Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137[a]
The Exiles’ Remembrance of Zion
1 By the rivers[b] of Babylon
we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion.
2 [c]There on the poplars
we hung up our harps.
3 For it was there that our captors
asked us to sing them a song,
and, tormenting us, demanded a joyful song:
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
4 But how could we sing songs of the Lord
while living in a foreign land?[d]
5 [e]If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand fail me.
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not regard Jerusalem
as the greatest of my joys.
7 [f]Remember, O Lord, the cruelty of the Edomites
on the day when Jerusalem fell,[g]
how they shouted, “Tear it down!
Tear it down to its very foundations!”
8 O Daughter[h] of Babylon, you destroyer,
happy will he be who repays you
for the suffering you inflicted upon us!
9 Happy will he be who seizes your babies
and smashes them against a rock![i]
Psalm 144[a]
Prayer for Victory and Peace
1 [b]Of David.
Blessed be the Lord,[c] my Rock,
who trains my hands for war
and my fingers for battle.
2 You are my safeguard[d] and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield in whom I take refuge,
the one who subdues nations under me.
3 O Lord, what is man that you care for him,
or the son of man that you think of him?[e]
4 Man is nothing more than a breath;
his days are like a fleeting shadow.[f]
5 [g]Part the heavens, O Lord, and descend;
touch the mountains so that they smoke.[h]
6 Flash forth lightning bolts and scatter my foes;
rout them with your arrows.[i]
7 Reach forth your hand[j] from on high;
deliver me and rescue me
from the mighty waters
and from the power of foreign foes
8 whose mouths utter lies[k]
and whose right hands are raised to swear to untruths.
9 [l]I will sing a new song to you, my God;
on a ten-stringed lyre I will play music for you.[m]
10 You grant victory to kings
and deliverance to your servant David from the cruel sword.[n]
11 Deliver me and rescue me
from the hands of foreign foes
whose mouths utter lies
and whose right hands are raised to swear to untruths.[o]
12 [p]May our sons in their youth
be like carefully nurtured plants,
and may our daughters be like pillars
designed to adorn a palace.[q]
13 May our barns be filled
with every kind of crop.
May our sheep increase by thousands,
by tens of thousands in our fields,[r]
14 and may our cattle be well fed.[s]
May there be no breach in our walls,
no going into exile,
no cries of distress in our streets.
15 Blessed are the people for whom this is true;
blessed[t] are the people whose God is the Lord.
Psalm 104[a]
Praise of God the Creator
1 Bless the Lord, O my soul.
O Lord, my God, you are indeed very great.
You are clothed in majesty and splendor,
2 wrapped in light[b] as in a robe.
You have stretched out the heavens like a tent;
3 you have established your palace[c] upon the waters.
You make the clouds serve as your chariot;
you ride forth on the wings of the wind.
4 You have appointed the winds as your messengers
and flames of fire[d] as your ministers.
5 You established the earth on its foundations
so that it will remain unshaken forever.[e]
6 You covered it with the deep like a cloak;
the waters rose above the mountains.
7 At your rebuke[f] the waters took to flight;
at the sound of your thunder they fled in terror.
8 They rose up to the mountains
and flowed down to the valleys,[g]
to the place that you had designated for them.
9 You established a boundary that they were not to cross
so that they would never again cover the earth.
10 [h]You made springs gush forth in the valleys
and flow between the mountains.
11 They supply water to every beast of the field,
and from them the wild asses quench their thirst.
12 On the banks the birds of the air build nests
and sing among the branches.
13 [i]From your dwelling you water the mountains,
enriching the earth with the fruit of your labor.
14 You provide grass for the cattle,
and the plants for man to cultivate.
You bring forth food from the earth
15 and wine to gladden the heart[j] of man,
oil to make his face shine
and bread to strengthen his body.
16 The trees of the Lord have fruit in abundance,
the cedars of Lebanon[k] that he planted.
17 In them the birds build their nests;
in the fir trees the stork makes its home.
18 The high mountains are inhabited by the wild goats;
in the rocky crags the badgers[l] find refuge.
19 You created the moon that marks the seasons
and the sun that knows its time for setting.[m]
20 You bring on darkness, and it is night,
when all the beasts of the forests go on the prowl.
21 The young lions[n] roar for their prey,
seeking their food from God.
22 When the sun rises, they steal away
and return to their lairs to rest.
23 People go forth to their work
and to their labor until darkness descends.
24 [o]How countless are your works, O Lord;
by your wisdom you have made them all;
the earth abounds with your creatures.
25 There is the sea, vast and broad,
filled with numberless species,
living creatures both great and small.
