]saying [g]to herself, “If I only (D)touch His cloak, I will [h]get well.” 22 But Jesus, turning and seeing her, said, “Daughter, (E)take courage; (F)your faith has [i]made you well.” And [j]at once the woman was [k]made well.
23 When Jesus came into the [l]official’s house and saw (G)the flute players and the crowd in noisy disorder, 24 He said, “Leave; for the girl (H)has not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him. 25 But (I)when the crowd had been sent out, He entered and (J)took her by the hand, and the girl [m]got up. 26 And (K)this news spread throughout that land.
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