Book of Common Prayer
ק (Qof)
145 I cried out with all my heart, “Answer me, O Lord!
I will observe your statutes.”
146 I cried out to you, “Deliver me,
so that I can keep[a] your rules.”
147 I am up before dawn crying for help.
I find hope in your word.
148 My eyes anticipate the nighttime hours,
so that I can meditate on your word.
149 Listen to me[b] because of[c] your loyal love.
O Lord, revive me, as you typically do.[d]
150 Those who are eager to do[e] wrong draw near;
they are far from your law.
151 You are near, O Lord,
and all your commands are reliable.[f]
152 I learned long ago that
you ordained your rules to last.[g]
ר (Resh)
153 See my pain and rescue me.
For I do not forget your law.
154 Fight for me[h] and defend me.[i]
Revive me with your word.
155 The wicked have no chance for deliverance,[j]
for they do not seek your statutes.
156 Your compassion is great, O Lord.
Revive me, as you typically do.[k]
157 The enemies who chase me are numerous.[l]
Yet I do not turn aside from your rules.
158 I take note of the treacherous and despise them,
because they do not keep your instructions.[m]
159 See how I love your precepts.
O Lord, revive me with your loyal love.
160 Your instructions are totally reliable;
all your just regulations endure.[n]
שׂ/שׁ (Sin/Shin)
161 Rulers pursue me for no reason,
yet I am more afraid of disobeying your instructions.[o]
162 I rejoice in your instructions,
like one who finds much plunder.[p]
163 I hate and despise deceit;
I love your law.
164 Seven times[q] a day I praise you
because of your just regulations.
165 Those who love your law are completely secure;[r]
nothing causes them to stumble.[s]
166 I hope for your deliverance, O Lord,
and I obey[t] your commands.
167 I keep your rules;
I love them greatly.
168 I keep your precepts and rules,
for you are aware of everything I do.[u]
ת (Tav)
169 Listen to my cry for help,[v] O Lord.
Give me insight by your word.
170 Listen to my appeal for mercy.[w]
Deliver me, as you promised.[x]
171 May praise flow freely from my lips,
for you teach me your statutes.
172 May my tongue sing about your instructions,[y]
for all your commands are just.
173 May your hand help me,
for I choose to obey[z] your precepts.
174 I long for your deliverance, O Lord;
I find delight in your law.
175 May I[aa] live and praise you.
May your regulations help me.[ab]
176 I have wandered off like a lost sheep.[ac]
Come looking for your servant,
for I do not forget your commands.
Psalm 128[a]
A song of ascents.[b]
128 How blessed is every one of the Lord’s loyal followers,[c]
each one who keeps his commands.[d]
2 You[e] will eat what you worked so hard to grow.[f]
You will be blessed and secure.[g]
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine[h]
in the inner rooms of your house;
your children[i] will be like olive branches,
as they sit all around your table.
4 Yes indeed, the man who fears the Lord
will be blessed in this way.[j]
5 May the Lord bless you[k] from Zion,
that you might see[l] Jerusalem prosper
all the days of your life,
6 and that you might see[m] your grandchildren.[n]
May Israel experience peace.[o]
Psalm 129[p]
A song of ascents.[q]
129 “Since my youth they have often attacked me,”
let Israel say.
2 “Since my youth they have often attacked me,
but they have not defeated me.
3 The plowers plowed my back;
they made their furrows long.
4 The Lord is just;
he cut the ropes of the wicked.”[r]
5 May all who hate Zion
be humiliated and turned back.
6 May they be like the grass on the rooftops,
which withers before one can even pull it up,[s]
7 which cannot fill the reaper’s hand,
or the lap of the one who gathers the grain.
8 Those who pass by will not say,[t]
“May you experience the Lord’s blessing!
We pronounce a blessing on you in the name of the Lord.”
Psalm 130[u]
A song of ascents.[v]
130 From the deep water[w] I cry out to you, O Lord.
2 O Lord, listen to me.[x]
Pay attention to[y] my plea for mercy.
