Book of Common Prayer
A Song of Ascents[a]
A Prayer for Deliverance
120 I cried to the Lord in my distress,
and he responded to me.
2 “Lord, deliver me[b] from lips that lie
and tongues that deceive.”
3 What will be given to you,
and what will be done to you,
you treacherous tongue?
4 Like a[c] sharp arrow from a warrior,
along with fiery coals from juniper trees!
5 How terrible for me,
that I am an alien in Meshech,
that I reside among the tents of Kedar!
6 I have resided too long
with those who hate peace.
7 I am in favor of peace;
but when I speak,
they are in favor of war.
A Song of Ascents
The Guardian of God’s People
121 I lift up my eyes toward the mountains—
from where will my help come?
2 My help is from the Lord,
maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will never let[d] your foot slip,
nor[e] will[f] your guardian become drowsy.
4 Look! The one who is guarding Israel
never sleeps and does not take naps.
5 The Lord is your guardian;
the Lord is your shade at your right side.
6 The sun will not ravage you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will guard you from all evil,
preserving[g] your life.
8 The Lord will guard your goings and comings,[h]
from this time on and forever.
A Davidic Song of Ascents
Up to Jerusalem
122 I rejoiced when they kept on asking me,
“Let us go to the Lord’s Temple.”
2 Our feet are standing
inside your gates, Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem stands built up,
a city knitted together.
4 To it the tribes ascend—
the tribes of the Lord—
as decreed to Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For thrones are established there for judgment,
thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for peace for Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be at peace![i]
7 May peace be within your ramparts,
and[j] prosperity[k] within your fortresses.”
8 For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will now say, “May there be peace within you.”
9 For the sake of the Temple of the Lord our God,
I will seek your welfare.
A Song of Ascents
A Prayer for Relief
123 To you, who sit enthroned in heaven,
I lift up my eyes.
2 Consider this: as the eyes of a servant focus
on what his master provides,[l]
and as the eyes of a female servant focus[m]
on what her mistress provides,[n]
so our eyes focus on the Lord our God,
until he has mercy on us.
3 Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4 Our lives overflow
with scorn from those who live at ease,
with contempt from those who are proud.
A Davidic Song of Ascents
God is for Us
124 If the Lord had not been on our side—
let Israel now say—
2 if the Lord had not been on our side,
when men came against us,
3 then they would have devoured us alive,
when their anger burned against us.
4 Then the flood waters would have overwhelmed us,
the torrent would have flooded over us;
5 the swollen waters would have swept us away.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who did not give us as prey to their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird from the hunter’s trap.
The trap has been broken,
and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.
A Song of Ascents
God is Secure
125 Those who are trusting in the Lord
are like Mount Zion, which cannot be overthrown.
They remain forever.
2 Just as mountains encircle Jerusalem,
so the Lord encircles his people,
from now to eternity.
3 For evil’s scepter will not rest
on the land that has been allotted to the righteous,
and so the righteous will not direct themselves[o] to do wrong.
4 Lord, do good to those who are good,
and to those who are upright in heart.[p]
5 But for those who choose their own devious paths,
the Lord will lead them away,
along with those who practice evil.
Peace be upon Israel.
A Song of Ascents
The Exiles Restored
126 When the Lord brought back Zion’s exiles,[q]
we were like dreamers.[r]
2 Then our mouths were filled with laughter,
and our tongues formed joyful shouts.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The great things that the Lord has done for us
gladden us.
4 Restore our exiles,[s] Lord,
like the streams of the Negev.[t]
5 Those who weep while they plant
will sing for joy while they harvest.
6 The one who goes out weeping,[u]
carrying a bag of seeds,
will surely return with a joyful song,
bearing sheaves from his harvest.[v]
A Solomonic Song of Ascents
God’s Blessing in the Family
127 Unless the Lord builds the house,
its builders labor uselessly.
Unless the Lord guards the city,
its security forces keep watch uselessly.
2 It is useless to get up early
and to stay up late,[w]
eating the food of exhausting labor—
truly he gives sleep to those he loves.
3 Children[x] are a gift[y] from the Lord;
a productive womb, the Lord’s[z] reward.
4 As arrows in the hand of a warrior,
so also are children[aa] born during one’s[ab] youth.
5 How blessed[ac] is the man whose quiver is full of them!
He[ad] will not be ashamed
as they confront their enemies at the city gate.
