Book of Common Prayer
145 I call to you with all my heart.
Answer me, Lord, and I will ·keep [protect] your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements].
146 I call to you.
·Save me [Give me victory] so I can ·obey [keep; guard] your ·rules [decrees; testimonies].
147 I ·wake up early in the morning [get up before dawn] and cry out.
I hope in your word.
148 ·I stay awake all night [L My eyes awake in the watches of the night]
so I can ·think about [meditate on] your promises.
149 ·Listen to me [L Hear my voice] because of your ·love [loyalty];
Lord, ·give me [spare my] life by your ·laws [judgments].
150 Those who ·love evil [L pursue/persecute me with an evil plan] are near,
but they are far from your ·teachings [instructions; laws].
151 But, Lord, you are also near,
and all your commands are ·true [faithful].
152 Long ago I learned from your ·rules [decrees; testimonies]
that you made them ·to continue [foundational] forever.
153 See my ·suffering [affliction] and rescue me,
because I have not forgotten your ·teachings [instructions; laws].
154 Argue my case and ·save [redeem] me.
·Let me live [Spare my life] by your promises.
155 ·Wicked people are far from being saved [L Salvation/Victory is far from the wicked],
because they do not ·want [seek] your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements].
156 Lord, ·you are very kind [L your compassion/mercies are abundant];
give me life by your ·laws [judgments].
157 Many ·enemies [foes] ·are after [pursue; persecute] me,
but I have not ·rejected [swerved from] your ·rules [decrees; testimonies].
158 I see those traitors, and I ·hate [loathe; am disgusted by] them,
because they do not ·obey [keep; guard] what you say.
159 See how I love your ·orders [precepts].
Lord, give me life by your ·love [loyalty].
160 ·Your words are true from the start [L The head of your word is true/faithful],
and all your ·laws [judgments] will be ·fair [righteous] forever.
161 Leaders ·attack [pursue] me for no reason,
but ·I fear your law in my heart [L my heart fears your words].
162 I ·am as happy over [delight in] your promises
as if I had found ·a great treasure [much plunder].
163 I hate and ·despise [loathe] lies,
but I love your ·teachings [instructions; laws].
164 Seven times a day I praise you
for your ·fair laws [righteous judgments].
165 Those who love your ·teachings [instructions; laws] will find ·true peace [or much prosperity],
and nothing will ·defeat them [make them stumble].
166 I am ·waiting [hoping] for ·you to save me [L your salvation/victory], Lord.
I will ·obey [L do] your commands.
167 I ·obey [keep; guard] your ·rules [decrees; testimonies],
and I love them very much.
168 I ·obey [keep; guard] your ·orders [precepts] and ·rules [decrees; testimonies],
because ·you know everything I do [L all my ways are before you].
169 ·Hear my cry to you [L Let my shout of joy come near you], Lord.
Let your word help me understand.
170 Listen to my ·prayer [supplication];
·save [protect] me as you promised.
171 Let ·me [L my lips] ·speak [bubble forth] your praise,
because you have taught me your ·demands [statutes; ordinances; requirements].
172 Let ·me [L my tongue] sing about your promises,
because all your commands are ·fair [righteous].
173 Give me your helping hand,
because I have chosen your ·commands [precepts].
174 I ·want you to save me [L desire your salvation/victory], Lord.
I ·love [delight in] your ·teachings [instructions; laws].
175 Let me live so I can praise you,
and let your ·laws [judgments] help me.
176 I have ·wandered [gone astray] like a lost sheep.
·Look for [Seek] your servant, because I have not forgotten your commands.
The Happy Home
A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover].
128 ·Happy [Blessed] are those who ·respect [fear] the Lord [Prov. 1:7] and ·obey him [L walk in his ways].
2 You will ·enjoy what you work for [L eat the labor of your hands],
and you will be ·blessed [happy] with ·good things [prosperity].
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine [C produce many children] in your house [Prov. 31:10–31].
Your children will be like olive branches [C bringing much good] around your table [Mic. 4:4; Zech. 3:10].
4 This is how the man who ·respects [fears] the Lord [Prov. 1:7]
will be blessed.
