Book of Common Prayer
A Davidic Song of Ascents
Hope in the Lord
131 Lord, my heart is not arrogant,
nor do I look haughty.
I do not aspire[a] to great things,
nor concern myself with things beyond my ability.
2 Instead, I have composed and quieted myself
like a weaned child with its mother;
I am like a weaned child.
3 Place your hope in the Lord, Israel,
both now and forever.
A Song of Ascents
The Lord Lives in Zion
132 Lord, remember in David’s favor
all of his troubles;
2 how he swore an oath to the Lord,
vowing to the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I will not enter[b] my house,
or lie down on[c] my bed,
4 or let myself go to sleep[d]
or even take a nap,[e]
5 until I locate a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 We heard about it[f] in Ephrata;[g]
we found it in the fields of Jaar.[h]
7 Let’s go to his dwelling place
and worship at his footstool.
8 Arise, Lord,
and go to your resting place,
you and the ark of your strength.
9 May your priests be clothed with righteousness
and may your godly ones shout for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
don’t turn away the face of your anointed one.
11 The Lord made an oath to David
from which he will not retreat:
“One of your sons
I will set in place on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and my statutes that I will teach them,
then their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion,
desiring it as his dwelling place.
14 “This is my resting place forever.
Here I will live,
because I desire to do so.
15 I will bless its provisions abundantly;
I will satiate its poor with food.[i]
16 I will clothe its priests with salvation
and its godly ones will shout for joy.
17 There I will create a power base[j] for David—
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.
18 I will clothe his enemies with disgrace,
but on him his crown will shine.”
A Davidic Song of Ascents
The Significance of Unity
133 Look how good and how pleasant it is
when brothers live together in unity!
2 It is like precious oil on the head,
descending to the beard—
even to Aaron’s beard—
and flowing down to the edge of his robes.
3 It is like the dew of Hermon
falling on Zion’s mountains.
For there the Lord commanded his blessing—
life everlasting.
A Song of Ascents
Praise to the Creator
134 Now bless the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord
who serve[k] nightly in the Lord’s Temple.
2 Lift up your hands to the Holy Place
and bless the Lord.
3 May the Lord who fashions heaven and earth
bless you from Zion.
Praising God for His Graciousness
135 Hallelujah!
Praise the name of the Lord!
Give praise, you servants of the Lord,
2 you who are standing in the Lord’s Temple,
in the courtyards of the house of our God.
3 Praise the Lord,
because the Lord is good;
Sing to his name,
for he is gracious.
4 It is Jacob whom the Lord chose for himself—
Israel as his personal possession.
5 Indeed, I know that the Lord is great,
and that our Lord[l] surpasses all gods.
6 The Lord does whatever pleases him
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all its[m] deep regions.
7 He makes the clouds rise from the ends of the earth,
fashioning lightning for the rain,
bringing the wind from his storehouses.
8 It was the Lord[n] who struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
including both men and animals.
9 He sent signs and wonders among you, Egypt,
before[o] Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He struck down many nations,
killing many kings—
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
Og, king of Bashan,
and every kingdom of Canaan—
12 and he gave their land as an inheritance,
an inheritance to his people Israel.
13 Your name, Lord, exists forever,
and your reputation, Lord, throughout the ages.
14 For the Lord will vindicate his people,
and he will show compassion on his servants.
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
worked by[p] the hands of human beings.
16 Mouths are attributed to them,
but they cannot speak;
sight is attributed to them,
but they cannot see;
17 ears are attributed to them,
but they do not hear,
and there is no breath in their mouths.
18 Those who craft them—
and all[q] who trust in them—
will become like them.
19 House of Israel, bless the Lord!
House of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20 House of Levi, bless the Lord!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
he who lives in Jerusalem.
Hallelujah!
Job’s Faithfulness
1 There once was a man in the land of Uz[a] named Job. The man was blameless as well as upright. He feared God and kept away from evil. 2 Seven sons and three daughters had been born to him. 3 His livestock included 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams[b] of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and many servants. Indeed, the man’s stature greatly exceeded that of many people who lived in the East. 4 His sons used to travel to each other’s houses in turn on a regular schedule and hold festivals, inviting their three sisters to celebrate[c] with them.
