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.
4 This is what the Lord my God says: “Pasture the flock doomed to (A)slaughter. 5 Those who buy them slaughter them and [a]go (B)unpunished, and each of those who sell them says, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for (C)I have become rich!’ And their (D)own shepherds have no compassion for them. 6 For I will (E)no longer have compassion for the inhabitants of the land,” declares the Lord; “but behold, I will (F)let the people fall, each into another’s [b]power and into the [c]power of his king; and they will crush the land, and I will (G)not rescue them from their [d]power.”
7 So I (H)pastured the flock doomed to slaughter, [e]therefore also the (I)afflicted of the flock. And I took for myself two (J)staffs: the one I called [f](K)Favor, and the other I called (L)Union; so I pastured the flock. 8 Then I did away with the three shepherds in (M)one month, for my soul was impatient with them, and their soul also [g]was tired of me. 9 Then I said, “I will not pasture you. What is to (N)die, [h]let it die, and what is to perish, [i]let it perish; and [j]let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.” 10 And I took my staff [k](O)Favor and cut it in pieces, to [l](P)break my covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was [m]broken on that day, and [n]so the (Q)afflicted of the flock who were watching me realized that it was the word of the Lord. 12 And I said to them, “If it is good in your sight, give me my (R)wages; but if not, [o]never mind!” So they weighed out (S)thirty shekels of silver as my wages. 13 Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the (T)potter, that magnificent price at which I was valued by them.” So I took the thirty shekels of silver and threw them to the potter in the house of the Lord. 14 Then I cut in pieces my second staff (U)Union, to (V)break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 And the Lord said to me, “Take again for yourself the equipment of a (W)foolish shepherd. 16 For behold, I am going to raise up a shepherd in the land who will (X)not care for the perishing, seek the scattered, heal the broken, or provide for the one who is exhausted, but will (Y)devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs.
10 According to (A)the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder (B)I laid a foundation, and (C)another is building on it. But each person must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no one can lay a (D)foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, or straw, 13 (E)each one’s work will become evident; for (F)the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test [a]the quality of each one’s work. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it remains, he will (G)receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet only (H)so as through fire.
16 (I)Do you not know that (J)you are a [b]temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone destroys the [c]temple of God, God will destroy [d]that person; for the [e]temple of God is holy, [f]and that is what you are.
18 (K)Take care that no one deceives himself. (L)If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in (M)this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. 19 For (N)the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God. For it is written: “He is (O)the one who catches the wise by their craftiness”; 20 and again, “(P)The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are useless.” 21 So then, (Q)no one is to be boasting in people. For (R)all things belong to you, 22 (S)whether Paul or Apollos or [g]Cephas, or the world or (T)life or death, or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, 23 and (U)you belong to Christ, and (V)Christ belongs to God.
31 (A)Now He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, (B)we are going up to Jerusalem, and (C)all the things that have been written through the prophets about the Son of Man will be accomplished. 32 (D)For He will be [a]handed over to the Gentiles, and will be ridiculed, and abused, and spit upon, 33 and after they have flogged Him, they will kill Him; and on the third day He will rise.” 34 [b](E)The disciples understood none of these things, and the meaning of this statement was hidden from them, and they did not comprehend the things that were said.
Bartimaeus Receives Sight
35 (F)Now as [c](G)Jesus was approaching Jericho, a man who was blind was sitting by the road, begging. 36 But when he heard a crowd going by, he began inquiring what this was. 37 They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. 38 And he called out, saying, “Jesus, (H)Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “(I)Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He asked him, 41 “What do you want Me to do for you?” And he said, “Lord, I want to regain my sight!” 42 And Jesus said to him, “Regain your sight; (J)your faith has [d]made you well.” 43 And immediately he regained his sight and began following Him, (K)glorifying God; and when (L)all the people saw it, they gave praise to God.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.