Book of Common Prayer
Plea for Relief from Bitter Foes
A Song of Ascents.
120 In (A)my distress I cried to the Lord,
And He heard me.
2 Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips
And from a deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given to you,
Or what shall be done to you,
You false tongue?
4 Sharp arrows of the [a]warrior,
With coals of the broom tree!
5 Woe is me, that I dwell in (B)Meshech,
(C)That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
6 My soul has dwelt too long
With one who hates peace.
7 I am for peace;
But when I speak, they are for war.
God the Help of Those Who Seek Him
A Song of Ascents.
121 I (D)will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2 (E)My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 (F)He will not allow your foot to [b]be moved;
(G)He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your [c]keeper;
The Lord is (H)your shade (I)at your right hand.
6 (J)The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall [d]preserve you from all evil;
He shall (K)preserve your soul.
8 The Lord shall (L)preserve[e] your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.
The Joy of Going to the House of the Lord
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
(M)“Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet have been standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem!
3 Jerusalem is built
As a city that is (N)compact together,
4 (O)Where the tribes go up,
The tribes of the Lord,
[f]To (P)the Testimony of Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 (Q)For thrones are set there for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6 (R)Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
7 Peace be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces.”
8 For the sake of my brethren and companions,
I will now say, “Peace be within you.”
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God
I will (S)seek your good.
Prayer for Relief from Contempt
A Song of Ascents.
123 Unto You (T)I lift up my eyes,
O You (U)who dwell in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
(V)So our eyes look to the Lord our God,
Until He has mercy on us.
3 Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us!
For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly filled
With the scorn of those who are at ease,
With the contempt of the proud.
The Lord the Defense of His People
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
124 “If it had not been the Lord who was on our (W)side,”
(X)Let Israel now say—
2 “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
When men rose up against us,
3 Then they would have (Y)swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;
4 Then the waters would have overwhelmed us,
The stream would have [g]gone over our soul;
5 Then the swollen waters
Would have [h]gone over our soul.”
6 Blessed be the Lord,
Who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
7 (Z)Our soul has escaped (AA)as a bird from the snare of the [i]fowlers;
The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 (AB)Our help is in the name of the Lord,
(AC)Who made heaven and earth.
The Lord the Strength of His People
A Song of Ascents.
125 Those who trust in the Lord
Are like Mount Zion,
Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.
3 For (AD)the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
On the land allotted to the righteous,
Lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity.
4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
And to those who are upright in their hearts.
5 As for such as turn aside to their (AE)crooked ways,
The Lord shall lead them away
With the workers of iniquity.
(AF)Peace be upon Israel!
A Joyful Return to Zion
A Song of Ascents.
126 When (AG)the Lord brought back [j]the captivity of Zion,
(AH)We were like those who dream.
2 Then (AI)our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the [k]nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
And we are glad.
4 Bring back our captivity, O Lord,
As the streams in the South.
5 (AJ)Those who sow in tears
Shall reap in joy.
6 He who continually goes [l]forth weeping,
Bearing [m]seed for sowing,
Shall doubtless come again [n]with (AK)rejoicing,
Bringing his sheaves with him.
Laboring and Prospering with the Lord
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
127 Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless (AL)the Lord guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early,
To sit up late,
To (AM)eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep.
3 Behold, (AN)children are a heritage from the Lord,
(AO)The fruit of the womb is a (AP)reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5 (AQ)Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
(AR)They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
Prophecy of the Shepherds
4 Thus says the Lord my God, “Feed the flock for slaughter, 5 whose owners slaughter them and (A)feel no guilt; those who sell them (B)say, ‘Blessed be the Lord, for I am rich’; and their shepherds do (C)not pity them. 6 For I will no longer pity the inhabitants of the land,” says the Lord. “But indeed I will give everyone into his neighbor’s hand and into the hand of his king. They shall [a]attack the land, and I will not deliver them from their hand.”
7 So I fed the flock for slaughter, [b]in particular (D)the poor of the flock. I took for myself two staffs: the one I called [c]Beauty, and the other I called [d]Bonds; and I fed the flock. 8 I [e]dismissed the three shepherds (E)in one month. My soul loathed them, and their soul also abhorred me. 9 Then I said, “I will not feed you. (F)Let what is dying die, and what is perishing perish. Let those that are left eat each other’s flesh.” 10 And I took my staff, [f]Beauty, and cut it in two, that I might break the covenant which I had made with all the peoples. 11 So it was broken on that day. Thus (G)the[g] poor of the flock, who were watching me, knew that it was the word of the Lord. 12 Then I said to them, “If it is [h]agreeable to you, give me my wages; and if not, refrain.” So they (H)weighed out for my wages thirty pieces of silver.
13 And the Lord said to me, “Throw it to the (I)potter”—that princely price they set on me. So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord for the potter. 14 Then I cut in two my other staff, [i]Bonds, that I might break the brotherhood between Judah and Israel.
15 And the Lord said to me, (J)“Next, take for yourself the implements of a foolish shepherd. 16 For indeed I will raise up a shepherd in the land who will not care for those who are cut off, nor seek the young, nor heal those that are broken, nor feed those that still stand. But he will eat the flesh of the fat and tear their hooves in (K)pieces.
17 “Woe(L) to the worthless shepherd,
Who leaves the flock!
A sword shall be against his arm
And against his right eye;
His arm shall completely wither,
And his right eye shall be totally blinded.”
10 (A)According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid (B)the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. 11 For no other foundation can anyone lay than (C)that which is laid, (D)which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each one’s work will become clear; for the Day (E)will declare it, because (F)it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. 14 If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.
16 (G)Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? 17 If anyone [a]defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
Avoid Worldly Wisdom
18 (H)Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, (I)“He catches the wise in their own craftiness”; 20 and again, (J)“The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” 21 Therefore let no one boast in men. For (K)all things are yours: 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. 23 And (L)you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.
Jesus a Third Time Predicts His Death and Resurrection(A)
31 (B)Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things (C)that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be [a]accomplished. 32 For (D)He will be delivered to the Gentiles and will be mocked and insulted and spit upon. 33 They will scourge Him and kill Him. And the third day He will rise again.”
34 (E)But they understood none of these things; this saying was hidden from them, and they did not know the things which were spoken.
A Blind Man Receives His Sight(F)
35 (G)Then it happened, as He was coming near Jericho, that a certain blind man sat by the road begging. 36 And hearing a multitude passing by, he asked what it meant. 37 So they told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. 38 And he cried out, saying, “Jesus, (H)Son of David, have mercy on me!”
39 Then those who went before warned him that he should be quiet; but he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!”
40 So Jesus stood still and commanded him to be brought to Him. And when he had come near, He asked him, 41 saying, “What do you want Me to do for you?”
He said, “Lord, that I may receive my sight.”
42 Then Jesus said to him, “Receive your sight; (I)your faith has made you well.” 43 And immediately he received his sight, and followed Him, (J)glorifying God. And all the people, when they saw it, gave praise to God.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.