Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137
Lament of the Exiles
1 By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion.(A)
2 There we hung up our lyres
on the poplar trees,(B)
3 for our captors there asked us for songs,
and our tormentors, for rejoicing:
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”(C)
Psalm 144
A King’s Prayer
Of David.
1 Blessed be the Lord, my rock(A)
who trains my hands for battle
and my fingers for warfare.(B)
2 He is my faithful love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer.
He is my shield,(C) and I take refuge in him;(D)
he subdues my people[a] under me.(E)
3 Lord, what is a human that you care for him,
a son of man[b] that you think of him?(F)
4 A human is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow.(G)
5 Lord, part your heavens and come down.(H)
Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.(I)
6 Flash your lightning and scatter the foe;[c]
shoot your arrows and rout them.(J)
7 Reach down[d] from on high;(K)
rescue me from deep water, and set me free
from the grasp of foreigners(L)
8 whose mouths speak lies,
whose right hands are deceptive.(M)
9 God, I will sing a new song to you;
I will play on a ten-stringed harp for you(N)—
10 the one who gives victory to kings,
who frees his servant David
from the deadly sword.(O)
11 Set me free and rescue me
from foreigners(P)
whose mouths speak lies,
whose right hands are deceptive.(Q)
12 Then our sons will be like plants
nurtured in their youth,
our daughters, like corner pillars
that are carved in the palace style.(R)
13 Our storehouses will be full,
supplying all kinds of produce;(S)
our flocks will increase by thousands
and tens of thousands in our open fields.(T)
14 Our cattle will be well fed.[e]
There will be no breach in the walls,
no going into captivity,[f]
and no cry of lament in our public squares.(U)
15 Happy are the people with such blessings.
Happy are the people whose God is the Lord.(V)
BOOK II
(Psalms 42–72)
Psalm 42
Longing for God
For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.
1 As a deer longs for flowing streams,
so I long for you, God.(A)
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I come and appear before God?(B)
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while all day long people say to me,
“Where is your God?” (C)
4 I remember this as I pour out my heart:(D)
how I walked with many,
leading the festive procession to the house of God,
with joyful and thankful shouts.(E)
5 Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,
my Savior and my God.(F)
6 I[a] am deeply depressed;
therefore I remember you from the land of Jordan
and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.(G)
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls;
all your breakers and your billows have swept over me.(H)
8 The Lord will send his faithful love by day;(I)
his song will be with me in the night—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God, my rock,(J)
“Why have you forgotten me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?” (K)
10 My adversaries taunt me,
as if crushing my bones,
while all day long they say to me,
“Where is your God?” (L)
11 Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,
my Savior and my God.(M)
Psalm 43[b]
1 Vindicate me, God, and champion my cause
against an unfaithful nation;
rescue me from the deceitful and unjust person.(N)
2 For you are the God of my refuge.
Why have you rejected me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?(O)
3 Send your light and your truth; let them lead me.(P)
Let them bring me to your holy mountain,
to your dwelling place.(Q)
4 Then I will come to the altar of God,
to God, my greatest joy.(R)
I will praise you with the lyre,
God, my God.(S)
5 Why, my soul, are you so dejected?
Why are you in such turmoil?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise him,
my Savior and my God.(T)
The Ninth Plague: Darkness
21 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand toward heaven, and there will be darkness over the land of Egypt, a darkness that can be felt.” 22 So Moses stretched out his hand toward heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout the land of Egypt for three days. 23 One person could not see another, and for three days they did not move from where they were. Yet all the Israelites had light where they lived.(A)
24 Pharaoh summoned Moses and said, “Go, worship the Lord. Even your families may go with you; only your flocks and herds must stay behind.”
25 Moses responded, “You must also let us have[a] sacrifices and burnt offerings to prepare for the Lord our God. 26 Even our livestock must go with us; not a hoof will be left behind because we will take some of them to worship the Lord our God. We will not know what we will use to worship the Lord until we get there.”
27 But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart,(B) and he was unwilling to let them go. 28 Pharaoh said to him, “Leave me! Make sure you never see my face again, for on the day you see my face, you will die.”
29 “As you have said,” Moses replied, “I will never see your face again.”(C)
The Tenth Plague: Death of the Firstborn
11 The Lord said[b] to Moses, “I will bring one more plague on Pharaoh and on Egypt. After that, he will let you go from here. When he lets you go,[c] he will drive you out of here. 2 Now announce to the people that both men and women should ask their neighbors for silver and gold items.” 3 The Lord gave[d] the people favor with the Egyptians. In addition, Moses himself was very highly regarded[e] in the land of Egypt by[f] Pharaoh’s officials and the people.(D)
4 So Moses said, “This is what the Lord says: About midnight I will go throughout Egypt, 5 and every firstborn male in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne to the firstborn of the servant girl who is at the grindstones, as well as every firstborn of the livestock. 6 Then there will be a great cry of anguish through all the land of Egypt such as never was before or ever will be again. 7 But against all the Israelites, whether people or animals, not even a dog will snarl,[g] so that you may know that the Lord makes a distinction between Egypt and Israel. 8 All these officials of yours will come down to me and bow before me, saying: Get out, you and all the people who follow you.[h] After that, I will get out.” And he went out from Pharaoh’s presence fiercely angry.(E)
13 And since we have the same spirit of faith in keeping with what is written, I believed, therefore I spoke,[a](A) we also believe, and therefore speak. 14 For we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus will also raise us with Jesus(B) and present us with you. 15 Indeed, everything is for your benefit so that, as grace extends through more and more people, it may cause thanksgiving(C) to increase to the glory of God.
16 Therefore we do not give up.(D) Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person(E) is being renewed day by day. 17 For our momentary light affliction(F) is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory.(G) 18 So we do not focus on what is seen,(H) but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
A Blind Man Healed
46 They(A) came to Jericho.(B) And as he was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a large crowd, Bartimaeus (the son of Timaeus), a blind(C) beggar,(D) was sitting by the road.(E) 47 When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth,(F) he began to cry out, “Jesus, Son of David,(G) have mercy(H) on me!” (I) 48 Many warned him to keep quiet, but he was crying out all the more, “Have mercy on me,(J) Son of David!”
49 Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.”
So they called the blind man and said to him, “Have courage!(K) Get up; he’s calling for you.” 50 He threw off his coat,(L) jumped up, and came to Jesus.
51 Then Jesus answered him, “What do you want(M) me to do for you?”
“Rabboni,”[a](N) the blind man said to him, “I want to see.”
52 Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has saved you.”(O) Immediately he could see and began to follow Jesus on the road.
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