Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 120[a]
A song of ascents.[b]
120 In my distress I cried out
to the Lord and he answered me.
2 I said,[c] “O Lord, rescue me[d]
from those who lie with their lips[e]
and those who deceive with their tongues.[f]
3 How will he severely punish you,
you deceptive talker?[g]
4 Here’s how![h] With the sharp arrows of warriors,
with arrowheads forged over the hot coals.[i]
5 How miserable I am.[j]
For I have lived temporarily[k] in Meshech;
I have resided among the tents of Kedar.[l]
6 For too long I have had to reside
with those who hate[m] peace.
7 I am committed to peace,[n]
but when I speak, they want to make war.[o]
Psalm 121[p]
A song of ascents.[q]
121 I look up[r] toward the hills.
From where[s] does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,[t]
the Creator[u] of heaven and earth.
3 May he not allow your foot to slip.
May your Protector[v] not sleep.[w]
4 Look! Israel’s Protector[x]
does not sleep or slumber.
5 The Lord is your protector;
the Lord is the shade at your right hand.
6 The sun will not harm you by day,
or the moon by night.[y]
7 The Lord will protect you from all harm;
he will protect your life.
8 The Lord will protect you in all you do,[z]
now and forevermore.
Psalm 122[aa]
A song of ascents;[ab] by David.
122 I was glad because[ac] they said to me,
“We will go to the Lord’s temple.”
2 Our feet are[ad] standing
inside your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is a city designed
to accommodate an assembly.[ae]
4 The tribes go up[af] there,[ag]
the tribes of the Lord,
where it is required that Israel
give thanks to the name of the Lord.[ah]
5 Indeed,[ai] the leaders sit[aj] there on thrones and make legal decisions,
on the thrones of the house of David.[ak]
6 Pray[al] for the peace of Jerusalem.
May those who love her prosper.[am]
7 May there be peace inside your defenses,
and prosperity[an] inside your fortresses.[ao]
8 For the sake of my brothers and my neighbors
I will say, “May there be peace in you.”
9 For the sake of the temple of the Lord our God
I will pray for you to prosper.[ap]
Psalm 123[aq]
A song of ascents.[ar]
123 I look up[as] toward you,
the one enthroned[at] in heaven.
2 Look, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a female servant look to the hand of her mistress,[au]
so our eyes will look to the Lord, our God, until he shows us favor.
3 Show us favor, O Lord, show us favor!
For we have had our fill of humiliation, and then some.[av]
4 We have had our fill[aw]
of the taunts of the self-assured,
of the contempt of the proud.
Psalm 124[ax]
A song of ascents;[ay] by David.
124 “If the Lord had not been on our side”—
let Israel say this.—
2 if the Lord had not been on our side,
when men attacked us,[az]
3 they would have swallowed us alive,
when their anger raged against us.
4 The water would have overpowered us;
the current[ba] would have overwhelmed[bb] us.[bc]
5 The raging water
would have overwhelmed us.[bd]
6 The Lord deserves praise,[be]
for[bf] he did not hand us over as prey to their teeth.
7 We escaped with our lives,[bg] like a bird from a hunter’s snare.
The snare broke, and we escaped.
8 Our deliverer is the Lord,[bh]
the Creator[bi] of heaven and earth.
Psalm 125[bj]
A song of ascents.[bk]
125 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved and will endure forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people,
now and forevermore.
3 Indeed,[bl] the scepter of a wicked king[bm] will not settle[bn]
upon the allotted land of the godly.
Otherwise the godly
might do what is wrong.[bo]
4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
to the morally upright.[bp]
5 As for those who are bent on traveling a sinful path,[bq]
may the Lord remove them,[br] along with those who behave wickedly.[bs]
May Israel experience peace.[bt]
Psalm 126[bu]
A song of ascents.[bv]
126 When the Lord restored the well-being of Zion,[bw]
we thought we were dreaming.[bx]
2 At that time we laughed loudly
and shouted for joy.[by]
At that time the nations said,[bz]
“The Lord has accomplished great things for these people.”
3 The Lord did indeed accomplish great things for us.
We were happy.
4 O Lord, restore our well-being,
just as the streams in the arid south are replenished.[ca]
5 Those who shed tears as they plant
will shout for joy when they reap the harvest.[cb]
6 The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag[cc] of seed,
will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain.[cd]
Psalm 127[ce]
A song of ascents;[cf] by Solomon.
127 If the Lord does not build a house,[cg]
then those who build it work in vain.
If the Lord does not guard a city,[ch]
then the watchman stands guard in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise early, come home late,
and work so hard for your food.[ci]
Yes,[cj] he provides for those whom he loves even when they sleep.[ck]
3 Yes,[cl] sons[cm] are a gift from the Lord;
the fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Sons born during one’s youth
are like arrows in a warrior’s hand.[cn]
5 How blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them.
They will not be put to shame[co] when they confront[cp] enemies at the city gate.
