Book of Common Prayer
Simple Trust in the Lord
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
131 Lord, my heart is not [a]haughty,
Nor my eyes [b]lofty.
(A)Neither do I [c]concern myself with great matters,
Nor with things too [d]profound for me.
2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
(B)Like a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 (C)O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
The Eternal Dwelling of God in Zion
A Song of Ascents.
132 Lord, remember David
And all his afflictions;
2 How he swore to the Lord,
(D)And vowed to (E)the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house,
Or go up to the comfort of my bed;
4 I will (F)not give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
5 Until I (G)find a place for the Lord,
A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard of it (H)in Ephrathah;
(I)We found it (J)in the fields of [e]the woods.
7 Let us go into His tabernacle;
(K)Let us worship at His footstool.
8 (L)Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place,
You and (M)the ark of Your strength.
9 Let Your priests (N)be clothed with righteousness,
And let Your saints shout for joy.
10 For Your servant David’s sake,
Do not turn away the face of Your [f]Anointed.
11 (O)The Lord has sworn in truth to David;
He will not turn from it:
“I will set upon your throne (P)the [g]fruit of your body.
12 If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I shall teach them,
Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore.”
13 (Q)For the Lord has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His [h]dwelling place:
14 “This(R) is My resting place forever;
Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15 (S)I will abundantly bless her [i]provision;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 (T)I will also clothe her priests with salvation,
(U)And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
17 (V)There I will make the [j]horn of David grow;
(W)I will prepare a lamp for My [k]Anointed.
18 His enemies I will (X)clothe with shame,
But upon Himself His crown shall flourish.”
Blessed Unity of the People of God
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For (Y)brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Running down on the beard,
The beard of Aaron,
Running down on the edge of his garments.
3 It is like the dew of (Z)Hermon,
Descending upon the mountains of Zion;
For (AA)there the Lord commanded the blessing—
Life forevermore.
Praising the Lord in His House at Night
A Song of Ascents.
134 Behold, bless the Lord,
All you servants of the Lord,
Who by night stand in the house of the Lord!
2 (AB)Lift up your hands in the sanctuary,
And bless the Lord.
3 The Lord who made heaven and earth
Bless you from Zion!
Praise to God in Creation and Redemption
135 Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
(AC)Praise Him, O you servants of the Lord!
2 (AD)You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In (AE)the courts of the house of our God,
3 Praise the Lord, for (AF)the Lord is good;
Sing praises to His name, (AG)for it is pleasant.
4 For (AH)the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His [l]special treasure.
5 For I know that (AI)the Lord is great,
And our Lord is above all gods.
6 (AJ)Whatever the Lord pleases He does,
In heaven and in earth,
In the seas and in all deep places.
7 (AK)He causes the [m]vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
(AL)He makes lightning for the rain;
He brings the wind out of His (AM)treasuries.
8 (AN)He [n]destroyed the firstborn of Egypt,
[o]Both of man and beast.
9 (AO)He sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt,
(AP)Upon Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 (AQ)He defeated many nations
And slew mighty kings—
11 Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
And (AR)all the kingdoms of Canaan—
12 (AS)And gave their land as a [p]heritage,
A heritage to Israel His people.
13 (AT)Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
Your fame, O Lord, throughout all generations.
14 (AU)For the Lord will judge His people,
And He will have compassion on His servants.
15 (AV)The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
16 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
17 They have ears, but they do not hear;
Nor is there any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.
19 (AW)Bless the Lord, O house of Israel!
Bless the Lord, O house of Aaron!
20 Bless the Lord, O house of Levi!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed be the Lord (AX)out of Zion,
Who dwells in Jerusalem!
Praise the Lord!
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? (A)I took you to curse my enemies, and look, you have blessed them bountifully!”
12 So he answered and said, (B)“Must I not take heed to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?”
Balaam’s Second Prophecy
13 Then Balak said to him, “Please come with me to another place from which you may see them; you shall see only the outer part of them, and shall not see them all; curse them for me from there.” 14 So he brought him to the field of Zophim, to the top of Pisgah, (C)and built seven altars, and offered a bull and a ram on each altar.
15 And he said to Balak, “Stand here by your burnt offering while I [a]meet the Lord over there.”
16 Then the Lord met Balaam, and (D)put a word in his mouth, and said, “Go back to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” 17 So he came to him, and there he was, standing by his burnt offering, and the princes of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”
18 Then he took up his oracle and said:
(E)“Rise up, Balak, and hear!
Listen to me, son of Zippor!
19 “God(F) is not a man, that He should lie,
Nor a son of man, that He should repent.
Has He (G)said, and will He not do?
Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?
20 Behold, I have received a command to bless;
(H)He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.
21 “He(I) has not observed iniquity in Jacob,
Nor has He seen [b]wickedness in Israel.
The Lord his God is with him,
(J)And the shout of a King is among them.
22 (K)God brings them out of Egypt;
He has (L)strength like a wild ox.
23 “For there is no [c]sorcery against Jacob,
Nor any [d]divination against Israel.
It now must be said of Jacob
And of Israel, ‘Oh, (M)what God has done!’
24 Look, a people rises (N)like a lioness,
And lifts itself up like a lion;
(O)It shall not lie down until it devours the prey,
And drinks the blood of the slain.”
25 Then Balak said to Balaam, “Neither curse them at all, nor bless them at all!”
26 So Balaam answered and said to Balak, “Did I not tell you, saying, (P)‘All that the Lord speaks, that I must do’?”
Free from Indwelling Sin
8 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, (A)who[a] do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. 2 For (B)the law of (C)the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from (D)the law of sin and death. 3 For (E)what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, (F)God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, 4 that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who (G)do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5 For (H)those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, (I)the things of the Spirit. 6 For (J)to be [b]carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. 7 Because (K)the [c]carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, (L)nor indeed can be. 8 So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10 And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11 But if the Spirit of (M)Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, (N)He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies [d]through His Spirit who dwells in you.
The Parable of the Wedding Feast(A)
22 And Jesus answered (B)and spoke to them again by parables and said: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who arranged a marriage for his son, 3 and sent out his servants to call those who were invited to the wedding; and they were not willing to come. 4 Again, he sent out other servants, saying, ‘Tell those who are invited, “See, I have prepared my dinner; (C)my oxen and fatted cattle are killed, and all things are ready. Come to the wedding.” ’ 5 But they made light of it and went their ways, one to his own farm, another to his business. 6 And the rest seized his servants, treated them [a]spitefully, and killed them. 7 But when the king heard about it, he was furious. And he sent out (D)his armies, destroyed those murderers, and burned up their city. 8 Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding is ready, but those who were invited were not (E)worthy. 9 Therefore go into the highways, and as many as you find, invite to the wedding.’ 10 So those servants went out into the highways and (F)gathered together all whom they found, both bad and good. And the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 “But when the king came in to see the guests, he saw a man there (G)who did not have on a wedding garment. 12 So he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you come in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was (H)speechless. 13 Then the king said to the servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, [b]take him away, and cast him (I)into outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 (J)“For many are called, but few are chosen.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.