Book of Common Prayer
Childlike Trust in the Lord.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
131 Lord, my heart is not (A)proud, nor my eyes (B)arrogant;
Nor do I [a]involve myself in (C)great matters,
Or in things (D)too [b]difficult for me.
2 I have certainly (E)soothed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned (F)child resting [c]against his mother,
My soul [d]within me is like a weaned child.
3 Israel, (G)wait for the Lord
(H)From this time on and forever.
Prayer for the Lord’s Blessing upon the Sanctuary.
A Song of Ascents.
132 Remember, Lord, in David’s behalf,
All (I)his affliction;
2 How he swore to the Lord
And vowed to (J)the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “I certainly will not [e]enter (K)my house,
Nor [f]lie on my bed;
4 I will not (L)give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
5 Until I find a (M)place for the Lord,
[g]A dwelling place for (N)the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard about it in (O)Ephrathah,
We found it in the (P)field of [h]Jaar.
7 Let’s go into His [i](Q)dwelling place;
Let’s (R)worship at His (S)footstool.
8 (T)Arise, Lord, to Your (U)resting place,
You and the ark of Your (V)strength.
9 May Your priests be (W)clothed with righteousness,
And may Your (X)godly ones sing for joy.
10 For the sake of Your servant David,
Do not turn away the face of Your (Y)anointed.
11 The Lord has (Z)sworn to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“I will set upon your throne one (AA)from the fruit of your body.
12 If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their sons also will (AB)sit upon your throne forever.”
13 For the Lord has (AC)chosen Zion;
He has (AD)desired it as His dwelling place.
14 “This is My (AE)resting place forever;
Here I will (AF)dwell, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly (AG)bless her food;
I will (AH)satisfy her needy with bread.
16 I will also clothe her (AI)priests with salvation,
And her (AJ)godly ones will sing aloud for joy.
17 I will make the (AK)horn of David spring forth there;
I have prepared a (AL)lamp for My anointed.
18 I will (AM)clothe his enemies with shame,
But upon himself his (AN)crown will gleam.”
The Excellency of Brotherly Unity.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For (AO)brothers to live together in unity!
2 It is like the precious (AP)oil on the head,
Running down upon the beard,
As on Aaron’s beard,
The oil which ran down upon the (AQ)edge of his robes.
3 It is like the (AR)dew of (AS)Hermon
Coming down upon the (AT)mountains of Zion;
For the Lord (AU)commanded the blessing there—(AV)life forever.
Greetings of Night Watchers.
A Song of Ascents.
134 Behold, (AW)bless the Lord, all you (AX)servants of the Lord,
Who [j](AY)serve (AZ)by night in the house of the Lord!
2 (BA)Lift up your hands to the (BB)sanctuary
And bless the Lord.
3 May the Lord (BC)bless you from Zion,
He who (BD)made heaven and earth.
Praise the Lord’s Wonderful Works. Futility of Idols.
135 [k](BE)Praise [l]the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
Praise Him, you (BF)servants of the Lord,
2 You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In the (BG)courtyards of the house of our God!
3 [m]Praise [n]the Lord, for (BH)the Lord is good;
(BI)Sing praises to His name, (BJ)for it is lovely.
4 For [o]the Lord has (BK)chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel as His (BL)own possession.
5 For I know that (BM)the Lord is great
And that our Lord is (BN)above all gods.
6 (BO)Whatever the Lord pleases, He does,
In heaven and on earth, in the seas and in all the ocean depths.
7 [p]He (BP)causes the [q]mist to ascend from the ends of the earth,
[r]He (BQ)makes lightning for the rain;
[s]He (BR)brings forth the wind from His treasuries.
8 [t]He (BS)struck the firstborn of Egypt,
[u]Both human firstborn and animal.
9 [v]He sent (BT)signs and wonders into your midst, Egypt,
Upon (BU)Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 [w](BV)He (BW)struck many nations
And brought death to mighty kings,
11 (BX)Sihon, king of the Amorites,
(BY)Og, king of Bashan,
And (BZ)all the kingdoms of Canaan;
12 And He (CA)gave their land as an inheritance,
An inheritance to His people Israel.
13 Your (CB)name, Lord, is everlasting,
The mention of You, Lord, is [x]throughout all generations.
14 For the Lord will (CC)judge His people
And (CD)will have compassion on His servants.
15 The (CE)idols of the nations are nothing but silver and gold,
The work of human hands.
16 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
They have eyes, but they do not see;
17 They have ears, but they do not hear,
Nor is there any breath at all in their mouths.
18 Those who make them will become like them,
Yes, everyone who trusts in them.
