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.
Reforms under Josiah
4 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest and (A)the priests of the second order and the [a]doorkeepers, (B)to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that were made for Baal, for [b]Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and (C)he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of the Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 He did away with the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense in the high places in the cities of Judah and in the surrounding area of Jerusalem, also those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun and to the moon and to the constellations and to all the (D)host of heaven. 6 He brought out the Asherah from the house of the Lord outside Jerusalem to the brook Kidron, and burned it at the brook Kidron, and (E)ground it to dust, and (F)threw its dust on the graves of the [c]common people. 7 He also broke down the houses of the (G)male cult prostitutes which were in the house of the Lord, where (H)the women were weaving [d]hangings for the Asherah. 8 Then he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from (I)Geba to Beersheba; and he broke down the high places of the gates which were at the entrance of the gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were on one’s left at the city gate. 9 Nevertheless (J)the priests of the high places did not go up to the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem, but they ate unleavened bread among their brothers. 10 (K)He also defiled [e]Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, (L)that no man might make his son or his daughter pass through the fire for (M)Molech. 11 He did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the (N)sun, at the entrance of the house of the Lord, by the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the precincts; and he burned the chariots of the sun with fire. 12 (O)The altars which were on the roof, the upper chamber of Ahaz, which the kings of Judah had made, and (P)the altars which Manasseh had made in the two courts of the house of the Lord, the king broke down; and he [f]smashed them there and (Q)threw their dust into the brook Kidron. 13 The high places which were before Jerusalem, which were on the right of (R)the mount of destruction which Solomon the king of Israel had built for (S)Ashtoreth the abomination of the Sidonians, and for (T)Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Milcom the abomination of the sons of Ammon, the king defiled. 14 (U)He broke in pieces the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherim and (V)filled their places with human bones.
15 Furthermore, (W)the altar that was at Bethel and the (X)high place which Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel sin, had made, even that altar and the high place he broke down. Then he [g](Y)demolished its stones, ground them to dust, and burned the Asherah. 16 Now when Josiah turned, he saw the graves that were there on the mountain, and he sent and took the bones from the graves and burned them on the altar and defiled it (Z)according to the word of the Lord which the man of God proclaimed, who proclaimed these things. 17 Then he said, “What is this monument that I see?” And the men of the city told him, “(AA)It is the grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed these things which you have done against the altar of Bethel.” 18 He said, “Let him alone; let no one disturb his bones.” So they [h]left his bones undisturbed (AB)with the bones of the prophet who came from Samaria. 19 Josiah also removed all the houses of the high places which were (AC)in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made provoking [i]the Lord; and he did to them [j]just as he had done in Bethel. 20 All the priests of the high places who were there (AD)he slaughtered on the altars and burned human bones on them; then he returned to Jerusalem.
Passover Reinstituted
21 Then the king commanded all the people saying, “(AE)Celebrate the Passover to the Lord your God (AF)as it is written in this book of the covenant.” 22 (AG)Surely such a Passover had not been celebrated from the days of the judges who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel and of the kings of Judah. 23 But in the eighteenth year of King Josiah, this Passover was observed to the Lord in Jerusalem.
24 Moreover, Josiah [k]removed (AH)the mediums and the spiritists and the (AI)teraphim and (AJ)the idols and all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, (AK)that he might [l]confirm the words of the law which were written (AL)in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. 25 Before him there was no king (AM)like him who turned to the Lord with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; nor did any like him arise after him.
The Use of Spiritual Gifts
12 Now concerning (A)spiritual gifts, brethren, (B)I do not want you to be unaware. 2 (C)You know that when you were pagans, you were (D)led astray to the (E)mute idols, however you were led. 3 Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking [a](F)by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus is [b](G)accursed”; and no one can say, “Jesus is (H)Lord,” except [c](I)by the Holy Spirit.
4 Now there are (J)varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5 And there are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord. 6 There are varieties of effects, but the same (K)God who works all things in all persons. 7 But to each one is given the manifestation of the Spirit (L)for the common good. 8 For to one is given the word of (M)wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of (N)knowledge according to the same Spirit; 9 to another (O)faith [d]by the same Spirit, and to another (P)gifts of [e]healing [f]by the one Spirit, 10 and to another the [g]effecting of [h](Q)miracles, and to another (R)prophecy, and to another the [i](S)distinguishing of spirits, to another various (T)kinds of tongues, and to another the (U)interpretation of tongues. 11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, (V)distributing to each one individually just as He wills.
Miracles of Healing
18 (A)While He was saying these things to them, [a]a synagogue [b]official came and [c](B)bowed down before Him, and said, “My daughter has just died; but come and lay Your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 Jesus got up and began to follow him, and so did His disciples.
20 And a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years, came up behind Him and touched (C)the [d]fringe of His [e]cloak; 21 for she was saying [f]to herself, “If I only (D)touch His garment, I will [g]get well.” 22 But Jesus turning and seeing her said, “Daughter, (E)take courage; (F)your faith has [h]made you well.” [i]At once the woman was [j]made well.
23 When Jesus came into the [k]official’s house, and saw (G)the flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder, 24 He said, “Leave; for the girl (H)has not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him. 25 But (I)when the crowd had been sent out, He entered and (J)took her by the hand, and the girl [l]got up. 26 (K)This news spread throughout all that land.
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