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.
Introduction
1 This is the Lord’s message that came to Micah of Moresheth during the time of[a] Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, which he saw concerning Samaria and Jerusalem.
The Judge is Coming
2 Listen, all you nations![b]
Pay attention, all inhabitants of earth![c]
The Sovereign Lord will act[d] as a witness against you;
the Lord will accuse you[e] from his majestic palace.[f]
3 Look,[g] the Lord is coming out of his dwelling place!
He will descend and march on the earth’s mountaintops![h]
4 The mountains will crumble[i] beneath him,
and the valleys will split apart[j]
like wax before a fire,
like water dumped down a steep slope.
5 All this is because of Jacob’s[k] rebellion
and[l] the sins of the nation[m] of Israel.
And just what is Jacob’s rebellion?
Isn’t it Samaria’s doings?[n]
And what is Judah’s sin?[o]
Isn’t it Jerusalem’s doings?[p]
6 “I will turn Samaria into a heap of ruins in an open field,
into a place for planting vineyards.
I will dump the rubble of her walls[q] down into the valley
and lay bare her foundations.[r]
7 All her carved idols will be smashed to pieces;
all her metal cult statues will be destroyed by fire.[s]
I will make a waste heap[t] of all her images.
Since[u] she gathered the metal[v] as a prostitute collects her wages,
the idols will become a prostitute’s wages again.”[w]
8 For this reason I[x] will mourn and wail;
I will walk around barefoot[y] and without my outer garments.[z]
I will howl[aa] like a wild dog,[ab]
and screech[ac] like an owl.[ad]
9 For Samaria’s[ae] disease[af] is incurable.
It has infected[ag] Judah;
it has spread to[ah] the leadership[ai] of my people
and even to Jerusalem!
The Plot to Kill Paul
12 When morning came,[a] the Jews formed[b] a conspiracy[c] and bound themselves with an oath[d] not to eat or drink anything[e] until they had killed Paul. 13 There were more than forty of them who formed this conspiracy.[f] 14 They[g] went[h] to the chief priests[i] and the elders and said, “We have bound ourselves with a solemn oath[j] not to partake[k] of anything until we have killed Paul. 15 So now you and the council[l] request the commanding officer[m] to bring him down to you, as if you were going to determine[n] his case[o] by conducting a more thorough inquiry.[p] We are ready to kill him[q] before he comes near this place.”[r]
16 But when the son of Paul’s sister heard about the ambush,[s] he came and entered[t] the barracks[u] and told Paul. 17 Paul called[v] one of the centurions[w] and said, “Take this young man to the commanding officer,[x] for he has something to report to him.” 18 So the centurion[y] took him and brought him to the commanding officer[z] and said, “The prisoner Paul called[aa] me and asked me to bring this young man to you because he has something to tell you.” 19 The commanding officer[ab] took him by the hand, withdrew privately, and asked, “What is it that you want[ac] to report to me?” 20 He replied,[ad] “The Jews have agreed to ask you to bring Paul down to the council[ae] tomorrow, as if they were going to inquire more thoroughly about him. 21 So do not let them persuade you to do this,[af] because more than forty of them[ag] are lying in ambush[ah] for him. They[ai] have bound themselves with an oath[aj] not to eat or drink anything[ak] until they have killed him, and now they are ready, waiting for you to agree to their request.”[al] 22 Then the commanding officer[am] sent the young man away, directing him,[an] “Tell no one that you have reported[ao] these things to me.” 23 Then[ap] he summoned[aq] two of the centurions[ar] and said, “Make ready 200 soldiers to go to Caesarea[as] along with 70 horsemen[at] and 200 spearmen[au] by[av] nine o’clock tonight,[aw] 24 and provide mounts for Paul to ride[ax] so that he may be brought safely to Felix[ay] the governor.”[az]
Healing the Centurion’s Slave
7 After Jesus[a] had finished teaching all this to the people,[b] he entered Capernaum.[c] 2 A centurion[d] there[e] had a slave[f] who was highly regarded,[g] but who was sick and at the point of death. 3 When the centurion[h] heard[i] about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders[j] to him, asking him to come[k] and heal his slave. 4 When[l] they came[m] to Jesus, they urged[n] him earnestly,[o] “He is worthy[p] to have you do this for him, 5 because he loves our nation,[q] and even[r] built our synagogue.”[s] 6 So[t] Jesus went with them. When[u] he was not far from the house, the centurion[v] sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself,[w] for I am not worthy[x] to have you come under my roof! 7 That is why[y] I did not presume[z] to come to you. Instead, say the word, and my servant must be healed.[aa] 8 For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me.[ab] I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes,[ac] and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.”[ad] 9 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed[ae] at him. He turned and said to the crowd that followed him, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith!”[af] 10 So[ag] when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave[ah] well.
Raising a Widow’s Son
11 Soon[ai] afterward[aj] Jesus[ak] went to a town[al] called Nain, and his disciples and a large crowd went with him. 12 As he approached the town gate, a man[am] who had died was being carried out,[an] the only son of his mother (who[ao] was a widow[ap]), and a large crowd from the town[aq] was with her. 13 When[ar] the Lord saw her, he had compassion[as] for her and said to her, “Do not weep.”[at] 14 Then[au] he came up[av] and touched[aw] the bier,[ax] and those who carried it stood still. He[ay] said, “Young man, I say to you, get up!” 15 So[az] the dead man[ba] sat up and began to speak, and Jesus[bb] gave him back[bc] to his mother. 16 Fear[bd] seized them all, and they began to glorify[be] God, saying, “A great prophet[bf] has appeared[bg] among us!” and “God has come to help[bh] his people!” 17 This[bi] report[bj] about Jesus[bk] circulated[bl] throughout[bm] Judea and all the surrounding country.
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