Book of Common Prayer

137 We sat by the rivers in Babylon
    and cried as we remembered Zion.
² We hung our harps nearby, there on the willow trees.^[a]
3 There in Babylon, those who captured us told us to sing.
    Our enemies told us to entertain them.
    They said, “Sing us one of your songs about Zion.”
⁴ But we cannot sing the Lord’s songs
    in a foreign country!
⁵ Jerusalem, if I ever forget you,
    may I never play a song again.
⁶ If I fail to remember you,
    may I never sing again.
I will always remember Jerusalem
    as my greatest joy!

⁷ Lord, be sure to punish the Edomites for what they did
    when Jerusalem was captured.
They shouted, “Destroy its buildings!
    Pull them down to the ground!”
⁸ Babylon, you will be destroyed!
    Bless the one who pays you back for what you did to us.
⁹ Bless the one who grabs your babies
    and smashes them against a rock.

³ Lord, why are people important to you?
    Why do you even notice us?
⁴ Our life is like a puff of air.
    It is like a passing shadow.

⁵ Lord, tear open the skies and come down.
    Touch the mountains, and smoke will rise from them.
⁶ Send the lightning and make my enemies run away.
    Shoot your “arrows” and make them run away.
⁷ Reach down from heaven and save me!
    Don’t let me drown in this sea of enemies.
    Save me from these foreigners.
⁸ They are all liars,
    even when they swear to tell the truth.

⁹ God, I will sing a new song^[a] for you.
    I will play a ten-stringed harp and sing praise to you.
¹⁰ You are the one who gives victory to kings.
    You saved your servant David from the sword of his enemy.
¹¹ Save me from these foreigners.
    They are all liars,
    even when they swear to tell the truth.

¹² May our sons be as strong as trees
    and our daughters as beautiful as the carved columns of a palace.
¹³ May our barns be filled
    with crops of all kinds.
May our sheep produce so many lambs,
    that thousands of sheep will fill our fields.
¹⁴     And may our cows be heavy with calves.
May no enemy break through our walls
    or carry away any of our people.
    May there be no cries of pain in our streets.

¹⁵ How wonderful to have such blessings!
    Yes, great blessings belong to those who have the Lord as their God.

104 My soul, praise the Lord!
    Lord my God, you are very great!
You are clothed with glory and honor.
²     You wear light like a robe.
You spread out the skies like a curtain.
³     You built your home above them.^[a]
You use the thick clouds like a chariot
    and ride across the sky on the wings of the wind.
⁴ You make the winds your messengers
    and flames of fire your servants.^[b]
5 You built the earth on its foundations,
    so it can never be moved.
⁶ You covered it with water like a blanket.
    The water covered even the mountains.
⁷ But you gave the command, and the water turned back.
    You shouted at the water, and it rushed away.
⁸ The water flowed down from the mountains into the valleys,
    to the places you made for it.
⁹ You set the limits for the seas,
    and the water will never again rise to cover the earth.

¹⁰ Lord, you cause water to flow from springs into the streams
    that flow down between the mountains.
¹¹ The streams provide water for all the wild animals.
    Even the wild donkeys come there to drink.
¹² Wild birds come to live by the pools;
    they sing in the branches of nearby trees.
¹³ You send rain down on the mountains.
    The earth gets everything it needs from what you have made.
¹⁴ You make the grass grow to feed the animals.
    You provide plants for the crops we grow—
    the plants that give us food from the earth.
¹⁵ You give us the wine that makes us happy,
    the oil that makes our skin soft,^[c]
    and the food that makes us strong.

¹⁶ The great cedar trees of Lebanon belong to the Lord.
    He planted them and gives them the water they need.
¹⁷ That’s where the birds make their nests,
    and the storks live in the fir trees.
¹⁸ The high mountains are a home for wild goats.
    The large rocks are hiding places for rock badgers.

¹⁹ Lord, you made the moon to show us when the festivals begin.
    And the sun always knows when to set.
²⁰ You made darkness to be the night—
    the time when wild animals come out and roam around.
²¹ Lions roar as they attack,
    as if they are asking God for the food he gives them.
²² When the sun rises, they leave
    and go back to their dens to rest.
²³ Then people go out to do their work,
    and they work until evening.

²⁴ Lord, you created so many things!
    With your wisdom you made them all.
    The earth is full of the living things you made.
²⁵ Look at the ocean, so big and wide!
    It is filled with all kinds of sea life.
    There are creatures large and small—too many to count!
²⁶ Ships sail over the ocean,
    and playing there is Leviathan,^[d]
    the great sea creature you made.

²⁷ Lord, all living things depend on you.
    You give them food at the right time.
²⁸ You give it, and they eat it.
    They are filled with good food from your open hands.
²⁹ When you turn away from them,
    they become frightened.
When you take away their breath,^[e]
    they die, and their bodies return to the dust.
³⁰ But when you send out your life-giving breath,^[f]
    things come alive, and the world is like new again!

³¹ May the Lord’s glory continue forever!
    May the Lord enjoy what he made.
³² He just looks at the earth, and it trembles.
    He just touches the mountains, and smoke rises from them.

³³ I will sing to the Lord for the rest of my life.
    I will sing praises to my God as long as I live.
³⁴ May my words be pleasing to him.
    The Lord is the one who makes me happy.
³⁵ I wish sinners would disappear from the earth.
    I wish the wicked would be gone forever.

My soul, praise the Lord!
    Praise the Lord!