Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Rescue from the Treacherous.
A Song of [a]Ascents.
120 (A)I cried to the Lord in my trouble,
And He answered me.
2 Rescue my soul, Lord, from (B)lying lips,
From a (C)deceitful tongue.
3 What will He give to you, and what more will He do to you,
You (D)deceitful tongue?
4 (E)Sharp arrows of the warrior,
With the burning (F)coals of the broom tree!
5 Woe to me, for I reside in (G)Meshech,
For I have settled among the (H)tents of (I)Kedar!
6 Too long has my soul had its dwelling
With those who (J)hate peace.
7 I (K)am for peace, but when I speak,
They are (L)for war.
The Lord, the Keeper of Israel.
A Song of Ascents.
121 I will (M)raise my eyes to (N)the mountains;
From where will my help come?
2 My (O)help comes from the Lord,
Who (P)made heaven and earth.
3 He will not (Q)allow your foot to slip;
He who (R)watches over you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who watches over Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your [b](S)protector;
The Lord is your (T)shade on your right hand.
6 The (U)sun will not [c]beat down on you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will [d](V)protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The Lord will [e](W)guard your going out and your coming in
(X)From this time and forever.
Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let’s (Y)go to the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet are standing
Within your (Z)gates, Jerusalem,
3 Jerusalem, that has been (AA)built
As a city that is (AB)firmly joined together;
4 To which the tribes (AC)go up, the tribes of [f]the Lord—
[g]An ordinance for Israel—
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For (AD)thrones were set there for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the (AE)peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who (AF)love you.
7 May peace be within your (AG)walls,
And prosperity within your (AH)palaces.”
8 For the sake of my (AI)brothers and my friends,
I will now say, “(AJ)May peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will (AK)seek your good.
Prayer for the Lord’s Help.
A Song of Ascents.
123 To You I have (AL)raised my eyes,
You who (AM)are enthroned in the heavens!
2 Behold, as the eyes of (AN)servants look to the hand of their master,
As the eyes of a female servant to the hand of her mistress,
So our (AO)eyes look to the Lord our God,
Until He is gracious to us.
3 (AP)Be gracious to us, Lord, be gracious to us,
For we have had much more than enough of (AQ)contempt.
4 Our soul has had much more than enough
Of the (AR)scoffing of (AS)those who are at ease,
And with the (AT)contempt of the proud.
Praise for Rescue from Enemies.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
124 “(AU)Had it not been the Lord who was on our side,”
(AV)Let Israel say,
2 “Had it not been the Lord who was on our side
When people rose up against us,
3 Then they would have (AW)swallowed us alive,
When their (AX)anger was kindled against us;
4 Then the (AY)waters would have flooded over us,
The stream would have [h]swept over our souls;
5 Then the (AZ)raging waters would have [i]swept over our souls.”
6 Blessed be the Lord,
Who has not given us [j]to be (BA)torn by their teeth.
7 Our souls have (BB)escaped (BC)like a bird from the trapper’s (BD)snare;
The snare is broken and we have escaped.
8 Our (BE)help is in the name of the Lord,
Who (BF)made heaven and earth.
The Lord Surrounds His People.
A Song of Ascents.
125 Those who trust in the Lord
Are like Mount Zion, which (BG)cannot be moved but (BH)remains forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So (BI)the Lord surrounds His people
(BJ)From this time and forever.
3 For the (BK)scepter of wickedness will not rest upon the [k]land of the righteous,
So that the righteous (BL)will not extend their hands to do wrong.
4 (BM)Do good, Lord, to those who are good
And to those who are (BN)upright in their hearts.
5 But as for those who (BO)turn aside to their (BP)crooked ways,
The Lord will lead them away with those who (BQ)practice injustice.
(BR)Peace be upon Israel.
Thanksgiving for Return from Captivity.
A Song of Ascents.
126 When the Lord (BS)brought back [l]the captives of Zion,
We were (BT)like those who dream.
2 Then our (BU)mouth was filled with laughter
And our (BV)tongue with joyful shouting;
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has (BW)done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
We are (BX)joyful.
4 Restore our fortunes, Lord,
As the [m](BY)streams in the [n]South.
5 Those who sow in (BZ)tears shall harvest with (CA)joyful shouting.
6 One who goes here and there weeping, carrying his bag of seed,
Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
Prosperity Comes from the Lord.
A Song of Ascents, of Solomon.
127 Unless the Lord (CB)builds a house,
They who build it labor in vain;
Unless the Lord (CC)guards a city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is futile for you to rise up early,
To [o]stay up late,
To (CD)eat the bread of painful labor;
This is how He gives to His (CE)beloved (CF)sleep.
