Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137
1 By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion.
2 We hung our harps
upon the poplars.
3 For there our captors made us sing
and our tormentors made us entertain,
saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
4 How shall we sing the song of the Lord
in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill.
6 If I do not remember you,
let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not have Jerusalem
as my highest joy.
7 Remember, O Lord, the people of Edom
in the day of Jerusalem,
who said, “Raze it, raze it,
down to its foundations.”
8 O daughter of Babylon, who is to be destroyed,
blessed is the one who rewards you
as you have done to us.
9 Blessed is the one who takes
and dashes your little ones against the rocks.
Psalm 144
A Psalm of David.
1 Blessed be the Lord my strength,
who prepares my hands for war,
and my fingers to fight;
2 my goodness, and my fortress;
my high tower, and my deliverer,
my shield, and in whom I trust;
who subdues nations under me.
3 O Lord, who is man that You take notice of him
or the son of a man that You make account of him?
4 Man is like a breath;
his days are as a shadow that passes away.
5 Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down;
touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6 Cast forth lightning, and scatter them;
shoot out Your arrows, and destroy them.
7 Send Your hand from above;
rescue me, and deliver me
out of the great waters,
from the hand of foreigners,
8 whose mouth speaks lies,
and their right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 I will sing a new song unto You, O God,
on a harp and an instrument of ten strings I will sing praises unto You;
10 it is He who gives victory to kings,
who delivers David His servant from the cruel sword.
11 Rescue me and deliver me
from the hand of foreigners,
whose mouths speak lies
and whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
12 May our sons in their youth
be like plants full grown,
and our daughters like cornerstones,
cut in the similitude of a palace,
13 that our granaries may be full,
providing all manner of produce,
that our sheep may bring forth
thousands and ten thousands in our fields,
14 and may our cattle be strong in labor.
May there be no breaking in
or going out,
and no wailing in our streets.
15 Blessed are the people who have such things;
indeed, blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.
Psalm 104
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul!
O Lord my God, You are very great!
You are clothed with honor and majesty,
2 covering Yourself with light as a garment,
who stretches out the heavens like a tent curtain,
3 who lays the upper beams of His chambers on the waters above,
who makes the clouds His chariot,
who rides upon the wings of the wind,
4 who makes His angels as winds,
His ministers a flaming fire.
5 You laid the earth on its foundations,
so that it should never be moved.
6 You covered it with the deep as a garment;
the waters stood above the mountains.
7 At Your rebuke they fled;
at the sound of Your thunder they departed away.
8 The mountains rose up;
the valleys went down
to the place that You appointed them.
9 You set a boundary that they may not pass over,
that they may not again cover the earth.
10 You send the springs to gush forth in the valleys,
which flow between the hills.
11 They give drink to every animal of the field;
the wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 By them the birds of the heavens have their habitation;
they sing among the branches.
13 You water the mountains from Your lofty chamber;
the earth is satisfied with the fruit of Your works.
14 You cause the grass to grow for the cattle
and plants for the cultivation of man,
that he may bring forth food from the earth
15 and wine that makes glad the heart of man,
and oil that makes shine his face,
and bread that strengthens his heart.
16 The trees of the Lord are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon that He has planted,
17 where the birds make their nests,
where the stork has its home in the fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats,
and the rocks a refuge for the badgers.
19 He set the moon to mark the appointed seasons;
the sun knows its time for going down.
20 You make darkness, and it is night,
when all the animals of the forest go forth.
21 The young lions roar after their prey
and seek their food from God.
22 When the sun arises, they gather themselves together
and lay down in their dens.
23 Man goes forth to his work
and to his labor until the evening.
24 O Lord, how manifold are Your works!
With wisdom You have made them all;
the earth is full of Your creatures—
25 so is this great and wide sea,
which is full of innumerable creatures,
living animals both small and great.
26 There go the ships,
and there is Leviathan, which You have made to play in it.
27 These all wait upon You,
that You may give them their food in due season.
28 When You give it to them,
they gather it;
when You open Your hand,
they are filled with good food.
29 When You hide Your face,
they are troubled;
You take away their breath,
and they die and return to their dust.
30 When You send forth Your Spirit,
they are created,
and You renew the surface of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in His works.
32 He looks on the earth, and it trembles;
He touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live;
I will sing praise to my God while I have my being.
34 May my meditation be sweet to Him,
for I will be glad in the Lord.
35 Let sinners be consumed from the earth,
and let the wicked be no more.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!
Praise the Lord!
12 Balaam said to Balak, “Did I not speak to your messengers which you sent to me, saying, 13 ‘If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the mouth of the Lord, to do either good or bad of my own mind. But what the Lord speaks, I will speak’? 14 And now, I am going to my people. Come, I will advise you what this people will do to your people in the latter days.”
Balaam’s Fourth Prophecy
15 He took up his parable and said:
“The oracle of Balaam the son of Beor,
and the oracle of the man whose eyes are open;
16 the oracle of the one hearing the words of God,
and knowing the knowledge of the Most High,
who sees the vision of the Almighty,
falling into a trance, but having his eyes open:
17 “I will see him, but not now;
I will behold him, but not near;
a star will come out of Jacob,
and a scepter will rise out of Israel,
and will crush the borderlands of Moab,
and destroy all the children of Sheth.
18 Edom will be a possession,
and Seir, a possession of its enemies,
while Israel does valiantly.
19 One out of Jacob shall have dominion,
and destroy the survivors of the city.”
20 Then he looked on Amalek; he took up his proverb and said:
“Amalek was the first of the nations,
but his end will be that he perishes forever.”
21 He looked on the Kenites and took up his proverb and said:
“Strong is your dwelling place,
and you put your nest in a rock;
22 nevertheless the Kenite will be wasted.
How long until Ashur carries you away captive?”
23 He took up his proverb and said:
“Alas, who will live when God does this?
24 And ships will come from the coasts of Cyprus
and will afflict Ashur and will afflict Eber,
and he also will perish forever.”
25 Balaam rose up and went and returned to his place, and Balak also went his way.
The Glory That Is to Be
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us. 19 The eager expectation of the creation waits for the appearance of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but by the will of Him who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
22 We know that the whole creation groans and travails in pain together until now. 23 Not only that, but we also, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan within ourselves while eagerly waiting for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For we are saved through hope, but hope that is seen is not hope, for why does a man still hope for what he sees? 25 But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
The Question About the Resurrection(A)
23 The same day the Sadducees, who say that there is no resurrection, came to Him and asked Him, 24 “Teacher, Moses said, ‘If a man dies having no children, his brother must marry his wife and raise up children for his brother.’[a] 25 Now there were seven brothers with us. The first died after he married and, having no children, left his wife to his brother. 26 Likewise the second and third, on to the seventh. 27 Last of all, the woman died also. 28 Therefore, in the resurrection, whose wife shall she be of the seven? For they all had her.”
29 Jesus answered, “You err, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven. 31 But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, 32 ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’[b]? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living.”
33 When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.
The Great Commandment(B)
34 When the Pharisees heard that He silenced the Sadducees, they came together. 35 One of them, who was a lawyer, tested Him by asking Him, 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?”
37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’[c] 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’[d] 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.