Book of Common Prayer
Qoph
145 With my (A)whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord!
I will (B)keep your statutes.
146 I call to you; save me,
that I may observe your testimonies.
147 I rise before (C)dawn and cry for help;
I (D)hope in your words.
148 My eyes are awake before (E)the watches of the night,
that I may meditate on your promise.
149 Hear my voice according to your steadfast love;
O Lord, (F)according to your justice (G)give me life.
150 They draw near who persecute me with evil purpose;
they are far from your law.
151 But (H)you are near, O Lord,
and all your commandments are (I)true.
152 Long have I known from your testimonies
that you have (J)founded them forever.
Resh
153 Look on my (K)affliction and deliver me,
for (L)I do not forget your law.
154 (M)Plead my cause and redeem me;
(N)give me life according to your promise!
155 (O)Salvation is far from the wicked,
(P)for they do not seek your statutes.
156 (Q)Great is your mercy, O Lord;
(R)give me life according to your rules.
157 (S)Many are my persecutors and my adversaries,
but I do not (T)swerve from your testimonies.
158 I look at (U)the faithless with (V)disgust,
because they do not keep your commands.
159 Consider how I (W)love your precepts!
(X)Give me life according to your steadfast love.
160 (Y)The sum of your word is (Z)truth,
and every one of your (AA)righteous rules endures forever.
Sin and Shin
161 (AB)Princes persecute me (AC)without cause,
but my heart (AD)stands in awe of your words.
162 I (AE)rejoice at your word
like one who (AF)finds great spoil.
163 I hate and abhor falsehood,
but I love (AG)your law.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
for your (AH)righteous rules.
165 Great (AI)peace have those who love your law;
(AJ)nothing can make them stumble.
166 I (AK)hope for your salvation, O Lord,
and I do your commandments.
167 My soul keeps your testimonies;
I (AL)love them exceedingly.
168 I keep your precepts and testimonies,
(AM)for all my ways are before you.
Taw
169 Let my (AN)cry come before you, O Lord;
(AO)give me understanding (AP)according to your word!
170 Let my plea come before you;
(AQ)deliver me according to your word.
171 My lips will (AR)pour forth praise,
for you (AS)teach me your statutes.
172 My tongue will sing of your word,
for (AT)all your commandments are right.
173 Let your hand be ready to help me,
for I have (AU)chosen your precepts.
174 I (AV)long for your salvation, O Lord,
and your law is my (AW)delight.
175 Let my soul live and praise you,
and let your rules help me.
176 I have (AX)gone astray like a lost sheep; seek your servant,
for I do not (AY)forget your commandments.
Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord
A Song of (A)Ascents.
128 (B)Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
who (C)walks in his ways!
2 You (D)shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.
3 Your wife will be like (E)a fruitful vine
within your house;
your children will be like (F)olive shoots
around your table.
4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
who fears the Lord.
5 (G)The Lord bless you (H)from Zion!
May you see (I)the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life!
6 May you see your (J)children's children!
(K)Peace be upon Israel!
They Have Afflicted Me from My Youth
A Song of (L)Ascents.
129 “Greatly[a] have they (M)afflicted me (N)from my youth”—
(O)let Israel now say—
2 “Greatly have they (P)afflicted me (Q)from my youth,
(R)yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 (S)The plowers plowed (T)upon my back;
they made long their furrows.”
4 The Lord is righteous;
he has cut (U)the cords of the wicked.
5 May all who hate Zion
be (V)put to shame and turned backward!
6 Let them be like (W)the grass on the housetops,
which (X)withers before it grows up,
7 with which the reaper does not fill his hand
nor the binder of sheaves his arms,
8 nor do those who pass by say,
(Y)“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We (Z)bless you in the name of the Lord!”
My Soul Waits for the Lord
A Song of (AA)Ascents.
130 Out of (AB)the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
2 O Lord, hear my voice!
(AC)Let your ears be attentive
to (AD)the voice of my pleas for mercy!
3 If you, O Lord, should (AE)mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could (AF)stand?
4 But with you there is (AG)forgiveness,
(AH)that you may be feared.
41 And in the morning Balak took Balaam and brought him up to Bamoth-baal, and from there he saw a fraction of the people.
Balaam's First Oracle
23 And Balaam said to Balak, (A)“Build for me here seven altars, and prepare for me here seven bulls and seven rams.” 2 Balak did as Balaam had said. And Balak and Balaam (B)offered on each altar a bull and a ram. 3 And Balaam said to Balak, (C)“Stand beside your burnt offering, and I will go. Perhaps the Lord will come (D)to meet me, and whatever he shows me I will tell you.” And he went to a bare height, 4 (E)and God met Balaam. And Balaam said to him, “I have arranged the seven altars and I have offered on each altar a bull and a ram.” 5 And the Lord (F)put a word in Balaam's mouth and said, “Return to Balak, and thus you shall speak.” 6 And he returned to him, and behold, he and all the princes of Moab were standing beside his burnt offering. 7 And Balaam (G)took up his discourse and said,
“From (H)Aram Balak has brought me,
the king of Moab (I)from the eastern mountains:
‘Come, (J)curse Jacob for me,
and come, denounce Israel!’
8 How can I curse whom God has not cursed?
How can I denounce whom the Lord has not denounced?
9 For from the top of the crags (K)I see him,
from the hills I behold him;
behold, (L)a people dwelling alone,
and (M)not counting itself among the nations!
10 (N)Who can count the dust of Jacob
or number the fourth part[a] of Israel?
Let me die (O)the death of the upright,
and let my end be like his!”
11 And Balak said to Balaam, “What have you done to me? (P)I took you to curse my enemies, and behold, you have done nothing but bless them.” 12 And he answered and said, (Q)“Must I not take care to speak what the Lord puts in my mouth?”
13 Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. 14 For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, (A)sold under sin. 15 For I do not understand my own actions. For (B)I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. 16 Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with (C)the law, that it is good. 17 So now (D)it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. 18 For I know that nothing good dwells (E)in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. 19 (F)For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. 20 Now if I do what I do not want, (G)it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
21 So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. 22 For (H)I delight in the law of God, (I)in my inner being, 23 but I see in my members (J)another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. 24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from (K)this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.
The Parable of the Tenants
33 (A)“Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted (B)a vineyard (C)and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and (D)leased it to tenants, and (E)went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants[a] to the tenants (F)to get his fruit. 35 (G)And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and (H)stoned another. 36 (I)Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son to them, saying, ‘They will respect my son.’ 38 But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, (J)‘This is the heir. Come, (K)let us kill him and have his inheritance.’ 39 And they took him and (L)threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 40 (M)When therefore the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants?” 41 They said to him, (N)“He will put those wretches to a miserable death and (O)let out the vineyard to other tenants who will give him the fruits in their seasons.”
42 Jesus said to them, (P)“Have you never read in the Scriptures:
(Q)“‘The stone that the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone;[b]
this was the Lord's doing,
and it is marvelous in our eyes’?
43 Therefore I tell you, the kingdom of God (R)will be taken away from you and given to a people (S)producing its fruits. 44 And (T)the one who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; and (U)when it falls on anyone, it will crush him.”[c]
45 When the chief priests and the Pharisees heard his parables, they perceived that he was speaking about them. 46 And (V)although they were seeking to arrest him, (W)they feared the crowds, because they held him to be (X)a prophet.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.