Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 131[a]
Humble Trust in God
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
Lord, my heart is not proud;
nor are my eyes haughty.
I do not busy myself with great matters,
with things too sublime for me.(A)
2 Rather, I have stilled my soul,
Like a weaned child to its mother,
weaned is my soul.(B)
3 Israel, hope in the Lord,
now and forever.
Psalm 132[b]
The Covenant Between David and God
1 A song of ascents.
I
Remember, O Lord, for David
all his hardships;
2 How he swore an oath to the Lord,
vowed to the Mighty One of Jacob:[c]
3 “I will not enter the house where I live,(C)
nor lie on the couch where I sleep;
4 I will give my eyes no sleep,
my eyelids no rest,
5 Till I find a place for the Lord,
a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 “We have heard of it in Ephrathah;[d]
we have found it in the fields of Jaar.
7 Let us enter his dwelling;
let us worship at his footstool.”(D)
8 “Arise, Lord, come to your resting place,(E)
you and your mighty ark.
9 Your priests will be clothed with justice;
your devout will shout for joy.”
10 For the sake of David your servant,
do not reject your anointed.
II
11 The Lord swore an oath to David in truth,
he will never turn back from it:(F)
“Your own offspring(G) I will set upon your throne.
12 If your sons observe my covenant,
and my decrees I shall teach them,
Their sons, in turn,
shall sit forever on your throne.”
13 Yes, the Lord has chosen Zion,
desired it for a dwelling:
14 “This is my resting place forever;
here I will dwell, for I desire it.
15 I will bless Zion with provisions;
its poor I will fill with bread.
16 I will clothe its priests with salvation;
its devout shall shout for joy.(H)
17 There I will make a horn sprout for David;[e](I)
I will set a lamp for my anointed.
18 His foes I will clothe with shame,
but on him his crown shall shine.”
Psalm 133[f]
A Vision of a Blessed Community
1 A song of ascents. Of David.
How good and how pleasant it is,
when brothers[g] dwell together as one!
2 Like fine oil on the head,[h](J)
running down upon the beard,
Upon the beard of Aaron,
upon the collar of his robe.
3 Like dew[i] of Hermon coming down
upon the mountains of Zion.(K)
There the Lord has decreed a blessing,
life for evermore!(L)
Psalm 134[j]
Exhortation to the Night Watch to Bless God
1 A song of ascents.
O come, bless the Lord,
all you servants of the Lord[k]
You who stand in the house of the Lord
throughout the nights.(M)
2 Lift up your hands toward the sanctuary,(N)
and bless the Lord.
3 May the Lord bless you from Zion,
the Maker of heaven and earth.(O)
Psalm 135[l]
Praise of God, the Ruler and Benefactor of Israel
1 Hallelujah!
I
Praise the name of the Lord!
Praise, you servants of the Lord,(P)
2 Who stand in the house of the Lord,
in the courts of the house of our God!(Q)
3 Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good!
Sing to his name, for it brings joy!
4 [m]For the Lord has chosen Jacob for himself,
Israel as his treasured possession.(R)
II
5 For I know that the Lord is great,
that our Lord is greater than all gods.(S)
6 Whatever the Lord desires
he does in heaven and on earth,
in the seas and all the depths.(T)
7 It is he who raises storm clouds from the end of the earth,
makes lightning for the rain,
and brings forth wind from his storehouse.(U)
III
8 He struck down Egypt’s firstborn,(V)
of human being and beast alike,
9 And sent signs and wonders against you, Egypt,
against Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 It is he who struck down many nations,(W)
and slew mighty kings—
11 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
and Og, king of Bashan,
all the kings of Canaan—
12 And made their land a heritage,
a heritage for Israel his people.
13 O Lord, your name is forever,
your renown, from generation to generation!(X)
14 For the Lord defends his people,
shows mercy to his servants.(Y)
IV
15 The idols of the nations are silver and gold,(Z)
the work of human hands.
16 They have mouths but do not speak;
they have eyes but do not see;
17 They have ears but do not hear;
nor is there breath in their mouths.
18 Their makers will become like them,
and anyone who trusts in them.
V
19 House of Israel, bless the Lord!(AA)
House of Aaron, bless the Lord!
20 House of Levi, bless the Lord!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed be the Lord from Zion,
who dwells in Jerusalem!
Hallelujah!
Josiah’s Religious Reform. 4 Then the king commanded the high priest Hilkiah, his assistant priests, and the doorkeepers to remove from the temple of the Lord all the objects that had been made for Baal, Asherah, and the whole host of heaven. These he burned outside Jerusalem on the slopes of the Kidron; their ashes were carried to Bethel.(A) 5 He also put an end to the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had appointed to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the vicinity of Jerusalem, as well as those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, moon, and signs of the zodiac, and to the whole host of heaven.(B) 6 From the house of the Lord he also removed the Asherah to the Wadi Kidron, outside Jerusalem; he burned it and beat it to dust, in the Wadi Kidron, and scattered its dust over the graveyard of the people of the land.[a](C) 7 He tore down the apartments of the cult prostitutes in the house of the Lord, where the women wove garments for the Asherah.(D) 8 He brought in all the priests from the cities of Judah, and then defiled, from Geba to Beer-sheba, the high places where they had offered incense. He also tore down the high places of the gates, which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua, governor of the city, north of the city gate. 9 (The priests of the high places could not function at the altar of the Lord in Jerusalem; but they, along with their relatives, ate the unleavened bread.)
