Book of Common Prayer
We Wept When We Remembered Zion
137 By the (A)rivers of Babylon,
There we sat and also (B)wept,
When we remembered Zion.
2 Upon the [a](C)willows in the midst of it
We (D)hung our lyres.
3 For there our captors (E)asked us about the words of a song,
And (F)our tormentors asked joyfully, saying,
“Sing for us one of the songs of Zion.”
4 How can we sing a song of (G)Yahweh
In a foreign land?
5 If I (H)forget you, O Jerusalem,
May my right hand [b]forget her skill.
6 May my (I)tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
If I do not remember you,
If I do not [c](J)exalt Jerusalem
Above my chief joy.
7 Remember, O Yahweh, against the sons of (K)Edom
The day of Jerusalem,
Who said, “Tear it down! Tear it down
(L)To its very foundation.”
8 O daughter of Babylon, you (M)devastated one,
How blessed will be the one who (N)repays you
With [d]the recompense with which you have recompensed us.
9 How blessed will be the one who seizes and (O)dashes your infants
Against the cliff.
Blessed Be Yahweh, My Rock
Of David.
144 Blessed be Yahweh, (A)my rock,
Who (B)trains my hands for war,
My fingers for battle;
2 My lovingkindness and (C)my fortress,
My (D)stronghold and my deliverer,
My (E)shield and He in whom I take refuge,
Who (F)subdues [a]my people under me.
3 O Yahweh, (G)what is man, that You know him?
Or the son of man, that You think of him?
4 (H)Man is like a breath;
His (I)days are like a passing shadow.
5 O Yahweh, (J)bow Your heavens, and (K)come down;
(L)Touch the mountains, that they may smoke.
6 Flash forth (M)lightning and scatter them;
Send out Your (N)arrows and confuse them.
7 Send forth Your hand (O)from on high;
Set me free and (P)deliver me out of many waters,
Out of the hand of (Q)foreigners
8 Whose mouth (R)speaks worthlessness,
And whose (S)right hand is a right hand of lying.
9 O God, I will sing a (T)new song to You;
Upon a (U)harp of ten strings I will sing praises to You,
10 Who (V)gives salvation to kings,
Who (W)sets David His servant free from the evil sword.
11 Set me free and deliver me out of the hand of the sons of a (X)foreigner,
Whose mouth (Y)speaks worthlessness
And whose (Z)right hand is a right hand of lying.
12 That our sons would be as (AA)grown-up plants in their youth,
And our daughters as (AB)corner pillars [b]fashioned as for a palace;
13 That our (AC)granaries would be full, furnishing every kind of produce,
And our flocks would bring forth thousands and ten thousands in our fields outside;
14 That our (AD)cattle would [c]bear
Without [d](AE)mishap and without [e](AF)loss,
And without (AG)outcry in our streets!
15 How blessed are the people for whom this is so;
How (AH)blessed are the people for whom God is Yahweh!
The Glory of Yahweh Endures Forever
104 (A)Bless Yahweh, O my soul!
O Yahweh my God, You are very great;
You are (B)clothed with splendor and majesty,
2 Wrapping Yourself with (C)light as with a cloak,
(D)Stretching out the heavens like a tent curtain.
3 [a]He (E)lays the beams of His upper chambers in the waters;
[b]He sets up the (F)clouds to be His chariot;
[c]He walks upon the (G)wings of the wind;
4 [d]He makes His [e]angels (H)the winds,
His ministers flaming (I)fire.
5 He (J)founded the earth upon its place,
So that it will not [f]shake forever and ever.
6 You (K)covered it with the deep as with a garment;
The waters were standing above the mountains.
7 At Your (L)rebuke they fled,
At the (M)sound of Your thunder they hurried away in alarm.
8 The mountains went up; the valleys went down
To the (N)place which You founded for them.
9 You set a (O)boundary that they may not pass over,
So that they will not return to cover the earth.
10 [g]He sends forth (P)springs in the valleys;
They flow between the mountains;
11 They (Q)give water to every beast of the field;
The (R)wild donkeys quench their thirst.
12 Above them the birds of the heavens (S)dwell;
They give forth their voices among the branches.
13 [h]He (T)gives water to the mountains from His upper chambers;
(U)The earth is satisfied with the fruit of His works.
14 [i]He causes the (V)grass to grow for the [j]cattle,
And (W)vegetation for man’s [k]cultivation,
To bring forth [l]food (X)from the earth,
15 And (Y)wine which makes man’s heart glad,
(Z)To make his face glisten more than oil,
And [m]food which (AA)sustains man’s heart.
16 The trees of Yahweh are satisfied,
The cedars of Lebanon which He planted,
17 Where the (AB)birds build their nests,
The (AC)stork’s home is in the [n]fir trees.
18 The high mountains are for the (AD)wild goats;
The (AE)cliffs are a refuge for the [o](AF)shephanim.
19 He made the moon (AG)for the seasons;
The (AH)sun knows the place of its setting.
20 You (AI)appoint darkness so that it becomes night,
In which all the (AJ)beasts of the forest (AK)creep about.
21 The (AL)young lions roar to go after their prey
And to (AM)seek their food from God.
22 When the sun rises they gather together
And lie down in their (AN)dens.
23 Man goes forth to (AO)his work
And to his labor until evening.
24 How (AP)numerous are Your works, O Yahweh!
[p]In (AQ)wisdom You have made them all;
The (AR)earth is full of Your [q]possessions.
