Book of Common Prayer
Trust in God’s Protection
A song for the ascents.[a]
121 I lift up my eyes to the mountains;
whence will my help come?
2 My help is from Yahweh,
maker of heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;
he who protects you will not slumber.
4 Look, he will not slumber and he will not sleep—
he who protects Israel.
5 Yahweh is your protector;
Yahweh is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun will not strike you by day,
nor the moon by night.
7 Yahweh will protect you from all evil;[b]
he will protect your life.
8 Yahweh will protect your going out and your coming in
from now until forever.
Jerusalem the Site of God’s Presence
A song of ascents. Of David.[c]
122 I rejoiced in those who said to me,
“Let us go to the house[d] of Yahweh.”
2 Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem—
3 Jerusalem that is built
as a city that is joined together,
4 where the tribes go up,
the tribes of Yah[e] as a testimony for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of Yahweh.
5 For there the thrones sit[f] for judgment,
thrones of David’s house.
6 Pray[g] for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May those who love you be at ease.
7 May peace be within your walls,
security within your palaces.”
8 For the sake of my brothers and my friends,
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house[h] of Yahweh our God,
I will seek your good.
Prayer for Yahweh’s Action in the Face of Scorn
A song of ascents.[i]
123 I lift up my eyes to you,
the one enthroned[j] in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,[k]
as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to Yahweh our God,
until he is gracious to us.
3 Be gracious to us, O Yahweh, be gracious to us,
for long enough we have had our fill of contempt.
4 For long enough our soul has had its fill of
the derision of the self-confident,
the contempt of the arrogant.
Calm Trust in Yahweh
A song of ascents. Of David.[a]
131 My heart is not haughty nor my eyes arrogant.[b]
And I do not concern myself[c]
with things too great and difficult for me.
2 Rather I have soothed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother,
like the weaned child is my soul with me.
3 O Israel, hope in Yahweh
from now until forever.
Yahweh Dwells in Zion
A song of ascents.[d]
132 O Yahweh, remember with regard to David
all his affliction.[e]
2 How he swore to Yahweh,
he vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 “I will not enter into the tent of my house,
I will not go up to the couch of my bed,
4 I will give no sleep to my eyes,
no slumber to my eyelids,
5 until I find a place for Yahweh,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Look, we heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found her in the fields of Jaar.[f]
7 Let us go to his dwelling places;[g]
Let us worship at his footstool.
8 Arise, O Yahweh, to your resting place,
you and your mighty ark.
9 Let your priests clothe themselves with righteousness,
and let your faithful sing for joy.
10 For the sake of your servant David,
do not turn away the face of your anointed one.
11 Yahweh swore in truth to David;
he will not turn back from it.
“One from the fruit of your body[h]
I will set on your throne.
12 If your sons will heed my covenant
and my testimonies that I will teach them,
their sons also forever
will sit on your throne.”
13 For Yahweh has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his habitation.
14 “This is my resting place forever;
here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15 I will bless its provisions abundantly;
I will satisfy its poor with bread.
16 I will also clothe its priests with salvation,
and its faithful will shout exuberantly for joy.
17 There I will cause a horn to grow for David;
I will set a lamp for my anointed one.
18 I will clothe his enemies with shame,
but on him his crown will flourish.”[i]
Yahweh the Only Savior
14 Thus says Yahweh:
“The acquisition of Egypt
and the merchandise of Cush
and the Sabeans, tall men,
shall pass over to you;
they shall be yours,
and they shall walk behind you.
They shall pass over in chains,
and they shall bow down to you;
they will pray to you:
‘Surely God is with you, and there is no other.
Besides him there is no God.’”
15 Surely you are a God who keeps yourself hidden,
God of Israel, the savior.
16 All of them are ashamed and indeed humiliated;
the craftsmen of idols go together in insult.
17 Israel is saved by Yahweh with everlasting salvation;
you shall not be ashamed,
and you shall not be humiliated to all eternity.[a]
18 For thus says Yahweh, who created[b] the heavens,
he is God, who formed[c] the earth
and who made[d] it.
He himself established it;
he did not create it as emptiness—
he formed it for inhabiting.
“I am Yahweh and there is none besides me.
19 I have spoken not in secrecy, in a place, a land, of darkness,
I have not said to the descendants of Jacob, ‘Seek me in vain!’[e]
I, Yahweh, am speaking righteousness,
declaring uprightness.
Paul’s Suffering and Stewardship
24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings on behalf of you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking of the afflictions of Christ, on behalf of his body which is the church, 25 of which I became a minister, according to God’s stewardship which was given to me for you, to complete the word of God, 26 the mystery which has been hidden from the ages and from the generations, but has now been revealed to his saints, 27 to whom God wanted to make known what is the glorious wealth of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory, 28 whom we proclaim, by[a] admonishing every person[b] and teaching every person[c] with all wisdom, in order that we may present every person[d] mature in Christ, 29 for which purpose also I labor, striving according to his working which is at work powerfully in me.
Christ, the Mystery of God
2 For I want you to know how great a struggle I have on behalf of you, and those in Laodicea, and all those who have not seen my face in person[e], 2 so that their hearts may be encouraged, united in love and into all the wealth of the full assurance of insight into the knowledge of the mystery of God, Christ, 3 in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden. 4 I say this in order that no one will deceive you with persuasive speech, 5 for even if I am absent in the flesh, yet I am with you in spirit, rejoicing and seeing your good order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ.
Made Alive in Christ
6 Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, live in him, 7 firmly rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding with thankfulness.
Jesus, the Light of the World
12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world! The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” 13 So the Pharisees said to him, “You testify concerning yourself! Your testimony is not true.” 14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I testify concerning myself, my testimony is true, because I know where I have come from and where I am going. But you do not know where I have come from or where I am going. 15 You judge according to externals; I do not judge anyone. 16 But even if I judge, my judgment is true, because I am not alone, but I and the Father who sent me. 17 And even in your law it is written that the testimony of two men is true.[a] 18 I am the one who testifies concerning myself, and the Father who sent me testifies concerning me.”
19 So they were saying to him, “Where is your father?” Jesus replied, “You know neither me nor my Father! If you had known me, you would have known my Father also.”
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