Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 131[a]
A song of ascents,[b] by David.
131 O Lord, my heart is not proud,
nor do I have a haughty look.[c]
I do not have great aspirations,
or concern myself with things that are beyond me.[d]
2 Indeed,[e] I have calmed and quieted myself[f]
like a weaned child with its mother;[g]
I am content like a young child.[h]
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
now and forevermore!
Psalm 132[i]
A song of ascents.[j]
132 O Lord, for David’s sake remember
all his strenuous effort,[k]
2 and how he made a vow to the Lord,
and swore an oath to the Powerful One of Jacob.
3 He said,[l] “I will not enter my own home,[m]
or get into my bed.[n]
4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep,
or my eyelids to slumber,
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a fine dwelling place[o] for the Powerful One of Jacob.”[p]
6 Look, we heard about it[q] in Ephrathah;[r]
we found it in the territory of Jaar.[s]
7 Let us go to his dwelling place.
Let us worship[t] before his footstool.
8 Ascend, O Lord, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your strength.
9 May your priests be clothed with integrity.[u]
May your loyal followers shout for joy.
10 For the sake of David, your servant,
do not reject your chosen king.[v]
11 The Lord made a reliable promise to David;[w]
he will not go back on his word.[x]
He said,[y] “I will place one of your descendants[z] on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and the rules I teach them,
their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”
13 Certainly[aa] the Lord has chosen Zion;
he decided to make it his home.[ab]
14 He said,[ac] “This will be my resting place forever;
I will live here, for I have chosen it.[ad]
15 I will abundantly supply what she needs;[ae]
I will give her poor all the food they need.[af]
16 I will protect her priests,[ag]
and her godly people will shout exuberantly.[ah]
17 There I will make David strong;[ai]
I have determined that my chosen king’s dynasty will continue.[aj]
18 I will humiliate his enemies,[ak]
and his crown will shine.”
Psalm 133[al]
A song of ascents;[am] by David.
133 Look! How good and how pleasant it is
when brothers truly live in unity.[an]
2 It is like fine oil poured on the head,
which flows down the beard[ao]—
Aaron’s beard,
and then flows down his garments.[ap]
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,[aq]
which flows down upon the hills of Zion.[ar]
Indeed,[as] that is where the Lord has decreed
a blessing will be available—eternal life.[at]
Psalm 134[au]
A song of ascents.[av]
134 Attention![aw] Praise the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord,
who serve[ax] in the Lord’s temple during the night.
2 Lift your hands toward the sanctuary
and praise the Lord.
3 May the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth,
bless you[ay] from Zion.[az]
Psalm 135[ba]
135 Praise the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord.
Offer praise, you servants of the Lord,
2 who serve[bb] in the Lord’s temple,
in the courts of the temple of our God.
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.
Sing praises to his name, for it is pleasant.[bc]
4 Indeed,[bd] the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel to be his special possession.[be]
5 Yes,[bf] I know the Lord is great,
and our Lord is superior to all gods.
6 He does whatever he pleases
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the ocean depths.
7 He causes the clouds to arise from the end of the earth,
makes lightning bolts accompany the rain,
and brings the wind out of his storehouses.
8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
including both men and animals.
9 He performed awesome deeds[bg] and acts of judgment[bh]
in your midst, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He defeated many nations,
and killed mighty kings—
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan.
12 He gave their land as an inheritance,
as an inheritance to Israel his people.
13 O Lord, your name endures,[bi]
your reputation, O Lord, lasts.[bj]
14 For the Lord vindicates[bk] his people,
and has compassion on his servants.[bl]
15 The nations’ idols are made of silver and gold;
they are man-made.[bm]
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see,
17 and ears, but cannot hear.
Indeed, they cannot breathe.[bn]
18 Those who make them will end up[bo] like them,
as will everyone who trusts in them.
19 O family[bp] of Israel, praise the Lord.
O family of Aaron, praise the Lord.
20 O family of Levi, praise the Lord.
You loyal followers[bq] of the Lord, praise the Lord.
21 The Lord deserves praise in Zion[br]—
he who dwells in Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord.
I. The Prologue (1:1-2:13)
Job’s Good Life[a]
1 [b] There was a man[c] in the land of Uz[d] whose[e] name was Job.[f] And that man was blameless[g] and upright,[h] one who feared God and turned away from evil.[i] 2 Seven[j] sons and three daughters were born to him.[k] 3 His possessions[l] included[m] 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys; in addition he had a very great household.[n] Thus he[o] was the greatest of all the people in the east.[p]
4 Now his sons used to go[q] and hold[r] a feast in the house of each one in turn,[s] and they would send and invite[t] their three[u] sisters to eat and to drink with them. 5 When[v] the days of their feasting were finished,[w] Job would send[x] for them and sanctify[y] them; he would get up early[z] in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to[aa] the number of them all. For Job thought, “Perhaps[ab] my children[ac] have sinned and cursed[ad] God in their hearts.” This was Job’s customary practice.[ae]
Satan’s Accusation of Job[af]
6 Now the day came when[ag] the sons of God[ah] came to present themselves before[ai] the Lord—and Satan[aj] also arrived among them. 7 The Lord said[ak] to Satan, “Where have you come from?”[al] And Satan answered the Lord,[am] “From roving about[an] on the earth, and from walking back and forth across it.”[ao] 8 So the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered[ap] my servant Job? There is no[aq] one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and turns away[ar] from evil.”
