Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137[a]
137 By the rivers of Babylon
we sit down and weep[b]
when we remember Zion.
2 On the poplars in her midst
we hang our harps,
3 for there our captors ask us to compose songs;[c]
those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying:[d]
“Sing for us a song about Zion!”[e]
4 How can we sing a song to the Lord
in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand be crippled.[f]
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
and do not give Jerusalem priority
over whatever gives me the most joy.[g]
7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.[h]
They said, “Tear it down, tear it down,[i]
right to its very foundation!”
8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated,[j]
how blessed will be the one who repays you
for what you dished out to us.[k]
9 How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies
and smashes them on a rock.[l]
Psalm 144[a]
By David.
144 The Lord, my Protector,[b] deserves praise[c]—
the one who trains my hands for battle,[d]
and my fingers for war,
2 who loves me[e] and is my stronghold,
my refuge[f] and my deliverer,
my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,
who makes nations submit to me.[g]
3 O Lord, of what importance is the human race,[h] that you should notice them?
Of what importance is mankind,[i] that you should be concerned about them?[j]
4 People[k] are like a vapor,
their days like a shadow that disappears.[l]
5 O Lord, make the sky sink[m] and come down.[n]
Touch the mountains and make them smolder.[o]
6 Hurl lightning bolts and scatter the enemy.
Shoot your arrows and rout them.[p]
7 Reach down[q] from above.
Grab me and rescue me from the surging water,[r]
from the power of foreigners,[s]
8 who speak lies,
and make false promises.[t]
9 O God, I will sing a new song to you.
Accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, I will sing praises to you,
10 the one who delivers[u] kings,
and rescued David his servant from a deadly[v] sword.
11 Grab me and rescue me from the power of foreigners,[w]
who speak lies,
and make false promises.[x]
12 Then[y] our sons will be like plants,
that quickly grow to full size.[z]
Our daughters will be like corner pillars,[aa]
carved like those in a palace.[ab]
13 Our storehouses[ac] will be full,
providing all kinds of food.[ad]
Our sheep will multiply by the thousands
and fill[ae] our pastures.[af]
14 Our cattle will be weighted down with produce.[ag]
No one will break through our walls,
no one will be taken captive,
and there will be no terrified cries in our city squares.[ah]
15 How blessed are the people who experience these things.[ai]
How blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.
Psalm 104[a]
104 Praise the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, you are magnificent.[b]
You are robed in splendor and majesty.
2 He covers himself with light as if it were a garment.
He stretches out the skies like a tent curtain,
3 and lays the beams of the upper rooms of his palace on the rain clouds.[c]
He makes the clouds his chariot,
and travels on the wings of the wind.[d]
4 He makes the winds his messengers,
and the flaming fire his attendant.[e]
5 He established the earth on its foundations;
it will never be moved.
6 The watery deep covered it[f] like a garment;
the waters reached[g] above the mountains.[h]
7 Your shout made the waters retreat;
at the sound of your thunderous voice they hurried off—
8 as the mountains rose up,
and the valleys went down—
to the place you appointed for them.[i]
9 You set up a boundary for them that they could not cross,
so that they would not cover the earth again.[j]
10 He turns springs into streams;[k]
they flow between the mountains.
11 They provide water for all the animals in the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky live beside them;
they chirp among the bushes.[l]
13 He waters the mountains from the upper rooms of his palace;[m]
the earth is full of the fruit you cause to grow.[n]
14 He provides grass[o] for the cattle,
and crops for people to cultivate,[p]
so they can produce food from the ground,[q]
15 as well as wine that makes people glad,[r]
and olive oil to make their faces shine,[s]
as well as bread that sustains them.[t]
16 The trees of the Lord[u] receive all the rain they need,[v]
the cedars of Lebanon that he planted,
17 where the birds make nests,
near the evergreens in which the herons live.[w]
18 The wild goats live in the high mountains;[x]
the rock badgers find safety in the cliffs.
19 He made the moon to mark the months,[y]
and the sun sets according to a regular schedule.[z]
20 You make it dark and night comes,[aa]
during which all the beasts of the forest prowl around.
21 The lions roar for prey,
seeking their food from God.[ab]
22 When the sun rises, they withdraw
and sleep[ac] in their dens.
23 People then go out to do their work,
and they labor until evening.[ad]
24 How many living things you have made, O Lord![ae]
You have exhibited great skill in making all of them;[af]
the earth is full of the living things you have made.
