Book of Common Prayer

131 Lord, I am not proud and haughty. I don’t think myself better than others. I don’t pretend to “know it all.” ² I am quiet now before the Lord, just as a child who is weaned from the breast. Yes, my begging has been stilled.

³ O Israel, you too should quietly trust in the Lord—now, and always.

132 Lord, do you remember that time when my heart^[a] was so filled with turmoil? ^2-5 I couldn’t rest, I couldn’t sleep, thinking how I ought to build a permanent home for the Ark of the Lord,^[b] a Temple for the Mighty One of Israel. Then I vowed that I would do it; I made a solemn promise to the Lord.

⁶ First the Ark was in Ephrathah,^[c] then in the distant countryside of Jaar. ⁷ But now it will be settled in the Temple, in God’s permanent home here on earth. That is where we will go to worship him.^{[d] 8} Arise, O Lord, and enter your Temple with the Ark, the symbol of your power.

⁹ We will clothe the priests in white, the symbol of all purity. May our nation shout for joy.

¹⁰ Do not reject your servant David—the king you chose for your people. ¹¹ For you promised me that my son would sit on my throne and succeed me. And surely you will never go back on a promise! ¹² You also promised that if my descendants will obey the terms of your contract with me, then the dynasty of David shall never end.

¹³ O Lord, you have chosen Jerusalem^[e] as your home: ¹⁴ “This is my permanent home where I shall live,” you said, “for I have always wanted it this way. ¹⁵ I will make this city prosperous and satisfy her poor with food. ¹⁶ I will clothe her priests with salvation; her saints shall shout for joy. ¹⁷ David’s power shall grow, for I have decreed for him a mighty Son.^{[f] 18} I’ll clothe his enemies with shame, but he shall be a glorious King.”

133 How wonderful it is, how pleasant, when brothers live in harmony! ² For harmony is as precious as the fragrant anointing oil that was poured over Aaron’s head and ran down onto his beard and onto the border of his robe. ³ Harmony is as refreshing as the dew on Mount Hermon, on the mountains of Israel. And God has pronounced this eternal blessing on Jerusalem,^[g] even life forevermore.

140 O Lord, deliver me from evil men. Preserve me from the violent, ² who plot and stir up trouble all day long. ³ Their words sting like poisonous snakes. ⁴ Keep me out of their power. Preserve me from their violence, for they are plotting against me. ⁵ These proud men have set a trap to catch me, a noose to yank me up and leave me dangling in the air; they wait in ambush with a net to throw over and hold me helpless in its meshes.

^6-8 O Jehovah, my Lord and Savior, my God and my shield—hear me as I pray! Don’t let these wicked men succeed; don’t let them prosper and be proud. ⁹ Let their plots boomerang! Let them be destroyed by the very evil they have planned for me. ¹⁰ Let burning coals fall down upon their heads, or throw them into the fire or into deep pits from which they can’t escape.

¹¹ Don’t let liars prosper here in our land; quickly punish them. ¹² But the Lord will surely help those they persecute; he will maintain the rights of the poor. ¹³ Surely the godly are thanking you, for they shall live in your presence.

142 ^1-2 How I plead with God, how I implore his mercy, pouring out my troubles before him. ³ For I am overwhelmed and desperate, and you alone know which way I ought to turn to miss the traps my enemies have set for me. ⁴ (There’s one—just over there to the right!) No one gives me a passing thought. No one will help me; no one cares a bit what happens to me. ⁵ Then I prayed to Jehovah. “Lord,” I pled, “you are my only place of refuge. Only you can keep me safe.

⁶ “Hear my cry, for I am very low. Rescue me from my persecutors, for they are too strong for me. ⁷ Bring me out of prison so that I can thank you. The godly will rejoice with me for all your help.”

²⁵ A week went by.

8 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in again to Pharaoh and tell him, ‘Jehovah says, “Let my people go and worship me. ² If you refuse, I will send vast hordes of frogs across your land from one border to the other. ^3-4 The Nile River will swarm with them, and they will come out into your houses, even into your bedrooms and right into your beds! Every home in Egypt will be filled with them. They will fill your ovens and your kneading bowls; you and your people will be immersed in them!”’”

⁵ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Instruct Aaron to point the rod toward all the rivers, streams, and pools of Egypt, so that there will be frogs in every corner of the land.” ⁶ Aaron did, and frogs covered the nation. ⁷ But the magicians did the same with their secret arts, and they, too, caused frogs to come up on the land.

