Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137
1 By the rivers of Babylon(A) we sat and wept(B)
when we remembered Zion.(C)
2 There on the poplars(D)
we hung our harps,(E)
3 for there our captors(F) asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded(G) songs of joy;
they said, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”(H)
4 How can we sing the songs of the Lord(I)
while in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you,(J) Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.
6 May my tongue cling to the roof(K) of my mouth
if I do not remember(L) you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem(M)
my highest joy.
7 Remember, Lord, what the Edomites(N) did
on the day Jerusalem fell.(O)
“Tear it down,” they cried,
“tear it down to its foundations!”(P)
8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,(Q)
happy is the one who repays you
according to what you have done to us.
9 Happy is the one who seizes your infants
and dashes them(R) against the rocks.
Psalm 144
Of David.
1 Praise be to the Lord my Rock,(A)
who trains my hands for war,
my fingers for battle.
2 He is my loving God and my fortress,(B)
my stronghold(C) and my deliverer,
my shield,(D) in whom I take refuge,
who subdues peoples[a](E) under me.
3 Lord, what are human beings(F) that you care for them,
mere mortals that you think of them?
4 They are like a breath;(G)
their days are like a fleeting shadow.(H)
5 Part your heavens,(I) Lord, and come down;(J)
touch the mountains, so that they smoke.(K)
6 Send forth lightning(L) and scatter(M) the enemy;
shoot your arrows(N) and rout them.
7 Reach down your hand from on high;(O)
deliver me and rescue me(P)
from the mighty waters,(Q)
from the hands of foreigners(R)
8 whose mouths are full of lies,(S)
whose right hands(T) are deceitful.(U)
9 I will sing a new song(V) to you, my God;
on the ten-stringed lyre(W) I will make music to you,
10 to the One who gives victory to kings,(X)
who delivers his servant David.(Y)
From the deadly sword(Z) 11 deliver me;
rescue me(AA) from the hands of foreigners(AB)
whose mouths are full of lies,(AC)
whose right hands are deceitful.(AD)
12 Then our sons in their youth
will be like well-nurtured plants,(AE)
and our daughters will be like pillars(AF)
carved to adorn a palace.
13 Our barns will be filled(AG)
with every kind of provision.
Our sheep will increase by thousands,
by tens of thousands in our fields;
14 our oxen(AH) will draw heavy loads.[b]
There will be no breaching of walls,(AI)
no going into captivity,
no cry of distress in our streets.(AJ)
15 Blessed is the people(AK) of whom this is true;
blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.
Psalm 104
1 Praise the Lord, my soul.(A)
Lord my God, you are very great;
you are clothed with splendor and majesty.(B)
2 The Lord wraps(C) himself in light(D) as with a garment;
he stretches(E) out the heavens(F) like a tent(G)
3 and lays the beams(H) of his upper chambers on their waters.(I)
He makes the clouds(J) his chariot(K)
and rides on the wings of the wind.(L)
4 He makes winds his messengers,[a](M)
flames of fire(N) his servants.
5 He set the earth(O) on its foundations;(P)
it can never be moved.
6 You covered it(Q) with the watery depths(R) as with a garment;
the waters stood(S) above the mountains.
7 But at your rebuke(T) the waters fled,
at the sound of your thunder(U) they took to flight;
8 they flowed over the mountains,
they went down into the valleys,
to the place you assigned(V) for them.
9 You set a boundary(W) they cannot cross;
never again will they cover the earth.
10 He makes springs(X) pour water into the ravines;
it flows between the mountains.
11 They give water(Y) to all the beasts of the field;
the wild donkeys(Z) quench their thirst.
12 The birds of the sky(AA) nest by the waters;
they sing among the branches.(AB)
13 He waters the mountains(AC) from his upper chambers;(AD)
the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.(AE)
14 He makes grass grow(AF) for the cattle,
and plants for people to cultivate—
bringing forth food(AG) from the earth:
15 wine(AH) that gladdens human hearts,
oil(AI) to make their faces shine,
and bread that sustains(AJ) their hearts.
