Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 120[a]
Prayer of a Returned Exile
1 A song of ascents.[b]
The Lord answered me
when I called in my distress:(A)
2 Lord, deliver my soul from lying lips,
from a treacherous tongue.(B)
3 What will he inflict on you,
O treacherous tongue,
and what more besides?[c]
4 A warrior’s arrows
sharpened with coals of brush wood
5 [e]Alas, I am a foreigner in Meshech,
I live among the tents of Kedar!
6 Too long do I live
among those who hate peace.
7 When I speak of peace,
they are for war.(D)
Psalm 121[f]
The Lord My Guardian
1 A song of ascents.
I raise my eyes toward the mountains.[g]
From whence shall come my help?(E)
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.(F)
3 He will not allow your foot to slip;(G)
or your guardian to sleep.
4 Behold, the guardian of Israel
never slumbers nor sleeps.
5 [h]The Lord is your guardian;
the Lord is your shade
at your right hand.(H)
6 By day the sun will not strike you,
nor the moon by night.(I)
7 The Lord will guard you from all evil;
he will guard your soul.(J)
8 The Lord will guard your coming and going
both now and forever.(K)
Psalm 122[i]
A Pilgrim’s Prayer for Jerusalem
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
I
I rejoiced when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”(L)
2 And now our feet are standing
within your gates, Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem, built as a city,
walled round about.[j](M)
4 There the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
As it was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.(N)
5 There are the thrones of justice,
the thrones of the house of David.
II
6 For the peace of Jerusalem pray:
“May those who love you prosper!
7 May peace be within your ramparts,
prosperity within your towers.”(O)
8 For the sake of my brothers and friends I say,
“Peace be with you.”(P)
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord, our God,
I pray for your good.
Psalm 123[k]
Reliance on the Lord
1 A song of ascents.
To you I raise my eyes,
to you enthroned in heaven.(Q)
2 Yes, like the eyes of servants
on the hand of their masters,
Like the eyes of a maid
on the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes are on the Lord our God,
till we are shown favor.
3 Show us favor, Lord, show us favor,
for we have our fill of contempt.(R)
4 Our souls are more than sated
with mockery from the insolent,
with contempt from the arrogant.
Psalm 124[l]
God, the Rescuer of the People
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
Had not the Lord been with us,
let Israel say,(S)
2 Had not the Lord been with us,
when people rose against us,
3 Then they would have swallowed us alive,(T)
for their fury blazed against us.
4 Then the waters would have engulfed us,
the torrent overwhelmed us;(U)
5 then seething water would have drowned us.
6 Blessed is the Lord, who did not leave us
to be torn by their teeth.
7 We escaped with our lives like a bird
from the fowler’s snare;
the snare was broken,
and we escaped.
8 [m]Our help is in the name of the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.(V)
Psalm 125[n]
Israel’s Protector
1 A song of ascents.
Those trusting in the Lord are like Mount Zion,
unshakable, forever enduring.(W)
2 As mountains surround Jerusalem,
the Lord surrounds his people
both now and forever.(X)
3 The scepter of the wicked will not prevail
in the land allotted to the just,[o]
Lest the just themselves
turn their hands to evil.
4 Do good, Lord, to the good,
to those who are upright of heart.(Y)
5 But those who turn aside to crooked ways
may the Lord send down with the evildoers.(Z)
Peace upon Israel!(AA)
Psalm 126[p]
The Reversal of Zion’s Fortunes
1 A song of ascents.
I
When the Lord restored the captives of Zion,(AB)
we thought we were dreaming.
2 Then our mouths were filled with laughter;
our tongues sang for joy.(AC)
Then it was said among the nations,
“The Lord had done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
Oh, how happy we were!
4 Restore our captives, Lord,
like the dry stream beds of the Negeb.[q]
II
5 Those who sow in tears
will reap with cries of joy.(AD)
6 Those who go forth weeping,
carrying sacks of seed,
Will return with cries of joy,
carrying their bundled sheaves.
Psalm 127[r]
The Need of God’s Blessing
1 A song of ascents. Of Solomon.
I
Unless the Lord build the house,
they labor in vain who build.
Unless the Lord guard the city,
in vain does the guard keep watch.
2 It is vain for you to rise early
and put off your rest at night,
To eat bread earned by hard toil—
all this God gives to his beloved in sleep.(AE)
II
Chapter 22
Reign of Josiah. 1 Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned thirty-one years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jedidah, daughter of Adaiah, from Bozkath.
2 He did what was right in the Lord’s sight, walking in the way of David his father, not turning right or left.
The Book of the Law. 3 (A)In his eighteenth year, King Josiah sent the scribe Shaphan,[a] son of Azaliah, son of Meshullam, to the house of the Lord with these orders: 4 “Go to the high priest Hilkiah and have him calculate the valuables that have been brought to the house of the Lord, which the doorkeepers have collected from the people. 5 Then have him turn them over to the master workers in the house of the Lord, and have them give them to the ordinary workers who are in the house of the Lord to repair its breaches: 6 to the carpenters, the builders, and the masons, and to purchase wood and hewn stone. 7 No reckoning shall be asked of them regarding the funds provided to them, because they hold positions of trust.”
8 The high priest Hilkiah informed the scribe Shaphan, “I have found the book of the law[b] in the temple of the Lord.” Hilkiah gave the book to Shaphan, who read it. 9 Then the scribe Shaphan went to the king and reported, “Your servants have smelted down the silver deposited in the temple and have turned it over to the master workers in the house of the Lord.” 10 The scribe Shaphan also informed the king, “Hilkiah the priest has given me a book,” and then Shaphan read it in the presence of the king. 11 When the king heard the words of the book of the law, he tore his garments.
12 The king then issued this command to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, son of Shaphan, Achbor, son of Micaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah the king’s servant: 13 “Go, consult the Lord for me, for the people, and for all Judah, about the words of this book that has been found, for the rage of the Lord has been set furiously ablaze against us, because our ancestors did not obey the words of this book, nor do what is written for us.”
B. The Lord’s Supper[a]
An Abuse at Corinth. 17 In giving this instruction, I do not praise the fact that your meetings are doing more harm than good. 18 First of all, I hear that when you meet as a church there are divisions among you, and to a degree I believe it;(A) 19 there have to be factions among you in order that [also] those who are approved among you may become known.[b] 20 When you meet in one place, then, it is not to eat the Lord’s supper, 21 for in eating, each one goes ahead with his own supper, and one goes hungry while another gets drunk. 22 Do you not have houses in which you can eat and drink? Or do you show contempt for the church of God and make those who have nothing feel ashamed? What can I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this matter I do not praise you.(B)
Chapter 9
The Healing of a Paralytic. 1 [a](A)He entered a boat, made the crossing, and came into his own town. 2 And there people brought to him a paralytic lying on a stretcher. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Courage, child, your sins are forgiven.”(B) 3 At that, some of the scribes[b] said to themselves, “This man is blaspheming.” 4 Jesus knew what they were thinking, and said, “Why do you harbor evil thoughts? 5 Which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise and walk’? 6 [c]But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he then said to the paralytic, “Rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home.”(C) 7 He rose and went home. 8 [d]When the crowds saw this they were struck with awe and glorified God who had given such authority to human beings.
The Call of Matthew.[e]
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