Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Rescue from the Treacherous.
A Song of [a]Ascents.
120 (A)I cried to the Lord in my trouble,
And He answered me.
2 Rescue my soul, Lord, from (B)lying lips,
From a (C)deceitful tongue.
3 What will He give to you, and what more will He do to you,
You (D)deceitful tongue?
4 (E)Sharp arrows of the warrior,
With the burning (F)coals of the broom tree!
5 Woe to me, for I reside in (G)Meshech,
For I have settled 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.
The Lord, the Keeper of Israel.
A Song of Ascents.
121 I will (M)raise my eyes to (N)the mountains;
From where will my help come?
2 My (O)help comes from the Lord,
Who (P)made heaven and earth.
3 He will not (Q)allow your foot to slip;
He who (R)watches over you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who watches over Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your [b](S)protector;
The Lord is your (T)shade on your right hand.
6 The (U)sun will not [c]beat down on you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will [d](V)protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The Lord will [e](W)guard your going out and your coming in
(X)From this time and forever.
Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let’s (Y)go to the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet are standing
Within your (Z)gates, Jerusalem,
3 Jerusalem, that has been (AA)built
As a city that is (AB)firmly joined together;
4 To which the tribes (AC)go up, the tribes of [f]the Lord—
[g]An ordinance for Israel—
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For (AD)thrones were set there 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 prosperity 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 the Lord our God,
I will (AK)seek your good.
Prayer for the Lord’s Help.
A Song of Ascents.
123 To You I have (AL)raised my eyes,
You who (AM)are enthroned in the heavens!
2 Behold, as the eyes of (AN)servants look to the hand of their master,
As the eyes of a female servant to the hand of her mistress,
So our (AO)eyes look to the Lord our God,
Until He is gracious to us.
3 (AP)Be gracious to us, Lord, be gracious to us,
For we have had much more than enough of (AQ)contempt.
4 Our soul has had much more than enough
Of the (AR)scoffing of (AS)those who are at ease,
And with the (AT)contempt of the proud.
Praise for Rescue from Enemies.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
124 “(AU)Had it not been the Lord who was on our side,”
(AV)Let Israel say,
2 “Had it not been the Lord who was on our side
When people 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 flooded over us,
The stream would have [h]swept over our souls;
5 Then the (AZ)raging waters would have [i]swept over our souls.”
6 Blessed be the Lord,
Who has not given us [j]to be (BA)torn by their teeth.
7 Our souls have (BB)escaped (BC)like a bird from the trapper’s (BD)snare;
The snare is broken and we have escaped.
8 Our (BE)help is in the name of the Lord,
Who (BF)made heaven and earth.
The Lord Surrounds His People.
A Song of Ascents.
125 Those who trust in the Lord
Are like Mount Zion, which (BG)cannot be moved but (BH)remains forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So (BI)the Lord surrounds His people
(BJ)From this time and forever.
3 For the (BK)scepter of wickedness will not rest upon the [k]land of the righteous,
So that the righteous (BL)will not extend their hands to do wrong.
4 (BM)Do good, Lord, 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,
The Lord will lead them away with those who (BQ)practice injustice.
(BR)Peace be upon Israel.
Thanksgiving for Return from Captivity.
A Song of Ascents.
126 When the Lord (BS)brought back [l]the captives of Zion,
We were (BT)like those who dream.
2 Then our (BU)mouth was filled with laughter
And our (BV)tongue with joyful shouting;
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has (BW)done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
We are (BX)joyful.
4 Restore our fortunes, Lord,
As the [m](BY)streams in the [n]South.
5 Those who sow in (BZ)tears shall harvest with (CA)joyful shouting.
6 One who goes here and there weeping, carrying his bag of seed,
Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
Prosperity Comes from the Lord.
A Song of Ascents, of Solomon.
127 Unless the Lord (CB)builds a house,
They who build it labor in vain;
Unless the Lord (CC)guards a city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is futile for you to rise up early,
To [o]stay up late,
To (CD)eat the bread of painful labor;
This is how He gives to His (CE)beloved (CF)sleep.
3 Behold, (CG)children are a [p]gift of the Lord,
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 (CJ)Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
(CK)They will not be ashamed
When they (CL)speak with their enemies (CM)in the gate.