9 Then Satan answered the Lord, “Is it for nothing that Job fears God?[as] 10 Have you[at] not made a hedge[au] around him and his household and all that he has on every side? You have blessed[av] the work of his hands, and his livestock[aw] have increased[ax] in the land. 11 But[ay] extend your hand and strike[az] everything he has, and he will no doubt[ba] curse you[bb] to your face!”
12 So the Lord said to Satan, “All right then,[bc] everything he has is[bd] in your power.[be] Only do not extend your hand against the man himself!”[bf] So Satan went out[bg] from the presence of the Lord.[bh]
Job’s Integrity in Adversity[bi]
13 Now the day[bj] came when Job’s[bk] sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 and a messenger came to Job, saying, “The oxen were plowing[bl] and the donkeys were grazing beside them, 15 and the Sabeans[bm] swooped down[bn] and carried them all away, and they killed[bo] the servants with the sword![bp] And I—only I alone[bq]—escaped to tell you!”
16 While this one was still speaking,[br] another messenger arrived[bs] and said, “The fire of God[bt] has fallen from heaven[bu] and has burned up the sheep and the servants—it has consumed them! And I—only I alone—escaped to tell you!”
17 While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, “The Chaldeans[bv] formed three bands and made a raid[bw] on the camels and carried them all away, and they killed the servants with the sword![bx] And I—only I alone—escaped to tell you!”
18 While this one was still speaking another messenger arrived and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and suddenly[by] a great wind[bz] swept across[ca] the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they died! And I—only I alone—escaped to tell you!”
20 Then Job got up[cb] and tore his robe.[cc] He shaved his head,[cd] and then he threw himself down with his face to the ground.[ce] 21 He said, “Naked[cf] I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return there.[cg] The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away.[ch] May the name of the Lord[ci] be blessed!” 22 In all this Job did not sin, nor did he charge God with moral impropriety.[cj]
Philip and the Ethiopian Eunuch
26 Then an angel of the Lord[a] said to Philip,[b] “Get up and go south[c] on the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert[d] road.)[e] 27 So[f] he got up[g] and went. There[h] he met[i] an Ethiopian eunuch,[j] a court official of Candace,[k] queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasury. He[l] had come to Jerusalem to worship,[m] 28 and was returning home, sitting[n] in his chariot, reading[o] the prophet Isaiah. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go over and join this chariot.” 30 So Philip ran up[p] to it[q] and heard the man[r] reading the prophet Isaiah. He[s] asked him,[t] “Do you understand what you’re reading?” 31 The man[u] replied, “How in the world can I,[v] unless someone guides me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 Now the passage of scripture the man[w] was reading was this:
“He was led like a sheep to slaughter,
and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did[x] not open his mouth.
33 In humiliation[y] justice was taken from him.[z]
Who can describe his posterity?[aa]
For his life was taken away[ab] from the earth.”[ac]
34 Then the eunuch said[ad] to Philip, “Please tell me,[ae] who is the prophet saying this about—himself or someone else?”[af] 35 So Philip started speaking,[ag] and beginning with this scripture[ah] proclaimed the good news about Jesus to him. 36 Now as they were going along the road, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Look, there is water! What is to stop me[ai] from being baptized?”[aj] 38 So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water,[ak] and Philip baptized[al] him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any more, but[am] went on his way rejoicing.[an] 40 Philip, however, found himself[ao] at Azotus,[ap] and as he passed through the area,[aq] he proclaimed the good news[ar] to all the towns[as] until he came to Caesarea.[at]
Walking on Water
16 Now when evening came, his disciples went down to the lake,[a] 17 got into a boat,[b] and started to cross the lake[c] to Capernaum.[d] (It had already become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them.)[e] 18 By now a strong wind was blowing and the sea was getting rough. 19 Then, when they had rowed about three or four miles,[f] they caught sight of Jesus walking on the lake,[g] approaching the boat, and they were frightened. 20 But he said to them, “It is I. Do not be afraid.” 21 Then they wanted to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat came to the land where they had been heading.
22 The next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the lake[h] realized that only one small boat[i] had been there, and that Jesus had not boarded[j] it with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. 23 Other boats from Tiberias came to shore[k] near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.[l] 24 So when the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor his disciples were there, they got into the boats[m] and came to Capernaum[n] looking for Jesus.
Jesus’ Discourse About the Bread of Life
25 When they found him on the other side of the lake,[o] they said to him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”[p] 26 Jesus replied,[q] “I tell you the solemn truth,[r] you are looking for me not because you saw miraculous signs, but because you ate all the loaves of bread you wanted.[s] 27 Do not work for the food that disappears,[t] but for the food that remains to eternal life—the food[u] which the Son of Man will give to you. For God the Father has put his seal of approval on him.”[v]
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