Book of Common Prayer
Simple Trust in the Lord
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
131 Lord, my heart is not [a]haughty,
Nor my eyes [b]lofty.
(A)Neither do I [c]concern myself with great matters,
Nor with things too [d]profound for me.
2 Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
(B)Like a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
3 (C)O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever.
The Eternal Dwelling of God in Zion
A Song of Ascents.
132 Lord, remember David
And all his afflictions;
2 How he swore to the Lord,
(D)And vowed to (E)the Mighty One of Jacob:
3 “Surely I will not go into the chamber of my house,
Or go up to the comfort of my bed;
4 I will (F)not give sleep to my eyes
Or slumber to my eyelids,
5 Until I (G)find a place for the Lord,
A dwelling place for the Mighty One of Jacob.”
6 Behold, we heard of it (H)in Ephrathah;
(I)We found it (J)in the fields of [e]the woods.
7 Let us go into His tabernacle;
(K)Let us worship at His footstool.
8 (L)Arise, O Lord, to Your resting place,
You and (M)the ark of Your strength.
9 Let Your priests (N)be clothed with righteousness,
And let Your saints shout for joy.
10 For Your servant David’s sake,
Do not turn away the face of Your [f]Anointed.
11 (O)The Lord has sworn in truth to David;
He will not turn from it:
“I will set upon your throne (P)the [g]fruit of your body.
12 If your sons will keep My covenant
And My testimony which I shall teach them,
Their sons also shall sit upon your throne forevermore.”
13 (Q)For the Lord has chosen Zion;
He has desired it for His [h]dwelling place:
14 “This(R) is My resting place forever;
Here I will dwell, for I have desired it.
15 (S)I will abundantly bless her [i]provision;
I will satisfy her poor with bread.
16 (T)I will also clothe her priests with salvation,
(U)And her saints shall shout aloud for joy.
17 (V)There I will make the [j]horn of David grow;
(W)I will prepare a lamp for My [k]Anointed.
18 His enemies I will (X)clothe with shame,
But upon Himself His crown shall flourish.”
Blessed Unity of the People of God
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
133 Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
For (Y)brethren to dwell together in unity!
2 It is like the precious oil upon the head,
Running down on the beard,
The beard of Aaron,
Running down on the edge of his garments.
3 It is like the dew of (Z)Hermon,
Descending upon the mountains of Zion;
For (AA)there the Lord commanded the blessing—
Life forevermore.
Praising the Lord in His House at Night
A Song of Ascents.
134 Behold, bless the Lord,
All you servants of the Lord,
Who by night stand in the house of the Lord!
2 (AB)Lift up your hands in the sanctuary,
And bless the Lord.
3 The Lord who made heaven and earth
Bless you from Zion!
Praise to God in Creation and Redemption
135 Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord;
(AC)Praise Him, O you servants of the Lord!
2 (AD)You who stand in the house of the Lord,
In (AE)the courts of the house of our God,
3 Praise the Lord, for (AF)the Lord is good;
Sing praises to His name, (AG)for it is pleasant.
4 For (AH)the Lord has chosen Jacob for Himself,
Israel for His [l]special treasure.
5 For I know that (AI)the Lord is great,
And our Lord is above all gods.
6 (AJ)Whatever the Lord pleases He does,
In heaven and in earth,
In the seas and in all deep places.
7 (AK)He causes the [m]vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth;
(AL)He makes lightning for the rain;
He brings the wind out of His (AM)treasuries.
8 (AN)He [n]destroyed the firstborn of Egypt,
[o]Both of man and beast.
9 (AO)He sent signs and wonders into the midst of you, O Egypt,
(AP)Upon Pharaoh and all his servants.
10 (AQ)He defeated many nations
And slew mighty kings—
11 Sihon king of the Amorites,
Og king of Bashan,
And (AR)all the kingdoms of Canaan—
12 (AS)And gave their land as a [p]heritage,
A heritage to Israel His people.
13 (AT)Your name, O Lord, endures forever,
Your fame, O Lord, throughout all generations.
14 (AU)For the Lord will judge His people,
And He will have compassion on His servants.
