Book of Common Prayer
O Yahweh, Deliver My Soul
A Song of [a]Ascents.
120 (A)In my distress I called to Yahweh,
And He answered me.
2 O Yahweh, deliver my soul from a (B)lying lip,
From a (C)deceitful tongue.
3 What shall He give to you, and what shall He add to you,
O (D)deceitful tongue?
4 (E)Sharp arrows of the warrior,
With the burning (F)coals of the broom tree.
5 Woe is me, for I sojourn in (G)Meshech,
For I dwell among the (H)tents of (I)Kedar!
6 Too long has my soul had its dwelling
With those who (J)hate peace.
7 I (K)am for peace, but when I speak,
They are (L)for war.
My Help Comes from Yahweh
A Song of Ascents.
121 I will (M)lift up my eyes to (N)the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
2 My (O)help comes from Yahweh,
Who (P)made heaven and earth.
3 [b]He will not (Q)allow your foot to stumble;
[c]He who (R)keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will not slumber and will not sleep.
5 Yahweh is your (S)keeper;
Yahweh is your (T)shade on your right hand.
6 The (U)sun will not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 Yahweh will (V)keep you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 Yahweh will (W)keep your going out and your coming in
(X)From now until forever.
Go to the House of Yahweh
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us (Y)go to the house of Yahweh.”
2 Our feet are standing
Within your (Z)gates, O Jerusalem,
3 Jerusalem, which is (AA)built
As a city (AB)joined altogether;
4 To which the tribes, the tribes of Yah, (AC)go up—
A testimony for Israel—
To give thanks to the name of Yahweh.
5 For there, (AD)thrones sit for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the (AE)peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who (AF)love you.
7 May peace be within your (AG)walls,
And tranquility within your (AH)palaces.”
8 For the sake of my (AI)brothers and my friends,
I will now say, “(AJ)May peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of Yahweh our God,
I will (AK)seek your good.
To You I Lift Up My Eyes
A Song of Ascents.
123 To You I (AL)lift up my eyes,
The One (AM)enthroned in the heavens!
2 Behold, as the eyes of (AN)slaves look to the hand of their master,
As the eyes of a servant-girl to the hand of her mistress,
So our (AO)eyes look to Yahweh our God,
Until He is gracious to us.
3 (AP)Be gracious to us, O Yahweh, be gracious to us,
For we are greatly saturated (AQ)with contempt.
4 Our soul is greatly saturated
With the (AR)mockery of (AS)those who are at ease,
And with the (AT)contempt of the proud.
Yahweh Was on Our Side
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
124 “(AU)Had it not been Yahweh who was on our side,”
(AV)Let Israel now say,
2 “Had it not been Yahweh who was on our side
When men rose up against us,
3 Then they would have (AW)swallowed us alive,
When their (AX)anger was kindled against us;
4 Then the (AY)waters would have flowed over us,
The stream would have [d]swept over our soul;
5 Then the (AZ)raging waters would have [e]swept over our soul.”
6 Blessed be Yahweh,
Who has not given us to be (BA)prey for their teeth.
7 Our soul has (BB)escaped (BC)as a bird out of the (BD)snare of the trapper;
The snare is broken and we have escaped.
8 Our (BE)help is in the name of Yahweh,
Who (BF)made heaven and earth.
Yahweh Surrounds His People
A Song of Ascents.
125 Those who trust in Yahweh
Are as Mount Zion, which (BG)will not be shaken but (BH)will abide forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So (BI)Yahweh surrounds His people
(BJ)From now until forever.
3 For the (BK)scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the [f]land of the righteous,
So that the righteous (BL)would not send forth their hands in unrighteousness.
4 (BM)Do good, O Yahweh, to those who are good
And to those who are (BN)upright in their hearts.
5 But as for those who (BO)turn aside to their (BP)crooked ways,
Yahweh will lead them away with the (BQ)workers of iniquity.
(BR)Peace be upon Israel.
Those Who Sow in Tears Shall Reap with Joy
A Song of Ascents.
126 When Yahweh [g](BS)returned [h]the captive ones of Zion,
We were (BT)like those who dream.
2 Then our (BU)mouth was filled with laughter
And our (BV)tongue with shouts of joy;
Then they said among the nations,
“Yahweh has (BW)done great things for them.”
3 Yahweh has done great things for us;
We are (BX)glad.
4 Restore our captivity, O Yahweh,
As the [i](BY)streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow in (BZ)tears shall reap with (CA)shouts of joy.
6 He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,
Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves with him.
Unless Yahweh Builds the House
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
127 Unless Yahweh (CB)builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless Yahweh (CC)watches the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early,
That you sit out late,
O you who (CD)eat the bread of [j]painful labors;
For in this manner, He gives (CE)sleep to His (CF)beloved.
