Book of Common Prayer
Childlike Trust in the Lord.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
131 O Lord, my heart is not (A)proud, nor my eyes [a](B)haughty;
Nor do I [b]involve myself in (C)great matters,
Or in things (D)too [c]difficult for me.
2 Surely I have (E)composed and quieted my soul;
Like a weaned (F)child rests [d]against his mother,
My soul is like a weaned child [e]within me.
3 O Israel, (G)hope in the Lord
(H)From this time forth and forever.
Prayer for the Lord’s Blessing upon the Sanctuary.
A Song of Ascents.
132 Remember, O Lord, on David’s behalf,
All (I)his affliction;
2 How he swore to the Lord
And vowed to (J)the Mighty One of Jacob,
3 “Surely I will not [f]enter (K)my house,
Nor [g]lie on my bed;
4 I will not (L)give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
5 Until I find a (M)place for the Lord,
[h]A dwelling place for (N)the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard of it in (O)Ephrathah,
We found it in the (P)field of [i]Jaar.
7 Let us go into His [j](Q)dwelling place;
Let us (R)worship at His (S)footstool.
8 (T)Arise, O Lord, to Your (U)resting place,
You and the ark of Your (V)strength.
9 Let Your priests be (W)clothed with righteousness,
And let Your (X)godly ones sing for joy.
10 For the sake of David Your servant,
Do not turn away the face of Your (Y)anointed.
11 The Lord has (Z)sworn to David
A truth from which He will not turn back:
“(AA)Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne.
12 “If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I will teach them,
Their sons also shall (AB)sit upon your throne forever.”
13 For the Lord has (AC)chosen Zion;
He has (AD)desired it for His habitation.
14 “This is My (AE)resting place forever;
Here I will (AF)dwell, for I have desired it.
15 “I will abundantly (AG)bless her provision;
I will (AH)satisfy her needy with bread.
16 “Her (AI)priests also I will clothe with salvation,
And her (AJ)godly ones will sing aloud for joy.
17 “There I will cause the (AK)horn of David to spring forth;
I have prepared a (AL)lamp for Mine anointed.
18 “His enemies I will (AM)clothe with shame,
But upon himself his (AN)crown shall shine.”
The Excellency of Brotherly Unity.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For (AO)brothers to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious (AP)oil upon the head,
Coming down upon the beard,
Even Aaron’s beard,
Coming down upon the (AQ)edge of his robes.
3 It is like the (AR)dew of (AS)Hermon
Coming down upon the (AT)mountains of Zion;
For there the Lord (AU)commanded the blessing—(AV)life forever.
Prayer for Protection against the Wicked.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
140 (A)Rescue me, O Lord, from evil men;
Preserve me from (B)violent men
2 Who (C)devise evil things in their hearts;
They (D)continually stir up wars.
3 They (E)sharpen their tongues as a serpent;
(F)Poison of a viper is under their lips. [a]Selah.
4 (G)Keep me, O Lord, from the hands of the wicked;
(H)Preserve me from violent men
Who have [b]purposed to [c](I)trip up my feet.
5 The proud have (J)hidden a trap for me, and cords;
They have spread a (K)net by the [d]wayside;
They have set (L)snares for me. Selah.
6 I (M)said to the Lord, “You are my God;
(N)Give ear, O Lord, to the (O)voice of my supplications.
7 “O [e]God the Lord, (P)the strength of my salvation,
You have (Q)covered my head in the day of [f]battle.
8 “Do not grant, O Lord, the (R)desires of the wicked;
Do not promote (S)his evil device, that they not be exalted. Selah.
9 “As for the head of those who surround me,
May the (T)mischief of their lips cover them.
10 “May (U)burning coals fall upon them;
May they be (V)cast into the fire,
Into [g]deep pits from which they (W)cannot rise.
11 “May a [h]slanderer not be established in the earth;
(X)May evil hunt the violent man [i]speedily.”
Prayer for Help in Trouble.
[a]Maskil of David, when he was [b]in the cave. A Prayer.
142 I (A)cry aloud with my voice to the Lord;
I (B)make supplication with my voice to the Lord.
2 I (C)pour out my complaint before Him;
I declare my (D)trouble before Him.
3 When (E)my spirit [c]was overwhelmed within me,
You knew my path.
In the way where I walk
They have (F)hidden a trap for me.
4 Look to the right and see;
For there is (G)no one who regards me;
[d]There is no (H)escape for me;
(I)No one cares for my soul.
5 I cried out to You, O Lord;
I said, “You are (J)my refuge,
My (K)portion in the (L)land of the living.