3 Behold, (CG)children are a [p]gift of the Lord,
The (CH)fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a (CI)warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5 (CJ)Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
(CK)They will not be ashamed
When they (CL)speak with their enemies (CM)in the gate.
8 “Therefore this is what the Lord of armies says: ‘Because you have not obeyed My words, 9 behold, I will (A)send and take all the families of the north,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will send to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, (B)My servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these surrounding nations; and I will [a]completely destroy them and (C)make them an object of horror and [b]hissing, and an everlasting place of ruins. 10 Moreover, I will (D)eliminate from them the voice of jubilation and the voice of joy, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the (E)sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 (F)This entire land will be a place of ruins and an object of horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon for (G)seventy years.
Babylon Will Be Judged
12 ‘Then it will be (H)when seventy years are completed I will (I)punish the king of Babylon and that nation,’ declares the Lord, ‘for their wrongdoing, and the land of the Chaldeans; and (J)I will make it an everlasting desolation. 13 I will bring upon that land all My words which I have pronounced against it, all that is written in (K)this book which Jeremiah has prophesied against (L)all the nations. 14 ([c]For (M)many nations and great kings will make slaves of them, even them; and I will (N)repay them according to their deeds and according to the work of their hands.)’”
15 For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says to me: “Take this (O)cup of the wine of wrath from My hand and give it to all the nations to whom I send you, to drink from it. 16 Then they will (P)drink and loudly vomit and act insanely because of the sword that I am going to send among them.”
17 So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand and (Q)gave it to all the nations to whom the Lord sent me, to drink from it:
The Word of Faith Brings Salvation
10 Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have (A)a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3 For not knowing about (B)God’s righteousness and (C)seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For (D)Christ is the [a]end of the Law for righteousness to (E)everyone who believes.
5 For Moses writes of the righteousness that is [b]based on the Law, that the person who performs [c]them (F)will live by [d]them. 6 But (G)the righteousness [e]based on faith speaks as follows: “(H)Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will go up into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), 7 or ‘Who will descend into the (I)abyss?’ (that is, to (J)bring Christ up from the dead).” 8 But what does it say? “(K)The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 [f]that (L)if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and (M)believe in your heart that (N)God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, [g]resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, [h]resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “(O)Whoever believes in Him will not be [i]put to shame.” 12 For (P)there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is (Q)Lord of (R)all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “(S)Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
18 (A)The Jews then did not believe it about him, that he had been blind and had received sight, until they called the parents of the very one who had received his sight, 19 and they questioned them, saying, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? Then how does he now see?” 20 His parents then answered and said, “We know that this is our son, and that he was born blind; 21 but how he now sees, we do not know; or who opened his eyes, we do not know. Ask him; he is of age, he will speak for himself.” 22 His parents said this because they (B)were afraid of the [a]Jews; for the Jews (C)had already reached the decision that if anyone confessed Him to be [b]Christ, (D)he was to be excommunicated from the synagogue. 23 It was for this reason that his parents said, “(E)He is of age; ask him.”
24 So for a second time they summoned the man who had been blind, and said to him, “(F)Give glory to God; we know that (G)this Man is a sinner.” 25 He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.” 26 So they said to him, “What did He do to you? How did He open your eyes?” 27 He answered them, “(H)I told you already and you did not (I)listen; why do you want to hear it again? You do not want to become His disciples too, do you?” 28 They spoke abusively to him and said, “You are His disciple, but (J)we are disciples of Moses. 29 We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this Man, (K)we do not know where He is from.” 30 The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is the amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes! 31 We know that (L)God does not listen to sinners; but if someone is [c]God-fearing and does His will, He listens to him. 32 [d]Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 (M)If this Man were not from God, He could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “(N)You were born entirely in sins, and yet you are teaching us?” So they [e](O)put him out.
Jesus Affirms His Deity
35 Jesus heard that they had [f](P)put him out, and upon finding him, He said, “Do you believe in the (Q)Son of Man?” 36 He answered [g]by saying, “And (R)who is He, [h]Sir, that I may believe in Him?” 37 Jesus said to him, “You have both seen Him, and (S)He is the One who is talking with you.” 38 And he said, “I believe, Lord.” And he (T)worshiped Him. 39 And Jesus said, “(U)For judgment I came into this world, so that (V)those who do not see may see, and (W)those who see may become blind.” 40 Those who were with Him from the Pharisees heard these things and said to Him, “(X)We are not blind too, are we?” 41 Jesus said to them, “(Y)If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now that you maintain, ‘(Z)We see,’ your sin remains.
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