Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137[a]
137 By the rivers of Babylon
we sit down and weep[b]
when we remember Zion.
2 On the poplars in her midst
we hang our harps,
3 for there our captors ask us to compose songs;[c]
those who mock us demand that we be happy, saying:[d]
“Sing for us a song about Zion!”[e]
4 How can we sing a song to the Lord
in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand be crippled.[f]
6 May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
and do not give Jerusalem priority
over whatever gives me the most joy.[g]
7 Remember, O Lord, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.[h]
They said, “Tear it down, tear it down,[i]
right to its very foundation!”
8 O daughter Babylon, soon to be devastated,[j]
how blessed will be the one who repays you
for what you dished out to us.[k]
9 How blessed will be the one who grabs your babies
and smashes them on a rock.[l]
Psalm 144[a]
By David.
144 The Lord, my Protector,[b] deserves praise[c]—
the one who trains my hands for battle,[d]
and my fingers for war,
2 who loves me[e] and is my stronghold,
my refuge[f] and my deliverer,
my shield and the one in whom I take shelter,
who makes nations submit to me.[g]
3 O Lord, of what importance is the human race,[h] that you should notice them?
Of what importance is mankind,[i] that you should be concerned about them?[j]
4 People[k] are like a vapor,
their days like a shadow that disappears.[l]
5 O Lord, make the sky sink[m] and come down.[n]
Touch the mountains and make them smolder.[o]
6 Hurl lightning bolts and scatter the enemy.
Shoot your arrows and rout them.[p]
7 Reach down[q] from above.
Grab me and rescue me from the surging water,[r]
from the power of foreigners,[s]
8 who speak lies,
and make false promises.[t]
9 O God, I will sing a new song to you.
Accompanied by a ten-stringed instrument, I will sing praises to you,
10 the one who delivers[u] kings,
and rescued David his servant from a deadly[v] sword.
11 Grab me and rescue me from the power of foreigners,[w]
who speak lies,
and make false promises.[x]
12 Then[y] our sons will be like plants,
that quickly grow to full size.[z]
Our daughters will be like corner pillars,[aa]
carved like those in a palace.[ab]
13 Our storehouses[ac] will be full,
providing all kinds of food.[ad]
Our sheep will multiply by the thousands
and fill[ae] our pastures.[af]
14 Our cattle will be weighted down with produce.[ag]
No one will break through our walls,
no one will be taken captive,
and there will be no terrified cries in our city squares.[ah]
15 How blessed are the people who experience these things.[ai]
How blessed are the people whose God is the Lord.
Book 2 (Psalms 42-72)
Psalm 42[a]
For the music director, a well-written song[b] by the Korahites.
42 As a deer[c] longs[d] for streams of water,
so I long[e] for you, O God!
2 I thirst[f] for God,
for the living God.
I say,[g] “When will I be able to go and appear in God’s presence?”[h]
3 I cannot eat; I weep day and night.[i]
All day long they say to me,[j] “Where is your God?”
4 I will remember and weep.[k]
For I was once walking along with the great throng to the temple of God,
shouting and giving thanks along with the crowd as we celebrated the holy festival.[l]
5 Why are you depressed,[m] O my soul?[n]
Why are you upset?[o]
Wait[p] for God!
For I will again give thanks
to my God for his saving intervention.[q]
6 I am depressed,[r]
so I will pray to you while in the region of the upper Jordan,[s]
from Hermon,[t] from Mount Mizar.[u]
7 One deep stream calls out to another[v] at the sound of your waterfalls;[w]
all your billows and waves overwhelm me.[x]
8 By day the Lord decrees his loyal love,[y]
and by night he gives me a song,[z]
a prayer[aa] to the God of my life.
9 I will pray[ab] to God, my high ridge:[ac]
“Why do you ignore[ad] me?
Why must I walk around mourning[ae]
because my enemies oppress me?”
10 My enemies’ taunts cut me to the bone,[af]
as they say to me all day long, “Where is your God?”[ag]
11 Why are you depressed,[ah] O my soul?[ai]
Why are you upset?[aj]
Wait for God!
For I will again give thanks
to my God for his saving intervention.[ak]
Psalm 43[al]
43 Vindicate me, O God!
Fight for me[am] against an ungodly nation.
Deliver me[an] from deceitful and evil men.[ao]
2 For you are the God who shelters me.[ap]
Why do you reject me?[aq]
Why must I walk around[ar] mourning[as]
because my enemies oppress me?
3 Reveal[at] your light[au] and your faithfulness.
They will lead me;[av]
they will escort[aw] me back to your holy hill,[ax]
and to the place where you live.[ay]
4 Then I will go[az] to the altar of God,
to the God who gives me ecstatic joy,[ba]
so that I may express my thanks to you,[bb] O God, my God, with a harp.
5 Why are you depressed,[bc] O my soul?[bd]
Why are you upset?[be]
Wait for God!
