Book of Common Prayer

⁴ How can we sing the songs of the Lord^(I)
    while in a foreign land?
⁵ If I forget you,^(J) Jerusalem,
    may my right hand forget its skill.
⁶ May my tongue cling to the roof^(K) of my mouth
    if I do not remember^(L) you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem^(M)
    my highest joy.

⁷ Remember, Lord, what the Edomites^(N) did
    on the day Jerusalem fell.^(O)
“Tear it down,” they cried,
    “tear it down to its foundations!”^(P)
8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,^(Q)
    happy is the one who repays you
    according to what you have done to us.
⁹ Happy is the one who seizes your infants
    and dashes them^(R) against the rocks.

³ Lord, what are human beings^(F) that you care for them,
    mere mortals that you think of them?
⁴ They are like a breath;^(G)
    their days are like a fleeting shadow.^(H)

⁵ Part your heavens,^(I) Lord, and come down;^(J)
    touch the mountains, so that they smoke.^(K)
6 Send forth lightning^(L) and scatter^(M) the enemy;
    shoot your arrows^(N) and rout them.
⁷ Reach down your hand from on high;^(O)
    deliver me and rescue me^(P)
from the mighty waters,^(Q)
    from the hands of foreigners^(R)
8 whose mouths are full of lies,^(S)
    whose right hands^(T) are deceitful.^(U)

⁹ I will sing a new song^(V) to you, my God;
    on the ten-stringed lyre^(W) I will make music to you,
¹⁰ to the One who gives victory to kings,^(X)
    who delivers his servant David.^(Y)

From the deadly sword^{(Z) 11} deliver me;
    rescue me^(AA) from the hands of foreigners^(AB)
whose mouths are full of lies,^(AC)
    whose right hands are deceitful.^(AD)

¹² Then our sons in their youth
    will be like well-nurtured plants,^(AE)
and our daughters will be like pillars^(AF)
    carved to adorn a palace.
¹³ Our barns will be filled^(AG)
    with every kind of provision.
Our sheep will increase by thousands,
    by tens of thousands in our fields;
¹⁴     our oxen^(AH) will draw heavy loads.^[b]
There will be no breaching of walls,^(AI)
    no going into captivity,
    no cry of distress in our streets.^(AJ)
15 Blessed is the people^(AK) of whom this is true;
    blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.

Lord my God, you are very great;
    you are clothed with splendor and majesty.^(B)

² The Lord wraps^(C) himself in light^(D) as with a garment;
    he stretches^(E) out the heavens^(F) like a tent^(G)
3     and lays the beams^(H) of his upper chambers on their waters.^(I)
He makes the clouds^(J) his chariot^(K)
    and rides on the wings of the wind.^(L)
4 He makes winds his messengers,^[a](M)
    flames of fire^(N) his servants.

⁵ He set the earth^(O) on its foundations;^(P)
    it can never be moved.
⁶ You covered it^(Q) with the watery depths^(R) as with a garment;
    the waters stood^(S) above the mountains.
⁷ But at your rebuke^(T) the waters fled,
    at the sound of your thunder^(U) they took to flight;
⁸ they flowed over the mountains,
    they went down into the valleys,
    to the place you assigned^(V) for them.
⁹ You set a boundary^(W) they cannot cross;
    never again will they cover the earth.

¹⁰ He makes springs^(X) pour water into the ravines;
    it flows between the mountains.
¹¹ They give water^(Y) to all the beasts of the field;
    the wild donkeys^(Z) quench their thirst.
¹² The birds of the sky^(AA) nest by the waters;
    they sing among the branches.^(AB)
13 He waters the mountains^(AC) from his upper chambers;^(AD)
    the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.^(AE)
14 He makes grass grow^(AF) for the cattle,
    and plants for people to cultivate—
    bringing forth food^(AG) from the earth:
¹⁵ wine^(AH) that gladdens human hearts,
    oil^(AI) to make their faces shine,
    and bread that sustains^(AJ) their hearts.
¹⁶ The trees of the Lord^(AK) are well watered,
    the cedars of Lebanon^(AL) that he planted.
¹⁷ There the birds^(AM) make their nests;
    the stork has its home in the junipers.
¹⁸ The high mountains belong to the wild goats;^(AN)
    the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.^(AO)

¹⁹ He made the moon to mark the seasons,^(AP)
    and the sun^(AQ) knows when to go down.
²⁰ You bring darkness,^(AR) it becomes night,^(AS)
    and all the beasts of the forest^(AT) prowl.
²¹ The lions roar for their prey^(AU)
    and seek their food from God.^(AV)
22 The sun rises, and they steal away;
    they return and lie down in their dens.^(AW)
23 Then people go out to their work,^(AX)
    to their labor until evening.^(AY)

²⁴ How many are your works,^(AZ) Lord!
    In wisdom you made^(BA) them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.^(BB)
25 There is the sea,^(BC) vast and spacious,
    teeming with creatures beyond number—
    living things both large and small.^(BD)
26 There the ships^(BE) go to and fro,
    and Leviathan,^(BF) which you formed to frolic^(BG) there.^(BH)

²⁷ All creatures look to you
    to give them their food^(BI) at the proper time.
²⁸ When you give it to them,
    they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
    they are satisfied^(BJ) with good things.
²⁹ When you hide your face,^(BK)
    they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to the dust.^(BL)
30 When you send your Spirit,^(BM)
    they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.

³¹ May the glory of the Lord^(BN) endure forever;
    may the Lord rejoice in his works^(BO)—
³² he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,^(BP)
    who touches the mountains,^(BQ) and they smoke.^(BR)

³³ I will sing^(BS) to the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    as I rejoice^(BT) in the Lord.
³⁵ But may sinners vanish^(BU) from the earth
    and the wicked be no more.^(BV)

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Praise the Lord.^[b](BW)

¹¹ The day for building your walls^(A) will come,
    the day for extending your boundaries.
¹² In that day people will come to you
    from Assyria^(B) and the cities of Egypt,
even from Egypt to the Euphrates
    and from sea to sea
    and from mountain to mountain.^(C)
13 The earth will become desolate because of its inhabitants,
    as the result of their deeds.^(D)

¹⁵ “As in the days when you came out of Egypt,
    I will show them my wonders.^(K)”

¹⁶ Nations will see and be ashamed,^(L)
    deprived of all their power.
They will put their hands over their mouths^(M)
    and their ears will become deaf.
¹⁷ They will lick dust^(N) like a snake,
    like creatures that crawl on the ground.
They will come trembling^(O) out of their dens;
    they will turn in fear^(P) to the Lord our God
    and will be afraid of you.
¹⁸ Who is a God^(Q) like you,
    who pardons sin^(R) and forgives^(S) the transgression
    of the remnant^(T) of his inheritance?^(U)
You do not stay angry^(V) forever
    but delight to show mercy.^(W)
19 You will again have compassion on us;
    you will tread our sins underfoot
    and hurl all our iniquities^(X) into the depths of the sea.^(Y)
20 You will be faithful to Jacob,
    and show love to Abraham,^(Z)
as you pledged on oath to our ancestors^(AA)
    in days long ago.^(AB)

“If it is hard for the righteous to be saved,
    what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”^[a](V)