Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 120
A Song of Ascents.
1 In my distress I cried unto the Lord,
and He heard me.
2 Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips
and from a deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given to you,
or what shall be done to you, you false tongue?
4 Sharp arrows of the warrior,
with coals of the broom tree!
5 Woe is me, that I have sojourned in Meshek,
or that I have dwelled among the tents of Kedar!
6 My soul has long lived
with those who hate peace.
7 I am for peace,
but when I speak, they are for war!
Psalm 121
A Song of Ascents.
1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills,
from where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who guards Israel
shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your guardian;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not harm you during the day,
nor the moon during the night.
7 The Lord shall protect you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in
from now and for evermore.
Psalm 122
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet shall stand
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is built as a city
that is designed for a multitude,
4 where the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as a decree of Israel,
to give thanks unto the name of the Lord.
5 There are set thrones of judgment,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you!
7 Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers!”
8 For my brothers and companions’ sake,
I will now say, “Peace be within you.”
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.
Psalm 123
A Song of Ascents.
1 To You I lift up my eyes,
O You who dwell in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
and as the eyes of a maiden to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look upon the Lord our God,
until He has mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have been completely filled with contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly filled with the ridicule of those who are at ease,
and with the contempt of the proud ones.
Psalm 124
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
now may Israel say,
2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
when men rose up against us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up,
when their wrath was kindled against us;
4 then the flood would have overwhelmed us,
the torrent would have passed over our lives;
5 then the surging waters
would have gone over us.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who has not given us for a prey to their teeth.
7 We have escaped
as a bird out of the snare of the hunters;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped.
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 125
A Song of Ascents.
1 Those who trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion,
which cannot be removed, but abides forever.
2 As the mountains are around Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds His people,
from now and forever.
3 For the scepter of the wicked shall not rest
upon the land allotted to the righteous,
lest the righteous put forth
their hands to do iniquity.
4 Do good, O Lord, for those who are good,
and to those who are upright in their hearts.
5 As for those who turn aside to their twisted ways,
the Lord shall lead them away with the other workers of iniquity.
Peace be upon Israel!
Psalm 126
A Song of Ascents.
1 When the Lord restored the captives of Zion,
we were like those who dream.
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter,
and our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
we are glad.
4 Restore our captives, O Lord,
as the streams in the Negev.
5 Those who sow in tears
shall reap in joy.
6 He who goes forth and weeps,
bearing precious seed to sow,
shall come home again with rejoicing,
bringing his grain sheaves with him.
Psalm 127
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
1 Except the Lord build the house,
those who build labor in vain;
except the Lord guards the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is in vain for you to rise up early,
to stay up late,
and to eat the bread of hard toil,
for He gives sleep to His beloved.
3 Look, children are a gift of the Lord,
and the fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 As arrows in the hand of a mighty warrior,
so are the children of one’s youth.
5 Happy is the man
who has his quiver full of them;
he shall not be ashamed
when he speaks with the enemies at the gate.
Two Kinds of Shepherds
4 Thus says the Lord my God: Shepherd the flock of slaughter. 5 The ones who buy them then slaughter them and have no guilt, and those who sell them say, “Blessed is the Lord because I am rich.” Their own shepherds do not take pity on them. 6 For I will no longer have pity on those who dwell in the land, says the Lord. But I will cause each of them to fall into the hands of his neighbor, even into the hands of his king. They will crush the land, and I will not deliver any from their hands.
7 So I shepherded the flock that was for slaughter, even the afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two staffs. One I called Favor and the other I gave the name Union. So I pastured the flock. 8 I destroyed the three shepherds in the span of one month.
For my soul was impatient with them, and their souls detested me. 9 Then I said, “I will not shepherd you. What is to die, let it die. What is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. Let those who are left devour each other’s flesh.”
10 I took the staff named Favor and cut it into pieces, to break the covenant that I made with all the peoples. 11 So it was broken that day, and the afflicted of the flock were watching me and knew that this was the word of the Lord.
12 Then I said to them, “If this is good in your eyes, then give my wages to me, but if not, then keep it.” They weighed my wages at thirty pieces of silver.
13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the potter, the splendid price by which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty silver pieces and threw them to the house of the Lord to the potter.
14 Then I cut up the second staff, Union, to break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 Then the Lord said to me: Take for yourself again the vessels carried by a foolish shepherd. 16 I am raising up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are perishing, nor seek the young, nor heal the broken, nor feed those who are standing still. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hoofs in pieces.
17 Woe to this worthless shepherd
who abandons his flock.
May the sword take his arm and right eye;
may his arm surely wither up,
and his right eye become blind.
10 According to the grace of God which has been given to me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, but another builds on it. Now let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay another foundation than that which was laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or stubble, 13 each one’s work will be revealed. For the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each has done. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on the foundation endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss. But he himself will be saved, still going through the fire.
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy. And you are His temple.
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness,”[a] 20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.”[b] 21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come, all are yours, 23 and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection a Third Time(A)
31 Taking the twelve, He said, “Listen! We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished, 32 for He will be handed over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. 33 They will scourge Him and put Him to death, and on the third day He will rise again.”
34 They understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend what was spoken.
The Healing of a Blind Beggar Near Jericho(B)
35 As He was drawing near Jericho, a certain blind man sat along the way begging. 36 Hearing a crowd passing by, he asked what it meant. 37 They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by.
38 He cried out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”
39 Those who went in front rebuked him, so that he would keep quiet. But he cried out much more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
40 Jesus stood and commanded him to be brought to Him. When he came near, He asked him, 41 “What do you want Me to do for you?”
He said, “Lord, grant that I may receive my sight.”
42 Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight. Your faith has saved you.” 43 Immediately he received his sight and followed Him, glorifying God. When all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.