Book of Common Prayer
Childlike Trust in the Lord.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
131 Lord, my heart is not (A)proud, nor my eyes (B)arrogant;
Nor do I [a]involve myself in (C)great matters,
Or in things (D)too [b]difficult for me.
2 I have certainly (E)soothed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned (F)child resting [c]against his mother,
My soul [d]within me is like a weaned child.
3 Israel, (G)wait for the Lord
(H)From this time on and forever.
Prayer for the Lord’s Blessing upon the Sanctuary.
A Song of Ascents.
132 Remember, Lord, in David’s behalf,
All (I)his affliction;
2 How he swore to the Lord
And vowed to (J)the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I certainly will not [e]enter (K)my house,
Nor [f]lie on my bed;
4 I will not (L)give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
5 Until I find a (M)place for the Lord,
[g]A dwelling place for (N)the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard about it in (O)Ephrathah,
We found it in the (P)field of [h]Jaar.
7 Let’s go into His [i](Q)dwelling place;
Let’s (R)worship at His (S)footstool.
8 (T)Arise, Lord, to Your (U)resting place,
You and the ark of Your (V)strength.
9 May Your priests be (W)clothed with righteousness,
And may Your (X)godly ones sing for joy.
10 For the sake of Your servant David,
Do not turn away the face of Your (Y)anointed.
11 The Lord has (Z)sworn to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“I will set upon your throne one (AA)from the fruit of your body.
12 If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their sons also will (AB)sit upon your throne forever.”
13 For the Lord has (AC)chosen Zion;
He has (AD)desired it as His dwelling place.
14 “This is My (AE)resting place forever;
Here I will (AF)dwell, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly (AG)bless her food;
I will (AH)satisfy her needy with bread.
16 I will also clothe her (AI)priests with salvation,
And her (AJ)godly ones will sing aloud for joy.
17 I will make the (AK)horn of David spring forth there;
I have prepared a (AL)lamp for My anointed.
18 I will (AM)clothe his enemies with shame,
But upon himself his (AN)crown will gleam.”
The Excellency of Brotherly Unity.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For (AO)brothers to live together in unity!
2 It is like the precious (AP)oil on the head,
Running down upon the beard,
As on Aaron’s beard,
The oil which ran down upon the (AQ)edge of his robes.
3 It is like the (AR)dew of (AS)Hermon
Coming down upon the (AT)mountains of Zion;
For the Lord (AU)commanded the blessing there—(AV)life forever.
Greetings of Night Watchers.
A Song of Ascents.
134 Behold, (AW)bless the Lord, all you (AX)servants of the Lord,
Who [j](AY)serve (AZ)by night in the house of the Lord!
2 (BA)Lift up your hands to the (BB)sanctuary
And bless the Lord.
3 May the Lord (BC)bless you from Zion,
He who (BD)made heaven and earth.
Praise the Lord’s Wonderful Works. Futility of Idols.
135 [k](BE)Praise [l]the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise Him, you (BF)servants of the Lord,
2 You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In the (BG)courtyards of the house of our God!
3 [m]Praise [n]the Lord, for (BH)the Lord is good;
(BI)Sing praises to His name, (BJ)for it is lovely.
4 For [o]the Lord has (BK)chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel as His (BL)own possession.
5 For I know that (BM)the Lord is great
And that our Lord is (BN)above all gods.
6 (BO)Whatever the Lord pleases, He does,
In heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the ocean depths.
7 [p]He (BP)causes the [q]mist to ascend from the ends of the earth,
[r]He (BQ)makes lightning for the rain;
[s]He (BR)brings forth the wind from His treasuries.
8 [t]He (BS)struck the firstborn of Egypt,
[u]Both human firstborn and animal.
9 [v]He sent (BT)signs and wonders into your midst, Egypt,
Upon (BU)Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 [w](BV)He (BW)struck many nations
And brought death to mighty kings,
11 (BX)Sihon, king of the Amorites,
(BY)Og, king of Bashan,
And (BZ)all the kingdoms of Canaan;
12 And He (CA)gave their land as an inheritance,
An inheritance to His people Israel.
13 Your (CB)name, Lord, is everlasting,
The mention of You, Lord, is [x]throughout all generations.