5 May the Lord bless you from Mount Zion [C the location of the Temple];
may you ·enjoy [experience; L see] the ·good things [prosperity] of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
6 May you see your grandchildren.
Let there be peace in Israel.
A Prayer Against the Enemies
A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover].
129 ·They have treated me badly all my life [L Many are my foes from my youth].
(Let Israel ·repeat this [L say].)
2 ·They have treated me badly all my life [L Many are my foes from my youth],
but they have not ·defeated [overcome; prevailed over] me.
3 ·Like farmers plowing, they plowed over my back [L The plowers plowed my back],
making ·long wounds [L their furrows long].
4 But the Lord does what is right;
he has ·set me free from those [L cut the cords of] wicked people.
5 Let those who hate ·Jerusalem [L Zion; C the location of the Temple]
be ·turned back in shame [L humiliated and turn back].
6 Let them be like the grass on the roof
that dries up before it has grown.
7 There is not enough of it ·to [L for the harvester to] fill a hand
or ·to make into a bundle [those who bind sheaves] to fill one’s arms.
8 Let those who pass by them not say,
“May the Lord bless you.
We bless you by the ·power [L name] of the Lord.”
A Prayer for Mercy
A song ·for going up to worship [of ascents; C perhaps sung while traveling to Jerusalem to celebrate an annual religious festival like Passover].
130 Lord, ·I am in great trouble [L from the depths],
so I ·call out [pray] to you.
2 Lord, hear my voice;
·listen to my prayer for help [L let your ear pay attention to the sound of my supplication].
3 Lord, if you ·punished people for all their sins [L observed/watched/guarded against iniquity],
·no one would be left [L who could stand…?], Lord.
4 But you forgive ·us [L your people],
so you are ·respected [feared; Prov. 1:7].
5 I ·wait [hope] for the Lord ·to help me [L my soul hopes],
and I ·trust [hope in] his word.
6 I ·wait for the Lord to help me [hope for the Lord]
more than night watchmen wait for the ·dawn [morning],
more than night watchmen wait for the ·dawn [morning].
7 People of Israel, put your hope in the Lord
because he is ·loving [loyal]
and ·able to save [L with him is abundant redemption].
8 He will ·save [redeem] Israel
from all their ·sins [iniquities].
The Nations Will Be Judged
15 “The ·Lord’s day of judging [L day of the Lord] is ·coming soon [near]
to all the nations.
·The same evil things you did to other people [L As you have done]
·will happen [L it will be done] to you;
·they [L recompense; reprisal] will come back upon your own head.
16 Because you drank in my ·Temple [L holy mountain],
all the nations will drink ·on and on [continually].
They will drink and ·drink [L swallow]
·until they disappear [L and be as though they were not].
17 But on Mount Zion ·some will escape the judgment [L there will be escape],
and it will be a holy place.
The ·people [L house] of Jacob will ·take back their land
from those who ·took it from them [L possess their possessions].
18 The ·people [L house] of Jacob will be like a fire
and the ·people [L house] of Joseph [C the Israelite tribes of Ephraim and Manasseh (Joseph’s sons, Jacob’s grandsons), representing the northern kingdom] like a flame.
But the ·people [L house] of Esau [C the Edomites] will be like ·dry stalks [stubble].
The ·people [L house] of Jacob will set them on fire and burn them up.
There will be no ·one left [survivors] of the ·people [L house] of Esau.”
·This will happen because [L For] the Lord has said it.
19 ·Then God’s people will regain southern Judah from Edom;
they will take back [L The Negev shall possess] the mountains of ·Edom [L Esau].
·They will take back the western hills
from [L The Shephelah/foothills shall possess] the Philistines.
They will ·regain [possess] the ·lands [L fields] of Ephraim and Samaria,
and Benjamin will ·take over [possess] Gilead [C east of the Jordan River].
20 ·People from [L This host of the sons/T children of] Israel who once were ·forced to leave their homes [exiled]
will take the land of the Canaanites,
all the way to Zarephath [C in Phoenicia in the far northeast].
