Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 102[a]
Prayer of an Exile
1 The prayer of one afflicted. When he is wasting away[b] and pours out his anguish before the Lord.
2 [c]O Lord, give heed to my prayer;
let my plea for help reach you.
3 Do not conceal your face[d] from my sight
in the time of my distress.
Incline your ear to me;
on the day when I call out to you, answer me speedily.
4 For my days are fading away like smoke,
and my bones are burning like live coals.
5 My heart[e] is stricken, withered like grass;
I am too exhausted to eat my bread.
6 As a result of my incessant groaning,
I am now nothing more than skin and bones.
7 I am like a pelican[f] of the wilderness,
like an owl among the ruins.
8 I am sleepless[g] and I moan
like a lone sparrow on a rooftop.
9 All day long my enemies revile me;[h]
those who rage against me use my name as a curse.
10 [i]I eat ashes as though they were bread,
and I mingle tears with my drink.
11 Because of your indignation and wrath,
you have raised me up only to cast me down.
12 My days are like a lengthening shadow,
and I am withering away like grass.
13 [j]But, you, O Lord, are enthroned forever,
and your renown will endure for all generations.
14 You will arise and show mercy to Zion,
for it is time for you to have pity on her;
the appointed time[k] has come.
15 For her stones are precious to your servants,
and her dust causes them to weep.[l]
16 The nations will revere your name,[m] O Lord,
and all the kings of the earth will sing of your glory.
17 For the Lord will rebuild Zion
and reveal himself in all his glory.[n]
18 He will answer the prayer of the destitute,
and he will not ignore their petition.
19 Let this be written[o] for future generations
so that a people yet unborn may praise the Lord:
20 “The Lord looked down from his sanctuary on high
and gazed on the earth from heaven,
21 to hear the sighs of the prisoners
and to set free those under sentence of death.”[p]
22 Then the name of the Lord will be proclaimed in Zion,
and his praise[q] in Jerusalem
23 when all peoples and kingdoms come together
to worship the Lord.[r]
24 [s]He has taken away my strength on my life’s journey;
he has cut short my days.
25 So I said: “Do not carry me off, O my God,
before half my days are done,[t]
for your years endure from age to age.
26 [u]“Long ago you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens are the work of your hands.
27 They will pass away but you endure;
they will all wear out like a garment.
You will change them like clothing,
and they will perish.[v]
28 “However, you remain always the same,
and your years will have no end.[w]
29 The children of your servants will be secure,
and their descendants will dwell in your presence.”[x]
Book V—Psalms 107–150[a]
Psalm 107[b]
God, Savior of Those in Distress
1 “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his kindness[c] endures forever.”
2 Let this be the prayer of the redeemed of the Lord,
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe
3 and gathered together from the lands,[d]
from east and west, north and south.
4 [e]Some wandered in a barren wilderness,
unable to discover a path to an inhabited city.
5 They were hungry and thirsty,
and their life was wasting away.
6 Then they cried out to the Lord in their anguish,
and he saved them from their distress.
7 He led them by a direct route
to a city in which they could dwell.
8 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness[f]
and for the wonders he does for people.
9 He has satisfied the thirsty
and filled the hungry with good things.
10 [g]Some sat in darkness and the shadow of death,[h]
bound in misery and in chains,
11 because they had rebelled against the words of God
and spurned the plan of the Most High.
12 He humbled their hearts with hard labor;[i]
when they stumbled, no one was there to offer help.
13 Then they cried out to the Lord in their need,
and he rescued them from their distress.
14 He brought them forth from darkness and the shadow of death
and tore their chains to pieces.
15 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness
and for the wonders he does for people.
16 He has broken down gates of bronze
and cut through iron bars.
17 [j]Some were made foolish by their wicked ways
and were afflicted because of their iniquities.
18 All types of food became loathsome to them,
and they were nearing the gates of death.[k]
19 Then they cried out to the Lord in their anguish,
and he rescued them from their distress.
20 He sent forth his word[l] and healed them,
saving them from the grave.
21 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness
and for the wonders he does for people.
22 Let them offer sacrifices in thanksgiving
and recount his deeds with jubilation.
23 [m]Some went down to the sea in ships
and engaged in commerce on the mighty waters.
24 [n]They beheld the works of the Lord
and his wonders in the deep.
25 He spoke and raised up a storm wind
that stirred up the waves of the sea.
26 They were lifted up to the heavens, then cast down to the depths;
their courage melted away in their plight.
27 They reeled and staggered like drunkards,
and they were at their wits’ end.
28 They cried out to the Lord in their anguish,
and he delivered them from their distress.
29 He reduced the storm to a whisper,
and the waves of the sea were hushed.
30 They rejoiced because of the calm,
and he guided them to the port they sought.
31 Let them give thanks to the Lord for his kindness
and for the wonders he does for people.
32 Let them exalt him in the assembly of the people
and praise him in the council of the elders.[o]
Chapter 10
Duplicity of Heart
1 Israel is a luxuriant vine
bringing forth a great bounty of fruit.
The more his fruit increased,
the more altars he built.
The more prosperous his land became,
the richer he made the sacred pillars.
2 Their heart is false;
now they must pay the penalty for the guilt.
