Book of Common Prayer
Childlike Trust in the Lord.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
131 O Lord, my heart is not (A)proud, nor my eyes [a](B)haughty;
Nor do I [b]involve myself in (C)great matters,
Or in things (D)too [c]difficult for me.
2 Surely I have (E)composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned (F)child rests [d]against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child [e]within me.
3 O Israel, (G)hope in the Lord
(H)From this time forth and forever.
Prayer for the Lord’s Blessing upon the Sanctuary.
A Song of Ascents.
132 Remember, O Lord, on David’s behalf,
All (I)his affliction;
2 How he swore to the Lord
And vowed to (J)the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “Surely I will not [f]enter (K)my house,
Nor [g]lie on my bed;
4 I will not (L)give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
5 Until I find a (M)place for the Lord,
[h]A dwelling place for (N)the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard of it in (O)Ephrathah,
We found it in the (P)field of [i]Jaar.
7 Let us go into His [j](Q)dwelling place;
Let us (R)worship at His (S)footstool.
8 (T)Arise, O Lord, to Your (U)resting place,
You and the ark of Your (V)strength.
9 Let Your priests be (W)clothed with righteousness,
And let Your (X)godly ones sing for joy.
10 For the sake of David Your servant,
Do not turn away the face of Your (Y)anointed.
11 The Lord has (Z)sworn to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“(AA)Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne.
12 “If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their sons also shall (AB)sit upon your throne forever.”
13 For the Lord has (AC)chosen Zion;
He has (AD)desired it for His habitation.
14 “This is My (AE)resting place forever;
Here I will (AF)dwell, for I have desired it.
15 “I will abundantly (AG)bless her provision;
I will (AH)satisfy her needy with bread.
16 “Her (AI)priests also I will clothe with salvation,
And her (AJ)godly ones will sing aloud for joy.
17 “There I will cause the (AK)horn of David to spring forth;
I have prepared a (AL)lamp for Mine anointed.
18 “His enemies I will (AM)clothe with shame,
But upon himself his (AN)crown shall shine.”
The Excellency of Brotherly Unity.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For (AO)brothers to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious (AP)oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the (AQ)edge of his robes.
3 It is like the (AR)dew of (AS)Hermon
Coming down upon the (AT)mountains of Zion;
For there the Lord (AU)commanded the blessing—(AV)life forever.
Greetings of Night Watchers.
A Song of Ascents.
134 Behold, (AW)bless the Lord, all (AX)servants of the Lord,
Who [k](AY)serve (AZ)by night in the house of the Lord!
2 (BA)Lift up your hands to the (BB)sanctuary
And bless the Lord.
3 May the Lord (BC)bless you from Zion,
He who (BD)made heaven and earth.
Praise the Lord’s Wonderful Works. Vanity of Idols.
135 [l](BE)Praise [m]the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise Him, O (BF)servants of the Lord,
2 You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In the (BG)courts of the house of our God!
3 [n]Praise [o]the Lord, for (BH)the Lord is good;
(BI)Sing praises to His name, (BJ)for it is lovely.
4 For [p]the Lord has (BK)chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His [q](BL)own possession.
5 For I know that (BM)the Lord is great
And that our Lord is (BN)above all gods.
6 (BO)Whatever the Lord pleases, He does,
In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.
7 [r]He (BP)causes the [s]vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
Who (BQ)makes lightnings for the rain,
Who (BR)brings forth the wind from His treasuries.
8 [t]He (BS)smote the firstborn of Egypt,
[u]Both of man and beast.
9 [v]He sent (BT)signs and wonders into your midst, O Egypt,
Upon (BU)Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 [w](BV)He (BW)smote many nations
And slew mighty kings,
11 (BX)Sihon, king of the Amorites,
And (BY)Og, king of Bashan,
And (BZ)all the kingdoms of Canaan;
12 And He (CA)gave their land as a heritage,
A heritage to Israel His people.
13 Your (CB)name, O Lord, is everlasting,
Your [x]remembrance, O Lord, [y]throughout all generations.
14 For the Lord will (CC)judge His people
And (CD)will have compassion on His servants.
15 The (CE)idols of the nations are but silver and gold,
The work of man’s hands.