·People from Judah who once were forced to leave Jerusalem and [L The exiles of Jerusalem who] live in Sepharad [C unknown location, perhaps Sardis (in present-day Turkey)]
will take back the cities of ·southern Judah [L the Negev].
21 ·Powerful warriors [Deliverers; Saviors; or Those who have been rescued/delivered] will go up on Mount Zion,
where they will rule ·the people living on Edom’s mountains [L Mount Esau].
And the kingdom will belong to the Lord.
Jesus Is the Living Stone
2 So then, rid yourselves of all evil, all ·lying [deceit], hypocrisy, ·jealousy [envy], and ·evil speech [slander; C all traits that destroy relationships; Rom. 13:13; Eph. 4:25–32; Col. 3:8]. 2 As newborn babies want milk, you should want the ·pure [sincere; unadulterated] and ·simple [or spiritual] ·teaching [L milk; C probably referring to the word of God; see 1:23–25]. By it you can ·mature [grow; reach maturity] in your salvation, 3 because you have already ·examined and seen [L tasted] how good the Lord is [Ps. 34:8].
4 Come to the Lord Jesus, the ·“stone” that lives [L a living stone; C Jesus is the most important stone in the spiritual temple described in v. 5]. ·The people of the world did not want this stone, but he was the stone God chose, and he was precious [L …rejected by people, but chosen and precious/valuable to God]. 5 You also are like living stones, so let yourselves be used to build a spiritual ·temple [house]—to be holy priests who offer spiritual sacrifices that are ·acceptable [pleasing] to God ·through [or because they are mediated by] Jesus Christ. 6 The Scripture ·says [L contains]:
“[L See; Look,] I will ·put a stone in the ground in Jerusalem [L lay a stone in Zion; C Zion is a poetic term for Jerusalem].
·Everything will be built on this important and precious rock [L a chosen and precious cornerstone; C the stone that supports the others].
Anyone who ·trusts [believes; has faith] in him
will never be ·disappointed [L put to shame; Is. 28:16].”
7 ·This stone is worth much to you who believe [or You who believe see the honor/value/preciousness of the stone; L The honor is to you who believe]. But to the people who do not believe,
“the stone that the builders rejected
has become ·the cornerstone [L head of the corner; C the precise meaning is uncertain, but clearly refers to the most important stone in a building; Ps. 118:22; compare Mark 12:10–11; Acts 4:11; Eph. 2:20–22].”
8 ·Also, he is [L And]
“a stone that causes people to stumble,
a rock that ·makes them fall [trips them; snares them; causes them to sin; offends them; Is. 8:14; Rom. 9:32–33].”
They stumble because they do not obey ·what God says [the message/word], which is what God ·planned to happen to [destined/appointed for] them.
9 But you are a chosen ·people [or generation; Is. 43:21], royal ·priests [L priesthood], a holy nation, a people ·for God’s own possession [who belong to God; Ex. 19:5–6]. You were chosen to ·tell about the wonderful acts of God, who [proclaim the praises/virtues of him who] called you out of darkness into his ·wonderful [marvelous] light. 10 At one time you were not a people, but now you are God’s people. In the past you had ·never [L not] received mercy, but now you have received God’s mercy [Hos. 2:23].
23 Then Jesus said to his ·followers [disciples], “I tell you the truth, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 ·Yes [L Again], I tell you that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God [C meaning it is impossible, by human effort; see v. 26].”
25 When Jesus’ ·followers [disciples] heard this, they were ·very surprised [astonished] and asked, “Then who can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “·For people [Humanly speaking,] this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”
27 Peter said to Jesus, “Look, we have left everything and followed you. So what will we ·have [get]?”
28 Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, ·when the age to come has arrived [at the renewal of the world; L in the regeneration], the Son of Man [Dan. 7:13–14] will sit on his ·great [glorious] throne. All of you who followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. 29 And all those who have left houses, brothers, sisters, father, mother,[a] children, or ·farms [fields] ·to follow me [L for my name’s sake] will ·get much more than they left [L receive a hundred times as much], and they will ·have life forever [L inherit eternal life]. 30 [L But] Many who are first now will be last in the future. And many who are last now will be first in the future.
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