Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 120
A Song of [a]Ascents.
1 In my distress I cried to the Lord, and He answered me.
2 Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips and from deceitful tongues.
3 What shall be given to you? Or what more shall be done to you, you deceitful tongue?—
4 Sharp arrows of a [mighty] warrior, with [glowing] coals of the broom tree!
5 Woe is me that I sojourn with Meshech, that I dwell beside the tents of Kedar [as if among notoriously barbarous people]!(A)
6 My life has too long had its dwelling with him who hates peace.
7 I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.
Psalm 121
A Song of [b]Ascents.
1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills [around Jerusalem, to sacred Mount Zion and Mount Moriah]—From whence shall my help come?(B)
2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not allow your foot to slip or to be moved; He Who keeps you will not slumber.(C)
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand [the side not carrying a shield].(D)
6 The sun shall not smite you by day, nor the moon by night.(E)
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.(F)
Psalm 122
A Song of [c]Ascents. Of David.
1 I was glad when they said to me, Let us go to the house of the Lord!(G)
2 Our feet are standing within your gates, O Jerusalem!—
3 Jerusalem, which is built as a city that is compacted together—
4 To which the tribes go up, even the tribes of the Lord, as was decreed and as a testimony for Israel, to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 For there the thrones of judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David.
6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May they prosper who love you [the Holy City]!
7 May peace be within your walls and prosperity within your palaces!
8 For my brethren and companions’ sake, I will now say, Peace be within you!
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek, inquire for, and require your good.
Psalm 123
A Song of [d]Ascents.
1 Unto You do I lift up my eyes, O You Who are enthroned in heaven.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their master, and as the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, so our eyes look to the Lord our God, until He has mercy and loving-kindness for us.
3 Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on and loving-kindness for us, for we are exceedingly satiated with contempt.
4 Our life is exceedingly filled with the scorning and scoffing of those who are at ease and with the contempt of the proud (irresponsible tyrants who disregard God’s law).
Psalm 124
A Song of [e]Ascents. Of David.
1 If it had not been the Lord Who was on our side—now may Israel say—
2 If it had not been the Lord Who was on our side when men rose up against us,
3 Then they would have quickly swallowed us up alive when their wrath was kindled against us;
4 Then the waters would have overwhelmed us and swept us away, the torrent would have gone over us;
5 Then the proud waters would have gone over us.
6 Blessed be the Lord, Who has not given us as prey to their teeth!
7 We are like a bird escaped from the snare of the fowlers; the snare is broken, and we have escaped!
8 Our help is in the name of the Lord, Who made heaven and earth.
Psalm 125
A Song of [f]Ascents.
1 Those who trust in, lean on, and confidently hope in the Lord are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved but abides and stands fast forever.
2 As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people from this time forth and forever.
3 For the scepter of wickedness shall not rest upon the land of the [uncompromisingly] righteous, lest the righteous (God’s people) stretch forth their hands to iniquity and apostasy.
4 Do good, O Lord, to those who are good, and to those who are right [with You and all people] in their hearts.
5 As for such as turn aside to their crooked ways [of indifference to God], the Lord will lead them forth with the workers of iniquity. Peace be upon Israel!
Psalm 126
A Song of [g]Ascents.
1 When the Lord brought back the captives [who returned] to Zion, we were like those who dream [it seemed so unreal].(H)
2 Then were our mouths filled with laughter, and our tongues with singing. Then they said among the nations, The Lord has done great things for them.
3 The Lord has done great things for us! We are glad!
4 Turn to freedom our captivity and restore our fortunes, O Lord, as the streams in the South (the Negeb) [are restored by the torrents].
5 They who sow in tears shall reap in joy and singing.
6 He who goes forth bearing seed and weeping [at needing his precious supply of grain for sowing] shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
Psalm 127
A Song of [h]Ascents. Of Solomon.
1 Except the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it; except the Lord keeps the city, the watchman wakes but in vain.(I)
2 It is vain for you to rise up early, to take rest late, to eat the bread of [anxious] toil—for He gives [blessings] to His beloved in sleep.
3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, the fruit of the womb a reward.(J)
4 As arrows are in the hand of a warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.
5 Happy, blessed, and fortunate is the man whose quiver is filled with them! They will not be put to shame when they speak with their adversaries [in gatherings] at the [city’s] gate.
15 Look down from heaven and see from the dwelling place of Your holiness and Your glory. Where are Your zeal and Your jealousy and Your mighty acts [which you formerly did for Your people]? Your yearning pity and the [multitude of] compassions of Your heart are restrained and withheld from me.
16 For [surely] You are our Father, even though Abraham [our ancestor] does not know us and Israel (Jacob) does not acknowledge us; You, O Lord, are [still] our Father, our Redeemer from everlasting is Your name.
17 O Lord, why have You made us [able] to err from Your ways and hardened our hearts to [reverential] fear of You? Return [to bless us] for Your servants’ sake, the tribes of Your heritage.
18 Your holy people possessed Your sanctuary but a little while; our adversaries have trodden it down.
19 We have become [to You] like those over whom You never exercised rule, like those who were not called by Your name.
64 Oh, that You would rend the heavens and that You would come down, that the mountains might quake and flow down at Your presence—
2 As when fire kindles the brushwood and the fire causes the waters to boil—to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at Your presence!
