Book of Common Prayer

¹ By the rivers^[b] of Babylon
    we sat down and wept
    when we remembered Zion.
^2 [c]There on the poplars
    we hung up our harps.
³ For it was there that our captors
    asked us to sing them a song,
and, tormenting us, demanded a joyful song:
    “Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”
⁴ But how could we sing songs of the Lord
    while living in a foreign land?^[d]
5 [e]If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
    may my right hand fail me.
⁶ May my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth
    if I do not remember you,
if I do not regard Jerusalem
    as the greatest of my joys.
^7 [f]Remember, O Lord, the cruelty of the Edomites
    on the day when Jerusalem fell,^[g]
how they shouted, “Tear it down!
    Tear it down to its very foundations!”
⁸ O Daughter^[h] of Babylon, you destroyer,
    happy will he be who repays you
    for the suffering you inflicted upon us!
⁹ Happy will he be who seizes your babies
    and smashes them against a rock!^[i]

Blessed be the Lord,^[c] my Rock,
    who trains my hands for war
    and my fingers for battle.
² You are my safeguard^[d] and my fortress,
    my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield in whom I take refuge,
    the one who subdues nations under me.
³ O Lord, what is man that you care for him,
    or the son of man that you think of him?^[e]
4 Man is nothing more than a breath;
    his days are like a fleeting shadow.^[f]
5 [g]Part the heavens, O Lord, and descend;
    touch the mountains so that they smoke.^[h]
6 Flash forth lightning bolts and scatter my foes;
    rout them with your arrows.^[i]
7 Reach forth your hand^[j] from on high;
    deliver me and rescue me
from the mighty waters
    and from the power of foreign foes
⁸ whose mouths utter lies^[k]
    and whose right hands are raised to swear to untruths.
^9 [l]I will sing a new song to you, my God;
    on a ten-stringed lyre I will play music for you.^[m]
10 You grant victory to kings
    and deliverance to your servant David from the cruel sword.^[n]
11 Deliver me and rescue me
    from the hands of foreign foes
whose mouths utter lies
    and whose right hands are raised to swear to untruths.^[o]
12 [p]May our sons in their youth
    be like carefully nurtured plants,
and may our daughters be like pillars
    designed to adorn a palace.^[q]
13 May our barns be filled
    with every kind of crop.
May our sheep increase by thousands,
    by tens of thousands in our fields,^[r]
14     and may our cattle be well fed.^[s]
May there be no breach in our walls,
    no going into exile,
    no cries of distress in our streets.
¹⁵ Blessed are the people for whom this is true;
    blessed^[t] are the people whose God is the Lord.

¹ Bless the Lord, O my soul.
    O Lord, my God, you are indeed very great.
You are clothed in majesty and splendor,
²     wrapped in light^[b] as in a robe.
You have stretched out the heavens like a tent;
³     you have established your palace^[c] upon the waters.
You make the clouds serve as your chariot;
    you ride forth on the wings of the wind.
⁴ You have appointed the winds as your messengers
    and flames of fire^[d] as your ministers.
⁵ You established the earth on its foundations
    so that it will remain unshaken forever.^[e]
6 You covered it with the deep like a cloak;
    the waters rose above the mountains.
⁷ At your rebuke^[f] the waters took to flight;
    at the sound of your thunder they fled in terror.
⁸ They rose up to the mountains
    and flowed down to the valleys,^[g]
    to the place that you had designated for them.
⁹ You established a boundary that they were not to cross
    so that they would never again cover the earth.
^10 [h]You made springs gush forth in the valleys
    and flow between the mountains.
¹¹ They supply water to every beast of the field,
    and from them the wild asses quench their thirst.
¹² On the banks the birds of the air build nests
    and sing among the branches.
^13 [i]From your dwelling you water the mountains,
    enriching the earth with the fruit of your labor.
¹⁴ You provide grass for the cattle,
    and the plants for man to cultivate.
You bring forth food from the earth
¹⁵     and wine to gladden the heart^[j] of man,
oil to make his face shine
    and bread to strengthen his body.
¹⁶ The trees of the Lord have fruit in abundance,
    the cedars of Lebanon^[k] that he planted.
¹⁷ In them the birds build their nests;
    in the fir trees the stork makes its home.
¹⁸ The high mountains are inhabited by the wild goats;
    in the rocky crags the badgers^[l] find refuge.
¹⁹ You created the moon that marks the seasons
    and the sun that knows its time for setting.^[m]
20 You bring on darkness, and it is night,
    when all the beasts of the forests go on the prowl.
²¹ The young lions^[n] roar for their prey,
    seeking their food from God.
²² When the sun rises, they steal away
    and return to their lairs to rest.
²³ People go forth to their work
    and to their labor until darkness descends.
^24 [o]How countless are your works, O Lord;
    by your wisdom you have made them all;
    the earth abounds with your creatures.
²⁵ There is the sea, vast and broad,
    filled with numberless species,
    living creatures both great and small.
²⁶ There the ships sail forth,
    and the Leviathan^[p] that you formed to play therein.
^27 [q]All of them look to you
    to give them their food at the appropriate time.^[r]
28 [s]When you provide it for them,
    they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
    they are filled with good things.
²⁹ When you turn away your face,^[t]
    they are dismayed;
when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to the dust.
³⁰ When you send forth your Spirit,^[u]
    they are created,
    and you renew the face of the earth.
^31 [v]May the glory of the Lord abide forever,
    and may the Lord rejoice in his works.^[w]
32 When he looks at the earth, it quakes;
    when he touches the mountains, they smoke.^[x]
33 I will sing to the Lord as long as I live;^[y]
    I will sing praise to my God while I have life.
³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    for I find my joy in the Lord.
³⁵ May sinners be banished from the earth,
    and may the wicked no longer exist.
Bless the Lord, O my soul.^[z]
Alleluia.

²² “The Lord created me as the firstborn of his ways,
    before the oldest of his works.
²³ I was established in the earliest times,
    at the beginning, before the earth.
²⁴ I was brought forth when there were no ocean depths,
    when there were no springs overflowing with water.
²⁵ Before the mountains had been shaped,
    before the hills, I was brought forth,
²⁶ when he had not yet made the earth and the fields
    or the mass of the world’s soil.
²⁷ “When he set the heavens in place, I was there,
    when he designated where the ocean and the horizon^[b] meet,
²⁸ when he fixed the canopy of the clouds above
    and limited the fountains of the deep,
²⁹ when he assigned the boundaries of the sea
    so that the waters would not transgress his command,
and when he established the foundations of the earth,
³⁰     then I was beside him as a master craftsman,^[c]
and I was his delight day after day,
    exulting in his presence continually,
³¹ rejoicing in his inhabited world
    and delighting in the children of men.^[d]
32 “So now, my sons, listen to me;
    blessed^[e] are those who keep my ways.
³³ Listen to instruction and gain wisdom;
    do not reject it.
³⁴ Blessed is the one who listens to me,
    who keeps watch daily at my gates,
    waiting at my doorway.
³⁵ For whoever finds me finds life
    and receives favor from the Lord.
³⁶ But whoever sins against me harms himself,
    and all who hate me love death.”