Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Deliverance from the Treacherous.
A Song of [a]Ascents.
120 (A)In my trouble I cried to the Lord,
And He answered me.
2 Deliver my soul, O Lord, from (B)lying lips,
From a (C)deceitful tongue.
3 What shall be given to you, and what more shall be done to you,
You (D)deceitful tongue?
4 (E)Sharp arrows of the warrior,
With the burning (F)coals of the broom tree.
5 Woe is me, for I sojourn in (G)Meshech,
For I dwell among the (H)tents of (I)Kedar!
6 Too long has my soul had its dwelling
With those who (J)hate peace.
7 I (K)am for peace, but when I speak,
They are (L)for war.
The Lord the Keeper of Israel.
A Song of Ascents.
121 I will (M)lift up my eyes to (N)the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
2 My (O)help comes from the Lord,
Who (P)made heaven and earth.
3 He will not (Q)allow your foot to slip;
He who (R)keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your (S)keeper;
The Lord is your (T)shade on your right hand.
6 The (U)sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will [b](V)protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
8 The Lord will [c](W)guard your going out and your coming in
(X)From this time forth and forever.
Prayer for the Peace of Jerusalem.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
“Let us (Y)go to the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet are standing
Within your (Z)gates, O Jerusalem,
3 Jerusalem, that is (AA)built
As a city that is (AB)compact together;
4 To which the tribes (AC)go up, even the tribes of [d]the Lord—
[e]An ordinance for Israel—
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For there (AD)thrones were set for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the (AE)peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who (AF)love you.
7 “May peace be within your (AG)walls,
And prosperity within your (AH)palaces.”
8 For the sake of my (AI)brothers and my friends,
I will now say, “(AJ)May peace be within you.”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
I will (AK)seek your good.
Prayer for the Lord’s Help.
A Song of Ascents.
123 To You I (AL)lift up my eyes,
O You who (AM)are enthroned in the heavens!
2 Behold, as the eyes of (AN)servants look to the hand of their master,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our (AO)eyes look to the Lord our God,
Until He is gracious to us.
3 (AP)Be gracious to us, O Lord, be gracious to us,
For we are greatly filled (AQ)with contempt.
4 Our soul is greatly filled
With the (AR)scoffing of (AS)those who are at ease,
And with the (AT)contempt of the proud.
Praise for Rescue from Enemies.
A Song of Ascents, of David.
124 “(AU)Had it not been the Lord who was on our side,”
(AV)Let Israel now say,
2 “Had it not been the Lord who was on our side
When men rose up against us,
3 Then they would have (AW)swallowed us alive,
When their (AX)anger was kindled against us;
4 Then the (AY)waters would have engulfed us,
The stream would have [f]swept over our soul;
5 Then the (AZ)raging waters would have [g]swept over our soul.”
6 Blessed be the Lord,
Who has not given us [h]to be (BA)torn by their teeth.
7 Our soul has (BB)escaped (BC)as a bird out of the (BD)snare of the trapper;
The snare is broken and we have escaped.
8 Our (BE)help is in the name of the Lord,
Who (BF)made heaven and earth.
The Lord Surrounds His People.
A Song of Ascents.
125 Those who trust in the Lord
Are as Mount Zion, which (BG)cannot be moved but (BH)abides forever.
2 As the mountains surround Jerusalem,
So (BI)the Lord surrounds His people
(BJ)From this time forth and forever.
3 For the (BK)scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the [i]land of the righteous,
So that the righteous (BL)will not put forth their hands to do wrong.
4 (BM)Do good, O Lord, to those who are good
And to those who are (BN)upright in their hearts.
5 But as for those who (BO)turn aside to their (BP)crooked ways,
The Lord will lead them away with the (BQ)doers of iniquity.
(BR)Peace be upon Israel.
Thanksgiving for Return from Captivity.
A Song of Ascents.
126 When the Lord (BS)brought back [j]the captive ones of Zion,
We were (BT)like those who dream.
2 Then our (BU)mouth was filled with laughter
And our (BV)tongue with joyful shouting;
Then they said among the nations,
“The Lord has (BW)done great things for them.”
3 The Lord has done great things for us;
We are (BX)glad.
4 Restore our captivity, O Lord,
As the [k](BY)streams in the [l]South.
5 Those who sow in (BZ)tears shall reap with (CA)joyful shouting.
6 He who goes to and fro weeping, carrying his bag of seed,
Shall indeed come again with a shout of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
Prosperity Comes from the Lord.
A Song of Ascents, of Solomon.
127 Unless the Lord (CB)builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord (CC)guards the city,
The watchman keeps awake in vain.
