Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 121
Assurance of God’s Protection
A Song of Ascents.
1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
from where will my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.(A)
3 He will not let your foot be moved;
he who keeps you will not slumber.(B)
4 He who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper;
the Lord is your shade at your right hand.(C)
6 The sun shall not strike you by day
nor the moon by night.(D)
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.(E)
8 The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time on and forevermore.(F)
Psalm 122
Song of Praise and Prayer for Jerusalem
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us go to the house of the Lord!”(G)
2 Our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem—built as a city
that is bound firmly together.(H)
4 To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord,
as was decreed for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the Lord.(I)
5 For there the thrones for judgment were set up,
the thrones of the house of David.(J)
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.(K)
7 Peace be within your walls
and security within your towers.”
8 For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, “Peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will seek your good.(L)
Psalm 123
Supplication for Mercy
A Song of Ascents.
Psalm 131
Song of Quiet Trust
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
1 O Lord, my heart is not lifted up;
my eyes are not raised too high;
I do not occupy myself with things
too great and too marvelous for me.(A)
2 But I have calmed and quieted my soul,
like a weaned child with its mother;
my soul is like the weaned child that is with me.[a](B)
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
from this time on and forevermore.(C)
Psalm 132
The Eternal Dwelling of God in Zion
A Song of Ascents.
1 O Lord, remember in David’s favor
all the hardships he endured;
2 how he swore to the Lord
and vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob,(D)
3 “I will not enter my house
or get into my bed;
4 I will not give sleep to my eyes
or slumber to my eyelids,
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”(E)
6 We heard of it in Ephrathah;
we found it in the fields of Jaar.(F)
7 “Let us go to his dwelling place;
let us worship at his footstool.”(G)
8 Rise up, O Lord, and go to your resting place,
you and the ark of your might.(H)
9 Let your priests be clothed with righteousness,
and let your faithful shout for joy.(I)
10 For your servant David’s sake
do not turn away the face of your anointed one.
11 The Lord swore to David a sure oath
from which he will not turn back:
“One of the sons of your body
I will set on your throne.(J)
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and my decrees that I shall teach them,
their sons also, forevermore,
shall sit on your throne.”(K)
13 For the Lord has chosen Zion;
he has desired it for his habitation:(L)
14 “This is my resting place forever;
here I will reside, for I have desired it.
15 I will abundantly bless its provisions;
I will satisfy its poor with bread.(M)
16 Its priests I will clothe with salvation,
and its faithful will shout for joy.
17 There I will cause a horn to sprout up for David;
I have prepared a lamp for my anointed one.(N)
18 His enemies I will clothe with disgrace,
but on him, his crown will gleam.”(O)
14 Thus says the Lord:
The wealth of Egypt and the merchandise of Cush
and the Sabeans, tall of stature,
shall come over to you and be yours;
they shall follow you;
they shall come over in chains and bow down to you.
They will make supplication to you, saying,
“God is with you alone, and there is no other;
there is no god besides him.”(A)
15 Truly, you are a God who hides himself,
O God of Israel, the Savior.(B)
16 All of them are put to shame and confounded;
the makers of idols go in disgrace together.(C)
17 But Israel is saved by the Lord
with everlasting salvation;
you shall not be put to shame or confounded
ever again.(D)
18 For thus says the Lord,
who created the heavens
(he is God!),
who formed the earth and made it
(he established it;
he did not create it a chaos;
he formed it to be inhabited!):
I am the Lord, and there is no other.(E)
19 I did not speak in secret
in a land of darkness;
I did not say to the offspring of Jacob,
“Seek me in chaos.”
I the Lord speak the truth;
I declare what is right.(F)
Paul’s Interest in the Colossians
24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. 25 I became its minister according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,(A) 26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.(B) 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.(C) 28 It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.[a](D) 29 For this I toil and strive with all the energy that he powerfully inspires within me.(E)
2 For I want you to know how greatly I strive for you and for those in Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face. 2 I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ,[b](F) 3 in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.(G) 4 I am saying this so that no one may deceive you with plausible arguments. 5 For though I am absent in body, yet I am with you in spirit, and I rejoice to see your orderly conduct and the firmness of your faith in Christ.(H)
Fullness of Life in Christ
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to walk in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.(I)
Jesus the Light of the World
12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”(A) 13 Then the Pharisees said to him, “You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid.” 14 Jesus answered, “Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. 15 You judge by human standards;[a] I judge no one. 16 Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid, for it is not I alone who judge but I and the Father[b] who sent me. 17 In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid.(B) 18 I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf.”(C) 19 Then they said to him, “Where is your Father?” Jesus answered, “You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also.”(D)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.