14 For the Lord will (CC)judge His people
And (CD)will have compassion on His servants.
15 The (CE)idols of the nations are nothing but silver and gold,
The work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
They have eyes, but they do not see;
17 They have ears, but they do not hear,
Nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will become like them,
Yes, everyone who trusts in them.
Job’s Character and Wealth
1 There was a man in the (A)land of Uz whose name was (B)Job; and that man was (C)blameless, upright, (D)fearing God and (E)turning away from evil. 2 (F)Seven sons and three daughters were born to him. 3 (G)His possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was (H)the greatest of all the [a]men of the east. 4 His sons used to go and hold a feast in the house of each one on his day, and they would send word and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When the days of feasting had completed their cycle, Job would send word to them and consecrate them, getting up early in the morning and offering (I)burnt offerings according to the number of them all; for Job said, “(J)Perhaps my sons have sinned and (K)cursed God in their hearts.” Job did so continually.
6 (L)Now there was a day when the [b](M)sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and [c]Satan also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “(N)From roaming about on the earth and walking around on it.” 8 The Lord said to Satan, “Have you [d]considered (O)My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, (P)a blameless and upright man, [e]fearing God and turning away from evil.” 9 Then (Q)Satan answered the [f]Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 (R)Have You not made a fence around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? (S)You have blessed the work of his hands, and his (T)possessions have increased in the land. 11 (U)But reach out with Your hand now and (V)touch all that he has; he will certainly curse You to Your face.” 12 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your [g]power; only do not reach out and put your hand on him.” So Satan departed from the presence of the Lord.
Satan Allowed to Test Job
13 Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the female donkeys feeding beside them, 15 and [h]the (W)Sabeans [i]attacked and took them. They also [j]killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and [k]I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “(X)The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was still speaking, another came and said, “The (Y)Chaldeans formed three units and made a raid on the camels and took them, and [l]killed the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
20 Then Job got up, (Z)tore his robe, and shaved his head; then he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 He said,
“(AA)Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked I shall return there.
The (AB)Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
22 (AC)Despite all this, Job did not sin, nor did he [m]blame God.
26 But (A)an angel of the Lord spoke to (B)Philip, saying, “Get ready and go [a]south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to (C)Gaza.” ([b]This is a desert road.) 27 So he got ready and went; and [c](D)there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of [d]Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he (E)had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was returning and sitting in his [e]chariot, and was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then (F)the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this [f]chariot.” 30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:
“(G)He was led like a sheep to slaughter;
And like a lamb that is silent before its shearer,
So He does not open His mouth.
33 (H)In humiliation His justice was taken away;
Who will [g]describe His [h]generation?
For His life is taken away from the earth.”
34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself, or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip (I)opened his mouth, and (J)beginning from this Scripture he (K)preached Jesus to him. 36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! (L)What prevents me from being baptized?”[i] 38 And he ordered that the [j]chariot stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, (M)the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, [k]but went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip [l]found himself at [m](N)Azotus, and as he passed through he (O)kept preaching the gospel to all the cities, until he came to (P)Caesarea.
16 Now when evening came, His (A)disciples went down to the sea, 17 and after getting into a boat, they started to cross the sea (B)to Capernaum. It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 In addition, the sea began getting rough, because a strong wind was blowing. 19 Then, when they had rowed about [a]twenty-five or thirty stadia, they *saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat; and they were frightened. 20 But He *said to them, “It is I; [b](C)do not be afraid.” 21 So they were willing to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.
22 The next day (D)the crowd that stood on the other side of the sea saw that there was no other small boat there except one, and that Jesus (E)had not gotten into the boat with His disciples, but that His disciples had departed alone. 23 Other small boats came from (F)Tiberias near to the place where they ate the bread after the (G)Lord (H)had given thanks. 24 So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats and (I)came to Capernaum, looking for Jesus. 25 And when they found Him on the other side of the sea, they said to Him, “(J)Rabbi, when did You get here?”
Words to the People
26 Jesus answered them and said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you (K)seek Me, not because you saw [c](L)signs, but because you ate some of the loaves and were filled. 27 Do not (M)work for the food that perishes, but for the food that lasts for (N)eternal life, which (O)the Son of Man will give you, for on Him the Father, God, (P)has set His [d]seal.”
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