16 The trees of the Lord(AK) are well watered,
the cedars of Lebanon(AL) that he planted.
17 There the birds(AM) make their nests;
the stork has its home in the junipers.
18 The high mountains belong to the wild goats;(AN)
the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.(AO)
19 He made the moon to mark the seasons,(AP)
and the sun(AQ) knows when to go down.
20 You bring darkness,(AR) it becomes night,(AS)
and all the beasts of the forest(AT) prowl.
21 The lions roar for their prey(AU)
and seek their food from God.(AV)
22 The sun rises, and they steal away;
they return and lie down in their dens.(AW)
23 Then people go out to their work,(AX)
to their labor until evening.(AY)
24 How many are your works,(AZ) Lord!
In wisdom you made(BA) them all;
the earth is full of your creatures.(BB)
25 There is the sea,(BC) vast and spacious,
teeming with creatures beyond number—
living things both large and small.(BD)
26 There the ships(BE) go to and fro,
and Leviathan,(BF) which you formed to frolic(BG) there.(BH)
27 All creatures look to you
to give them their food(BI) at the proper time.
28 When you give it to them,
they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
they are satisfied(BJ) with good things.
29 When you hide your face,(BK)
they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
they die and return to the dust.(BL)
30 When you send your Spirit,(BM)
they are created,
and you renew the face of the ground.
31 May the glory of the Lord(BN) endure forever;
may the Lord rejoice in his works(BO)—
32 he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,(BP)
who touches the mountains,(BQ) and they smoke.(BR)
33 I will sing(BS) to the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
34 May my meditation be pleasing to him,
as I rejoice(BT) in the Lord.
35 But may sinners vanish(BU) from the earth
and the wicked be no more.(BV)
Praise the Lord, my soul.
12 This is the plague with which the Lord will strike(A) all the nations that fought against Jerusalem: Their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.(B) 13 On that day people will be stricken by the Lord with great panic.(C) They will seize each other by the hand and attack one another.(D) 14 Judah(E) too will fight at Jerusalem. The wealth of all the surrounding nations will be collected(F)—great quantities of gold and silver and clothing. 15 A similar plague(G) will strike the horses and mules, the camels and donkeys, and all the animals in those camps.
16 Then the survivors(H) from all the nations that have attacked Jerusalem will go up year after year to worship(I) the King,(J) the Lord Almighty, and to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.(K) 17 If any of the peoples of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship(L) the King, the Lord Almighty, they will have no rain.(M) 18 If the Egyptian people do not go up and take part, they will have no rain. The Lord[a] will bring on them the plague(N) he inflicts on the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.(O) 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles.(P)
20 On that day holy to the Lord(Q) will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, and the cooking pots(R) in the Lord’s house will be like the sacred bowls(S) in front of the altar. 21 Every pot in Jerusalem and Judah will be holy(T) to the Lord Almighty, and all who come to sacrifice will take some of the pots and cook in them. And on that day(U) there will no longer be a Canaanite[b](V) in the house(W) of the Lord Almighty.(X)
Imitating Christ’s Humility
2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit,(A) if any tenderness and compassion,(B) 2 then make my joy complete(C) by being like-minded,(D) having the same love, being one(E) in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.(F) Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,(G) 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.(H)
5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:(I)
6 Who, being in very nature[a] God,(J)
did not consider equality with God(K) something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing(L)
by taking the very nature[b] of a servant,(M)
being made in human likeness.(N)
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death(O)—
even death on a cross!(P)
41 As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it(A) 42 and said, “If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. 43 The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side.(B) 44 They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls.(C) They will not leave one stone on another,(D) because you did not recognize the time of God’s coming(E) to you.”
Jesus at the Temple(F)
45 When Jesus entered the temple courts, he began to drive out those who were selling. 46 “It is written,” he said to them, “‘My house will be a house of prayer’[a];(G) but you have made it ‘a den of robbers.’[b]”(H)
47 Every day he was teaching at the temple.(I) But the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the leaders among the people were trying to kill him.(J) 48 Yet they could not find any way to do it, because all the people hung on his words.
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