Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 131[a]
A song of ascents,[b] by David.
131 O Lord, my heart is not proud,
nor do I have a haughty look.[c]
I do not have great aspirations,
or concern myself with things that are beyond me.[d]
2 Indeed,[e] I have calmed and quieted myself[f]
like a weaned child with its mother;[g]
I am content like a young child.[h]
3 O Israel, hope in the Lord
now and forevermore!
Psalm 132[i]
A song of ascents.[j]
132 O Lord, for David’s sake remember
all his strenuous effort,[k]
2 and how he made a vow to the Lord,
and swore an oath to the Powerful One of Jacob.
3 He said,[l] “I will not enter my own home,[m]
or get into my bed.[n]
4 I will not allow my eyes to sleep,
or my eyelids to slumber,
5 until I find a place for the Lord,
a fine dwelling place[o] for the Powerful One of Jacob.”[p]
6 Look, we heard about it[q] in Ephrathah;[r]
we found it in the territory of Jaar.[s]
7 Let us go to his dwelling place.
Let us worship[t] before his footstool.
8 Ascend, O Lord, to your resting place,
you and the ark of your strength.
9 May your priests be clothed with integrity.[u]
May your loyal followers shout for joy.
10 For the sake of David, your servant,
do not reject your chosen king.[v]
11 The Lord made a reliable promise to David;[w]
he will not go back on his word.[x]
He said,[y] “I will place one of your descendants[z] on your throne.
12 If your sons keep my covenant
and the rules I teach them,
their sons will also sit on your throne forever.”
13 Certainly[aa] the Lord has chosen Zion;
he decided to make it his home.[ab]
14 He said,[ac] “This will be my resting place forever;
I will live here, for I have chosen it.[ad]
15 I will abundantly supply what she needs;[ae]
I will give her poor all the food they need.[af]
16 I will protect her priests,[ag]
and her godly people will shout exuberantly.[ah]
17 There I will make David strong;[ai]
I have determined that my chosen king’s dynasty will continue.[aj]
18 I will humiliate his enemies,[ak]
and his crown will shine.”
Psalm 133[al]
A song of ascents;[am] by David.
133 Look! How good and how pleasant it is
when brothers truly live in unity.[an]
2 It is like fine oil poured on the head,
which flows down the beard[ao]—
Aaron’s beard,
and then flows down his garments.[ap]
3 It is like the dew of Hermon,[aq]
which flows down upon the hills of Zion.[ar]
Indeed,[as] that is where the Lord has decreed
a blessing will be available—eternal life.[at]
Psalm 134[au]
A song of ascents.[av]
134 Attention![aw] Praise the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord,
who serve[ax] in the Lord’s temple during the night.
2 Lift your hands toward the sanctuary
and praise the Lord.
3 May the Lord, the Creator of heaven and earth,
bless you[ay] from Zion.[az]
Psalm 135[ba]
135 Praise the Lord.
Praise the name of the Lord.
Offer praise, you servants of the Lord,
2 who serve[bb] in the Lord’s temple,
in the courts of the temple of our God.
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good.
Sing praises to his name, for it is pleasant.[bc]
4 Indeed,[bd] the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel to be his special possession.[be]
5 Yes,[bf] I know the Lord is great,
and our Lord is superior to all gods.
6 He does whatever he pleases
in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the ocean depths.
7 He causes the clouds to arise from the end of the earth,
makes lightning bolts accompany the rain,
and brings the wind out of his storehouses.
8 He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
including both men and animals.
9 He performed awesome deeds[bg] and acts of judgment[bh]
in your midst, O Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 He defeated many nations,
and killed mighty kings—
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og, king of Bashan,
and all the kingdoms of Canaan.
12 He gave their land as an inheritance,
as an inheritance to Israel his people.
13 O Lord, your name endures,[bi]
your reputation, O Lord, lasts.[bj]
14 For the Lord vindicates[bk] his people,
and has compassion on his servants.[bl]
15 The nations’ idols are made of silver and gold;
they are man-made.[bm]
16 They have mouths, but cannot speak,
eyes, but cannot see,
17 and ears, but cannot hear.
Indeed, they cannot breathe.[bn]
18 Those who make them will end up[bo] like them,
as will everyone who trusts in them.
19 O family[bp] of Israel, praise the Lord.
O family of Aaron, praise the Lord.
20 O family of Levi, praise the Lord.
You loyal followers[bq] of the Lord, praise the Lord.
21 The Lord deserves praise in Zion[br]—
he who dwells in Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord.
God Will Judge Judah’s Sinful Leaders
3 I said,
“Listen, you leaders[a] of Jacob,
you rulers of the nation[b] of Israel!
You ought to know what is just,[c]
2 yet you[d] hate what is good[e]
and love what is evil.[f]
You flay my people’s skin[g]
and rip the flesh from their bones.[h]
3 You[i] devour my people’s flesh,
strip off their skin,
and crush their bones.
You chop them up like flesh in a pot[j]—
like meat in a kettle.
4 Someday these sinful leaders[k] will cry to the Lord for help,
but he will not answer them.
He will hide his face from them at that time,
because they have done such wicked deeds.”
