Book of Common Prayer

A Prayer for Help

120 I cried to the Lord in my trouble, and He answered me. ² O Lord, save me from lying lips and a false tongue. ³ What will be given to you and what more will be done to you, you false tongue? ⁴ He will punish you with sharp arrows of the soldier, and with the hot fire of the broom tree.

⁵ It is bad for me, for I travel in Meshech and live among the tents of Kedar! ⁶ I have lived too long with those who hate peace. ⁷ I am for peace. But when I speak, they are for war.

The Lord—Our Helper

121 I will lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where will my help come from? ² My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. ³ He will not let your feet go out from under you. He Who watches over you will not sleep. ⁴ Listen, He Who watches over Israel will not close his eyes or sleep.

⁵ The Lord watches over you. The Lord is your safe cover at your right hand. ⁶ The sun will not hurt you during the day and the moon will not hurt you during the night. ⁷ The Lord will keep you from all that is sinful. He will watch over your soul. ⁸ The Lord will watch over your coming and going, now and forever.

A Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem

122 I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go to the house of the Lord.” ² Our feet are standing inside your gates, O Jerusalem. ³ Jerusalem is built as a city where people come together. ⁴ That is where the different families go, the families of the Lord. There they give thanks to the name of the Lord, by the Law that was given to Israel. ⁵ For thrones were set there for telling who is guilty or not, the thrones of the house of David.

⁶ Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. May all go well for those who love you. ⁷ May there be peace within your walls. May all go well within your houses. ⁸ I will now say, “May peace be within you,” for the good of my brothers and my friends. ⁹ Because of the house of the Lord our God, I will pray for your good.

A Prayer for the Lord’s Help

123 I lift up my eyes to You, O You Whose throne is in the heavens. ² See, the eyes of servants look to the hand of their owner. The eyes of a woman servant look to the hand of her owner. So our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He shows us loving-kindness.

³ Show loving-kindness to us, O Lord. Show loving-kindness to us. For we have had our fill of hate. ⁴ The proud have laughed at us too long. We have had more than enough of their hate.

God Watches Over His People

124 “If the Lord had not been on our side,” let Israel say, ² “If the Lord had not been on our side when men came against us, ³ they would have eaten us up alive. Because their anger burned against us. ⁴ The waters would have covered us. The river would have passed over our soul. ⁵ The angry waters would have passed over our soul.”

⁶ Honor and thanks be to the Lord! He has not let us be torn by their teeth. ⁷ We have become free like a bird out of a trap. The net is broken and now we are free. ⁸ Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.

God’s People Are Safe

125 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but stands forever. ² The Lord is around His people like the mountains are around Jerusalem, now and forever. ³ For the sinful will not rule over the land of those who are right with God. So those who are right and good may not use their hands to do wrong.

⁴ O Lord, do good to those who are good, and to those who are right in their hearts. ⁵ But the Lord will let all those who turn aside to their sinful ways go with those who are sinners. Peace be upon Israel.

A Prayer for Help

126 It was like a dream when the Lord brought back to Zion those who had been held in another land. ² Then we laughed with our mouths, and we sang with our tongues. Then it was said among the nations, “The Lord has done great things for them.” ³ The Lord has done great things for us and we are glad.

⁴ Bring back our people, O Lord, like the rivers in the South. ⁵ Those who plant with tears will gather fruit with songs of joy. ⁶ He who goes out crying as he carries his bag of seed will return with songs of joy as he brings much grain with him.

God Is Good to His People

127 Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders work for nothing. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the men who watch over it stay awake for nothing. ² You rise up early, and go to bed late, and work hard for your food, all for nothing. For the Lord gives to His loved ones even while they sleep.

³ See, children are a gift from the Lord. The children born to us are our special reward. ⁴ The children of a young man are like arrows in the hand of a soldier. ⁵ Happy is the man who has many of them. They will not be put to shame when they speak in the gate with those who hate them.

The Two Shepherds

⁴ The Lord my God said, “Take care of the flock that is to be killed. ⁵ Those who buy them kill them and are not punished. And those who sell them say, ‘Thanks and honor be to the Lord, for I have become rich!’ Their own shepherds have no pity on them. ⁶ For I will no longer have pity on the people who live in this land,” says the Lord. “I will give everyone over to the power of his neighbor and his king. They will bring trouble to the land, and I will not save them from their power.”