God himself will destroy their altars
and demolish their sacred pillars.
3 Then they will say,
“We have no king
because we did not serve the Lord.
But even if we had a king,
what could he do for us?”
4 They make many empty promises,
swear false oaths and draw up treaties.
Thus litigation spreads like poisonous weeds
in the furrows of the fields.
5 The inhabitants of Samaria tremble
for the calf of Beth-aven.
The people mourn for it,
and its idolatrous priests mourn over it,
over its glory that has departed from it.
6 It will be carried to Assyria
as an offering to the great king.
Ephraim will be disgraced,
and Israel will be shamed by his schemes.
7 The king of Samaria will float away
like a flimsy twig drifting on the water.
8 The high places of Aven will be destroyed,
the shrines where Israel sinned.
Thorns and thistles shall flourish
and cover their altars.
Then they will say to the mountains, “Cover us!”
and to the hills, “Fall on us!”
9 Since the days of Gibeah,
you have sinned, O Israel,
and there you have remained.
Did not war overtake
the evildoers in Gibeah?
10 I have come to confront the rebels
and to chastise them.
Nations shall mass against them
to punish them for their two crimes.
11 Ephraim was a trained heifer
that loved to thresh grain.
I myself laid a yoke
upon her fair neck.
However, I will harness Ephraim;
Judah will be forced to plow,
and Jacob will harrow the land.
12 Sow righteousness for yourselves,
and reap a harvest of steadfast love.
Break up your fallow ground;
it is time to seek the Lord
so that he may come and rain down righteousness upon you.
13 However, you have plowed wickedness
and reaped depravity;
you have eaten the fruit of falsehood.
Because you have trusted in your chariots
and in your multitude of warriors,
14 the tumult of war will engulf your people,
and all your fortresses will be destroyed,
as Salman[a] devastated Beth-arbel on the day of battle
when mothers were dashed to pieces with their children.
15 Thus shall it be done to you, O Bethel,
because of your great wickedness.
At dawn the king of Israel
will be utterly destroyed.
37 Just as he was about to be taken into the barracks, Paul said to the commander, “May I say something to you?” The commander replied, “So you speak Greek? 38 Then you are not the Egyptian[a] who recently started a revolt and led the four thousand assassins into the desert.” 39 Paul asserted, “I am a Jew from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city. May I have your permission to speak to the people?” 40 When the permission was granted, Paul stood on the steps and raised his hand to the people for silence. As soon as quiet was restored, he started speaking to them in Aramaic.[b]
Chapter 22
Paul’s Speech to the People of Jerusalem.[c] 1 “Brethren and fathers, listen to what I have to say to you in my defense.” 2 When they heard him addressing them in Aramaic, they became even more quiet than before.
Then he continued, 3 “I am a Jew, born atTarsus in Cilicia, but brought up in this city. As a pupil of Gamaliel, I was thoroughly trained in the Law of our ancestors. I have always been zealous toward God, just as all of you are today. 4 I even persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, sending both men and women to prison in chains, 5 as the high priest and the whole council of elders can testify. From them I also received letters to our brethren in Damascus, and I set out to bring prisoners back from there to Jerusalem for punishment.
6 “While I was on my way and drawing near Damascus, around midday a great light from the sky suddenly shone all around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?’ 8 I answered, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ Then he said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’
9 “Now those who were with me saw the light, but they did not hear the voice of the one who was speaking to me. 10 I asked, ‘What do you want me to do, Lord?’ The Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go into Damascus. There you will be told everything that you have been appointed to do.’ 11 I could not see because of the brilliance of that light, and so my companions led me by the hand to Damascus.
12 “A man named Ananias, who was a devout observer of the Law and highly regarded by all the Jews who lived there, 13 came to see me. Standing beside me, he said, ‘Brother Saul, regain your sight.’ Instantly, I saw him.
14 “Then he said, ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One, and to hear him speak. 15 For you will be his witness[d] to tell all what you have seen and heard. 16 And now, what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.’
12 Jesus Chooses the Twelve Apostles.[a] It was in those days that he went onto the mountain to pray, and he spent the entire night in prayer to God. 13 Then, when it was daylight, he summoned his disciples and chose twelve of them, whom he designated as apostles: 14 Simon, to whom he gave the name Peter, and his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, 15 Matthew, Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon called the Zealot, 16 Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
17 The Crowds Seek Out Jesus.[b] He then came down with them and stood on a spot of level ground, where there was a large crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all sections of Judea and Jerusalem and the coastal region of Tyre and Sidon. 18 They had come there to listen to him and to be healed of their diseases. Those who were afflicted by unclean spirits were cured. 19 And everyone in the crowd was trying to touch him, because power came forth from him and healed them all.
The Sermon on the Plain[c]
20 The Beatitudes.[d] Then, turning to his disciples, he began to speak:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for the kingdom of God is yours.
21 Blessed are you who hunger now,
for you will have your fill.
Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and ostracize you, when they insult you and denounce your name as evil on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice on that day and dance for joy, for your reward will be great in heaven. This was the way their ancestors treated the Prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
25 Woe to you who are well fed now,
for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for their ancestors treated the false prophets in the same fashion.
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