Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 87[a]
Zion, Home of All Nations
1 A psalm of the sons of Korah.[b] A song.
The Lord has founded a city[c]
on the holy mountains.
2 He loves the gates of Zion
more than[d] any dwelling in Jacob.
3 Glorious things are said of you,
O city of God. Selah
4 [e]“I number Rahab and Babylon
among those who acknowledge the Lord,
as well as Philistia, Tyre, and Ethiopia;
concerning them it can be said,
‘This one was born there.’ ”[f] Selah
5 However, of Zion it will be said,
“They were all born there,
for the Most High himself establishes her.”[g]
6 The Lord records in the register[h] of the peoples,
“This one was born there.” Selah
7 And as they play, they all sing,[i]
“In you are all my fountains.”
Book IV—Psalms 90–106[a]
Psalm 90[b]
Prayer To Use Time Wisely
1 A prayer of Moses, the man of God.[c]
Lord, you have been our refuge
from generation to generation.
2 Before the mountains were brought forth
or the earth and the world came into existence,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.
3 You turn men back to dust,
saying, “Return,[d] you children of men.”
4 For to you a thousand years
are like a yesterday that has passed
or one of the watches of the night.[e]
5 You snatch them away like a dream;
they are like the grass of the field,[f]
6 which at dawn flourishes and is green
but by nightfall is withered and dry.
7 [g]We have been brought low by your anger
and overwhelmed with terror by your wrath.
8 You have not forgotten our iniquities;
our secret sins are clearly visible in your sight.
9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
our years are consumed like a sigh.
10 The span of our life numbers seventy years,
or perhaps eighty, if we have enough strength.
Most of them are marked by toil and emptiness;[h]
they pass swiftly, and then we fly away.
11 [i]Who understands the might of your anger
and rightly fears the power of your wrath?
12 Teach us to comprehend how few our days are
so that our hearts may be filled with wisdom.
13 Return,[j] O Lord. How long must we wait?
Show compassion to your servants.
14 Fill us with your kindness in the morning[k]
so that we may exult and be glad all our days.
15 Grant us joy for as many days as you have afflicted us
and for as many years as we have known misfortune.
16 Manifest your works to your servants
and your glory to their children.
17 May the favor[l] of the Lord, our God, rest upon us.
And may the work of our hands prosper—
indeed, may the work of our hands prosper.
Psalm 136[a]
Thanksgiving for the Creation and Redemption
1 [b]Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his love endures forever.
4 He alone works great wonders,
for his love endures forever.
5 [c]In his wisdom he made the heavens,
for his love endures forever.
6 He spread out the earth upon the waters,[d]
for his love endures forever.
7 He made the great lights,
for his love endures forever.
8 He made the sun to rule over the day,
for his love endures forever.
9 He made the moon and stars to rule the night,
for his love endures forever.
10 [e]He struck down the firstborn of Egypt,
for his love endures forever.
11 He led forth Israel from among them,
for his love endures forever.
12 He did so with a strong hand and outstretched arm,
for his love endures forever.
13 [f]He divided the Red Sea in two,
for his love endures forever.
14 Then he led Israel through its midst,
for his love endures forever.
15 But he swept Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea,
for his love endures forever.
16 [g]Then he led his people through the wilderness,
for his love endures forever.
17 He struck down great kings,
for his love endures forever.
18 He slew powerful kings,
for his love endures forever.
19 Sihon, king of the Amorites,
for his love endures forever.
20 Og, king of Bashan,
for his love endures forever.
21 [h]He gave their land as a heritage,
for his love endures forever.
22 The heritage was for his servant Israel,
for his love endures forever.
23 The Lord remembered us in our wretched state,
for his love endures forever.
24 He rescued us from our enemies,
for his love endures forever.
25 [i]He provides food to every creature,
for his love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his love endures forever.
27 Final Dispositions of Jacob. The Israelites settled in the land of Egypt, in the territory of Goshen. They had possessions and were fruitful and became very numerous.
