Book of Common Prayer
Sorrows of the exiles in Babylon.
137 By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down, yea, we wept,
When we remembered Zion.
2 Upon the willows in the midst thereof
We hanged up our harps.
3 For there they that led us captive required of us [a]songs,
And [b]they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying,
Sing us one of the songs of Zion.
4 How shall we sing Jehovah’s song
In a foreign land?
5 If I forget thee, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget her skill.
6 Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth,
If I remember thee not;
If I prefer not Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O Jehovah, against the children of Edom
The day of Jerusalem;
Who said, Rase it, rase it,
Even to the foundation thereof.
8 O daughter of Babylon, [c]that art to be destroyed,
Happy shall he be, that rewardeth thee
As thou hast served us.
9 Happy shall he be, that taketh and dasheth thy little ones
Against the rock.
Prayer for rescue. A happy people described.
A Psalm of David.
144 Blessed be Jehovah my rock,
Who teacheth my hands to war,
And my fingers to fight:
2 My lovingkindness, and my fortress,
My high tower, and my deliverer;
My shield, and he in whom I take refuge;
Who subdueth my people under me.
3 Jehovah, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him?
Or the son of man, that thou makest account of him?
4 Man is like to [a]vanity:
His days are as a shadow that passeth away.
5 Bow thy heavens, O Jehovah, and come down:
Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6 Cast forth lightning, and scatter them;
Send out thine arrows, and discomfit them.
7 Stretch forth thy hand from above;
Rescue me, and deliver me out of great waters,
Out of the hand of aliens;
8 Whose mouth speaketh deceit,
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 I will sing a new song unto thee, O God:
Upon a psaltery of ten strings will I sing praises unto thee.
10 Thou art he that giveth salvation unto kings;
Who rescueth David his servant from the hurtful sword.
11 Rescue me, and deliver me out of the hand of aliens,
Whose mouth speaketh deceit,
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
12 When our sons shall be as plants grown up in their youth,
And our daughters as corner-stones hewn after the fashion of a palace;
13 When our garners are full, affording all manner of store,
And our sheep bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields;
14 When our oxen are well laden;
When there is no breaking in, and no [b]going forth,
And no outcry in our streets:
15 Happy is the people that is in such a case;
Yea, happy is the people whose God is Jehovah.
Jehovah’s care over all his works.
104 Bless Jehovah, O my soul.
O Jehovah my God, thou art very great;
Thou art clothed with honor and majesty:
2 Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment;
Who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain;
3 Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters;
Who maketh the clouds his chariot;
Who walketh upon the wings of the wind;
4 Who maketh [a]winds his messengers;
Flames of fire his ministers;
5 [b]Who laid the foundations of the earth,
That it should not be moved for ever.
6 Thou coveredst it with the deep as with a vesture;
The waters stood above the mountains.
7 At thy rebuke they fled;
At the voice of thy thunder they hasted away
8 [c](The mountains rose, the valleys sank down)
Unto the place which thou hadst founded for them.
9 Thou hast set a bound that they may not pass over;
That they turn not again to cover the earth.
10 He sendeth forth springs into the valleys;
They run among the mountains;
11 They give drink to every beast of the field;
The wild asses quench their thirst.
12 By them the birds of the heavens have their habitation;
They [d]sing among the branches.
13 He watereth the mountains from his chambers:
The earth is filled with the fruit of thy works.
14 He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle,
And herb for the [e]service of man;
That he may bring forth [f]food out of the earth,
15 And wine that maketh glad the heart of man,
[g]And oil to make his face to shine,
And bread that strengtheneth man’s heart.
16 The trees of Jehovah are filled with moisture,
The cedars of Lebanon, which he hath planted;
17 Where the birds make their nests:
As for the stork, the fir-trees are her house.
18 The high mountains are for the wild goats;
The rocks are a refuge for the conies.
19 He appointed the moon for seasons:
The sun knoweth his going down.
20 Thou makest darkness, and it is night,
Wherein all the beasts of the forest creep forth.
21 The young lions roar after their prey,
And seek their food from God.
22 The sun ariseth, they get them away,
And lay them down in their dens.
23 Man goeth forth unto his work
And to his labor until the evening.
