Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 121[a]
God, Guardian of His People
1 A song of ascents.
I lift up my eyes to the mountains;[b]
from where will I receive help?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.[c]
3 He will not permit your foot to stumble;
he who guards you will not fall asleep.[d]
4 Indeed, the one who guards Israel
never slumbers, never sleeps.[e]
5 [f]The Lord serves as your guardian;
he is at your right hand to serve as your shade.
6 The sun will not strike you during the day,
nor the moon during the night.
7 [g]The Lord will protect you against all evil;
he will watch over your life.
8 The Lord will watch over your coming and your going
both now and forevermore.
Psalm 122[h]
The Pilgrim’s Greeting to the Holy City
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
[i]I rejoiced when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
2 And finally our feet are standing
at your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem is built as a city
that is firmly bound together[j] in unity.
4 There the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as it was decreed for Israel
to celebrate the name of the Lord.[k]
5 For there the thrones of judgment[l] were established,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace[m] of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you rest secure.
7 May there be peace within your walls
and security in your palaces.”
8 [n]Out of love for my relatives and friends,
I will say, “May peace be within you.”
9 Out of love for the house of the Lord, our God,
I will pray for your well-being.
Psalm 123[o]
Prayer in Time of Spiritual Need
1 A song of ascents.
I lift up my eyes to you,
to you who are enthroned in heaven.[p]
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants[q]
are on the hand of their master,
or as the eyes of a maid
focus on the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes are on the Lord, our God,
as we wait for him to show us his mercy.
3 Show us your mercy, O Lord, show us your mercy,
for we have suffered more than our share of contempt.[r]
4 We have had to suffer far too long
the insults of the haughty[s]
and the contempt of the arrogant.
Psalm 131[a]
Childlike Trust in God
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
O Lord, my heart[b] is not proud,
nor are my eyes raised too high.
I do not concern myself with great affairs
or with things too sublime for me.
2 Rather, I have stilled and calmed my soul,[c]
hushed it like a weaned child.
Like a weaned child held in its mother’s arms,
so is my soul within me.
3 O Israel, put your hope in the Lord
both now and forevermore.[d]
Psalm 132[e]
The Divine Promises Made to David
1 A song of ascents.
Remember, O Lord, for David’s sake,
all the difficulties he endured.[f]
2 [g]He swore an oath to the Lord
and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 “I will not enter the house I live in
or lie down on the bed where I sleep,
4 neither will I allow myself to fall asleep
or even to close my eyes,
5 until I find a home for the Lord,
a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 We heard of it in Ephrathah;
we came upon it[h] in the fields of Jaar.
7 [i]Let us enter his dwelling place,
let us worship at his footstool.
8 Arise, O Lord, and go up to your resting place,
you and the Ark of your might.
9 Let your priests clothe themselves with righteousness,[j]
and let your saints shout for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not reject your anointed one.[k]
11 The Lord swore this oath[l] to David,
an oath that he will not renounce:
“One of your own descendants
I will place on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and the statutes that I will teach them,
their sons will also rule
on your throne from age to age.”[m]
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion;
he has designated it for his home:
14 “This will be my resting place forever;
here I will reside, for such is my wish.
15 [n]“I will bless it with abundant provisions
and satisfy its poor with their fill of bread.
16 I will clothe its priests with salvation,
and its saints will shout for joy.
17 “There I will raise up a horn for David[o]
and prepare a lamp for my anointed one.
18 I will clothe his enemies with shame,
but on his head there will be a resplendent crown.”[p]
Chapter 63
God’s Judgment of Edom
1 [a]Who is this that comes from Edom,
from Bozrah in crimson garments?
Who is this so magnificently attired,
marching with his mighty strength?
“It is I, proclaiming victory,
I who possess the power to save.”
2 Why are your robes red,
like the garments of those
who tread the winepress?
3 “I have trodden the winepress alone;
not one of the nations came to my aid.
I trod the nations in my anger
and trampled them in my wrath.
Their blood spurted out all over my garments
and stained all my robes.
4 I resolved in my heart on a day of vengeance,
and my year for redeeming was at hand.
5 I looked all around, but there was no one to help;
I was outraged that no one offered any assistance.
Even so, my own arm brought me victory
and my wrath sustained me.
18 To Thyatira.[a]“To the angel of the Church in Thyatira,[b] write:
“ ‘These are the words of the Son of God who has eyes like a burning flame and feet like burnished bronze:
19 “ ‘ “I know your deeds—your love, your faithfulness, your service, and your endurance—and that you are doing greater works than you did at first. 20 Nevertheless, I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and who by her teaching is luring my servants into acts of fornication and encouraging them to eat food that has been sacrificed to idols.
21 “ ‘ “I have given her time to repent, but she refuses to repent of her fornication. 22 So I will cast her onto a bed of pain, and all those who commit adultery with her will suffer intensely unless they renounce her practices. 23 I will also strike her children dead. Thereby all the Churches will be shown that I am the one who searches minds and hearts and I will give to each of you what your works deserve.
24 “ ‘ “And I say to the rest of you in Thyatira who have not accepted this teaching and who have no knowledge of what are designated as the deep secrets of Satan,[c] I shall not impose any further burden on you, 25 but hold firmly to what you have until I come.
26 “ ‘ “To anyone who is victorious
and perseveres in doing my works until the end,
I will give authority over the nations,
27 the same authority that I received from my Father,
to rule them with an iron rod
and shatter them like clay pots.
28 And to such a person I will also give the morning star.
29 “ ‘ “Whoever has ears should listen to what the Spirit says to the Churches.” ’
Jesus Restores the Work of God[a]
Chapter 5
The Sign Given on a Sabbath.[b] 1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish feasts. 2 Now in Jerusalem, by the Sheep Gate, there is a pool that in Hebrew is called Bethesda.[c] It has five porticos, 3 and in these a large number of invalids used to lie, people who were blind, lame, and paralyzed, waiting for the movement of the water.[d] [ 4 For occasionally an angel of the Lord would come down into the pool and stir up the water. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had.][e]
5 A man who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and was aware that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 The invalid answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am still on my way, someone else steps into the pool ahead of me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise! Take up your mat and walk!” 9 Immediately, the man was cured, and he took up his mat and began to walk.
Now that day was a Sabbath. 10 Therefore, the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “Today is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry your mat.” 11 He replied, “The man who cured me said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk!’ ” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who told you to take it up and walk?” 13 But the man who had been cured did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd that was there.
14 Later, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jews that Jesus was the man who had made him well.
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