15 (AV)The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
16 They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
17 They have ears, but they do not hear;
Nor is there any breath in their mouths.
18 Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.
19 (AW)Bless the Lord, O house of Israel!
Bless the Lord, O house of Aaron!
20 Bless the Lord, O house of Levi!
You who fear the Lord, bless the Lord!
21 Blessed be the Lord (AX)out of Zion,
Who dwells in Jerusalem!
Praise the Lord!
5 Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, [a]thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people (A)as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of (B)Beth Aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people (C)hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. 7 And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the (D)land of Gad and Gilead.
As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. 8 (E)Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might [b]greet him.
11 And Samuel said, “What have you done?”
Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, 12 then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”
13 And Samuel said to Saul, (F)“You have done foolishly. (G)You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 (H)But now your kingdom shall not continue. (I)The Lord has sought for Himself a man (J)after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have (K)not kept what the Lord commanded you.”
15 Then Samuel arose and went up from Gilgal to Gibeah of [c]Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people present with him, (L)about six hundred men.
No Weapons for the Army
16 Saul, Jonathan his son, and the people present with them remained in [d]Gibeah of Benjamin. But the Philistines encamped in Michmash. 17 Then raiders came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies. One company turned onto the road to (M)Ophrah, to the land of Shual, 18 another company turned to the road to (N)Beth Horon, and another company turned to the road of the border that overlooks the Valley of (O)Zeboim toward the wilderness.
Christ Is Preached to an Ethiopian(A)
26 Now an angel of the Lord spoke to (B)Philip, saying, “Arise and go toward the south along the road which goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” This is [a]desert. 27 So he arose and went. And behold, (C)a man of Ethiopia, a eunuch of great authority under Candace the queen of the Ethiopians, who had charge of all her treasury, and (D)had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 was returning. And sitting in his chariot, he was reading Isaiah the prophet. 29 Then the Spirit said to Philip, “Go near and overtake this chariot.”
30 So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”
31 And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him. 32 The place in the Scripture which he read was this:
(E)“He was led as a sheep to the slaughter;
And as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
(F)So He opened not His mouth.
33 In His humiliation His (G)justice was taken away,
And who will declare His generation?
For His life is (H)taken from the earth.”
34 So the eunuch answered Philip and said, “I ask you, of whom does the prophet say this, of himself or of some other man?” 35 Then Philip opened his mouth, (I)and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him. 36 Now as they went down the road, they came to some water. And the eunuch said, “See, here is water. (J)What hinders me from being baptized?”
37 [b]Then Philip said, (K)“If you believe with all your heart, you may.”
And he answered and said, (L)“I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.”
38 So he commanded the chariot to stand still. And both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 Now when they came up out of the water, (M)the Spirit of the Lord caught Philip away, so that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went on his way rejoicing. 40 But Philip was found at [c]Azotus. And passing through, he preached in all the cities till he came to (N)Caesarea.
Taking the Place of Barabbas(A)
13 (B)Then Pilate, when he had called together the chief priests, the rulers, and the people, 14 said to them, (C)“You have brought this Man to me, as one who misleads the people. And indeed, (D)having examined Him in your presence, I have found no fault in this Man concerning those things of which you accuse Him; 15 no, neither did Herod, for [a]I sent you back to him; and indeed nothing deserving of death has been done by Him. 16 (E)I will therefore chastise Him and release Him” 17 (F)(for[b] it was necessary for him to release one to them at the feast).
18 And (G)they all cried out at once, saying, “Away with this Man, and release to us Barabbas”— 19 who had been thrown into prison for a certain rebellion made in the city, and for murder.
20 Pilate, therefore, wishing to release Jesus, again called out to them. 21 But they shouted, saying, “Crucify Him, crucify Him!”
22 Then he said to them the third time, “Why, what evil has He done? I have found no reason for death in Him. I will therefore chastise Him and let Him go.”
23 But they were insistent, demanding with loud voices that He be crucified. And the voices of these men [c]and of the chief priests prevailed. 24 So (H)Pilate gave sentence that it should be as they requested. 25 (I)And he released [d]to them the one they requested, who for rebellion and murder had been thrown into prison; but he delivered Jesus to their will.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.