3 Behold, (CG)children are [k]an inheritance of Yahweh,
The (CH)fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a (CI)warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5 How (CJ)blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them;
(CK)They will not be ashamed
When they (CL)speak with enemies (CM)in the gate.
Danites Seek an Inheritance
18 (A)In those days there was no king of Israel; and (B)in those days the tribe of the Danites was seeking an inheritance for themselves to live in, for until that day the land among the tribes of Israel had not fallen to them as an inheritance. 2 So the sons of Dan sent from their family five men out of their whole number, [a]men of valor from (C)Zorah and Eshtaol, to spy out the land and to search it; and they said to them, “Go, search the land.” And they came to (D)the hill country of Ephraim, to the house of Micah, and lodged there. 3 They were near the house of Micah, and they recognized the voice of the young man, the Levite. So they turned aside there and said to him, “Who brought you here? And what are you doing in this place? And what do you have here?” 4 And he said to them, “Thus and so has Micah done to me, and he has hired me, and (E)I have become his priest.” 5 And they said to him, “Ask of God, please, that we may know whether our way on which we are going will be successful.” 6 So the priest said to them, “Go in peace; your way in which you are going is before Yahweh.”
7 Then the five men went forth and came to (F)Laish and saw the people who were in it living in security, after the [b]manner of the Sidonians, quiet and secure; for there was no [c]oppressive conqueror dishonoring them for anything in the land, and they were far from the Sidonians and had no dealings with anyone. 8 So they came back to their brothers at Zorah and Eshtaol, and their brothers said to them, “What do you report?” 9 And they said, “Arise, and let us go up against them; for we have seen the land, and behold, it is very good. And will you be silent? Do not delay to go, to enter, to possess the land. 10 When you enter, you will come to a secure people and a spacious land; for God has given it into your hand, (G)a place where there is no lack of anything that is on the earth.”
11 Then from the family of the Danites, from Zorah and from Eshtaol, 600 men armed with weapons of war set out. 12 And they went up and camped at Kiriath-jearim in Judah. Therefore they called that place [d](H)Mahaneh-dan to this day; behold, it is [e]west of Kiriath-jearim. 13 Then they passed from there to the hill country of Ephraim and came to the house of Micah.
Danites Take Micah’s Idols
14 And the five men who went to spy out the country of Laish answered and said to their relatives, “Do you know that there are in these houses (I)an ephod and [f]household idols and a graven image and a molten image? So now, know what you should do.” 15 Then they turned aside there and came to the house of the young man, the Levite, to the house of Micah, and asked him of his welfare.
Saul Persecutes the Church
8 (A)Now Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.
And on that day a great persecution [a]began against (B)the church in Jerusalem, and they were all (C)scattered throughout the regions of Judea and (D)Samaria, except the apostles. 2 And some devout men buried Stephen and made loud lamentation over him. 3 But (E)Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and (F)dragging off men and women, he was delivering them into prison.
Philip Preaches in Samaria
4 Therefore, those (G)who had been scattered went about, (H)proclaiming the good news of the word. 5 (I)Now Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began preaching [b]Christ to them. 6 And the crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was being said by Philip, as they heard and saw the [c]signs which he was doing. 7 For in the case of many who had (J)unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been (K)paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 So there was (L)great joy in that city.
9 Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing (M)magic in the city and astounding the people of Samaria, (N)claiming to be someone great; 10 and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “(O)This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” 11 And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astounded them with his (P)magic arts. 12 But when they believed Philip (Q)proclaiming the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being (R)baptized, both men and women. 13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed (S)signs and (T)great miracles taking place, he was constantly astounded.
30 “(A)I can do nothing from Myself. As I hear, I judge; and (B)My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will, but (C)the will of Him who sent Me.
31 “(D)If I alone bear witness about Myself, My witness is not [a]true. 32 There is (E)another who bears witness about Me, and I know that the witness which He gives about Me is true.
Witnesses to Jesus: The Father and the Scriptures
33 You have sent to John, and he (F)has borne witness to the truth. 34 But (G)the witness I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was (H)the lamp that was burning and shining and you (I)were willing to rejoice for [b]a while in his light. 36 But the witness I have is greater than the witness of John; for (J)the works which the Father has given Me (K)to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness about Me, that the Father (L)has sent Me. 37 And the Father who sent Me, (M)He has borne witness about Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form. 38 And you do not have (N)His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He (O)sent. 39 [c](P)You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is (Q)these that bear witness about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. 41 (R)I do not receive glory from men; 42 but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 43 I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; (S)if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you (T)receive [d]glory from one another and you do not seek (U)the [e]glory that is from (V)the only God? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father; the one who accuses you is (W)Moses, in whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for (X)he wrote about Me. 47 But (Y)if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
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