5 When their time of feasting had concluded, Job would rise early in the morning to send for them[d] and consecrate them to God.[e] He would offer a burnt offering for each one,[f] because Job thought, “Perhaps my children sinned by cursing God in their hearts.” Job did this time and again.[g]
Satan’s First Attack on Job
6 One day, divine beings[h] presented themselves to the Lord, and Satan[i] accompanied them. 7 The Lord asked Satan, “Where have you come from?”
In response, Satan answered the Lord, “From wandering all over the earth and walking back and forth throughout it.”
8 Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you considered[j] my servant Job? There is no one like him on earth. The man is blameless as well as upright. He fears God and keeps away from evil.”
9 But in response, Satan asked the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Haven’t you surrounded him with a fence on all sides, around his house, and around all that he owns? You have blessed everything he puts his hands on and you have increased his livestock in the land. 11 However, stretch out your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will curse you to your face.”
12 Then the Lord told Satan, “Very well then, everything he owns is under your control,[k] only you may not extend your hand against him.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.
13 Some time later, when his children[l] were celebrating[m] in their oldest[n] brother’s house, 14 a messenger approached Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the female donkeys were grazing nearby 15 when the Sabeans attacked, captured the servants, and killed them with swords. I alone escaped to tell you!”
16 While this messenger[o] was still speaking, another[p] came and announced, “A lightning storm struck[q] and incinerated the flock and the servants while they were eating. I alone escaped to tell you!”
17 While this messenger[r] was still speaking, another[s] came and announced, “The Chaldeans formed three companies, raided the camels, captured the servants, and killed them with swords. Only I alone escaped to tell you.”
18 While this messenger[t] was still speaking, another[u] came and announced, “Your children were celebrating[v] in their oldest[w] brother’s house 19 when a strong wind came straight out of the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people, and they died. I alone escaped to tell you!”
Job Blesses God Despite the Catastrophe
20 Then Job stood up, tore his robe, shaved his head, fell to the ground, bowed very low, 21 and exclaimed:
“I left my mother’s womb naked,
and I will return to God naked.
The Lord has given,
and the Lord has taken.
May the name of the Lord be blessed.”
22 Job neither sinned nor charged God with wrongdoing in all of this.
Philip Tells an Ethiopian about Jesus
26 Now an angel of the Lord told Philip, “Get up and go south on the road that leads from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a deserted road.” 27 So he got up and went. Now there was an Ethiopian eunuch, who was a member of the court of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was in charge of all her treasures and had come up to Jerusalem to worship. 28 Now he was returning home, seated in his chariot, and reading from the prophet Isaiah.
29 The Spirit told Philip, “Approach that chariot and stay near it.” 30 So Philip ran up to it and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah out loud.
Philip[a] asked, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”
31 The man[b] replied, “How can I unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to get in and sit with him. 32 This was the passage of Scripture he was reading:
“Like a sheep he was led away to be slaughtered,
and like a lamb is silent before its shearer,
so he does not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation, justice was denied him.
Who can describe his descendants?[c]
For his life is taken away from the earth.”[d]
34 The eunuch asked Philip, “I ask you, who is the prophet talking about? Himself? Or someone else?” 35 Then Philip began to speak, and, starting from this Scripture, he told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they were going along the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, there’s some water. What keeps me from being baptized?”[e] 38 So he ordered the chariot to stop, and Philip and the eunuch both went down into the water, and Philip[f] baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away. The eunuch went on his way rejoicing and did not see Philip[g] again. 40 But Philip found himself at Azotus. As he was passing through that region,[h] he kept proclaiming the good news in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
Jesus Walks on the Sea(A)
16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. Darkness had already fallen, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 A strong wind was blowing, and the sea was getting rough. 19 After they had rowed about 25 or 30 stadia,[a] they saw Jesus walking on the sea toward their boat. They became terrified. 20 But he told them, “It is I. Stop being afraid!” 21 So they were glad to take him on board, and immediately the boat reached the land toward which they were going.
Jesus the Bread of Life
22 The next day, the crowd that had remained on the other side of the sea noticed that only one boat had been there, and no other, and that Jesus had not gotten into that boat with his disciples. Instead, his disciples had gone away by themselves. 23 Other small boats from Tiberias arrived near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.[b] 24 When the crowd saw that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into these boats and went to Capernaum to look for Jesus.
25 When they had found him on the other side of the sea, they asked him, “Rabbi,[c] when did you get here?”
26 Jesus replied to them, “Truly, I tell all of you[d] emphatically, you are looking for me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate the loaves and were completely satisfied. 27 Do not work for food that perishes but for food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set his seal on him.”
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