Book of Common Prayer
ק Qoph
145 I call with all my heart; answer me, Lord.
I will obey your statutes.(A)
146 I call to you; save me,
and I will keep your decrees.(B)
147 I rise before dawn and cry out for help;(C)
I put my hope in your word.
148 I am awake through each watch of the night
to meditate on your promise.(D)
149 In keeping with your faithful love, hear my voice.
Lord, give me life in keeping with your justice.(E)
150 Those who pursue evil plans[a](F) come near;
they are far from your instruction.
151 You are near, Lord,(G)
and all your commands are true.(H)
152 Long ago I learned from your decrees
that you have established them forever.(I)
ר Resh
153 Consider my affliction and rescue me,(J)
for I have not forgotten your instruction.(K)
154 Champion my cause and redeem me;(L)
give me life as you promised.
155 Salvation is far from the wicked
because they do not study your statutes.(M)
156 Your compassions are many, Lord;(N)
give me life according to your judgments.
157 My persecutors and foes are many.(O)
I have not turned from your decrees.(P)
158 I have seen the disloyal(Q) and feel disgust(R)
because they do not keep your word.
159 Consider how I love your precepts;
Lord, give me life according to your faithful love.(S)
160 The entirety of your word is truth,
each of your righteous judgments endures forever.(T)
שׂ Sin
161 Princes have persecuted me without cause,
but my heart fears only your word.(U)
162 I rejoice over your promise(V)
like one who finds vast treasure.
163 I hate and abhor falsehood,(W)
but I love your instruction.(X)
164 I praise you seven times a day
for your righteous judgments.(Y)
165 Abundant peace belongs to those(Z)
who love your instruction;
nothing makes them stumble.(AA)
166 Lord, I hope for your salvation(AB)
and carry out your commands.
167 I obey your decrees
and love them greatly.(AC)
168 I obey your precepts and decrees,
for all my ways are before you.(AD)
ת Taw
169 Let my cry reach you, Lord;(AE)
give me understanding according to your word.(AF)
170 Let my plea reach you;(AG)
rescue me according to your promise.(AH)
171 My lips pour out praise,(AI)
for you teach me your statutes.(AJ)
172 My tongue sings about your promise,(AK)
for all your commands are righteous.(AL)
173 May your hand be ready to help me,(AM)
for I have chosen your precepts.(AN)
174 I long for your salvation, Lord,
and your instruction is my delight.(AO)
175 Let me live, and I will praise you;(AP)
may your judgments help me.
176 I wander like a lost sheep;(AQ)
seek your servant,(AR)
for I do not forget your commands.(AS)
Psalm 128
Blessings for Those Who Fear God
A song of ascents.
1 How happy is everyone who fears the Lord,
who walks in his ways!(A)
2 You will surely eat
what your hands have worked for.(B)
You will be happy,
and it will go well for you.(C)
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your house,
your children, like young olive trees
around your table.(D)
4 In this very way
the man who fears the Lord
will be blessed.(E)
5 May the Lord bless you from Zion,
so that you will see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life(F)
6 and will see your children’s children!
Peace be with Israel.(G)
Psalm 129
Protection of the Oppressed
A song of ascents.
1 Since my youth they have often attacked me—
let Israel say—
2 since my youth they have often attacked me,
but they have not prevailed against me.(H)
3 Plowmen plowed over my back;
they made their furrows long.(I)
4 The Lord is righteous;
he has cut the ropes of the wicked.(J)
5 Let all who hate Zion
be driven back in disgrace.(K)
6 Let them be like grass on the rooftops,
which withers before it grows up[a](L)
7 and can’t even fill the hands of the reaper
or the arms of the one who binds sheaves.(M)
8 Then none who pass by will say,
“May the Lord’s blessing be on you.
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”(N)
Psalm 130
Awaiting Redemption
A song of ascents.
