Book of Common Prayer
145 I call with all my heart, O Lord;
answer me that I may keep your statutes.
146 I call to you to save me
that I may observe your testimonies.
147 I rise before dawn and cry out;
I put my hope in your words.
148 My eyes greet the night watches
as I meditate on your promise.(A)
149 Hear my voice in your mercy, O Lord;
by your judgment give me life.
150 Malicious persecutors draw near me;
they are far from your law.
151 You are near, O Lord;
reliable are all your commandments.
152 Long have I known from your testimonies
that you have established them forever.
Resh
153 Look at my affliction and rescue me,
for I have not forgotten your law.
154 Take up my cause and redeem me;(B)
for the sake of your promise give me life.
155 Salvation is far from sinners
because they do not cherish your statutes.
156 Your compassion is great, O Lord;
in accord with your judgments, give me life.
157 Though my persecutors and foes are many,
I do not turn from your testimonies.
158 I view the faithless with loathing(C)
because they do not heed your promise.
159 See how I love your precepts, Lord;
in your mercy give me life.
160 Your every word is enduring;
all your righteous judgments are forever.
Shin
161 Princes persecute me without reason,
but my heart reveres only your word.
162 I rejoice at your promise,
as one who has found rich spoil.
163 Falsehood I hate and abhor;
your law I love.
164 Seven times a day I praise you
because your judgments are righteous.
165 Lovers of your law have much peace;(D)
for them there is no stumbling block.
166 I look for your salvation, Lord,
and I fulfill your commandments.
167 I observe your testimonies;
I love them very much.
168 I observe your precepts and testimonies;
all my ways are before you.
Taw
169 Let my cry come before you, Lord;(E)
in keeping with your word, give me understanding.
170 Let my prayer come before you;
rescue me according to your promise.
171 May my lips pour forth your praise,
because you teach me your statutes.
172 May my tongue sing of your promise,
for all your commandments are righteous.
173 Keep your hand ready to help me,
for I have chosen your precepts.
174 I long for your salvation, Lord;
your law is my delight.
175 Let my soul live to praise you;
may your judgments give me help.
176 I have wandered like a lost sheep;
seek out your servant,
for I do not forget your commandments.(F)
Psalm 128[a]
The Blessed Home of the Just
1 A song of ascents.
I
Blessed are all who fear the Lord,
and who walk in his ways.(A)
2 What your hands provide you will enjoy;
you will be blessed and prosper:(B)
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
within your home,
Your children like young olive plants
around your table.(C)
4 Just so will the man be blessed
who fears the Lord.
II
5 May the Lord bless you from Zion;
may you see Jerusalem’s prosperity
all the days of your life,(D)
6 and live to see your children’s children.(E)
Peace upon Israel!(F)
Psalm 129[b]
Against Israel’s Enemies
1 A song of ascents.
I
Viciously have they attacked me from my youth,
let Israel say now.(G)
2 Viciously have they attacked me from my youth,(H)
yet they have not prevailed against me.
3 Upon my back the plowers plowed,
as they traced their long furrows.(I)
4 But the just Lord cut me free
from the ropes of the wicked.[c]
II
5 May they recoil in disgrace,
all who hate Zion.
6 May they be like grass on the rooftops[d]
withered in early growth,(J)
7 Never to fill the reaper’s hands,
nor the arms of the binders of sheaves,
8 And with none passing by to call out:
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you![e]
We bless you in the name of the Lord!”(K)
Psalm 130[f]
Prayer for Pardon and Mercy
1 A song of ascents.
I
Out of the depths[g] I call to you, Lord;
2 Lord, hear my cry!
May your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.(L)
3 If you, Lord, keep account of sins,
Lord, who can stand?(M)
4 But with you is forgiveness
and so you are revered.[h]
II
5 I wait for the Lord,
my soul waits
and I hope for his word.(N)
6 My soul looks for the Lord
more than sentinels for daybreak.(O)
More than sentinels for daybreak,
7 let Israel hope in the Lord,
For with the Lord is mercy,
with him is plenteous redemption,(P)
8 And he will redeem Israel
from all its sins.(Q)
Chapter 2
1 [a]Ah! you plotters of iniquity,
who work out evil on your beds!
In the morning light you carry it out
for it lies within your power.
2 [b]You covet fields, and seize them;
houses, and take them;
You cheat owners of their houses,
people of their inheritance.