3 When You did terrible things which we did not expect, You came down; the mountains quaked at Your presence.
4 For from of old no one has heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who works and shows Himself active on behalf of him who [earnestly] waits for Him.
5 You meet and spare him who joyfully works righteousness (uprightness and justice), [earnestly] remembering You in Your ways. Behold, You were angry, for we sinned; we have long continued in our sins [prolonging Your anger]. And shall we be saved?
6 For we have all become like one who is unclean [ceremonially, like a leper], and all our righteousness (our best deeds of rightness and justice) is like filthy rags or a polluted garment; we all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away [far from God’s favor, hurrying us toward destruction].(A)
7 And no one calls on Your name and awakens and bestirs himself to take and keep hold of You; for You have hidden Your face from us and have delivered us into the [consuming] power of our iniquities.(B)
8 Yet, O Lord, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You our Potter, and we all are the work of Your hand.
9 Do not be exceedingly angry, O Lord, or [seriously] remember iniquity forever. Behold, consider, we beseech You, we are all Your people.
15 You already know that all who are in Asia turned away and forsook me, Phygelus and Hermogenes among them.
16 May the Lord grant [His] mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, for he often showed me kindness and ministered to my needs [comforting and reviving and bracing me like fresh air]! He was not ashamed of my chains and imprisonment [for Christ’s sake].
17 No, rather when he reached Rome, he searched diligently and eagerly for me and found me.
18 May the Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord on that [great] day! And you know how many things he did for me and what a help he was at Ephesus [you know better than I can tell you].
2 So you, my son, be strong (strengthened inwardly) in the grace (spiritual blessing) that is [to be found only] in Christ Jesus.
2 And the [instructions] which you have heard from me along with many witnesses, transmit and entrust [as a deposit] to reliable and faithful men who will be competent and qualified to teach others also.
3 Take [with me] your share of the hardships and suffering [which you are called to endure] as a good (first-class) soldier of Christ Jesus.
4 No soldier when in service gets entangled in the enterprises of [civilian] life; his aim is to satisfy and please the one who enlisted him.
5 And if anyone enters competitive games, he is not crowned unless he competes lawfully (fairly, according to the rules laid down).
6 [It is] the hard-working farmer [who labors to produce] who must be the first partaker of the fruits.
7 Think over these things I am saying [understand them and grasp their application], for the Lord will grant you full insight and understanding in everything.
8 Constantly keep in mind Jesus Christ (the Messiah) [as] risen from the dead, [as the prophesied King] descended from David, according to the good news (the Gospel) that I preach.(A)
9 For that [Gospel] I am suffering affliction and even wearing chains like a criminal. But the Word of God is not chained or imprisoned!
10 Therefore I [am ready to] persevere and stand my ground with patience and endure everything for the sake of the elect [God’s chosen], so that they too may obtain [the] salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with [the reward of] eternal glory.
11 The saying is sure and worthy of confidence: If we have died with Him, we shall also live with Him.
12 If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny and disown and reject Him, He will also deny and disown and reject us.
13 If we are faithless [do not believe and are untrue to Him], He remains true (faithful to His Word and His righteous character), for He cannot deny Himself.
37 Now while Jesus was speaking, a Pharisee invited Him to take dinner with him, so He entered and reclined at table.
38 The Pharisee noticed and was astonished [to see] that Jesus did not first wash before dinner.
39 But the Lord said to him, Now you Pharisees cleanse the outside of the cup and of the plate, but inside you yourselves are full of greed and robbery and extortion and malice and wickedness.
40 You senseless (foolish, stupid) ones [acting without reflection or intelligence]! Did not He Who made the outside make the inside also?
41 But [dedicate your inner self and] give as donations to the poor of those things which are within [of inward righteousness] and behold, everything is purified and clean for you.
42 But woe to you, Pharisees! For you tithe mint and rue and every [little] herb, but disregard and neglect justice and the love of God. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone.(A)
43 Woe to you, Pharisees! For you love the best seats in the synagogues and [you love] to be greeted and bowed down to in the [public] marketplaces.
44 Woe to you! For you are like graves which are not marked or seen, and men walk over them without being aware of it [and are ceremonially defiled].
45 One of the experts in the [Mosaic] Law answered Him, Teacher, in saying this, You reproach and outrage and affront even us!
46 But He said, Woe to you, the lawyers, also! For you load men with oppressive burdens hard to bear, and you do not personally [even [a]gently] touch the burdens with one of your fingers.
47 Woe to you! For you are [b]rebuilding and repairing the tombs of the prophets, whom your fathers killed (destroyed).
48 So you bear witness and give your full approval and consent to the deeds of your fathers; for they actually killed them, and you rebuild and repair monuments to them.
49 For this reason also the wisdom of God said, I will send them prophets and apostles, [some] of whom they will put to death and persecute,
50 So that the blood of all the prophets shed from the foundation of the world may be charged against and required of this age and generation,
51 From the blood of Abel to the blood of Zechariah, who was slain between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell you, it shall be charged against and required of this age and generation.(B)
52 Woe to you, lawyers (experts in the Mosaic Law)! For you have taken away the key to knowledge; you did not go in yourselves, and you hindered and prevented those who were entering.
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