⁸ Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and begged, “Plead with God to take the frogs away, and I will let the people go and sacrifice to him.”

⁹ “Be so kind as to tell me when you want them to go,” Moses said, “and I will pray that the frogs will die at the time you specify, everywhere except in the river.”

¹⁰ “Do it tomorrow,” Pharaoh said.

“All right,” Moses replied, “it shall be as you have said; then you will know that there is no one like the Lord our God. ¹¹ All the frogs will be destroyed, except those in the river.”

¹² So Moses and Aaron went out from the presence of Pharaoh, and Moses pleaded with the Lord concerning the frogs he had sent. ¹³ And the Lord did as Moses promised—dead frogs covered the countryside and filled the nation’s homes. ¹⁴ They were piled into great heaps, making a terrible stench throughout the land. ¹⁵ But when Pharaoh saw that the frogs were gone, he hardened his heart and refused to let the people go, just as the Lord had predicted.

¹⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron to strike the dust with his rod, and it will become lice, throughout all the land of Egypt.” ¹⁷ So Moses and Aaron did as God commanded, and suddenly lice infested the entire nation, covering the Egyptians and their animals. ¹⁸ Then the magicians tried to do the same thing with their secret arts, but this time they failed.

¹⁹ “This is the finger of God,” they exclaimed to Pharaoh. But Pharaoh’s heart was hard and stubborn, and he wouldn’t listen to them, just as the Lord had predicted.

⁷ Yet that old system of law that led to death began with such glory that people could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For as he gave them God’s law to obey, his face shone out with the very glory of God—though the brightness was already fading away. ⁸ Shall we not expect far greater glory in these days when the Holy Spirit is giving life? ⁹ If the plan that leads to doom was glorious, much more glorious is the plan that makes men right with God. ¹⁰ In fact, that first glory as it shone from Moses’ face is worth nothing at all in comparison with the overwhelming glory of the new agreement. ¹¹ So if the old system that faded into nothing was full of heavenly glory, the glory of God’s new plan for our salvation is certainly far greater, for it is eternal.

¹² Since we know that this new glory will never go away, we can preach with great boldness, ¹³ and not as Moses did, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelis could not see the glory fade away.

¹⁴ Not only Moses’ face was veiled, but his people’s minds and understanding were veiled and blinded too. Even now when the Scripture is read it seems as though Jewish hearts and minds are covered by a thick veil, because they cannot see and understand the real meaning of the Scriptures. For this veil of misunderstanding can be removed only by believing in Christ. ¹⁵ Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings their hearts are blind and they think that obeying the Ten Commandments is the way to be saved.

¹⁶ But whenever anyone turns to the Lord from his sins, then the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ The Lord is the Spirit who gives them life, and where he is there is freedom from trying to be saved by keeping the laws of God.^{[a] 18} But we Christians have no veil over our faces; we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him.

¹⁷ As he was starting out on a trip, a man came running to him and knelt down and asked, “Good Teacher, what must I do to get to heaven?”

¹⁸ “Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good! ¹⁹ But as for your question—you know the commandments: don’t kill, don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, don’t lie, don’t cheat, respect your father and mother.”

²⁰ “Teacher,” the man replied, “I’ve never once^[a] broken a single one of those laws.”

²¹ Jesus felt genuine love for this man as he looked at him. “You lack only one thing,” he told him; “go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor—and you shall have treasure in heaven—and come, follow me.”

²² Then the man’s face fell, and he went sadly away, for he was very rich.

²³ Jesus watched him go, then turned around and said to his disciples, “It’s almost impossible for the rich to get into the Kingdom of God!”

²⁴ This amazed them. So Jesus said it again: “Dear children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches^[b] to enter the Kingdom of God. ²⁵ It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God.”

²⁶ The disciples were incredulous! “Then who in the world can be saved, if not a rich man?” they asked.

²⁷ Jesus looked at them intently, then said, “Without God, it is utterly impossible. But with God everything is possible.”

²⁸ Then Peter began to mention all that he and the other disciples had left behind. “We’ve given up everything to follow you,” he said.

²⁹ And Jesus replied, “Let me assure you that no one has ever given up anything—home, brothers, sisters, mother, father, children, or property—for love of me and to tell others the Good News, ³⁰ who won’t be given back, a hundred times over, homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children, and land—with persecutions!

“All these will be his here on earth, and in the world to come he shall have eternal life. ³¹ But many people who seem to be important now will be the least important then; and many who are considered least here shall be greatest there.”