False Prophets Ashamed
13 “On that day a (A)fountain will be opened for the house of David and for the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for (B)sin and for (C)defilement.
2 “And it will come about on that day,” declares the Lord of armies, “that I will (D)eliminate the names of the idols from the land, and they will no longer be remembered; and I will also remove the (E)prophets and the (F)unclean spirit from the land. 3 And if anyone still (G)prophesies, then his father and mother who gave birth to him will say to him, ‘You shall (H)not live, because you have spoken (I)falsely in the name of the Lord’; and his (J)father and mother who gave birth to him shall pierce him through when he prophesies. 4 Also it will come about on that day that the prophets will each be (K)ashamed of his vision when he prophesies, and they will not put on a (L)hairy robe in order to deceive; 5 but he will say, ‘I am (M)not a prophet; I am a cultivator of the ground, because a man [a]sold me as a slave in my youth.’ 6 And someone will say to him, ‘What are these wounds (N)between your [b]arms?’ Then he will say, ‘Those with which I was wounded at the house of [c]my friends.’
7 “Awake, (O)sword, against My (P)Shepherd,
And against the Man, My (Q)Associate,”
Declares the Lord of armies.
“(R)Strike the Shepherd and the sheep will be scattered;
And I will (S)turn My hand [d]against the little ones.
8 And it will come about in all the land,”
Declares the Lord,
“That (T)two parts in it will be cut off and perish;
But the third will be left in it.
9 And I will bring the third part through the (U)fire,
Refine them as silver is refined,
And test them as gold is tested.
They will (V)call on My name,
And I will (W)answer them;
I will say, ‘They are (X)My people,’
And they will say, ‘The Lord is my God.’”
15 For this reason I too, (A)having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus which exists among you and [a]your love for (B)all the [b]saints, 16 (C)do not cease giving thanks for you, (D)while making mention of you in my prayers; 17 that the (E)God of our Lord Jesus Christ, (F)the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of (G)wisdom and of (H)revelation in the [c]knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that (I)the eyes of your heart [d]may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the (J)hope of His (K)calling, what are (L)the riches of the glory of (M)His inheritance in (N)the [e]saints, 19 and what is the [f]boundless greatness of His power toward us who believe. (O)These are in accordance with the working of the (P)strength of His might 20 which He brought about in Christ, when He (Q)raised Him from the dead and (R)seated Him at His right hand in (S)the heavenly places, 21 far above (T)all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every (U)name that is named, not only in (V)this age but also in the one to come. 22 And He (W)put all things in subjection under His feet, and made Him (X)head over all things to the church, 23 which is His (Y)body, the (Z)fullness of Him who (AA)fills (AB)all in all.
Parable of the Ten Minas
11 Now while they were listening to these things, Jesus went on to tell a parable, because (A)He was near Jerusalem and they thought that (B)the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately. 12 So He said, “(C)A nobleman went to a distant country to receive a kingdom for himself, and then to return. 13 And he called ten of his own slaves and gave them ten [a]minas, and said to them, ‘Do business with this money [b]until I come back.’ 14 But his citizens hated him and sent a delegation after him, saying, ‘We do not want this man to reign over us.’ 15 When he returned after receiving the kingdom, he ordered that these slaves, to whom he had given the money, be summoned to him so that he would learn how much they had made by the business they had done. 16 The first slave appeared, saying, ‘[c]Master, your [d]mina has made ten minas more.’ 17 And he said to him, ‘Well done, good slave; since you have been (D)faithful in a very little thing, you are to have authority over ten cities.’ 18 The second one came, saying, ‘Your [e]mina, [f]master, has made five minas.’ 19 And he said to him also, ‘And you are to be over five cities.’ 20 And then another came, saying, ‘Master, here is your mina, which I kept tucked away in a handkerchief; 21 for I was afraid of you, because you are a demanding man; you take up what you did not lay down, and reap what you did not sow.’ 22 He *said to him, ‘[g]From your own lips I will judge you, you worthless slave. Did you know that I am a demanding man, taking up what I did not lay down, and reaping what I did not sow? 23 And so why did you not put my money in the bank, and when I came back, I would have collected it with interest?’ 24 And then he said to the other slaves who were present, ‘Take the mina away from him and give it to the one who has the ten minas.’ 25 And they said to him, ‘Master, he already has ten minas.’ 26 ‘(E)I tell you that to everyone who has, more shall be given, but from the one who does not have, even what he does have shall be taken away. 27 But as for (F)these enemies of mine who did not want me to reign over them, bring them here and (G)slaughter them in my presence.’”
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