Book of Common Prayer
Plea for Relief from Bitter Foes
A Song of Ascents.
120 In (A)my distress I cried to the Lord,
And He heard me.
2 Deliver my soul, O Lord, from lying lips
And from a deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given to you,
Or what shall be done to you,
You false tongue?
4 Sharp arrows of the [a]warrior,
With coals of the broom tree!
5 Woe is me, that I dwell in (B)Meshech,
(C)That I dwell among the tents of Kedar!
6 My soul has dwelt too long
With one who hates peace.
7 I am for peace;
But when I speak, they are for war.
God the Help of Those Who Seek Him
A Song of Ascents.
121 I (D)will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2 (E)My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 (F)He will not allow your foot to [b]be moved;
(G)He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your [c]keeper;
The Lord is (H)your shade (I)at your right hand.
6 (J)The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall [d]preserve you from all evil;
He shall (K)preserve your soul.
8 The Lord shall (L)preserve[e] your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.
The Joy of Going to the House of the Lord
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
(M)“Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet have been standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem!
3 Jerusalem is built
As a city that is (N)compact together,
4 (O)Where the tribes go up,
The tribes of the Lord,
[f]To (P)the Testimony of Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 (Q)For thrones are set there for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6 (R)Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
7 Peace be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces.”
8 For the sake of my brethren and companions,
I will now say, “Peace be within you.”
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God
I will (S)seek your good.
Prayer for Relief from Contempt
A Song of Ascents.
123 Unto You (T)I lift up my eyes,
O You (U)who dwell in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
(V)So our eyes look to the Lord our God,
Until He has mercy on us.
3 Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us!
For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly filled
With the scorn of those who are at ease,
With the contempt of the proud.
The Lord the Defense of His People
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
124 “If it had not been the Lord who was on our (W)side,”
(X)Let Israel now say—
2 “If it had not been the Lord who was on our side,
When men rose up against us,
3 Then they would have (Y)swallowed us alive,
When their wrath was kindled against us;
4 Then the waters would have overwhelmed us,
The stream would have [g]gone over our soul;
5 Then the swollen waters
Would have [h]gone over our soul.”
6 Blessed be the Lord,
Who has not given us as prey to their teeth.
7 (Z)Our soul has escaped (AA)as a bird from the snare of the [i]fowlers;
The snare is broken, and we have escaped.
8 (AB)Our help is in the name of the Lord,
(AC)Who made heaven and earth.
The Lord the Strength of His People
A Song of Ascents.
125 Those who trust in the Lord
Are like Mount Zion,
Which cannot be moved, but abides forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So the Lord surrounds His people
From this time forth and forever.
3 For (AD)the scepter of wickedness shall not rest
On the land allotted to the righteous,
Lest the righteous reach out their hands to iniquity.
4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good,
And to those who are upright in their hearts.
5 As for such as turn aside to their (AE)crooked ways,
The Lord shall lead them away
With the workers of iniquity.
(AF)Peace be upon Israel!
A Joyful Return to Zion
A Song of Ascents.
126 When (AG)the Lord brought back [j]the captivity of Zion,
(AH)We were like those who dream.
2 Then (AI)our mouth was filled with laughter,
And our tongue with singing.
Then they said among the [k]nations,
“The Lord has done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us,
And we are glad.
4 Bring back our captivity, O Lord,
As the streams in the South.
5 (AJ)Those who sow in tears
Shall reap in joy.
6 He who continually goes [l]forth weeping,
Bearing [m]seed for sowing,
Shall doubtless come again [n]with (AK)rejoicing,
Bringing his sheaves with him.
Laboring and Prospering with the Lord
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.
127 Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless (AL)the Lord guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early,
To sit up late,
To (AM)eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep.
3 Behold, (AN)children are a heritage from the Lord,
(AO)The fruit of the womb is a (AP)reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5 (AQ)Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
(AR)They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
Security in Wisdom
4 Hear, (A)my children, the instruction of a father,
And give attention to know understanding;
2 For I give you good doctrine:
Do not forsake my law.
3 When I was my father’s son,
(B)Tender and the only one in the sight of my mother,
4 (C)He also taught me, and said to me:
“Let your heart retain my words;
(D)Keep my commands, and live.
5 (E)Get wisdom! Get understanding!
Do not forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth.
6 Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you;
(F)Love her, and she will keep you.
7 (G)Wisdom is the principal thing;
Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get understanding.
8 (H)Exalt her, and she will promote you;
She will bring you honor, when you embrace her.
9 She will place on your head (I)an ornament of grace;
A crown of glory she will deliver to you.”
10 Hear, my son, and receive my sayings,
(J)And the years of your life will be many.
11 I have (K)taught you in the way of wisdom;
I have led you in right paths.
12 When you walk, (L)your steps will not be hindered,
(M)And when you run, you will not stumble.
13 Take firm hold of instruction, do not let go;
Keep her, for she is your life.
14 (N)Do not enter the path of the wicked,
And do not walk in the way of evil.
15 Avoid it, do not travel on it;
Turn away from it and pass on.
16 (O)For they do not sleep unless they have done evil;
And their sleep is [a]taken away unless they make someone fall.
17 For they eat the bread of wickedness,
And drink the wine of violence.
18 (P)But the path of the just (Q)is like the shining [b]sun,
That shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.
19 (R)The way of the wicked is like darkness;
They do not know what makes them stumble.
20 My son, give attention to my words;
Incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Do not let them depart from your eyes;
Keep them in the midst of your heart;
22 For they are life to those who find them,
And health to all their flesh.
23 Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of (S)life.
24 Put away from you a [c]deceitful mouth,
And put perverse lips far from you.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead,
And your eyelids look right before you.
26 Ponder the path of your (T)feet,
And let all your ways be established.
27 Do not turn to the right or the left;
Remove your foot from evil.
Knowing God Through Love(A)
7 (B)Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who (C)loves is born of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 (D)In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten (E)Son into the world, that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, (F)not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son (G)to be the propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, (H)if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Seeing God Through Love
12 (I)No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 (J)By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And (K)we have seen and testify that (L)the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 (M)Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and (N)he who abides in love abides in God, and God (O)in him.
The Consummation of Love
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that (P)we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 (Q)We love [a]Him because He first loved us.
Obedience by Faith
20 (R)If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, [b]how can he love God (S)whom he has not seen? 21 And (T)this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but [a]was in the place where Martha met Him. 31 (A)Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, [b]saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she (B)fell down at His feet, saying to Him, (C)“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”
35 (D)Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, (E)who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”
Lazarus Raised from the Dead
38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a (F)stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would (G)see the glory of God?” 41 Then they took away the stone [c]from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but (H)because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with (I)graveclothes, and (J)his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.