Book of Common Prayer
Longing for Zion in a Foreign Land
137 By the rivers of Babylon,
There we sat down, yea, we wept
When we remembered Zion.
2 We hung our harps
Upon the willows in the midst of it.
3 For there those who carried us away captive asked of us a song,
And those who (A)plundered us requested mirth,
Saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!”
4 How shall we sing the Lord’s song
In a foreign land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
Let my right hand forget its skill!
6 If I do not remember you,
Let my (B)tongue cling to the roof of my mouth—
If I do not exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
A Song to the Lord Who Preserves and Prospers His People
A Psalm of David.
144 Blessed be the Lord my Rock,
(A)Who trains my hands for war,
And my fingers for battle—
2 My lovingkindness and my fortress,
My high tower and my deliverer,
My shield and the One in whom I take refuge,
Who subdues [a]my people under me.
3 (B)Lord, what is man, that You take knowledge of him?
Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him?
4 (C)Man is like a breath;
(D)His days are like a passing shadow.
5 (E)Bow down Your heavens, O Lord, and come down;
(F)Touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
6 (G)Flash forth lightning and scatter them;
Shoot out Your arrows and destroy them.
7 Stretch out Your hand from above;
Rescue me and deliver me out of great waters,
From the hand of foreigners,
8 Whose mouth (H)speaks [b]lying words,
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood.
9 I will (I)sing a new song to You, O God;
On a harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,
10 The One who gives [c]salvation to kings,
(J)Who delivers David His servant
From the deadly sword.
11 Rescue me and deliver me from the hand of foreigners,
Whose mouth speaks lying words,
And whose right hand is a right hand of falsehood—
12 That our sons may be (K)as plants grown up in their youth;
That our daughters may be as [d]pillars,
Sculptured in palace style;
13 That our barns may be full,
Supplying all kinds of produce;
That our sheep may bring forth thousands
And ten thousands in our fields;
14 That our oxen may be well laden;
That there be no [e]breaking in or going out;
That there be no outcry in our streets.
15 (L)Happy are the people who are in such a state;
Happy are the people whose God is the Lord!
BOOK TWO
Psalms 42–72
Yearning for God in the Midst of Distresses
To the Chief Musician. A [a]Contemplation of the sons of Korah.
42 As the deer [b]pants for the water brooks,
So pants my soul for You, O God.
2 (A)My soul thirsts for God, for the (B)living God.
When shall I come and [c]appear before God?
3 (C)My tears have been my food day and night,
While they continually say to me,
(D)“Where is your God?”
4 When I remember these things,
(E)I pour out my soul within me.
For I used to go with the multitude;
(F)I went with them to the house of God,
With the voice of joy and praise,
With a multitude that kept a pilgrim feast.
5 (G)Why are you [d]cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
(H)Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him
[e]For the help of His countenance.
6 [f]O my God, my soul is cast down within me;
Therefore I will remember You from the land of the Jordan,
And from the heights of Hermon,
From [g]the Hill Mizar.
7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls;
(I)All Your waves and billows have gone over me.
8 The Lord will (J)command His lovingkindness in the daytime,
And (K)in the night His song shall be with me—
A prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God my Rock,
(L)“Why have You forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a [h]breaking of my bones,
My enemies [i]reproach me,
(M)While they say to me all day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 (N)Why are you cast down, O my soul?
And why are you disquieted within me?
Hope in God;
For I shall yet praise Him,
The [j]help of my countenance and my God.
Prayer to God in Time of Trouble
43 Vindicate (O)me, O God,
And (P)plead my cause against an ungodly nation;
Oh, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man!
2 For You are the God of my strength;
Why do You cast me off?
(Q)Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy?
27 “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, that (A)I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 And it shall come to pass, that as I have (B)watched over them (C)to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, so I will watch over them (D)to build and to plant, says the Lord. 29 (E)In those days they shall say no more:
‘The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
And the children’s teeth are set on edge.’
30 (F)But every one shall die for his own iniquity; every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
A New Covenant
31 “Behold, the (G)days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that (H)I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, [a]though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. 33 (I)But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: (J)I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their [b]hearts; (K)and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for (L)they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For (M)I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be (A)wise in your own [a]opinion, that (B)blindness in part has happened to Israel (C)until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be [b]saved, as it is written:
(D)“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
27 For (E)this is My covenant with them,
When I take away their sins.”
28 Concerning the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but concerning the election they are (F)beloved for the sake of the fathers. 29 For the gifts and the calling of God are (G)irrevocable. 30 For as you (H)were once disobedient to God, yet have now obtained mercy through their disobedience, 31 even so these also have now been disobedient, that through the mercy shown you they also may obtain mercy. 32 For God has [c]committed them (I)all to disobedience, that He might have mercy on all.
33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
34 “For who has known the (J)mind of the Lord?
Or (K)who has become His counselor?”
35 “Or(L) who has first given to Him
And it shall be repaid to him?”
36 For (M)of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, (N)to whom be glory forever. Amen.
Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy
28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” 29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. 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.”
Who Has Believed Our Report?
37 But although He had done so many (A)signs before them, they did not believe in Him, 38 that the word of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he spoke:
(B)“Lord, who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed?”
39 Therefore they could not believe, because Isaiah said again:
40 “He(C) has blinded their eyes and hardened their hearts,
(D)Lest they should see with their eyes,
Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”
41 (E)These things Isaiah said [a]when he saw His glory and spoke of Him.
Walk in the Light
42 Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but (F)because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; 43 (G)for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.
44 Then Jesus cried out and said, (H)“He who believes in Me, (I)believes not in Me (J)but in Him who sent Me. 45 And (K)he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. 46 (L)I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness. 47 And if anyone hears My words and does not [b]believe, (M)I do not judge him; for (N)I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. 48 (O)He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him—(P)the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. 49 For (Q)I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, (R)what I should say and what I should speak. 50 And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I (S)speak.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.