3 If you, O Lord, were to keep track of[z] sins,
O Lord, who could stand before you?[aa]
4 But[ab] you are willing to forgive,[ac]
so that you might[ad] be honored.[ae]
5 I rely on[af] the Lord.
I rely on him with my whole being;[ag]
I wait for his assuring word.[ah]
6 I yearn for the Lord,[ai]
more than watchmen do for the morning,
yes, more than watchmen do for the morning.[aj]
7 O Israel, hope in the Lord,
for the Lord exhibits loyal love,[ak]
and is more than willing to deliver.[al]
8 He will deliver[am] Israel
from all their sins.[an]
41 Then on the next morning Balak took Balaam, and brought him up to Bamoth Baal.[a] From there he saw the extent of the nation.
Balaam Blesses Israel
23 [b] Balaam said to Balak, “Build me seven altars here, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 2 So Balak did just as Balaam had said. Balak and Balaam then offered on each[c] altar a bull and a ram. 3 Balaam said to Balak, “Station yourself[d] by your burnt offering, and I will go off; perhaps the Lord will come to meet me, and whatever he reveals to me[e] I will tell you.”[f] Then he went to a deserted height.[g]
4 Then God met Balaam, who[h] said to him, “I have prepared seven altars, and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” 5 Then the Lord put a message[i] in Balaam’s mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and speak what I tell you.”[j]
6 So he returned to him, and he was still[k] standing by his burnt offering, he and all the princes of Moab. 7 Then Balaam[l] uttered[m] his oracle, saying,
“Balak, the king of Moab, brought me[n] from Aram,
out of the mountains of the east, saying,
‘Come, pronounce a curse on Jacob for me;
come, denounce Israel.’[o]
8 How[p] can I curse[q] one whom God has not cursed,
or how can I denounce one whom the Lord has not denounced?
9 For from the top of the rocks I see them;[r]
from the hills I watch them.[s]
Indeed, a nation that lives alone,
and it will not be reckoned[t] among the nations.
10 Who[u] can count[v] the dust[w] of Jacob,
or number[x] the fourth part of Israel?
Let me[y] die the death of the upright,[z]
and let the end of my life[aa] be like theirs.”[ab]
Balaam Relocates
11 Then Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but on the contrary[ac] you have only blessed them!”[ad] 12 Balaam replied,[ae] “Must I not be careful[af] to speak what the Lord has put in my mouth?”[ag]
13 Did that which is good, then, become death to me? Absolutely not! But sin, so that it would be shown to be sin, produced death in me through what is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual—but I am unspiritual, sold into slavery to sin.[a] 15 For I don’t understand what I am doing. For I do not do what I want—instead, I do what I hate.[b] 16 But if I do what I don’t want, I agree that the law is good.[c] 17 But now it is no longer me doing it, but sin that lives in me. 18 For I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my flesh. For I want to do the good, but I cannot do it.[d] 19 For I do not do the good I want, but I do the very evil I do not want! 20 Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer me doing it but sin that lives in me.
21 So, I find the law that when I want to do good, evil is present with me. 22 For I delight in the law of God in my inner being. 23 But I see a different law in my members waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that is in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be[e] to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then,[f] I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but[g] with my flesh I serve[h] the law of sin.
The Parable of the Tenants
33 “Listen to another parable: There was a landowner[a] who planted a vineyard.[b] He put a fence around it, dug a pit for its winepress, and built a watchtower. Then[c] he leased it to tenant farmers[d] and went on a journey. 34 When the harvest time was near, he sent his slaves[e] to the tenants to collect his portion of the crop.[f] 35 But the tenants seized his slaves, beat one,[g] killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other slaves, more than the first, and they treated them the same way. 37 Finally he sent his son to them,[h] saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’ 39 So[i] they seized him,[j] threw him out of the vineyard,[k] and killed him. 40 Now when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, “He will utterly destroy those evil men! Then he will lease the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his portion at the harvest.”
42 Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the scriptures:
‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.[l]
This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?[m]
43 For this reason I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken from you and given to a people[n] who will produce its fruit. 44 The one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.”[o] 45 When[p] the chief priests and the Pharisees[q] heard his parables, they realized that he was speaking about them. 46 They wanted to arrest him, but they were afraid of the crowds, because the crowds[r] regarded him as a prophet.
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