Destruction in Israel and Judah
1 The (A)word of the Lord which came to (B)Micah of Moresheth in the days of (C)Jotham, (D)Ahaz, and (E)Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and which he saw regarding Samaria and Jerusalem.
2 Hear, you peoples, all of [a]you;
(F)Listen carefully, earth and [b]all it contains,
And may the Lord [c]God be a (G)witness against you,
The Lord from His holy temple.
3 For behold, the Lord is (H)coming forth from His place.
He will come down and (I)tread on the high places of the [d]earth.
4 (J)The mountains will melt under Him
And the valleys will be split,
Like wax before the fire,
Like water poured down a steep place.
5 All this is due to the [e]wrongdoing of Jacob
And the sins of the house of Israel.
What is the [f](K)wrongdoing of Jacob?
Is it not (L)Samaria?
What is the (M)high [g]place of Judah?
Is it not Jerusalem?
6 For I will make Samaria a (N)heap of ruins [h]in the open country,
(O)Planting places for a vineyard.
I will (P)hurl her stones down into the valley,
And (Q)lay bare her foundations.
7 All of her (R)idols will be crushed,
All of her earnings will be burned with fire,
And all of her images I will make desolate;
For she collected them from a (S)prostitute’s earnings,
And to the earnings of a prostitute they will return.
A Conspiracy to Kill Paul
12 When it was day, (A)the Jews formed a [a]conspiracy and (B)put themselves under an [b]oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink until they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty who formed this plot. 14 They came to the chief priests and the elders and said, “We have (C)put ourselves under an [c]oath to taste nothing until we have killed Paul. 15 Now therefore, you [d]and (D)the [e]Council notify the commander to bring him down to you, as though you were going to investigate his case more thoroughly; and as for us, we are ready to kill him before he comes near the place.”
16 But the son of Paul’s sister heard about their ambush, [f]and he came and entered (E)the barracks and told Paul. 17 Paul called one of the centurions to himself and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to report to him.” 18 So he took him and led him to the commander and *said, “Paul (F)the prisoner called me over to him and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.” 19 The commander took him by the hand, and stepping aside, began to inquire of him privately, “What is it that you have to report to me?” 20 And he said, “(G)The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down tomorrow to (H)the [g]Council, as though they were going to inquire somewhat more thoroughly about him. 21 So do not [h]listen to them, for more than forty [i]of them are (I)in hiding to ambush him, and these men have (J)put themselves under an oath not to eat or drink until they kill him; and now they are ready and waiting for assurance from you.” 22 Then the commander let the young man go, instructing him, “Tell no one that you have notified me of these things.”
Paul Moved to Caesarea
23 And he called to him two of the centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready by [j]the third hour of the night to proceed to (K)Caesarea, [k]with seventy horsemen and two hundred [l]spearmen.” 24 They were also to provide mounts to put Paul on and bring him safely to (L)Felix the governor.
Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Slave
7 (A)When He had completed all His [a]teaching in the hearing of the people, (B)He went to Capernaum.
2 Now a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. 3 When he heard about Jesus, (C)he sent some [b]Jewish elders to Him, asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. 4 When they came to Jesus, they strongly urged Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; 5 for he loves our nation, and it was he who built us our synagogue.” 6 Now Jesus started on His way with them; but already, when He was not yet far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “[c]Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to enter under my roof; 7 for that reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You; but just [d]say the word, and my servant [e]shall be healed. 8 For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under myself; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” 9 Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, (D)not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” 10 And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.
11 Soon afterward Jesus went to a city called Nain; and His disciples were going along with Him, [f]accompanied by a large crowd. 12 Now as He approached the gate of the city, [g]a dead man was being carried out, the only son of his mother, and she was a widow; and a sizeable crowd from the city was with her. 13 When (E)the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her and said to her, “Do not go on weeping.” 14 And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise!” 15 And the dead man sat up and began to speak. And Jesus gave him back to his mother. 16 (F)Fear gripped them all, and they began (G)glorifying God, saying, “A great (H)prophet has appeared among us!” and, “God has [h]visited His people!” 17 (I)And this report about Him spread throughout Judea and in all the surrounding region.
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