2 It is vain for you to rise up early,
To [m]retire late,
To (CD)eat the bread of [n]painful labors;
For He gives to His (CE)beloved (CF)even in his sleep.
3 Behold, (CG)children are a [o]gift of the Lord,
The (CH)fruit of the womb is a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a (CI)warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
5 How (CJ)blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them;
(CK)They will not be ashamed
When they (CL)speak with their enemies (CM)in the gate.
Saul Defeats the Ammonites
11 Now (A)Nahash the Ammonite came up and [a]besieged (B)Jabesh-gilead; and all the men of Jabesh said to Nahash, “Make (C)a covenant with us and we will serve you.” 2 But Nahash the Ammonite said to them, “I will make it with you on this condition, (D)that I will gouge out the right eye of every one of you, thus I will make it (E)a reproach on all Israel.” 3 (F)The elders of Jabesh said to him, “Let us alone for seven days, that we may send messengers throughout the territory of Israel. Then, if there is no one to deliver us, we will come out to you.” 4 Then the messengers came (G)to Gibeah of Saul and spoke these words in the hearing of the people, and all the people (H)lifted up their voices and wept.
5 Now behold, Saul was coming from the field (I)behind the oxen, and [b]he said, “What is the matter with the people that they weep?” So they related to him the words of the men of Jabesh. 6 Then (J)the Spirit of God came upon Saul mightily when he heard these words, and [c]he became very angry. 7 He took a yoke of oxen and (K)cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout the territory of Israel by the hand of messengers, saying, “(L)Whoever does not come out after Saul and after Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen.” Then the dread of the Lord fell on the people, and they came out (M)as one man. 8 He [d]numbered them in (N)Bezek; and the (O)sons of Israel were 300,000, and the men of Judah 30,000. 9 They said to the messengers who had come, “Thus you shall say to the men of Jabesh-gilead, ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you will have deliverance.’” So the messengers went and told the men of Jabesh; and they were glad. 10 Then the men of Jabesh said, “(P)Tomorrow we will come out to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good [e]to you.” 11 The next morning Saul put the people (Q)in three companies; and they came into the midst of the camp at the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. Those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.
12 Then the people said to Samuel, “(R)Who is he that said, ‘Shall Saul reign over us?’ [f](S)Bring the men, that we may put them to death.” 13 But Saul said, “(T)Not a man shall be put to death this day, for today (U)the Lord has accomplished deliverance in Israel.”
14 Then Samuel said to the people, “Come and let us go to (V)Gilgal and (W)renew the kingdom there.” 15 So all the people went to Gilgal, and there they made Saul king (X)before the Lord in Gilgal. There they also (Y)offered sacrifices of peace offerings before the Lord; and there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced greatly.
Saul Persecutes the Church
8 (A)Saul was in hearty agreement with putting him to death.
And on that day a great persecution [a]began against (B)the church in Jerusalem, and they were all (C)scattered throughout the regions of Judea and (D)Samaria, except the apostles. 2 Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. 3 But (E)Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and (F)dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.
Philip in Samaria
4 Therefore, those (G)who had been scattered went about [b](H)preaching the word. 5 (I)Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming [c]Christ to them. 6 The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the [d]signs which he was performing. 7 For in the case of many who had (J)unclean spirits, they were coming out of them shouting with a loud voice; and many who had been (K)paralyzed and lame were healed. 8 So there was (L)much rejoicing in that city.
9 Now there was a man named Simon, who formerly was practicing (M)magic in the city and astonishing the people of Samaria, (N)claiming to be someone great; 10 and they all, from smallest to greatest, were giving attention to him, saying, “(O)This man is what is called the Great Power of God.” 11 And they were giving him attention because he had for a long time astonished them with his (P)magic arts. 12 But when they believed Philip (Q)preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were being (R)baptized, men and women alike. 13 Even Simon himself believed; and after being baptized, he continued on with Philip, and as he observed (S)signs and (T)great miracles taking place, he was constantly amazed.
63 (A)Now the men who were holding [a]Jesus in custody were mocking Him and beating Him, 64 and they blindfolded Him and were asking Him, saying, “(B)Prophesy, who is the one who hit You?” 65 And they were saying many other things against Him, (C)blaspheming.
Jesus before the Sanhedrin
66 (D)When it was day, (E)the [b]Council of elders of the people assembled, both chief priests and scribes, and they led Him away to their (F)council chamber, saying, 67 “(G)If You are the [c]Christ, tell us.” But He said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe; 68 and if I ask a question, you will not answer. 69 (H)But from now on (I)the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” 70 And they all said, “Are You (J)the Son of God, then?” And He said to them, “[d](K)Yes, I am.” 71 Then they said, “What further need do we have of testimony? For we have heard it ourselves from His own mouth.”
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