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!
Job Laments His Birth
3 After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth. 2 Job said:
3 “Let the day perish in which I was born
and the night in which it was said, ‘A male child is conceived.’
4 As for that day, let it be darkness;
let God above not regard it;
and let not light shine upon it.
5 Let darkness and the shadow of death claim it;
let a cloud settle on it;
let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, let darkness capture it;
let it not rejoice among the days of the year;
let it not come into the number of the months.
7 Yes, as for that night, let it be barren!
Let no joyful cry come into it!
8 Let them curse it who curse any day,
those who are prepared to rouse Leviathan.
9 Let its morning stars be dark;
let it look for light, but have none;
let it not see the rays of dawn,
10 because it did not shut the doors of my mother’s womb,
nor hide trouble from my eyes.
11 “Why did I not die at birth?
Why did I not expire when I came out of the womb?
12 Why did her knees receive me?
And why her breasts that I should nurse?
13 For now I would be lying down and would be at peace;
I would have slept; then there would be rest for me,
14 with kings and counselors of the earth,
who built ruins for themselves,
15 or with princes who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.
16 Or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child,
like infants who never saw light?
17 There the wicked will have stopped causing trouble,
and there the exhausted will rest.
18 Captives will relax together;
they do not hear the voice of the oppressor.
19 The small and great, they are there,
and the servant is free from his master.
20 “Why is light given to the miserable,
and life unto the bitter in soul,
21 who look for death, but it is not there;
and they search for it more than for hidden treasures;
22 who rejoice exceedingly,
and they are glad when they find the grave?
23 And why is light given to a man
whose way is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?
24 For my sighing comes before I eat,
and my groaning pours forth like the waters.
25 For the thing which I greatly feared has happened to me,
and that which I dreaded has come to me.
26 I am not at peace; I have no quiet,
I cannot rest, and turmoil has come.”
10 A disciple named Ananias was in Damascus. The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.”
He said, “Here I am, Lord.”
11 The Lord said to him, “Rise and go to Straight Street, and inquire at Judas’ house for someone named Saul of Tarsus, for he is praying, 12 and has seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he may see again.”
13 Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how many evil things he has done to Your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go your way. For this man is a chosen vessel of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and their kings, and before the sons of Israel. 16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake.”
17 Then Ananias went his way and entered the house. Putting his hands on him, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the way as you came, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18 Immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he could see again. And he rose up and was baptized. 19 When he had eaten, he was strengthened.
Saul Preaches in Damascus
For several days Saul was with the disciples in Damascus.
41 The Jews then murmured about Him, because He said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” 42 They said, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that He says, ‘I have come down from heaven’? ”
43 Jesus therefore answered them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. 44 No one can come to Me unless the Father who has sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets, ‘They shall all be taught by God.’[a] Therefore everyone who has heard and has learned of the Father comes to Me. 46 Not that anyone has seen the Father, except He who is from God. He has seen the Father. 47 Truly, truly I say to you, whoever believes in Me has eternal life. 48 I am the bread of life. 49 Your fathers ate manna in the wilderness, and they died. 50 This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. 51 I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. The bread which I shall give for the life of the world is My flesh.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.