10 The king also defiled Topheth in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, so that there would no longer be any immolation of sons or daughters by fire[b] in honor of Molech.(E) 11 He did away with the horses which the kings of Judah had dedicated to the sun; these were at the entrance of the house of the Lord, near the chamber of Nathan-melech the official, which was in the large building. The chariots of the sun he destroyed by fire. 12 He also demolished the altars made by the kings of Judah on the roof (the roof terrace of Ahaz), and the altars made by Manasseh in the two courts of the Lord’s house. He pulverized them and threw the dust into the Wadi Kidron.(F) 13 The king defiled the high places east of Jerusalem, south of the Mount of the Destroyer,[c] which Solomon, king of Israel, had built in honor of Astarte, the Sidonian horror, of Chemosh, the Moabite horror, and of Milcom, the Ammonites’ abomination.(G) 14 He broke to pieces the pillars, cut down the asherahs, and filled the places where they had been with human bones.(H)
15 Likewise the altar which was at Bethel, the high place built by Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin—this same altar and high place he tore down and burned, grinding the high place to powder and burning the asherah.(I) 16 When Josiah turned and saw the graves there on the mountainside, he ordered the bones taken from the graves and burned on the altar, and thus defiled it, according to the Lord’s word proclaimed by the man of God as Jeroboam stood by the altar on the feast day. When the king looked up and saw the grave of the man of God who had proclaimed these words, 17 he asked, “What is that marker I see?” The people of the city replied, “The grave of the man of God who came from Judah and proclaimed the very things you have done to the altar in Bethel.” 18 “Let him be,” he said, “let no one move his bones.” So they left his bones undisturbed together with the bones of the prophet who had come from Samaria.[d] 19 Josiah also removed all the temples on the high places in the cities of Samaria which the kings of Israel had built, provoking the Lord; he did the very same to them as he had done in Bethel. 20 He slaughtered upon the altars all the priests of the high places that were there, and burned human bones upon them. Then he returned to Jerusalem.
21 The king issued a command to all the people: “Observe the Passover of the Lord, your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant.”(J) 22 No Passover such as this had been observed during the period when the judges ruled Israel, or during the entire period of the kings of Israel and the kings of Judah, 23 until the eighteenth year of King Josiah, when this Passover of the Lord was kept in Jerusalem.
24 Further, Josiah purged the consultation of ghosts and spirits, with the household gods, idols,[e] and all the other horrors to be seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, so that he might carry out the words of the law that were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest had found in the house of the Lord.(K)
25 Before him there had been no king who turned to the Lord as he did, with his whole heart, his whole being, and his whole strength, in accord with the entire law of Moses; nor did any king like him arise after him.(L)
C. Spiritual Gifts[a]
Chapter 12
Unity and Variety. 1 Now in regard to spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be unaware. 2 [b]You know how, when you were pagans, you were constantly attracted and led away to mute idols.(A) 3 Therefore, I tell you that nobody speaking by the spirit of God says, “Jesus be accursed.” And no one can say, “Jesus is Lord,” except by the holy Spirit.(B)
4 [c]There are different kinds of spiritual gifts but the same Spirit;(C) 5 there are different forms of service but the same Lord; 6 there are different workings but the same God who produces all of them in everyone. 7 To each individual the manifestation of the Spirit is given for some benefit. 8 To one is given through the Spirit the expression of wisdom; to another the expression of knowledge according to the same Spirit;(D) 9 to another faith by the same Spirit; to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit; 10 to another mighty deeds; to another prophecy; to another discernment of spirits; to another varieties of tongues; to another interpretation of tongues.(E) 11 But one and the same Spirit produces all of these, distributing them individually to each person as he wishes.(F)
One Body, Many Parts.[d]
The Official’s Daughter and the Woman with a Hemorrhage. 18 [a]While he was saying these things to them,(A) an official[b] came forward, knelt down before him, and said, “My daughter has just died. But come, lay your hand on her, and she will live.” 19 Jesus rose and followed him, and so did his disciples. 20 A woman suffering hemorrhages for twelve years came up behind him and touched the tassel[c] on his cloak. 21 She said to herself, “If only I can touch his cloak, I shall be cured.”(B) 22 Jesus turned around and saw her, and said, “Courage, daughter! Your faith has saved you.” And from that hour the woman was cured.
23 When Jesus arrived at the official’s house and saw the flute players and the crowd who were making a commotion, 24 he said, “Go away! The girl is not dead but sleeping.”[d] And they ridiculed him. 25 When the crowd was put out, he came and took her by the hand, and the little girl arose. 26 And news of this spread throughout all that land.
The Healing of Two Blind Men.[e]
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.