28 Jacob lived in the land of Egypt for seventeen years and he lived for a total of one hundred and forty-seven years.
29 When the day of his death drew near, Israel summoned his son Joseph and told him, “If I have found favor in your sight, place your hand under my thigh and deal with me kindly and faithfully. Do not bury me in Egypt. 30 When I lie with my fathers, carry me from Egypt and bury me in their tomb.”
31 “I will do as you say,” he replied.
But Jacob demanded, “Swear it to me.” He answered, “I swear it.” And he swore it. Then Israel sank back on his pillow.
Chapter 48
Jacob Adopts and Blesses Joseph’s Sons.[a] 1 Some time later, Joseph was told, “Behold, your father is ill.” So he brought his two sons Manasseh and Ephraim with him. 2 When Jacob was told, “Behold your son Joseph is here for you,” Israel summoned his strength and sat up in bed.
3 Jacob said to Joseph, “God Almighty appeared to me in Luz, in the land of Canaan, and blessed me, 4 saying to me, ‘Behold, I will make you fruitful. I will multiply you and make you become a multitude of peoples, and I will give this land to your descendants after you as an eternal possession.’
5 “Now the two sons born to you in the land of Egypt before I arrived to be with you in Egypt are mine. Ephraim and Manasseh will be mine just like Reuben and Simeon. 6 The sons that you will have after these, they will be yours. They will be called by the name of their brothers in their inheritance. 7 As for me, while I was arriving from Paddan, Rachel, your mother, died in the land of Canaan while we were in journey, not too far on the road from Ephrath. We buried her on the road to Ephrath, that is, Bethlehem.”
Chapter 10
The Lesson of Israel’s Past.[a] 1 Brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, 2 and they were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. 3 All ate the same spiritual food, 4 and all drank the same spiritual drink—for they drank from the spiritual rock that followed them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and they were struck down in the desert.
6 These events occurred to offer examples for us so that we might not desire evil things as they did. 7 Do not become idolaters, as some of them did. It is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to engage in revelry.”
8 Let us not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand of them died in a single day. 9 Let us not put Christ to the test, as some of them did, and they were destroyed by serpents. 10 And do not complain, as some of them did, and they were slain by the Destroyer.[b] 11 All these things happened to them to serve as an example, and they have been written down as a warning to us upon whom the end of the ages has come.
12 Therefore, if you think you are standing securely, take care that you do not fall 13 No trial has confronted you except what a person can stand. God is faithful, and he will not allow you to be tried beyond your strength. But together with the trial he will also provide a way out and the strength to bear it.
Chapter 7
Traditions That Falsify the Law of God.[a] 1 When the Pharisees, along with some scribes who had come from Jerusalem, gathered around Jesus, 2 they noted that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 For the Pharisees, and in fact all Jews, do not eat without thoroughly washing their hands, thereby observing the tradition of the elders. 4 And on coming from the marketplace they do not eat without first washing. In addition, there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and jugs and bronze kettles and tables.[b]
5 Therefore, the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but eat with unclean hands?” 6 He answered, “How rightly Isaiah prophesied about you hypocrites, as it is written:
‘This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
7 in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’
8 You thrust aside the commandment of God in order to preserve the traditions of men.”[c]
9 Then he said to them, “How cleverly you have set aside the commandment of God to preserve your own tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and ‘Whoever curses father or mother will be put to death.’ 11 But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or mother: “Anything I might have used for your support is Corban” ’[d] (that is, dedicated to God), 12 then he is forbidden by you from that very moment to do anything for his father or mother. 13 You nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition that you have handed down. And you do many other things just like that.”
14 Clean and Unclean.[e] Then he called the people to him and said to them: “Listen to me, all of you, and understand. 15 There is nothing that goes into a person from outside that can defile him. The things that come out of a person are what defile him. [ 16 If anyone has ears to hear, let him hear!]”[f]
17 When he had gone into the house, away from the crowds, his disciples questioned him about the parable. 18 He said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not realize that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not into the heart but into the stomach and is discharged into the sewer?” Thus, he pronounced all foods clean.
20 Then he went on, “It is what comes out of a person that defiles. 21 For from within, from the human heart, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, 22 adultery, avarice, malice, deceit, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly. 23 All these evils come from within, and they defile a person.”
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.