The Shepherd
4 This is what the Lord my God says: “Shepherd the flock marked for[a] slaughter. 5 Their buyers slaughter them without being punished, continuing to sell them as they say, ‘Bless the Lord!’ and, ‘I’m rich!’ Meanwhile, their shepherds show them no compassion. 6 Therefore I will no longer show compassion upon those who live in the land,” declares the Lord. “Look! I will deliver every single person into the control[b] of his neighbor and into the control[c] of the king. Even though they assault the land, I will not deliver it from their control.”[d]
7 So I became shepherd of the flock marked for[e] slaughter, paying attention to the oppressed of the flock. I took two staffs—naming one “Pleasant” and the other one “Union”—and then I pastured the flock. 8 In a single month I got rid of three shepherds because I grew tired of them, and they despised me. 9 So I said, “I will no longer be your shepherd. Let those who are about to die perish, and let what is about to be destroyed be destroyed. As for the survivors, let them devour each other.”
10 Then I took the staff that I had named “Pleasant” and broke it, showing I was breaking my covenant that I had made with all of the people. 11 It was broken at that time[f] so the oppressed of the flock who were observing me would know that it had been a message from the Lord.
12 I told them, “If it’s alright with you, pay me what I’ve earned. But if it isn’t, don’t.”
So they paid out what I had earned—30 pieces of silver.[g]
13 Then the Lord told me, “Throw the money[h] into the treasury[i]—that magnificent value they placed on me!”
So I took the 30 shekels of[j] silver and threw them into the treasury[k] of the Temple of the Lord. 14 Then I broke my second staff—the one I had named “Union”—breaking the union between the house of Judah and the house of Israel.
God’s Curse on the Worthless Shepherd
15 The Lord told me, “Pick up the tools of a worthless shepherd again, 16 for I am now raising up a shepherd in the land who will neither search for the lost, nor care for the young, nor fix the broken, nor sustain the healthy. Instead, he will devour the meat of the best of the sheep, tearing off their hoofs.”
17 “Woe to the worthless shepherd,
who deserts the flock!
May the sword strike his arm
and his right eye.
May his arm wither
and his right eye be completely blind.”
The Messiah is Our Foundation
10 As an expert builder using the grace that God gave me, I laid the foundation, and someone else is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it. 11 After all, no one can lay any other foundation than the one that is already laid, and that is Jesus the Messiah.[a] 12 Whether a person builds on this foundation with gold, silver, expensive stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 the workmanship of each person will become evident, for the day of judgment[b] will show what it is, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s action. 14 If what a person has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward.[c] 15 If his work is burned up, he will suffer loss. However, he himself will be saved, but it will be like going through fire.
16 You know that you are God’s sanctuary and that God’s Spirit lives in you, don’t you? 17 If anyone destroys God’s sanctuary, God will destroy him, for God’s sanctuary is holy. And you are that sanctuary!
True Wisdom
18 Let no one deceive himself. If any of you thinks he is wise in the ways of[d] this world, he must become a fool to become really wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is nonsense in God’s sight. For it is written,
“He catches the wise with their own trickery,”[e]
20 and again,
21 So let no one boast about human beings, since everything belongs to you, 22 whether Paul, Apollos, Cephas,[h] the world, life, death, the present, or the future—everything belongs to you, 23 but you belong to the Messiah,[i] and the Messiah[j] belongs to God.
Jesus Predicts His Death and Resurrection a Third Time(A)
31 Jesus[a] took the Twelve aside and told them, “Pay attention! We’re going up to Jerusalem. Everything written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled, 32 because he’ll be handed over to the unbelievers,[b] and will be mocked, insulted, and spit on. 33 After they have whipped him, they’ll kill him, but on the third day he’ll rise again.” 34 But they didn’t understand any of this. What he said was hidden from them, and they didn’t know what he meant.
Jesus Heals a Blind Man(B)
35 As Jesus[c] was approaching Jericho, there was a blind man sitting by the road begging. 36 When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. 37 They told him that Jesus from Nazareth[d] was coming by. 38 So he shouted, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 The people at the front of the crowd[e] sternly told him to be quiet, but he started shouting even louder, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
40 Then Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus[f] asked him, 41 “What do you want me to do for you?”
He said, “Lord, I want to see again!”
42 So Jesus told him, “See again! Your faith has made you well.” 43 Immediately the man[g] could see again and began to follow Jesus,[h] glorifying God. All the people saw this and gave praise to God.
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