Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 120
Prayer for Deliverance from Slanderers
A Song of Ascents.
1 In my distress I cry to the Lord,
that he may answer me:(A)
2 “Deliver me, O Lord,
from lying lips,
from a deceitful tongue.”
3 What shall be given to you?
And what more shall be done to you,
you deceitful tongue?
4 A warrior’s sharp arrows,
with glowing coals of the broom tree!(B)
5 Woe is me, that I am an alien in Meshech,
that I must live among the tents of Kedar.(C)
6 Too long have I had my dwelling
among those who hate peace.
7 I am for peace,
but when I speak,
they are for war.
Psalm 121
Assurance of God’s Protection
A Song of Ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.(D)
3 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.(E)
4 He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.(F)
6 The sun shall not strike you by day
nor the moon by night.(G)
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.(H)
8 The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.(I)
Psalm 122
Song of Praise and Prayer for Jerusalem
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”(J)
2 Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together.(K)
4 To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.(L)
5 For there the thrones for judgment were set up,
the thrones of the house of David.(M)
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.(N)
7 Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers.”
8 For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.(O)
Psalm 123
Supplication for Mercy
A Song of Ascents.
1 To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!(P)
2 As the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maid
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
until he has mercy upon us.(Q)
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.(R)
4 Our soul has had more than its fill
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.(S)
Psalm 124
Thanksgiving for Israel’s Deliverance
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 If it had not been the Lord who was on our side
—let Israel now say—(T)
2 if it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
when our enemies attacked us,
3 then they would have swallowed us up alive,
when their anger was kindled against us;(U)
4 then the flood would have swept us away;
the torrent would have gone over us;(V)
5 then over us would have gone
the raging waters.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who has not given us
as prey to their teeth.(W)
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the hunters;
the snare is broken,
and we have escaped.(X)
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.(Y)
Psalm 125
The Security of God’s People
A Song of Ascents.
1 Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be moved but abides forever.(Z)
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people
from this time on and forevermore.(AA)
3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
on the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous might not stretch out
their hands to do wrong.(AB)
4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good
and to those who are upright in their hearts.(AC)
5 But those who turn aside to their own crooked ways,
the Lord will lead away with evildoers.
Peace be upon Israel!(AD)
Psalm 126
A Harvest of Joy
A Song of Ascents.
1 When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion,[a]
we were like those who dream.(AE)
2 Then our mouth was filled with laughter
and our tongue with shouts of joy;
then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”(AF)
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
and we rejoiced.(AG)
4 Restore our fortunes, O Lord,
like the watercourses in the Negeb.(AH)
5 May those who sow in tears
reap with shouts of joy.(AI)
6 Those who go out weeping,
bearing the seed for sowing,
shall come home with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
Psalm 127
God’s Blessings in the Home
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
Bricks without Straw
5 Afterward Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and said, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Let my people go, so that they may celebrate a festival to me in the wilderness.”(A) 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should listen to him and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and I will not let Israel go.”(B) 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has revealed himself to us; let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness to sacrifice to the Lord our God, or he will fall upon us with pestilence or sword.”(C) 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why are you taking the people away from their work? Get to your labors!”(D) 5 Pharaoh continued, “Now they are more numerous than the people of the land[a] and yet you want them to stop laboring!”(E) 6 That same day Pharaoh commanded the taskmasters of the people, as well as their supervisors,(F) 7 “You shall no longer give the people straw to make bricks, as before; let them go and gather straw for themselves. 8 But you shall require of them the same quantity of bricks as they have made previously; do not diminish it, for they are lazy; that is why they cry, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to our God.’(G) 9 Let heavier work be laid on them; then they will pay attention to[b] it and not to deceptive words.”
10 So the taskmasters and the supervisors of the people went out and said to the people, “Thus says Pharaoh: I will not give you straw.(H) 11 Go and get straw yourselves, wherever you can find it, but your work will not be lessened in the least.” 12 So the people scattered throughout the land of Egypt to gather stubble for straw. 13 The taskmasters urged them on, saying, “Complete your work, the same daily assignment as when you were given straw.”[c] 14 And the Israelite supervisors whom Pharaoh’s taskmasters had set over them were beaten and were asked, “Why did you not finish the required quantity of bricks yesterday and today, as you did before?”(I)
15 Then the Israelite supervisors came to Pharaoh and cried, “Why do you treat your servants like this? 16 No straw is given to your servants, yet they say to us, ‘Make bricks!’ Look how your servants are beaten! But the fault is with you.”[d] 17 He said, “You are lazy, lazy; that is why you say, ‘Let us go and sacrifice to the Lord.’(J) 18 Go now and work, for no straw shall be given you, but you shall still deliver the same number of bricks.” 19 The Israelite supervisors saw that they were in trouble when they were told, “You shall not lessen your daily number of bricks.” 20 As they left Pharaoh, they came upon Moses and Aaron, who were waiting to meet them. 21 They said to them, “The Lord look upon you and judge! You have brought us into bad odor with Pharaoh and his officials and have put a sword in their hand to kill us.”(K)
22 Then Moses turned to the Lord and said, “O my Lord, why have you mistreated this people? Why did you ever send me?(L) 23 Since I first came to Pharaoh to speak in your name, he has mistreated this people, and you have done nothing at all to deliver your people.”(M)
Israel’s Deliverance Assured
6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh: indeed, by a mighty hand he will let them go; by a mighty hand he will drive them out of his land.”(N)
20 Brothers and sisters, do not be children in your thinking; rather, be infants in evil, but in thinking be adults.(A) 21 In the law it is written,
“By people of strange tongues
and by the lips of foreigners
I will speak to this people,
yet even then they will not listen to me,”
says the Lord.(B) 22 Tongues, then, are a sign not for believers but for unbelievers, while prophecy is not for unbelievers but for believers. 23 If, therefore, the entire church comes together and all speak in tongues, and outsiders or unbelievers enter, will they not say that you are out of your mind?(C) 24 But if all prophesy, an unbeliever or outsider who enters is reproved by all and called to account by all. 25 After the secrets of the unbeliever’s heart are disclosed, that person will bow down before God and worship, declaring, “God is really among you.”
Orderly Worship
26 What should be done then, my brothers and sisters? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.(D) 27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be only two or at most three and each in turn, and let one interpret. 28 But if there is no one to interpret, let them be silent in church and speak to themselves and to God. 29 Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh what is said. 30 If someone sitting receives a revelation, let the first person be silent. 31 For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all be encouraged 32 (and the spirits of prophets are subject to the prophets, 33 for God is a God not of disorder but of peace), as in all the churches of the saints.
39 So, my brothers and sisters, strive to prophesy, and do not forbid speaking in tongues,(A) 40 but all things should be done decently and in order.
Temptations to Sin
42 “If any of you cause one of these little ones who believe in me[a] to sin,[b] it would be better for you if a great millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea.(A) 43 If your hand causes you to sin,[c] cut it off; it is better for you to enter life maimed than to have two hands and to go to hell,[d] to the unquenchable fire.[e](B) 45 And if your foot causes you to sin,[f] cut it off; it is better for you to enter life lame than to have two feet and to be thrown into hell.[g][h](C) 47 And if your eye causes you to sin,[i] tear it out; it is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and to be thrown into hell,[j](D) 48 where their worm never dies and the fire is never quenched.(E)
49 “For everyone will be salted with fire.[k](F) 50 Salt is good, but if salt has lost its saltiness, how can you season it?[l] Have salt in yourselves, and be at peace with one another.”(G)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.