3 Therefore thus says the Lord:
Look, I am planning against this family an evil
from which you cannot free your necks;
Nor shall you walk with head held high,
for it will be an evil time.
4 On that day you shall be mocked,
and there will be bitter lament:
“Our ruin is complete,
our fields are divided among our captors,
The fields of my people are measured out,
and no one can get them back!”[c]
5 Thus you shall have no one
in the assembly of the Lord
to allot to you a share of land.
6 [d]“Do not preach,” they preach,
“no one should preach of these things!
Shame will not overtake us.”
7 How can it be said, house of Jacob,
“Is the Lord short of patience;
are these the Lord’s deeds?”
Do not my words promise good
to the one who walks in justice?
8 But you rise up against my people as an enemy:
you have stripped off the garment from the peaceful,
From those who go their way in confidence,
as though it were spoils of war.
9 The women of my people you drive out
from their pleasant houses;
From their children you take away
forever the honor I gave them.
10 [e]“Get up! Leave,
this is no place to rest”;
Because of uncleanness that destroys
with terrible destruction.
11 If one possessed of a lying spirit(A)
speaks deceitfully, saying,
“I will preach to you wine and strong drink,”
that one would be the preacher for this people.
12 [f]I will gather you, Jacob, each and every one,
I will assemble all the remnant of Israel;
I will group them like a flock in the fold,
like a herd in its pasture;
the noise of the people will resound.
13 The one who makes a breach goes up before them;
they make a breach and pass through the gate;
Their king shall go through before them,
the Lord at their head.
23 Then he summoned two of the centurions and said, “Get two hundred soldiers ready to go to Caesarea by nine o’clock tonight,[a] along with seventy horsemen and two hundred auxiliaries. 24 Provide mounts for Paul to ride and give him safe conduct to Felix the governor.” 25 Then he wrote a letter with this content: 26 [b]“Claudius Lysias to his excellency the governor Felix, greetings.[c] 27 This man, seized by the Jews and about to be murdered by them, I rescued after intervening with my troops when I learned that he was a Roman citizen.(A) 28 I wanted to learn the reason for their accusations against him so I brought him down to their Sanhedrin. 29 I discovered that he was accused in matters of controversial questions of their law and not of any charge deserving death or imprisonment.(B) 30 Since it was brought to my attention that there will be a plot against the man, I am sending him to you at once, and have also notified his accusers to state [their case] against him before you.”
31 So the soldiers, according to their orders, took Paul and escorted him by night to Antipatris. 32 The next day they returned to the compound, leaving the horsemen to complete the journey with him. 33 When they arrived in Caesarea they delivered the letter to the governor and presented Paul to him. 34 When he had read it and asked to what province he belonged, and learned that he was from Cilicia, 35 he said, “I shall hear your case when your accusers arrive.” Then he ordered that he be held in custody in Herod’s praetorium.
18 (A)The disciples of John told him about all these things. John summoned two of his disciples 19 and sent them to the Lord to ask, “Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”(B) 20 When the men came to him, they said, “John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’” 21 At that time he cured many of their diseases, sufferings, and evil spirits; he also granted sight to many who were blind. 22 And he said to them in reply, “Go and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind regain their sight, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.(C) 23 And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”[a]
Jesus’ Testimony to John. 24 [b]When the messengers of John had left, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John.(D) “What did you go out to the desert to see—a reed swayed by the wind? 25 Then what did you go out to see? Someone dressed in fine garments? Those who dress luxuriously and live sumptuously are found in royal palaces. 26 Then what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet.(E) 27 This is the one about whom scripture says:
‘Behold, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,
he will prepare your way before you.’(F)
28 I tell you, among those born of women, no one is greater than John; yet the least in the kingdom of God is greater than he.” 29 (G)(All the people who listened, including the tax collectors, and who were baptized with the baptism of John, acknowledged the righteousness of God; 30 but the Pharisees and scholars of the law, who were not baptized by him, rejected the plan of God for themselves.)
31 [c]“Then to what shall I compare the people of this generation? What are they like?(H) 32 They are like children who sit in the marketplace and call to one another,
‘We played the flute for you, but you did not dance.
We sang a dirge, but you did not weep.’
33 For John the Baptist came neither eating food nor drinking wine, and you said, ‘He is possessed by a demon.’ 34 The Son of Man came eating and drinking and you said, ‘Look, he is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’(I) 35 But wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”
The Pardon of the Sinful Woman.[d]
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.