Book of Common Prayer
Qoph
145 I call with my whole heart; answer me, O Yahweh.
I will keep your statutes.
146 I call to you. Save me,
and I will heed your testimonies.
147 I rise early in the dawn and cry for help;
I hope in your word.[a]
148 My eyes anticipate the night watches,
that I may meditate on your word.
149 Hear my voice according to your loyal love;
O Yahweh, preserve my life according to your justice.
150 Those who pursue a wicked purpose draw near;
they are far from your law.
151 You are near, O Yahweh,
and all your commands are truth.
152 Concerning your testimonies, I knew long ago
that you have established them forever.
Resh
153 See my misery and rescue me,
for I do not forget your law.
154 Plead my cause and redeem me;
preserve my life according to your word.[b]
155 Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they do not seek your statutes.
156 Your mercies are great, O Yahweh;
preserve my life according to your ordinances.
157 My persecutors and enemies are many,
yet I do not turn aside from your testimonies.
158 I see the treacherous and I feel disgust,
because they do not heed your word.
159 Consider[c] that I love your precepts;
O Yahweh, according to your loyal love preserve my life.
160 The whole[d] of your word is truth,
and your every righteous judgment endures forever.
Sin/Shin
161 Princes persecute me without cause,
but my heart trembles because of your word.[e]
162 I am rejoicing over your word,
like one who finds great spoil.
163 I hate and abhor falsehood;
I love your law.
164 I praise you seven times in the day
for your righteous ordinances.
165 Great peace is for those who love your law,
and they do not have a cause for stumbling.
166 I hope for your salvation, O Yahweh,
and do your commands.
167 My soul heeds your testimonies,
and I love them exceedingly.
168 I heed your precepts and testimonies,
because all my ways are before you.
Taw
169 Let my cry come before you, O Yahweh;
give me understanding according to your word.
170 Let my plea come before you;
Deliver me according to your word.[f]
171 Let my lips pour out praise,
because you teach me your statutes.
172 Let my tongue sing of your word,[g]
because all your commands are right.
173 Let your hand be my help,[h]
because I have chosen your precepts.
174 I long for your salvation, O Yahweh,
and your law is my delight.
175 Let my soul[i] live that it may praise you,
and let your ordinances help me.
176 I have wandered like a lost sheep; seek your servant,
because I do not forget your commands.
Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears Yahweh
A song of ascents.[a]
128 Blessed is everyone who fears Yahweh,
who walks in his ways.
2 You will indeed eat of the labor of your hands;
you will be happy and it will be well with you.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within[b] your house.
Your children[c] will be like olive shoots
about your table.
4 Look, for thus shall a man be blessed
who fears Yahweh.[d]
5 May Yahweh bless you from Zion,
that you may see the good of Jerusalem
all the days of your life,
6 and that you may see your children’s children.
May peace be upon Israel.
Victory Over the Enemies of Zion
A song of ascents.[e]
129 “Too often[f] they have attacked me from my youth.”
Let Israel say,
2 “Too often[g] they have attacked me from my youth,
yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 On my back plowmen have plowed.
They have made their furrows[h] long.”
4 Yahweh is righteous.
He has cut the ropes[i] of the wicked.
5 Let all be put to shame and repulsed
who hate Zion.
6 Let them be like grass on the housetops,
that withers before it grows up,
7 with which a reaper cannot fill his hand,
nor the binder of sheaves his arms,[j]
8 so that passersby do not say,
“The blessing of Yahweh be upon you.
We bless you in the name of Yahweh.”
Hope for the Redemption of Yahweh
A song of ascents.[k]
130 Out of the depths I call to you, O Yahweh.
2 “O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplications.
3 If you, O Yah,[l] should keep track of[m] iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
4 But with you is forgiveness,
so that you may be feared.”
5 I await Yahweh; my soul awaits,
and I wait[n] for his word.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning.
Yes, more than watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, wait[o] for Yahweh.
For with Yahweh there is loyal love,
and with him there is abundant redemption.
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all its iniquities.
Woe to the Oppressors of God’s People
2 Woe to those who plan wickedness
and evil deeds upon their beds!
In the light of the morning they did it,
because they have power in their hands.
2 They covet fields and seize them,
and houses, and they take them away.
They oppress a man and his house;
a man and his inheritance.
