Book of Common Prayer
The Songs of Ascents and Great Hallel—Pss 120–136[a]
Psalm 120[b]
A Complaint against Treacherous Tongues
1 A song of ascents.
Whenever I am in distress,
I cry out to the Lord and he answers me.
2 Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips
and from deceitful tongues.[c]
3 What will he[d] inflict upon you,
and what more will he add to it,
O deceitful tongue?
4 He has prepared a warrior’s sharp arrows
and red-hot coals[e] of the broom tree.
5 Why have I been doomed as an exile in Meshech
and forced to dwell among the tents of Kedar?[f]
6 Far too long have I lived
among people who despise peace.[g]
7 When I proclaim peace,
they shout for war.[h]
Psalm 121[i]
God, Guardian of His People
1 A song of ascents.
I lift up my eyes to the mountains;[j]
from where will I receive help?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.[k]
3 He will not permit your foot to stumble;
he who guards you will not fall asleep.[l]
4 Indeed, the one who guards Israel
never slumbers, never sleeps.[m]
5 [n]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 [o]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[p]
The Pilgrim’s Greeting to the Holy City
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
[q]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[r] 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.[s]
5 For there the thrones of judgment[t] were established,
the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace[u] of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you rest secure.
7 May there be peace within your walls
and security in your palaces.”
8 [v]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[w]
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.[x]
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants[y]
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.[z]
4 We have had to suffer far too long
the insults of the haughty[aa]
and the contempt of the arrogant.
Psalm 124[ab]
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Help
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
[ac]If the Lord had not been on our side—
let Israel now proclaim—[ad]
2 if the Lord had not been on our side
when our enemies attacked[ae] us,
3 [af]then they would have swallowed us alive
as their wrath was kindled against us.
4 [ag]The waters would have washed us away,
the torrent would have swept over us,
5 and we would have drowned
in the raging waters.
6 Blessed be the Lord,
who did not give us as prey to their teeth.
7 We have escaped like a bird
from the snare of the fowlers;
the snare was broken,
and we escaped.[ah]
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.[ai]
Psalm 125[aj]
God, Protector of His People
1 A song of ascents.
Those who put their trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
which cannot be shaken but stands fast forever.[ak]
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
so the Lord surrounds his people
both now and forevermore.[al]
3 The scepter of the wicked will not prevail
over the land allotted to the righteous,
so that the righteous will not be tempted
to turn their hands to evil.[am]
4 [an]Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
to those who are upright of heart.[ao]
5 But the Lord will assign to the ranks of the evildoers
those who turn their hearts to wickedness.[ap]
May peace be granted to Israel.
Psalm 126[aq]
God, Our Joy and Our Hope
1 [ar]A song of ascents.
When the Lord brought home the captives to Zion,
we seemed to be dreaming.[as]
2 Our mouths were filled with laughter
and our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”[at]
3 The Lord has indeed done great deeds for us,
and we are overflowing with joy.[au]
4 [av]Once again restore our fortunes,[aw] O Lord,
as you did for the streams in the Negeb.
5 Those who sow in tears[ax]
will reap with songs of joy.
6 Those who go forth weeping,
carrying the seeds to be sown,[ay]
will return with shouts of joy,
carrying their sheaves.
Psalm 127[az]
Need of Divine Assistance
1 A song of ascents. Of Solomon.
[ba]If the Lord does not build the house,[bb]
those who construct it labor in vain.
If the Lord does not guard the city,
those who keep watch over it do so in vain.
2 It is useless for you to rise earlier
and delay taking your rest at night,
toiling relentlessly for the bread you eat;
for while those he loves sleep,
he provides all of this for them.[bc]
3 [bd]Behold, children are a gift from the Lord,
a reward of the fruit of the womb.
4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are the children born in one’s youth.[be]
5 Blessed is the man
who has filled his quiver with them.
He will never be forced to retreat
when he is confronted by his enemies at the city gate.[bf]
15 Then she said, “Look, your sister-in-law has gone back to her people and her gods. Follow your sister-in-law.” 16 But Ruth answered, “Please do not insist on my leaving you or forsaking you. Wherever you go I will go, and wherever you live I will live. Your people will be my people and your God will be my God.[a] 17 Wherever you die, I will die and be buried there. May the Lord do this to me and even worse if anything other than death separates me from you.” 18 When she saw that she was determined to go with her, she said no more.
19 Life in Bethlehem. So they both traveled on until they came to Bethlehem. When they arrived in Bethlehem, there was a commotion among all of the inhabitants of the city on account of them. The women exclaimed, “Is this Naomi?” 20 She told them, “Do not call me Naomi, call me Mara. The Almighty has made my life so very bitter. 21 I went away full, but the Lord has brought me back empty. Why should you call me Naomi? The Lord has brought witness against me; the Almighty has afflicted me.”
22 So Naomi returned, and Ruth, the Moabite, her daughter-in-law, went with her. They left the land of Moab and they arrived in Bethlehem at the beginning of the barley harvest.
Apostle by the Power of Jesus and for Jesus[a]
A Visit Not Made[b]
12 You Are Our Boast. Indeed, this is our boast: the testimony of our conscience that in our dealings with the world, and especially with you, we have conducted ourselves with simplicity and godly sincerity, depending not on worldly wisdom but on the grace of God. 13 For we write nothing to you that you cannot read and comprehend. It is my hope that you will come to understand fully, 14 as you have already understood in part, that on the day of the Lord Jesus we will have as much reason to boast of you as you will have reason to boast of us.
15 Our Language Is Not “Yes” and “No.”[c] So certain am I of this that I had originally intended to come to you first of all and thereby reward you with a double benefit. 16 I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia, and then to come to you again on my return from Macedonia and have you send me forth to Judea.
17 Since that was my original intention, was I being impulsive, or do you believe that my plans are based on human considerations, ready to say “Yes, Yes” and “No, No” at the same time? 18 As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been “Yes” and “No.” 19 The Son of God, Jesus Christ, who was proclaimed to you by us, that is, by Silvanus[d] and Timothy and me, was not a mixture of “Yes” and “No.” He was never anything but “Yes.”
20 In him is the “Yes” to every one of the promises of God. Indeed, it is through him that we say “Amen” to give glory to God. 21 However, it is God who enables both us and you to stand firm in Christ. He has anointed us 22 and marked us with his seal and given us the Spirit in our hearts, as a down payment of what is to come.
13 Salt of the Earth and Light of the World.[a]“You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, what can be done to make it salty once again? It is no longer good for anything, and thus it is cast out and trampled underfoot.
14 “You are the light of the world. A city built upon a mountain cannot be hidden. 15 Nor would someone light a lamp and then put it under a basket; rather, it is placed upon a lampstand so that it may afford light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, your light must shine so that it can be seen by others; this will enable them to observe your good works and give praise to your Father in heaven.
The New Law[b]
17 The Fulfillment of the Law.“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill them. 18 Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single letter,[c] not even a tiny portion of a letter, will disappear from the Law until all things have been accomplished. 19 Therefore, whoever breaks even one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be considered least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever observes these commandments and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20 I tell you, if your righteousness does not exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
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