Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137
Lament over the Destruction of Jerusalem
1 By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down, and there we wept
when we remembered Zion.(A)
2 On the willows[a] there
we hung up our harps.
3 For there our captors
asked us for songs,
and our tormentors asked for mirth, saying,
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”(B)
4 How could we sing the Lord’s song
in a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither!
6 Let my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy.(C)
7 Remember, O Lord, against the Edomites
the day of Jerusalem’s fall,
how they said, “Tear it down! Tear it down!
Down to its foundations!”(D)
8 O daughter Babylon, you devastator![b]
Happy shall they be who pay you back
what you have done to us!(E)
9 Happy shall they be who take your little ones
and dash them against the rock!(F)
Psalm 144
Prayer for National Deliverance and Security
Of David.
1 Blessed be the Lord, my rock,
who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle,(A)
2 my rock[a] and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer,
my shield, in whom I take refuge,
who subdues the peoples[b] under me.(B)
3 O Lord, what are humans that you regard them,
or mortals that you think of them?(C)
4 They are like a breath;
their days are like a passing shadow.(D)
5 Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down;
touch the mountains so that they smoke.(E)
6 Make the lightning flash and scatter them;
send out your arrows and rout them.(F)
7 Stretch out your hand from on high;
set me free and rescue me from the mighty waters,
from the hand of foreigners,(G)
8 whose mouths speak lies
and whose right hands are false.(H)
9 I will sing a new song to you, O God;
upon a ten-stringed harp I will play to you,(I)
10 the one who gives victory to kings,
who rescues his servant David.(J)
11 Rescue me from the cruel sword,
and deliver me from the hand of aliens,
whose mouths speak lies,
and whose right hands are false.(K)
12 May our sons in their youth
be like plants full grown,
our daughters like corner pillars,
cut for the building of a palace.(L)
13 May our barns be filled
with produce of every kind;
may our sheep increase by thousands,
by tens of thousands in our fields,
14 and may our cattle be heavy with young.
May there be no breach in the walls,[c] no exile,
and no cry of distress in our streets.
15 Happy are the people to whom such blessings fall;
happy are the people whose God is the Lord.(M)
Book II
(Psalms 42–72)
Psalm 42
Longing for God and His Help in Distress
To the leader. A Maskil of the Korahites.
1 As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so my soul longs for you, O God.(A)
2 My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and behold
the face of God?(B)
3 My tears have been my food
day and night,
while people say to me continually,
“Where is your God?”(C)
4 These things I remember,
as I pour out my soul:
how I went with the throng[a]
and led them in procession to the house of God,
with glad shouts and songs of thanksgiving,
a multitude keeping festival.(D)
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,
my help(E) 6 and my God.
My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I remember you
from the land of Jordan and of Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
at the thunder of your torrents;
all your waves and your billows
have gone over me.(F)
8 By day the Lord commands his steadfast love,
and at night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.(G)
9 I say to God, my rock,
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I walk about mournfully
because the enemy oppresses me?”(H)
10 As with a deadly wound in my body,
my adversaries taunt me,
while they say to me continually,
“Where is your God?”(I)
11 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.(J)
Psalm 43
Prayer to God in Time of Trouble
1 Vindicate me, O God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly people;
from those who are deceitful and unjust,
deliver me!(K)
2 For you are the God in whom I take refuge;
why have you cast me off?
Why must I walk about mournfully
because of the oppression of the enemy?(L)
3 O send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill
and to your dwelling.(M)
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the harp,
O God, my God.(N)
5 Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God, for I shall again praise him,
my help and my God.(O)
The Ninth Plague: Darkness
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven so that there may be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.”(A) 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was dense darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.(B) 23 People could not see one another, and for three days they could not move from where they were, but all the Israelites had light where they lived. 24 Then Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, serve the Lord. Only your flocks and your herds shall remain behind. Even your little ones may go with you.”(C) 25 But Moses said, “You must also let us have sacrifices and burnt offerings to sacrifice to the Lord our God. 26 Our livestock also must go with us; not a hoof shall be left behind, for we must choose some of them to serve the Lord our God, and we will not know what to use to serve the Lord until we arrive there.”(D) 27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he was unwilling to let them go.(E) 28 Then Pharaoh said to him, “Get away from me! Take care that you do not see my face again, for on the day you see my face you shall die.”(F) 29 Moses said, “Just as you say! I will never see your face again.”(G)
Warning of the Final Plague
11 The Lord said to Moses, “I will bring one more plague upon Pharaoh and upon Egypt; afterward he will let you go from here; indeed, when he lets you go, he will drive you away.(H) 2 Tell the people that every man is to ask his neighbor and every woman is to ask her neighbor for objects of silver and gold.”(I) 3 The Lord gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover, Moses himself was a man of great importance in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s officials and in the sight of the people.(J)
4 Moses said, “Thus says the Lord, ‘About midnight I will go out through Egypt.(K) 5 Every firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the female slave who is behind the handmill and all the firstborn of the livestock.(L) 6 Then there will be a loud cry throughout the whole land of Egypt, such as has never been or will ever be again.(M) 7 But not a dog shall growl at any of the Israelites—not at people, not at animals—so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel.’(N) 8 Then all these officials of yours shall come down to me and bow low to me, saying, ‘Leave us, you and all the people who follow you.’ After that I will leave.” And in hot anger he left Pharaoh.(O)
13 But just as we have the same spirit of faith that is in accordance with scripture—“I believed, and so I spoke”—we also believe, and therefore we also speak,(A) 14 because we know that the one who raised Jesus[a] will also raise us with Jesus and will present us with you in his presence.(B) 15 Indeed, everything is for your sake, so that grace, when it has extended to more and more people, may increase thanksgiving, to the glory of God.
Living by Faith
16 So we do not lose heart. Even though our outer nature is wasting away, our inner nature is being renewed day by day.(C) 17 For our slight, momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure,(D) 18 because we look not at what can be seen but at what cannot be seen, for what can be seen is temporary, but what cannot be seen is eternal.(E)
The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus
46 They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”(A) 48 Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 49 Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” 50 So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. 51 Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher,[a] let me see again.”(B) 52 Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.(C)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.