6 “(M)Give heed to my cry,
For I am (N)brought very low;
Deliver me from my persecutors,
For they are too (O)strong for me.
7 “(P)Bring my soul out of prison,
So that I may give thanks to Your name;
The righteous will surround me,
For You will (Q)deal bountifully with me.”
25 Seven days [a]passed after the Lord had struck the Nile.
Frogs over the Land
8 [b]Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “(A)Let My people go, that they may serve Me. 2 But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will smite your whole territory with frogs. 3 The Nile will (B)swarm with frogs, which will come up and go into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed, and into the houses of your servants and on your people, and into your ovens and into your kneading bowls. 4 So the frogs will come up on you and your people and all your servants.”’” 5 [c]Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘(C)Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the [d]streams and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt.’” 6 So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the [e](D)frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. 7 (E)The [f]magicians did [g]the same with their secret arts, [h]making frogs come up on the land of Egypt.
8 Then Pharaoh (F)called for Moses and Aaron and said, “(G)Entreat the Lord that He remove the frogs from me and from my people; and (H)I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord.” 9 Moses said to Pharaoh, “[i]The honor is yours to tell me: when shall I entreat for you and your servants and your people, that the frogs be [j]destroyed from you and your houses, that they may be left only in the Nile?”
10 Then he said, “Tomorrow.” So he said, “May it be according to your word, that you may know that there is (I)no one like the Lord our God. 11 The (J)frogs will depart from you and your houses and your servants and your people; they will be left only in the Nile.” 12 Then Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and (K)Moses cried to the Lord concerning the frogs which He had [k]inflicted upon Pharaoh. 13 The Lord did according to the word of Moses, and the frogs died out of the houses, the courts, and the fields. 14 So they piled them in heaps, and the land [l]became foul. 15 But when Pharaoh saw that there was relief, he [m]hardened his heart and (L)did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
The Plague of Insects
16 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your staff and strike the dust of the earth, that it may become [n]gnats through all the land of Egypt.’” 17 They did so; and Aaron stretched out his hand with his staff, and struck the dust of the earth, and there were [o]gnats on man and beast. All the dust of the earth became [p](M)gnats through all the land of Egypt. 18 The [q]magicians tried with their secret arts to bring forth [r]gnats, but (N)they could not; so there were [s]gnats on man and beast. 19 Then the [t]magicians said to Pharaoh, “(O)This is the finger of God.” But Pharaoh’s heart was [u]hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had said.
7 But if the (A)ministry of death, (B)in letters engraved on stones, came [a]with glory, (C)so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as it was, 8 how will the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory? 9 For if (D)the ministry of condemnation has glory, much more does the (E)ministry of righteousness abound in glory. 10 For indeed what had glory, in this case has no glory because of the glory that surpasses it. 11 For if that which fades away was [b]with glory, much more that which remains is in glory.
12 (F)Therefore having such a hope, (G)we use great boldness in our speech, 13 and are not like Moses, (H)who used to put a veil over his face so that the sons of Israel would not look intently at the end of what was fading away. 14 But their minds were (I)hardened; for until this very day at the (J)reading of (K)the old covenant the same veil [c]remains unlifted, because it is removed in Christ. 15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; 16 (L)but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where (M)the Spirit of the Lord is, (N)there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, (O)beholding as in a mirror the (P)glory of the Lord, are being (Q)transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from (R)the Lord, the Spirit.
The Rich Young Ruler
17 (A)As He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and (B)knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to (C)inherit eternal life?” 18 And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good except God alone. 19 You know the commandments, ‘(D)Do not murder, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor your father and mother.’” 20 And he said to Him, “Teacher, I have kept (E)all these things from my youth up.” 21 Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, “One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have (F)treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” 22 But at these words [a]he was saddened, and he went away grieving, for he was one who owned much property.
23 And Jesus, looking around, *said to His disciples, “(G)How hard it will be for those who are wealthy to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 The disciples (H)were amazed at His words. But Jesus *answered again and *said to them, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! 25 (I)It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.” 26 They were even more astonished and said to Him, “[b]Then who can be saved?” 27 Looking at them, Jesus *said, “(J)With people it is impossible, but not with God; for all things are possible with God.”
28 (K)Peter began to say to Him, “Behold, we have left everything and followed You.” 29 Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, (L)there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospel’s sake, 30 [c]but that he will receive a hundred times as much now in [d]the present age, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and in (M)the age to come, eternal life. 31 But (N)many who are first will be last, and the last, first.”
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