25 Over here is the deep, wide sea,[ag]
which teems with innumerable swimming creatures,[ah]
living things both small and large.
26 The ships travel there,
and over here swims the whale[ai] you made to play in it.
27 All your creatures[aj] wait for you
to provide them with food on a regular basis.[ak]
28 You give food to them and they receive it;
you open your hand and they are filled with food.[al]
29 When you ignore them, they panic.[am]
When you take away their life’s breath,
they die and return to dust.
30 When you send your life-giving breath, they are created,
and you replenish the surface of the ground.
31 May the splendor of the Lord endure.[an]
May the Lord find pleasure in the living things he has made.[ao]
32 He looks down on the earth and it shakes;
he touches the mountains and they start to smolder.
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I exist.[ap]
34 May my thoughts[aq] be pleasing to him.
I will rejoice in the Lord.
35 May sinners disappear[ar] from the earth,
and the wicked vanish.
Praise the Lord, O my soul.
Praise the Lord.
12 Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not also tell your messengers whom you sent to me, 13 ‘If Balak would give me his palace full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond[a] the commandment[b] of the Lord to do either good or evil of my own will,[c] but whatever the Lord tells me I must speak’? 14 And now, I am about to go[d] back to my own people. Come now, and I will advise you as to what this people will do to your people in future days.”[e]
Balaam Prophesies a Fourth Time
15 Then he uttered this oracle:[f]
“The oracle of Balaam son of Beor,
the oracle of the man whose eyes are open,
16 the oracle of the one who hears the words of God,
and who knows the knowledge of the Most High,
who sees a vision from the Almighty,
although falling flat on the ground with eyes open:
17 ‘I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not close at hand.[g]
A star[h] will march forth[i] out of Jacob,
and a scepter[j] will rise out of Israel.
He will crush the skulls[k] of Moab,
and the heads[l] of all the sons of Sheth.[m]
18 Edom will be a possession,
Seir,[n] his enemy, will also be a possession;
but Israel will act valiantly.
19 A ruler will be established from Jacob;
he will destroy the remains of the city.’”[o]
Balaam’s Final Prophecies
20 Then Balaam[p] looked on Amalek and delivered this oracle:[q]
“Amalek was the first[r] of the nations,
but his end will be that he will perish.”
21 Then he looked on the Kenites and uttered this oracle:
“Your dwelling place seems strong,
and your nest[s] is set on a rocky cliff.
22 Nevertheless the Kenite will be consumed.[t]
How long will Asshur take you away captive?”
23 Then he uttered this oracle:
“O, who will survive when God does this![u]
24 Ships will come from the coast of Kittim,[v]
and will afflict Asshur,[w] and will afflict Eber,
and he will also perish forever.”[x]
25 Balaam got up and departed and returned to his home,[y] and Balak also went his way.
18 For I consider that our present sufferings cannot even be compared[a] to the coming glory that will be revealed to us. 19 For the creation eagerly waits for the revelation of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly but because of God[b] who subjected it—in hope 21 that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage of decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children. 22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. 23 Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit,[c] groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption,[d] the redemption of our bodies.[e] 24 For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, because who hopes for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with endurance.[f]
Marriage and the Resurrection
23 The same day Sadducees[a] (who say there is no resurrection)[b] came to him and asked him,[c] 24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies without having children, his brother must marry the widow and father children[d] for his brother.’[e] 25 Now there were seven brothers among us. The first one married and died, and since he had no children he left his wife to his brother. 26 The second did the same, and the third, down to the seventh. 27 Last[f] of all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife of the seven will she be? For they all had married her.”[g] 29 Jesus[h] answered them, “You are deceived,[i] because you don’t know the scriptures or the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels[j] in heaven. 31 Now as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God,[k] 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’?[l] He is not the God of the dead but of the living!”[m] 33 When the crowds heard this, they were amazed at his teaching.
The Greatest Commandment
34 Now when the Pharisees[n] heard that he had silenced the Sadducees,[o] they assembled together.[p] 35 And one of them, an expert in religious law,[q] asked him a question to test[r] him: 36 “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?”[s] 37 Jesus[t] said to him, “‘Love[u] the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’[v] 38 This is the first and greatest[w] commandment. 39 The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[x] 40 All the law and the prophets depend[y] on these two commandments.”
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