3 Therefore, thus says Yahweh: Look! I am planning disaster against this family from which you will not be able to remove your necks. You will not walk proudly, for it is a time of disaster.
4 In that day they will raise a proverb against you,
and will wail a bitter wailing, saying,
“We are utterly ruined;
he exchanges the portion of my people.
How he removes it from me;
he apportions our field to an apostate.”
5 Therefore you will have no one casting a line by lot
in the assembly of Yahweh.
6 “Do not preach!” they are preaching.
They should not preach to these;
disgrace will not overtake us.
7 Should this be said, O house of Jacob?
Is the patience[a] of Yahweh shortened?
Are these his deeds?
Are my words not pleasing
to him who walks upright?
8 But recently[b] my people have risen up as an enemy;
from before the cloak you strip off the robe
from those passing by in confidence,
returning from war.
9 You have driven out the women of my people
from the houses of their[c] pleasure.
From their[d] children you have taken away
my glory forever.
10 Arise and go,
for this is no resting place,
on account of uncleanness that destroys
with painful destruction.
11 If a man walks about in a spirit of deception and lies,
saying “I will preach to you of wine and strong drink,”
then he would be a preacher for this people!
12 I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob;
I will surely gather together the remainder of Israel.
I will set them like sheep of Bozrah.
Like a herd in the midst of their pasture
they will be in tumult from people.
13 The one who breaks out before them goes up;
they break through and pass the gate,
going out through it.
Their king passes before them,
Yahweh at their head.
23 And he summoned two of the centurions and[a] said, “Make ready from the third hour of the night two hundred soldiers and seventy horsemen and two hundred spearmen,[b] in order that they may proceed as far as Caesarea. 24 And provide mounts so that they can put Paul on them and[c] bring him[d] safely to Felix the governor.” 25 He wrote[e] a letter that had this form:[f]
26 Claudius Lysias.
To his excellency Governor Felix.
Greetings!
27 This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them when I[g] came upon them[h] with the detachment and[i] rescued him,[j] because I[k] learned that he was a Roman citizen. 28 And because I[l] wanted to know the charge for which they were accusing him, I brought him[m] down to their Sanhedrin.[n] 29 I found he[o] was accused concerning controversial questions of their law, but having no charge deserving death or imprisonment. 30 And when it[p] was made known to me there would be a plot against the man, I sent him[q] to you immediately, also ordering his[r] accusers to speak against him[s] before you.
31 Therefore the soldiers, in accordance with their orders,[t] took Paul and[u] brought him[v] to Antipatris during the night. 32 And on the next day they let the horsemen go on with him, and[w] they returned to the barracks.[x] 33 The horsemen,[y] when they[z] came to Caesarea and delivered the letter to the governor, also presented Paul to him. 34 So after[aa] reading the letter[ab] and asking what province he was from, and learning that he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I will give you a hearing whenever your accusers arrive also,” giving orders for him to be guarded in the praetorium[ac] of Herod.
A Question from John the Baptist
18 And his disciples reported to John about all these things. And summoning a certain two of his disciples, John 19 sent them[a] to the Lord,[b] saying, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?” 20 And when[c] the men came to him, they said, “John the Baptist sent us to you, saying, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’” 21 In that hour he healed many people of diseases and suffering and evil spirits, and he granted sight to many blind people. 22 And he answered and[d] said to them, “Go and[e] tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear;[f] the dead are raised, the poor have good news announced to them.[g] 23 And whoever is not offended by me is blessed.”
24 And when[h] the messengers of John had departed, he began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? 25 But what did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who are in splendid clothing and luxury are in the royal palaces. 26 But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and even more than a prophet! 27 It is this man about whom it is written:
‘Behold, I am sending my messenger before your face,
who will prepare your way before you.’[i]
28 I tell you, there is no one greater among those born of women than John, but the one who is least in the kingdom of God is greater than he. 29 (And all the people, when they[j] heard this[k]—even the tax collectors—affirmed the righteousness of God, because they[l] had been baptized with the baptism of John, 30 but the Pharisees and the legal experts rejected the purpose of God for themselves, because they[m] had not been baptized by him.)
31 “To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? 32 They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling out to one another, who say,
‘We played the flute for you and you did not dance;
we sang a lament and you did not weep.’
33 For John the Baptist has come not eating bread or drinking wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ 34 The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a man who is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ 35 And wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
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