1 Out of the depths I call to you, Lord!(O)
2 Lord, listen to my voice;
let your ears be attentive
to my cry for help.(P)
3 Lord, if you kept an account of iniquities,
Lord, who could stand?(Q)
4 But with you there is forgiveness,
so that you may be revered.(R)
Samuel’s Final Public Speech
12 Then Samuel said to all Israel, “I have carefully listened to everything you said to me and placed a king over you.(A) 2 Now you can see that the king is leading you. As for me, I’m old and gray, and my sons are here with you. I have led you from my youth until now. 3 Here I am. Bring charges against me before the Lord and his anointed: Whose ox or donkey have I taken?(B) Who have I wronged or mistreated? Who gave me a bribe to overlook something?[a](C) I will return it to you.”
4 “You haven’t wronged us, you haven’t mistreated us, and you haven’t taken anything from anyone,” they responded.
5 He said to them, “The Lord is a witness against you, and his anointed is a witness today that you haven’t found anything(D) in my hand.”(E)
“He is a witness,” they said.
6 Then Samuel said to the people, “The Lord, who appointed Moses and Aaron(F) and who brought your ancestors up from the land of Egypt, is a witness.[b]
16 “Now, therefore, present yourselves and see this great thing that the Lord will do before your eyes.(A) 17 Isn’t the wheat harvest today?(B) I will call on the Lord, and he will send thunder and rain so that you will recognize what an immense evil you committed in the Lord’s sight by requesting a king for yourselves.”(C) 18 Samuel called on the Lord, and on that day the Lord sent thunder and rain. As a result, all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.(D)
19 They pleaded with Samuel, “Pray to the Lord your God for your servants(E) so we won’t die! For we have added to all our sins the evil of requesting a king for ourselves.”(F)
20 Samuel replied, “Don’t be afraid. Even though you have committed all this evil, don’t turn away from following the Lord.(G) Instead, worship the Lord with all your heart. 21 Don’t turn away to follow worthless[a] things that can’t profit or rescue you; they are worthless.(H) 22 The Lord will not abandon his people,(I) because of his great name and because he has determined to make you his own people.(J)
23 “As for me, I vow that I will not sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you.(K) I will teach you the good and right way. 24 Above all, fear the Lord and worship him faithfully with all your heart; consider the great things he has done for you.(L) 25 However, if you continue to do what is evil, both you and your king will be swept away.”(M)
Simon’s Sin
14 When the apostles who were at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent Peter and John to them.(A) 15 After they went down there, they prayed for them so that the Samaritans might receive the Holy Spirit because he had not yet come down on any of them. 16 (They had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.(B)) 17 Then Peter and John laid their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit.
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit[a] was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, 19 saying, “Give me this power also so that anyone I lay hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.”
20 But Peter told him, “May your silver be destroyed with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!(C) 21 You have no part or share in this matter, because your heart is not right before God.(D) 22 Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, your heart’s intent may be forgiven. 23 For I see you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by wickedness.”(E)
24 “Pray to the Lord for me,” Simon replied, “so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”(F)
25 So, after they had testified and spoken the word of the Lord, they traveled back to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many villages of the Samaritans.
Jesus Faces Pilate
23 Then(A) their whole assembly rose up and brought him before Pilate. 2 They began to accuse him, saying, “We found this man misleading our nation, opposing payment of taxes(B) to Caesar, and saying that he himself is the Messiah, a king.”
3 So Pilate asked him,(C) “Are you the king of the Jews?” (D)
He answered him, “You say so.”[a]
4 Pilate then told the chief priests and the crowds, “I find no grounds(E) for charging this man.”
5 But they kept insisting, “He stirs up the people,(F) teaching throughout all Judea, from Galilee(G) where he started even to here.”
Jesus Faces Herod Antipas
6 When Pilate(H) heard this,[b] he asked if the man was a Galilean. 7 Finding that he was under Herod’s jurisdiction, he sent him to Herod,(I) who was also in Jerusalem during those days. 8 Herod was very glad to see Jesus; for a long time he had wanted to see him because he had heard about him and was hoping to see some miracle[c] performed by him. 9 So he kept asking him questions, but Jesus did not answer him.(J) 10 The chief priests and the scribes stood by, vehemently accusing him. 11 Then Herod, with his soldiers, treated him with contempt, mocked(K) him, dressed him in bright clothing,(L) and sent him back to Pilate. 12 That very day Herod and Pilate became friends.[d](M) Previously, they had been enemies.
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