24 O Jehovah, how manifold are thy works!
In wisdom hast thou made them all:
The earth is full of thy [h]riches.
25 Yonder is the sea, great and wide,
Wherein are things creeping innumerable,
Both small and great beasts.
26 There go the ships;
There is leviathan, whom thou hast formed to play [i]therein.
27 These wait all for thee,
That thou mayest give them their food in due season.
28 Thou givest unto them, they gather;
Thou openest thy hand, they are satisfied with good.
29 Thou hidest thy face, they are troubled;
Thou [j]takest away their breath, they die,
And return to their dust.
30 Thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created;
And thou renewest the face of the ground.
31 Let the glory of Jehovah endure for ever;
Let Jehovah rejoice in his works:
32 Who looketh on the earth, and it trembleth;
He toucheth the mountains, and they smoke.
33 I will sing unto Jehovah as long as I live:
I will sing praise to my God while I have any being.
34 Let my meditation be sweet unto him:
I will rejoice in Jehovah.
35 Let sinners be consumed out of the earth.
And let the wicked be no more.
Bless Jehovah, O my soul.
[k]Praise ye Jehovah.
12 And Balaam said unto Balak, Spake I not also to thy messengers that thou sentest unto me, saying, 13 If Balak would give me his house full of silver and gold, I cannot go beyond the word of Jehovah, to do either good or bad of mine own mind; what Jehovah speaketh, that will I speak? 14 And now, behold, I go unto my people: come, and I will advertise thee what this people shall do to thy people in the latter days. 15 And he took up his parable, and said,
Balaam the son of Beor saith,
And the man whose eye [a]was closed saith;
16 He saith, who heareth the words of God,
And knoweth the knowledge of the Most High,
Who seeth the vision of the Almighty,
Falling down, and having his eyes open:
17 I see him, but not now;
I behold him, but not nigh:
There shall come forth a star out of Jacob,
And a sceptre shall rise out of Israel,
And shall smite through the corners of Moab,
And break down all the sons [b]of tumult.
18 And Edom shall be a possession,
Seir also shall be a possession, who were his enemies;
While Israel doeth valiantly.
19 And out of Jacob shall one have dominion,
And shall destroy the remnant from the city.
20 And he looked on Amalek, and took up his parable, and said,
Amalek was the first of the nations;
But his latter end shall come to destruction.
21 And he looked on the Kenite, and took up his parable, and said,
Strong is thy dwelling-place,
And thy nest is set in the rock.
22 Nevertheless [c]Kain shall be wasted,
[d]Until Asshur shall carry thee away captive.
23 And he took up his parable, and said,
Alas, who shall live when God [e]doeth this?
24 But ships shall come from the coast of Kittim,
And they shall afflict Asshur, and shall afflict Eber;
And he also shall come to destruction.
25 And Balaam rose up, and went and returned to his place; and Balak also went his way.
18 For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us-ward. 19 For the earnest expectation of the creation waiteth for the revealing of the sons of God. 20 For the creation was subjected to vanity, not of its own will, but by reason of him who subjected it, [a]in hope 21 that the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. 22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain [b]together until now. 23 And not only so, but ourselves also, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. 24 For [c]in hope were we saved: but hope that is seen is not hope: [d]for who [e]hopeth for that which he seeth? 25 But if we hope for that which we see not, then do we with [f]patience wait for it.
23 On that day there came to him Sadducees, [a]they that say that there is no resurrection: and they asked him, 24 saying, Teacher, Moses said, [b]If a man die, having no children, his brother [c]shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother. 25 Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first married and deceased, and having no seed left his wife unto his brother; 26 in like manner the second also, and the third, unto the [d]seventh. 27 And after them all, the woman died. 28 In the resurrection therefore whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her. 29 But Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God. 30 For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as angels [e]in heaven. 31 But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying, 32 [f]I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living. 33 And when the multitudes heard it, they were astonished at his teaching.
34 But the Pharisees, when they heard that he had put the Sadducees to silence, gathered themselves together. 35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, trying him: 36 Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? 37 And he said unto him, [g]Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 [h]And a second like unto it is this, [i]Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. 40 On these two commandments the whole law hangeth, and the prophets.
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