5 This is what the Lord has said about the prophets who mislead my people,[l]
“If someone gives them enough to eat,
they offer an oracle of peace.[m]
But if someone does not give them food,
they are ready to declare war on him.[n]
6 Therefore night will fall, and you will receive no visions;[o]
it will grow dark, and you will no longer be able to read the omens.[p]
The sun will set on these prophets,
and the daylight will turn to darkness over their heads.[q]
7 The prophets[r] will be ashamed;
the omen readers will be humiliated.
All of them will cover their mouths,[s]
for they will receive no divine oracles.”[t]
8 But I[u] am full of the courage that the Lord’s Spirit gives
The Accusations Against Paul
24 After five days the high priest Ananias[a] came down with some elders and an attorney[b] named[c] Tertullus, and they[d] brought formal charges[e] against Paul to the governor. 2 When Paul[f] had been summoned, Tertullus began to accuse him,[g] saying, “We have experienced a lengthy time[h] of peace through your rule,[i] and reforms[j] are being made in this nation[k] through your foresight.[l] 3 Most excellent Felix,[m] we acknowledge this everywhere and in every way[n] with all gratitude.[o] 4 But so that I may not delay[p] you any further, I beg[q] you to hear us briefly[r] with your customary graciousness.[s] 5 For we have found[t] this man to be a troublemaker,[u] one who stirs up riots[v] among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader[w] of the sect of the Nazarenes.[x] 6 He[y] even tried to desecrate[z] the temple, so we arrested[aa] him.[ab] 7 8 When you examine[ac] him yourself, you will be able to learn from him[ad] about all these things we are accusing him of doing.”[ae] 9 The Jews also joined in the verbal attack,[af] claiming[ag] that these things were true.
Paul’s Defense Before Felix
10 When the governor gestured for him to speak, Paul replied, “Because I know[ah] that you have been a judge over this nation for many years, I confidently make my defense.[ai] 11 As you can verify[aj] for yourself, not more than twelve days ago[ak] I went up to Jerusalem to worship. 12 They did not find me arguing[al] with anyone or stirring up a crowd[am] in the temple courts[an] or in the synagogues[ao] or throughout the city,[ap] 13 nor can they prove[aq] to you the things[ar] they are accusing me of doing.[as] 14 But I confess this to you, that I worship[at] the God of our ancestors[au] according to the Way (which they call a sect), believing everything that is according to the law[av] and that is written in the prophets. 15 I have[aw] a hope in God (a hope[ax] that[ay] these men[az] themselves accept too) that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.[ba] 16 This is the reason[bb] I do my best to always[bc] have a clear[bd] conscience toward God and toward people.[be] 17 After several years[bf] I came to bring to my people gifts for the poor[bg] and to present offerings,[bh] 18 which I was doing when they found me in the temple, ritually purified,[bi] without a crowd or a disturbance.[bj] 19 But there are some Jews from the province of Asia[bk] who should be here before you and bring charges,[bl] if they have anything against me. 20 Or these men here[bm] should tell what crime[bn] they found me guilty of[bo] when I stood before the council,[bp] 21 other than[bq] this one thing[br] I shouted out while I stood before[bs] them: ‘I am on trial before you today concerning the resurrection of the dead.’”[bt]
22 Then Felix,[bu] who understood the facts[bv] concerning the Way[bw] more accurately,[bx] adjourned their hearing,[by] saying, “When Lysias the commanding officer comes down, I will decide your case.”[bz] 23 He ordered the centurion[ca] to guard Paul,[cb] but to let him have some freedom,[cc] and not to prevent any of his friends[cd] from meeting his needs.[ce]
Jesus’ Anointing
36 Now one of the Pharisees[a] asked Jesus[b] to have dinner with him, so[c] he went into the Pharisee’s house and took his place at the table.[d] 37 Then[e] when a woman of that town, who was a sinner, learned that Jesus[f] was dining[g] at the Pharisee’s house, she brought an alabaster jar[h] of perfumed oil.[i] 38 As[j] she stood[k] behind him at his feet, weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. She[l] wiped them with her hair,[m] kissed[n] them,[o] and anointed[p] them with the perfumed oil. 39 Now when the Pharisee who had invited him saw this,[q] he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet,[r] he would know who and what kind of woman[s] this is who is touching him, that she is a sinner.” 40 So[t] Jesus answered him,[u] “Simon, I have something to say to you.” He replied,[v] “Say it, Teacher.” 41 “A certain creditor[w] had two debtors; one owed him[x] 500 silver coins,[y] and the other fifty. 42 When they could not pay, he canceled[z] the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?” 43 Simon answered,[aa] “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”[ab] Jesus[ac] said to him, “You have judged rightly.” 44 Then,[ad] turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet,[ae] but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You gave me no kiss of greeting,[af] but from the time I entered she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet[ag] with perfumed oil. 47 Therefore I tell you, her sins, which were many, are forgiven, thus she loved much;[ah] but the one who is forgiven little loves little.” 48 Then[ai] Jesus[aj] said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”[ak] 49 But[al] those who were at the table[am] with him began to say among themselves, “Who is this, who even forgives sins?” 50 He[an] said to the woman, “Your faith[ao] has saved you;[ap] go in peace.”
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