Opposition to the Plan of God
5 [a] Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, has said, ‘Release[b] my people so that they may hold a pilgrim feast[c] to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord[d] that[e] I should obey him[f] by releasing[g] Israel? I do not know the Lord,[h] and I will not release Israel!” 3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go a three-day journey[i] into the wilderness so that we may sacrifice[j] to the Lord our God, so that he does not strike us with plague or the sword.”[k] 4 The king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you cause the people to refrain from their work?[l] Return to your labor!” 5 Pharaoh was thinking,[m] “The people of the land are now many, and you are giving them rest from their labor.”
6 That same day Pharaoh commanded[n] the slave masters and foremen[o] who were[p] over the people:[q] 7 “You must no longer[r] give straw to the people for making bricks[s] as before.[t] Let them go[u] and collect straw for themselves. 8 But you must require[v] of them the same quota of bricks that they were making before.[w] Do not reduce it, for they are slackers.[x] That is why they are crying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to our God.’ 9 Make the work harder[y] for the men so they will keep at it[z] and pay no attention to lying words!”[aa]
10 So the slave masters of the people and their foremen went to the Israelites and said,[ab] “Thus says Pharaoh: ‘I am not giving[ac] you straw. 11 You[ad] go get straw for yourselves wherever you can[ae] find it, because there will be no reduction at all in your workload.’” 12 So the people spread out[af] through all the land of Egypt to collect stubble for straw. 13 The slave masters were pressuring[ag] them, saying, “Complete[ah] your work for each day, just like when there was straw!” 14 The Israelite foremen whom Pharaoh’s slave masters had set over them were beaten and were asked,[ai] “Why did you not complete your requirement for brickmaking as in the past—both yesterday and today?”[aj]
15 [ak] The Israelite foremen went and cried out to Pharaoh, “Why are you treating[al] your servants this way? 16 No straw is given to your servants, but we are told,[am] ‘Make bricks!’ Your servants are even[an] being beaten, but the fault[ao] is with your people.”
17 But Pharaoh replied,[ap] “You are slackers! Slackers![aq] That is why you are saying, ‘Let us go sacrifice to the Lord.’” 18 So now, get back to work![ar] You will not be given straw, but you must still produce[as] your quota[at] of bricks!” 19 The Israelite foremen saw[au] that they[av] were in trouble when they were told,[aw] “You must not reduce the daily quota of your bricks.”
20 When they went out from Pharaoh, they encountered Moses and Aaron standing there to meet them,[ax] 21 and they said to them, “May the Lord look on you and judge,[ay] because you have made us stink[az] in the opinion of[ba] Pharaoh and his servants,[bb] so that you have given them an excuse to kill us!”[bc]
The Assurance of Deliverance
22 [bd] Moses returned[be] to the Lord, and said, “Lord,[bf] why have you caused trouble for this people?[bg] Why did you ever[bh] send me? 23 From the time I went to speak to Pharaoh in your name, he has caused trouble[bi] for this people, and you have certainly not rescued[bj] them!”[bk]
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you will see what I will do to Pharaoh,[bl] for compelled by my strong hand[bm] he will release them, and by my strong hand he will drive them out of his land.”[bn]
20 Brothers and sisters,[a] do not be children in your thinking. Instead, be infants in evil, but in your thinking be mature. 21 It is written in the law: “By people with strange tongues and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people, yet not even in this way will they listen to me,”[b] says the Lord. 22 So then, tongues are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers. Prophecy, however, is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 So if the whole church comes together and all speak in tongues, and unbelievers or uninformed people enter, will they not say that you have lost your minds? 24 But if all prophesy, and an unbeliever or uninformed person enters, he will be convicted by all, he will be called to account by all. 25 The secrets of his heart are disclosed, and in this way he will fall down with his face to the ground and worship God, declaring, “God is really among you.”
Church Order
26 What should you do then, brothers and sisters?[c] When you come together, each one has a song, has a lesson, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all these things be done for the strengthening of the church. 27 If someone speaks in a tongue, it should be two, or at the most three, one after the other, and someone must interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, he should be silent in the church. Let him speak to himself and to God. 29 Two or three prophets should speak and the others should evaluate what is said. 30 And if someone sitting down receives a revelation, the person who is speaking should conclude. 31 For you can all prophesy one after another, so all can learn and be encouraged. 32 Indeed, the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets, 33 for God is not characterized by disorder but by peace.
As in all the churches of the saints,[d]
42 “If anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a huge millstone[a] tied around his neck and to be thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better for you to enter into life crippled than to have[b] two hands and go into hell,[c] to the unquenchable fire.[d] 45 If your foot causes you to sin, cut it off! It is better to enter life lame than to have[e] two feet and be thrown into hell.[f] 47 If your eye causes you to sin, tear it out![g] It is better to enter into the kingdom of God[h] with one eye than to have[i] two eyes and be thrown into hell, 48 where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched. 49 Everyone will be salted with fire.[j] 50 Salt[k] is good, but if it loses its saltiness,[l] how can you make it salty again? Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with each other.”
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