⁷ So I took care of the flock that was to be killed, and those of the flock who suffered. I took two walking sticks. One I called Favor, and the other I called Agreement. I took care of the flock. ⁸ I destroyed the three shepherds in one month. I was angry with them, and they hated me. ⁹ Then I said, “I will not take care of you. Let those die who are to die. And what is to be destroyed, let it be destroyed. Let those who are left eat each other’s flesh.” ¹⁰ And I took my walking stick Favor and cut it in pieces, to break the agreement I had made with all the people. ¹¹ So it was broken on that day. And those of the flock who suffered and were watching me knew that it was the Word of the Lord. ¹² I said to them, “If you think it is right, give me my pay. But if not, keep it.” So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver as my pay. ¹³ Then the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the one who makes pots—the great price they thought I was worth.” So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them to the pot maker in the house of the Lord. ¹⁴ Then I cut my second walking stick, Agreement, in pieces, to break the agreement between Judah and Israel.

¹⁵ Then the Lord said to me, “Take again the tools of a foolish shepherd. ¹⁶ For I am going to have a shepherd rule over the land who will not care for the dying. He will not look for those who were sent everywhere or heal the hurt, or feed those who are well. But he will eat the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their feet. ¹⁷ It is bad for the shepherd who has no worth and who leaves the flock! A sword will destroy his arm and his right eye! His arm will be all dried up, and his right eye will be blind.”

¹⁰ Through God’s loving-favor to me, I laid the stones on which the building was to be built. I did it like one who knew what he was doing. Now another person is building on it. Each person who builds must be careful how he builds on it. ¹¹ Jesus Christ is the Stone on which other stones for the building must be laid. It can be only Christ. ¹² Now if a man builds on the Stone with gold or silver or beautiful stones, or if he builds with wood or grass or straw, ¹³ each man’s work will become known. There will be a day when it will be tested by fire. The fire will show what kind of work it is. ¹⁴ If a man builds on work that lasts, he will receive his reward. ¹⁵ If his work is burned up, he will lose it. Yet he himself will be saved as if he were going through a fire.

¹⁶ Do you not know that you are a house of God and that the Holy Spirit lives in you? ¹⁷ If any man destroys the house of God, God will destroy him. God’s house is holy. You are the place where He lives.

¹⁸ Do not fool yourself. If anyone thinks he knows a lot about the things of this world, he had better become a fool. Then he may become wise. ¹⁹ The wisdom of this world is foolish to God. The Holy Writings say, “He is the One Who gets them in a trap when they use their own wisdom.” ^{(A) 20} They also say, “The Lord knows how the wise man thinks. His thinking is worth nothing.” ^{(B) 21} As a Christian, do not be proud of men and of what they can do. All things belong to you. ²² Paul and Apollos and Peter belong to you. The world and life and death belong to you. Things now and things to come belong to you. ²³ You belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

Jesus Tells of His Death the Third Time ^(A)

³¹ Then Jesus took the twelve followers to one side and said, “See! We are going up to Jerusalem. All the things the early preachers wrote about the Son of Man are going to happen. ³² He will be given over to the people who are not Jews. He will be made fun of. He will be hurt. He will be spit on. ³³ They will beat Him and kill Him. After three days He will be raised again.”

³⁴ The followers did not understand these words. The meaning of these words was hidden from them. They did not know what He said.

Healing of the Blind Man ^(B)

³⁵ Jesus was coming near Jericho. A blind man was sitting by the side of the road, begging. ³⁶ He heard many people going by and asked what was happening. ³⁷ They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was going by. ³⁸ Then he cried out and said, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me.” ³⁹ The people spoke sharp words to him and told him not to call out. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have pity on me.”

⁴⁰ Jesus stopped and told the people to bring the blind man to Him. When the man was near, Jesus asked, ⁴¹ “What do you want Me to do for you?” He answered, “Lord, I want to see.” ⁴² Jesus said to him, “Then see! Your faith has healed you.” ⁴³ At once he could see. He followed Jesus and gave thanks to God. All the people gave thanks to God when they saw it.