26 There the ships sail forth,
and the Leviathan[p] that you formed to play therein.
27 [q]All of them look to you
to give them their food at the appropriate time.[r]
28 [s]When you provide it for them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are filled with good things.
29 When you turn away your face,[t]
they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.
30 When you send forth your Spirit,[u]
they are created,
and you renew the face of the earth.
31 [v]May the glory of the Lord abide forever,
and may the Lord rejoice in his works.[w]
32 When he looks at the earth, it quakes;
when he touches the mountains, they smoke.[x]
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;[y]
I will sing praise to my God while I have life.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
for I find my joy in the Lord.
35 May sinners be banished from the earth,
and may the wicked no longer exist.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.[z]
Alleluia.
Chapter 35
Faithfulness of the Rechabites. 1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of King Jehoiakim of Judah, the son of Josiah: 2 Go forth to the clan of the Rechabites[a] and speak to them. Have them accompany you into one of the rooms of the house of the Lord and offer them wine to drink.
3 Therefore, I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, his brothers and all his sons, the entire clan of the Rechabites, 4 and I brought them into the house of the Lord, to the room of the sons of Hanan, son of Igdaliah, the man of God. This room adjoins the chamber of the princes and is above the room of Maaserah, the son of Shallum, the guardian of the threshold.
5 Then I set pitchers full of wine and some cups before the Rechabites, and I said to them, “Have some wine to drink.” 6 However, they replied, “We never drink wine. Our ancestor Jonadab, the son of Rechab, gave us this command, ‘Neither you nor your children will ever drink wine. 7 Nor will you build houses or sow seed or plant vineyards or even own them. Rather, you will dwell in tents all the days of your life, so that you may live for a long time on the land where you are sojourners.’
8 “We have carefully followed all the commands given to us by our ancestor Jonadab, the son of Rechab. Throughout our lives we have never consumed wine, nor have our wives, our sons, or our daughters. 9 We have not built houses to live in, and we have no vineyards or fields or seed. 10 On the contrary, we have lived in tents and scrupulously obeyed everything commanded by our father Jonadab. 11 But when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, invaded this land, we said, ‘Let us go to Jerusalem so that we may escape the armies of the Chaldeans and the Arameans.’ That is the reason why we are living in Jerusalem.”
12 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 13 Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go forth and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: Will you never come to your senses and obey my words? says the Lord. 14 The command of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, to his descendants never to drink wine has been observed to this very day; in obedience to their ancestor, they have drunk no wine. But despite the fact that I have repeated this command to you countless times, you have not obeyed me.
15 I have continued to send to you all my servants the prophets who warned you repeatedly, “Turn back, every one of you, from your evil conduct, and cease to follow other gods to serve them. Then you will continue to live in the land that I gave to you and your ancestors.” But you did not pay attention and you refused to listen to me. 16 The descendants of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have honored the command that their ancestors gave them. You, however, have not heeded my warnings.
17 Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: I am determined to bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem every disaster with which I threatened them because they would not listen when I spoke to them and did not answer when I called to them.
18 However, to the clan of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of your father Jonadab, followed all of his instructions, and did everything that he ordered you to do, 19 therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: There will never fail to be a descendant of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, to stand before me forever.”
27 You therefore are the body of Christ, and each of you is a part of it. 28 And those whom God has appointed in the Church are first apostles, second prophets, third teachers; then doers of mighty deeds, those who have the gifts of healing, helping others, administering, and various kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Are all doers of mighty deeds? 30 Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret? 31 Set your hearts on the greater gifts.
Hymn to Love.[a] Now I will show you a more excellent way.
Chapter 13
1 If in speaking I use human tongues
and angelic as well,
but do not have love,[b]
I am nothing more than a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy
and the ability to understand all mysteries and all knowledge,
and have all the faith necessary to move mountains,
but do not have love,
I am nothing.
3 If I give away everything to feed the poor
and hand over my body to be burned,
but do not have love,
I achieve nothing.
35 The Harvest Is Abundant.[a] Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and curing every kind of illness and disease. 36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were distressed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is abundant, but the laborers are few. 38 Therefore, ask the Lord of the harvest to send forth laborers for his harvest.”
Instructions to the Apostles: The Charter of the Apostolate[b]
Chapter 10
Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles.[c] 1 Calling his twelve disciples together, he gave them authority over unclean spirits, with the power to drive them out and to cure every kind of disease and illness.
2 These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, also called Peter, and his brother Andrew; James the son of Zebedee, and his brother John; 3 Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; 4 Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot,[d] the one who betrayed him.
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