16 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
They have eyes, but they do not see;
17 They have ears, but they do not hear,
Nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will be like them,
Yes, everyone who trusts in them.
5 Now the Philistines assembled to fight with Israel, 30,000 chariots and 6,000 horsemen, and (A)people like the sand which is on the seashore in abundance; and they came up and camped in Michmash, east of (B)Beth-aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait (for the people were hard-pressed), then (C)the people hid themselves in caves, in thickets, in cliffs, in cellars, and in pits. 7 Also some of the Hebrews crossed the Jordan into the land of (D)Gad and Gilead. But as for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.
8 Now (E)he waited seven days, according to the appointed time set by Samuel, but Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattering from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring to me the burnt offering and the peace offerings.” And (F)he offered the burnt offering. 10 As soon as he finished offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and (G)Saul went out to meet him and to [a]greet him. 11 But Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “Because I saw that the people were scattering from me, and that you did not come within the appointed days, and that (H)the Philistines were assembling at Michmash, 12 therefore I said, ‘Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not asked the favor of the Lord.’ So I forced myself and offered the burnt offering.” 13 Samuel said to Saul, “(I)You have acted foolishly; (J)you have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, for now the Lord would have established your kingdom [b]over Israel (K)forever. 14 But (L)now your kingdom shall not endure. (M)The Lord has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
15 Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to (N)Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul [c]numbered the people who were present with him, (O)about six hundred men. 16 Now Saul and his son Jonathan and the people who were present with them were staying in (P)Geba of Benjamin while the Philistines camped at Michmash. 17 And (Q)the [d]raiders came from the camp of the Philistines in three [e]companies: one [f]company turned [g]toward (R)Ophrah, to the land of Shual, 18 and another [h]company turned [i]toward (S)Beth-horon, and another [j]company turned [k]toward the border which overlooks the valley of (T)Zeboim toward the wilderness.
26 But (A)an angel of the Lord spoke to (B)Philip saying, “Get up and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to (C)Gaza.” ([a]This is a desert road.) 27 So he got up and went; and (D)there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he (E)had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and he was returning and sitting in his [b]chariot, and was reading the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then (F)the Spirit said to Philip, “Go up and join this [c]chariot.” 30 Philip ran up and heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?” 31 And he said, “Well, how could I, unless someone guides me?” And he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this:
“(G)He was led as a sheep to slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
So He does not open His mouth.
33 “(H)In humiliation His judgment was taken away;
Who will [d]relate His [e]generation?
For His life is removed from the earth.”
34 The eunuch answered Philip and said, “Please tell me, of whom does the prophet say this? Of himself or of someone else?” 35 Then Philip (I)opened his mouth, and (J)beginning from this Scripture he (K)preached Jesus to him. 36 As they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch *said, “Look! Water! (L)What prevents me from being baptized?” 37 [[f]And Philip said, “If you believe with all your heart, you may.” And he answered and said, “I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”] 38 And he ordered the [g]chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip as well as the eunuch, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, (M)the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, [h]but went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip [i]found himself at [j](N)Azotus, and as he passed through he (O)kept preaching the gospel to all the cities until he came to (P)Caesarea.
Pilate Seeks Jesus’ Release
13 Pilate summoned the chief priests and the (A)rulers and the people, 14 and said to them, “You brought this man to me as one who (B)incites the people to rebellion, and behold, having examined Him before you, I (C)have found no guilt in this man regarding the charges which you make against Him. 15 No, nor has (D)Herod, for he sent Him back to us; and behold, nothing deserving death has been done by Him. 16 Therefore I will (E)punish Him and release Him.” 17 [[a]Now he was obliged to release to them at the feast one prisoner.]
18 But they cried out all together, saying, “(F)Away with this man, and release for us Barabbas!” 19 (He was one who had been thrown into prison for an insurrection made in the city, and for murder.) 20 Pilate, wanting to release Jesus, addressed them again, 21 but they kept on calling out, saying, “Crucify, crucify Him!” 22 And he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has this man done? I have found in Him no guilt demanding death; therefore I will (G)punish Him and release Him.” 23 But they were insistent, with loud voices asking that He be crucified. And their voices began to prevail. 24 And Pilate pronounced sentence that their demand be granted. 25 And he released the man they were asking for who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, but he delivered Jesus to their will.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.