25 This is the (AS)sea, great and [r]broad,
There the creeping things are without number,
Creatures both small and great.
26 There the (AT)ships move along,
And [s](AU)Leviathan, which You have formed to play in it.
27 They all (AV)wait for You
To (AW)give them their food in [t]due season.
28 You give to them, they gather it up;
You (AX)open Your hand, they are satisfied with good.
29 You (AY)hide Your face, they are dismayed;
You (AZ)take away their [u]spirit, they breathe their last
And (BA)return to their dust.
30 You send forth Your [v](BB)Spirit, they are created;
And You renew the face of the ground.
31 Let the (BC)glory of Yahweh endure forever;
Let Yahweh (BD)be glad in His works;
32 [w]He (BE)looks at the earth, and it (BF)trembles;
He (BG)touches the mountains, and they smoke.
33 [x]I will sing to Yahweh (BH)throughout my life;
[y]I will (BI)sing praise to my God [z]while I have my being.
34 Let my (BJ)musing be pleasing to Him;
As for me, I shall (BK)be glad in Yahweh.
35 Let sinners be (BL)consumed from the earth
And let the (BM)wicked be no more.
(BN)Bless Yahweh, O my soul.
[aa](BO)Praise Yah!
The Ruler Will Come from Bethlehem
5 “[a]Now muster yourselves in troops, daughter of troops;
[b]They have laid siege against us;
With a rod they will (A)strike the judge of Israel on the cheek.
2 [c]But as for (B)you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Too little to be among the clans of Judah,
From (C)you One will go forth for Me to be (D)ruler in Israel.
[d]His goings forth are (E)from everlasting,
From the ancient days.”
3 Therefore He will (F)give them up until the time
When she (G)who is in childbirth has borne a child.
Then the (H)remainder of His brothers
Will return to the sons of Israel.
4 And He will stand and (I)shepherd His flock
In the strength of Yahweh,
In the majesty of the name of Yahweh His God.
And they will [e]remain
Because [f]at that time He will be great
To the (J)ends of the earth.
10 “And it will be in that day,” declares Yahweh,
“(A)That I will cut off your (B)horses from among you
And destroy your chariots.
11 And I will cut off the (C)cities of your land
And pull down all your (D)fortifications.
12 And I will cut off (E)sorceries from your hand,
And you will have soothsaying no more.
13 (F)And I will cut off your graven images
And your sacred pillars from among you
So that you will no longer worship
The work of your hands.
14 And I will uproot your [a](G)Asherim from among you
And [b]eradicate your cities.
15 And I will (H)execute vengeance in anger and wrath
On the nations which have not [c](I)listened.”
Festus and Agrippa Discuss Paul’s Trial
13 Now when several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at (A)Caesarea [a]and greeted Festus. 14 And while they were spending many days there, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man who was (B)left as a prisoner by Felix; 15 and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews (C)brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. 16 I (D)answered them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any man before (E)the accused meets his accusers face to face and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges. 17 So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on (F)the judgment seat and ordered the man to be brought before me. 18 When the accusers stood up, they were not bringing any charges against him for the evil deeds I was expecting, 19 but they had some (G)points of disagreement with him about their own [b](H)religion and about a certain Jesus, a dead man whom Paul asserted to be alive. 20 (I)And being perplexed about how to investigate [c]such matters, I was asking whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there to be tried on these matters. 21 But when Paul (J)appealed to be held in custody for [d]the Emperor’s decision, I ordered him to be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.” 22 Then (K)Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he *said, “you shall hear him.”
Paul Before Agrippa and Bernice
23 So, on the next day when (L)Agrippa came [e]together with (M)Bernice amid great pomp, and entered the hall [f]accompanied by the [g]commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the order of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24 And Festus *said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen here present with us, you see this man about whom (N)all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both at Jerusalem and here, loudly declaring that (O)he ought not to live any longer. 25 But I found that he had committed (P)nothing worthy of death, and since he himself (Q)appealed to [h]the Emperor, I decided to send him. 26 [i]Yet I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. 27 For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate also the charges against him.”
A Lampstand and the Light
16 “Now (A)no one after lighting a lamp covers it with a container or puts it under a bed, but he puts it on a lampstand, so that those who come in may see the light. 17 (B)For nothing is hidden that will not become evident, nor anything secret that will not be known and come to light. 18 So beware how you listen, (C)for whoever has, to him more shall be given; and whoever does not have, even what he [a]thinks he has shall be taken away from him.”
Jesus’ Mother and Brothers
19 (D)And His mother and brothers came to Him, and they were unable to get to Him because of the crowd. 20 And it was reported to Him, “Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, wishing to see You.” 21 But He answered and said to them, “My mother and My brothers are these (E)who hear the word of God and do it.”
Jesus Calms a Storm
22 (F)Now it happened that on one of those days He and His disciples got into a boat, and He said to them, “Let us go over to the other side of (G)the lake.” So they set sail. 23 But as they were sailing along, He fell asleep, and a windstorm descended on (H)the lake, and they began to be swamped and in danger. 24 And they came to Him and woke Him up, saying, “(I)Master, Master, we are perishing!” And He woke up and (J)rebuked the wind and the surging waves, and they stopped, and [b]it became calm. 25 And He said to them, “Where is your faith?” They were fearful and marveled, saying to one another, “Who then is this, that He commands even the winds and the water, and they obey Him?”
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