Book of Common Prayer
145 [a]I call out to you with my whole heart;
answer me, O Lord, so that I may observe your decrees.
146 I cry out to you;
save me so that I may obey your statutes.
147 I arise before dawn and cry out for help;
I place my hope in your word.
148 My eyes are awake before each watch of the night[b]
so that I may meditate on your word.
149 In accordance with your kindness[c] hear my voice, O Lord;
grant me life in accordance with your judgments.
150 [d]Those who plot wickedness draw near me,
but they are far from your law.
151 Yet you, O Lord, are near,
and all your precepts are true.
152 Long have I known your decrees
and that you have established them forever.
Resh
153 [e]See my suffering and deliver me,
for I have not forgotten your law.
154 Defend my cause and redeem me;[f]
let me live in accord with your word.
155 Salvation is far from the wicked[g]
because they do not consider your decrees.
156 Great is your compassion, O Lord;
let me live in accord with your judgments.
157 My persecutors and my enemies are many,
but I do not cast aside your statutes.
158 I regard the faithless with indignation[h]
because they do not observe your word.
159 Consider how I love your precepts, O Lord;
let me live in accord with your kindness.[i]
160 Every word you utter is true,
and all your righteous judgments[j] are everlasting.
Shin
161 [k]The powerful persecute me without cause,
but it is your word that awes my heart.[l]
162 I rejoice in your word
like one who discovers a great treasure.
163 Falsehood I abhor and detest,
but I love your law.
164 Seven times[m] a day I praise you
for your righteous judgments.
165 Those who love your law have great peace;[n]
they encounter no stumbling blocks.
166 I await your salvation, O Lord,
and I carry out your precepts.
167 I obey your statutes,
for I love them dearly.
168 I obey your commands and your statutes;
indeed, all my ways are known to you.[o]
Taw
169 [p]May my cry come before you, O Lord;
grant me understanding according to your word.[q]
170 May my supplication come before you;
deliver me according to your word.
171 May my lips proclaim your praise
because you teach me your decrees.
172 May my tongue sing of your word,
for all of your precepts are upright.
173 May your hand[r] be ready to help me,
for I have chosen your commandments.
174 [s]I long for your salvation, O Lord,
and your law is my delight.
175 Give life to my soul that I may praise you,
and let your judgments sustain me.
176 I have wandered away like a lost sheep;[t]
seek out your servant,
for I have not forgotten your precepts.
Psalm 128[a]
Happy Home of the Righteous
1 [b]A song of ascents.
Blessed[c] are all those who fear the Lord
and walk in his ways.
2 You will eat the fruit of your labors;
you will enjoy both blessings and prosperity.[d]
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine[e]
within your house;
your sons will be like shoots of an olive tree
around your table.
4 Such are the blessings that will be bestowed
on the man who fears the Lord.
5 [f]May the Lord bless you from Zion[g]
all the days of your life.
May you rejoice in the prosperity of Jerusalem
6 and live to see your children’s children.[h]
Peace be upon Israel.
Psalm 129[i]
Prayer in Time of Persecution
1 [j]A song of ascents.
They have greatly oppressed me from my youth—[k]
let Israel say—
2 they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
but never have my enemies prevailed against me.
3 The plowers plowed upon my back,[l]
making deep furrows.
4 However, the Lord is righteous,
freeing me from the bonds of the wicked.
5 [m]May all those who hate Zion
be thrown back in shame and confusion.[n]
6 [o]May they be like grass on the rooftops
that withers before it can be plucked,
7 so that it can never fill the hands of the reapers
or the arms of the binders of sheaves.
8 May those who pass by never cry out,
“The blessing of the Lord be upon you!
We bless you in the name of the Lord.”
Psalm 130[p]
Prayer for Pardon and Peace
1 A song of ascents.
Out of the depths[q] I cry to you, O Lord;
2 O Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cries of supplication.[r]
3 If you, O Lord, kept a record of our sins,
O Lord, who could stand[s] upright?
4 But with you there is forgiveness
so that you may be revered.[t]
5 I wait for the Lord[u] in anxious expectation;
I place my hope in his word.
