Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 113[a]
Praise of God’s Care for the Poor
1 Hallelujah!
I
Praise, you servants of the Lord,
praise the name of the Lord.(A)
2 Blessed be the name of the Lord
both now and forever.
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting(B)
let the name of the Lord be praised.
II
4 High above all nations is the Lord;
above the heavens his glory.(C)
5 Who is like the Lord our God,
enthroned on high,
6 (D)looking down on heaven and earth?
7 He raises the needy from the dust,
lifts the poor from the ash heap,(E)
8 Seats them with princes,
the princes of the people,
9 Gives the childless wife a home,
the joyful mother of children.(F)
Hallelujah!
Psalm 122[a]
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.”(A)
2 And now our feet are standing
within your gates, Jerusalem.
3 Jerusalem, built as a city,
walled round about.[b](B)
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.(C)
5 There are the thrones of justice,
the thrones of the house of David.
II
Hannah Bears a Son. 20 She conceived and, at the end of her pregnancy, bore a son whom she named Samuel.[a] “Because I asked the Lord for him.” 21 The next time her husband Elkanah was going up with the rest of his household to offer the customary sacrifice to the Lord and to fulfill his vows, 22 Hannah did not go, explaining to her husband, “Once the child is weaned, I will take him to appear before the Lord and leave him there forever.”[b] 23 Her husband Elkanah answered her: “Do what you think best; wait until you have weaned him. Only may the Lord fulfill his word!” And so she remained at home and nursed her son until she had weaned him.(A)
Hannah Presents Samuel to the Lord. 24 Once he was weaned, she brought him up with her, along with a three-year-old bull, an ephah[c] of flour, and a skin of wine, and presented him at the house of the Lord in Shiloh. 25 After they had slaughtered the bull, they brought the child to Eli. 26 Then Hannah spoke up: “Excuse me, my lord! As you live, my lord, I am the woman who stood here near you, praying to the Lord. 27 I prayed for this child, and the Lord granted my request. 28 Now I, in turn, give him to the Lord; as long as he lives, he shall be dedicated to the Lord.” Then they worshiped there before the Lord.
14 For those who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.(A) 15 For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba,[a] Father!”(B) 16 The Spirit itself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God,(C) 17 and if children, then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if only we suffer with him so that we may also be glorified with him.(D)
Destiny of Glory.[b] 18 I consider that the sufferings of this present time are as nothing compared with the glory to be revealed for us.(E) 19 For creation awaits with eager expectation the revelation of the children of God; 20 for creation was made subject to futility, not of its own accord but because of the one who subjected it,(F) in hope 21 that creation itself would be set free from slavery to corruption and share in the glorious freedom of the children of God.(G)
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