For I will again give thanks
to my God for his saving intervention.[bf]
Israel and Judah Will Be Repopulated
27 “Indeed, a time is coming,”[a] says the Lord,[b] “when I will cause people and animals to sprout up in the lands of Israel and Judah.[c] 28 In the past I saw to it that they were uprooted and torn down, that they were destroyed and demolished and brought disaster. But now I will see to it that they are built up and firmly planted.[d] I, the Lord, affirm it![e]
The Lord Will Make a New Covenant with Israel and Judah
29 “When that time comes, people will no longer say, ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, but the children’s teeth have grown numb.’[f] 30 Rather, each person will die for his own sins. The teeth of the person who eats the sour grapes will themselves grow numb.[g]
31 “Indeed, a time is coming,” says the Lord,[h] “when I will make a new covenant[i] with the people of Israel and Judah.[j] 32 It will not be like the old[k] covenant that I made with their ancestors[l] when I delivered them[m] from Egypt. For they violated that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to them,”[n] says the Lord.[o] 33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel[p] after I plant them back in the land,”[q] says the Lord.[r] “I will[s] put my law within them[t] and write it on their hearts and minds.[u] I will be their God and they will be my people.[v]
34 “People will no longer need to teach their neighbors and relatives to know me.[w] For all of them, from the least important to the most important, will know me,”[x] says the Lord. “For[y] I will forgive their sin and will no longer call to mind the wrong they have done.”
25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters,[a] so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel[b] until the full number[c] of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so[d] all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion;
he will remove ungodliness from Jacob.
27 And this is my covenant with them,[e]
when I take away their sins.”[f]
28 In regard to the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but in regard to election they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable. 30 Just as you were formerly disobedient to God, but have now received mercy due to their disobedience, 31 so they too have now been disobedient in order that, by the mercy shown to you, they too may now[g] receive mercy. 32 For God has consigned all people to disobedience so that he may show mercy to them all.[h]
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how unfathomable his ways!
34 For who has known the mind of the Lord,
or who has been his counselor?[i]
35 Or who has first given to God,[j]
that God[k] needs to repay him?[l]
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever! Amen.
28 And when she had said this, Martha[a] went and called her sister Mary, saying privately,[b] “The Teacher is here and is asking for you.”[c] 29 So when Mary[d] heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 (Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still in the place where Martha had come out to meet him.) 31 Then the people[e] who were with Mary[f] in the house consoling her saw her[g] get up quickly and go out. They followed her, because they thought she was going to the tomb to weep[h] there.
32 Now when Mary came to the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the people[i] who had come with her weeping, he was intensely moved[j] in spirit and greatly distressed.[k] 34 He asked,[l] “Where have you laid him?”[m] They replied,[n] “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept.[o] 36 Thus the people who had come to mourn[p] said, “Look how much he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “This is the man who caused the blind man to see![q] Couldn’t he have done something to keep Lazarus[r] from dying?”
Lazarus Raised from the Dead
38 Jesus, intensely moved[s] again, came to the tomb. (Now it was a cave, and a stone was placed across it.)[t] 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”[u] Martha, the sister of the deceased,[v] replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell,[w] because he has been buried[x] four days.”[y] 40 Jesus responded,[z] “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away[aa] the stone. Jesus looked upward[ab] and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me.[ac] 42 I knew that you always listen to me,[ad] but I said this[ae] for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When[af] he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice,[ag] “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth,[ah] and a cloth wrapped around his face.[ai] Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him[aj] and let him go.”
The Outcome of Jesus’ Public Ministry Foretold
37 Although Jesus[a] had performed[b] so many miraculous signs before them, they still refused to believe in him, 38 so that the word[c] of the prophet Isaiah would be fulfilled. He said,[d] “Lord, who has believed our message, and to whom has the arm of the Lord[e] been revealed?”[f] 39 For this reason they could not believe,[g] because again Isaiah said,
40 “He has blinded their eyes
and hardened their heart,[h]
so that they would not see with their eyes
and understand with their heart,[i]
and turn to me,[j] and I would heal them.”[k]
41 Isaiah said these things because he saw Christ’s[l] glory, and spoke about him.
42 Nevertheless, even among the rulers[m] many believed in him, but because of the Pharisees[n] they would not confess Jesus to be the Christ,[o] so that they would not be put out of[p] the synagogue.[q] 43 For they loved praise[r] from men more than praise[s] from God.
Jesus’ Final Public Words
44 But Jesus shouted out,[t] “The one who believes in me does not believe in me, but in the one who sent me,[u] 45 and the one who sees me sees the one who sent me.[v] 46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone[w] hears my words and does not obey them,[x] I do not judge him. For I have not come to judge the world, but to save the world.[y] 48 The one who rejects me and does not accept[z] my words has a judge;[aa] the word[ab] I have spoken will judge him at the last day. 49 For I have not spoken from my own authority,[ac] but the Father himself who sent me has commanded me[ad] what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that his commandment is eternal life.[ae] Thus the things I say, I say just as the Father has told me.”[af]
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