6 My soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the dawn.
More than watchmen wait for the dawn[v]
7 [w]let Israel wait for the Lord.
For with the Lord there is kindness,
as well as plenteous redemption.
8 He alone will redeem Israel
from all its sins.
Chapter 12
The Lord Undertakes Defense of Jerusalem.1 An oracle: the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Thus says the Lord, who spread out the heavens and founded the earth and formed the human spirit within:
2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup that will intoxicate all the surrounding nations, and Judah will be besieged as well as Jerusalem. 3 On that day, when all the nations of the world are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem a heavy stone for all the peoples. All those who try to lift it will hurt themselves seriously, even though all the nations of the earth will be massed against her.
4 On that day, says the Lord, I will strike all the horses with panic and their riders with madness. Further, I will strike blind all the horses of the peoples, but I will keep a watchful eye on the house of Judah. 5 Then the people of Judah will say to themselves, “The inhabitants of Jerusalem derive their strength from the Lord of hosts, their God.”
6 On that day, I will make the families of Judah like a brazier burning in a woodland, like a torch aflame among sheaves, and they will consume all the surrounding nations on their right and on their left, while the people of Jerusalem will reside peacefully in their city. 7 The Lord will save the tents of Judah first, so that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem will not surpass that of Judah. 8 On that day, the Lord will shield the inhabitants of Jerusalem. The weakest of them will be like David when that day comes, and the house of David will be godlike, with the angel of the Lord at their head.
9 On that day I will set out to destroy all the nations that attack Jerusalem.
10 They Will Cry over Him Whom They Have Pierced.[a] Further, I will pour out a spirit of grace and supplication on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that they will look on me, the one whom they have pierced, and mourn for him as one mourns for an only son, and they will grieve over him as one grieves over a firstborn.
The Risen Christ, Lord and Savior of the Whole Human Race[a]
God’s Glorious Plan of Salvation[b]
Conceived by the Father
3 Blessed be the God,
and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us in Christ
with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.
4 Before the foundation of the world
he chose us in Christ
to be holy and blameless in his sight
and to be filled with love.
5 He predestined us
for adoption as his children
through Jesus Christ,
in accordance with his purpose and pleasure,
6 to the praise of the glory
of his grace
that he so freely bestowed on us
in the Beloved.
Realized by the Son
7 In Christ
and through his blood
we have redemption[c]
and the forgiveness of our sins.
In accord with the riches of his grace,
8 God lavished on us
all wisdom and insight.
9 He has made known to us
the mystery of his will
in accordance with his good pleasure
that he had predetermined in Christ
10 to be realized when
the fullness of time had been achieved:
namely, the plan to bring all things,
both in heaven and on earth,
together[d] in Christ
as the head.
Fulfilled by the Holy Spirit
11 In Christ we were also chosen,
having been predestined
by the one who accomplishes all things
in accordance with the design of his will,
12 so that we,
who were the first ones
to place our hopes in Christ,
would devote ourselves
to the praise of his glory.
13 In Christ
you also heard the message of truth
and the gospel of your salvation,
and you came to believe in him.
In him,
you were marked with the seal
of the Holy Spirit
who had been promised.
14 That Spirit is the down payment[e] of our inheritance,
which we shall share
when God has redeemed us
as his own possession,
to the praise of his glory.
Chapter 19
Jesus and Zacchaeus, the Rich Tax Collector.[a] 1 Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through it. 2 A man there, named Zacchaeus, was a chief tax collector and a rich man. 3 He wanted to see who Jesus was, but since he was short in stature, he could not see him because of the crowd. 4 Therefore, he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore tree in order to catch a glimpse of him for he was going to pass that way.
5 When he reached that spot, Jesus looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.” 6 Zacchaeus came down quickly and welcomed him joyfully.
7 When the people observed this, they began to complain, saying, “He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.” 8 But Zacchaeus stood there and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, I intend to give half of everything I possess to the poor, and if I have defrauded someone of anything, I will repay that amount four times over.”
9 Then Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man too is a son of Abraham. 10 For the Son of Man has come to seek out and to save what was lost.”
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