Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137[a]
The Exiles’ Remembrance of Zion
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]
Psalm 144[a]
Prayer for Victory and Peace
1 [b]Of David.
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.
Book II—Psalms 42–72[a]
Psalm 42[b]
Prayer of Longing for God
1 For the director.[c] A maskil of the sons of Korah.
2 As a deer longs for running streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.[d]
3 My soul[e] thirsts for God, the living God.
When shall I come to behold the face of God?
4 My tears have become my food
day and night,
while people taunt me all day long, saying,
“Where is your God?”
5 As I pour out my soul,
I recall those times
when I journeyed with the multitude
and led them in procession to the house of God,
amid loud cries of joy and thanksgiving
on the part of the crowd keeping festival.
6 Why are you so disheartened, O my soul?
Why do you sigh within me?
Place your hope in God,
for I will once again praise him,
my Savior and my God.[f]
7 My soul is disheartened within me;
therefore, I remember you
from the land of Jordan and Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.[g]
8 The depths of the sea resound
in the roar of your waterfalls;[h]
all your waves and your breakers
sweep over me.
9 During the day the Lord grants his kindness,
and at night his praise is with me,
a prayer to the living God.[i]
10 I say to God, my Rock,[j]
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about in mourning
while my enemy oppresses me?”
11 It crushes my bones
when my foes taunt me,
jeering at me all day long,
“Where is your God?”[k]
12 Why are you so disheartened, O my soul?
Why do you sigh within me?
Place your hope in God;
for I will once again praise him,
my Savior and my God.[l]
Psalm 43[m]
Prayer To Worship God Anew
1 Grant me your justice, O God,
and plead my cause against a godless nation;
rescue me from those who are deceitful and unjust.
2 You, O God, are my refuge;
why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about in mourning,
while my enemy oppresses me?
3 Send forth your light and your truth;[n]
they will serve as my guide.
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to the place of your dwelling.
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to the God of my joy and delight,
and I will praise you[o] with the harp,
O God, my God.
5 Why are you so disheartened, O my soul?
Why do you sigh within me?
Place your hope in God;
for I will once again praise him,
my Savior and my God.[p]
21 Ninth Plague: The Darkness.[a] The Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward the heavens. Darkness will come upon the land of Egypt, so dark that one can feel it.”
22 Moses stretched out his hand toward the heavens. Darkness came upon the land of Egypt for three days. 23 People could not see each other, and for three days no one could move around. But there was light where the children of Israel were living.[b]
24 Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Leave, and serve the Lord. Take your babies with you. Only leave your flocks and herds here.”
25 Moses answered, “You must also grant us sacrifices and burnt offerings that we will offer to the Lord, our God. 26 Our animals, too, must leave with us; not even a hoof will be left behind. We must choose the sacrificial victims that we will offer to the Lord, our God, from among them, and we will not know how to serve the Lord until we will have arrived in that place.” 27 But the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh who would not let them go. 28 Pharaoh therefore said to Moses, “Leave me! Make sure that you never see me again, for the next time you see my face, you will die.” 29 Moses said, “You have spoken well, for I will not see your face again.”
Chapter 11
Announcement of the Death of the Firstborn.[c] 1 The Lord said to Moses, “I will send still another plague against Pharaoh and Egypt. Afterward, he will let you go from here. He will let you leave without restrictions. In fact, he will chase you out.
2 “Therefore, tell the people that each man should ask from his neighbor and each woman should ask from her neighbor objects of silver and objects of gold.”
3 The Lord caused the people to find favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moses, too, was a man who was highly regarded in the land of Egypt, both by the ministers of Pharaoh and by the people.
4 Moses then said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘Around midnight I will go forth through Egypt. 5 Every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits upon the throne all the way to the firstborn of the slaves who work at the mill,[d] even the firstborn of the animals. 6 A great lament will rise up in all the land of Egypt such as will never be repeated again. 7 But not even a dog will growl against the children of Israel, neither against humans nor animals, so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8 All these servants of yours will come down to me and bow down in front of me saying, “May you and all the people who follow you leave.” After that I will leave.’ ”
Moses grew angry and left Pharaoh.
13 Therefore, since we have that spirit of faith about which it has been written: “I believed, and therefore I spoke,” we also believe, and therefore speak. 14 For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us side by side with you into his presence. 15 Indeed, everything is for your sake, so that the grace that is abundantly bestowed on more and more people may cause thanksgiving to superabound, to the glory of God.
16 An Eternal Dwelling in Heaven. Therefore, we do not lose heart. Even though our outer self is continuing to decay, our inner self is being renewed day by day. 17 Our temporary light afflictions are preparing for us an incomparable weight of eternal glory, 18 for our eyes are fixed not on what is seen but rather on that which cannot be seen. What is visible is transitory; what is invisible is eternal.
46 Jesus Heals a Blind Man.[a] Then they came to Jericho. And as Jesus, his disciples, and a huge crowd were leaving Jericho, a blind man, Bartimaeus, the son of Timaeus,[b] was sitting by the roadside asking for alms. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, “Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!” 48 Many rebuked him and told him to be silent, but he only shouted all the louder, “Son of David, have pity on me!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” So they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart! Stand up! He is calling you!” 50 Casting aside his cloak, he jumped up and went to Jesus. 51 Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “Rabbi,[c] let me receive my sight.” 52 Jesus said to him, “Go on your way! Your faith has made you well.” Immediately, he received his sight and followed him along the road.
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.