Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 137
Lament of the Exiles
1 By the rivers of Babylon—
there we sat down and wept
when we remembered Zion.(A)
2 There we hung up our lyres
on the poplar trees,(B)
3 for our captors there asked us for songs,
and our tormentors, for rejoicing:
“Sing us one of the songs of Zion.”(C)
Psalm 144
A King’s Prayer
Davidic.
1 May the Lord, my rock, be praised,(A)
who trains my hands for battle
and my fingers for warfare.(B)
2 He is my faithful love and my fortress,
my stronghold and my deliverer.
He is my shield,(C) and I take refuge in Him;(D)
He subdues my people[a] under me.(E)
3 Lord, what is man, that You care for him,
the son of man, that You think of him?(F)
4 Man is like a breath;
his days are like a passing shadow.(G)
5 Lord, part Your heavens and come down.(H)
Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.(I)
6 Flash Your lightning and scatter the foe;[b]
shoot Your arrows and rout them.(J)
7 Reach down[c] from heaven;(K)
rescue me from deep water, and set me free
from the grasp of foreigners(L)
8 whose mouths speak lies,
whose right hands are deceptive.(M)
9 God, I will sing a new song to You;
I will play on a ten-stringed harp for You(N)—
10 the One who gives victory to kings,
who frees His servant David
from the deadly sword.(O)
11 Set me free and rescue me
from the grasp of foreigners(P)
whose mouths speak lies,
whose right hands are deceptive.(Q)
12 Then our sons will be like plants
nurtured in their youth,
our daughters, like corner pillars
that are carved in the palace style.(R)
13 Our storehouses will be full,
supplying all kinds of produce;(S)
our flocks will increase by thousands
and tens of thousands in our open fields.(T)
14 Our cattle will be well fed.[d]
There will be no breach in the walls,
no going into captivity,[e]
and no cry of lament in our public squares.(U)
15 Happy are the people with such blessings.
Happy are the people whose God is Yahweh.(V)
BOOK II
(Psalms 42–72)
Psalm 42
Longing for God
For the choir director. A Maskil of the sons of Korah.
1 As a deer longs for streams of water,
so I long for You, God.(A)
2 I thirst for God, the living God.
When can I come and appear before God?(B)
3 My tears have been my food day and night,
while all day long people say to me,
“Where is your God?”(C)
4 I remember this as I pour out my heart:(D)
how I walked with many,
leading the festive procession to the house of God,
with joyful and thankful shouts.(E)
5 Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.(F)
6 I[a] am deeply depressed;
therefore I remember You from the land of Jordan
and the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar.(G)
7 Deep calls to deep in the roar of Your waterfalls;
all Your breakers and Your billows have swept over me.(H)
8 The Lord will send His faithful love by day;(I)
His song will be with me in the night—
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I will say to God, my rock,(J)
“Why have You forgotten me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?”(K)
10 My adversaries taunt me,
as if crushing my bones,
while all day long they say to me,
“Where is your God?”(L)
11 Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.(M)
Psalm 43[b]
1 Vindicate me, God, and defend my cause
against an ungodly nation;
rescue me from the deceitful and unjust man.(N)
2 For You are the God of my refuge.
Why have You rejected me?
Why must I go about in sorrow
because of the enemy’s oppression?(O)
3 Send Your light and Your truth; let them lead me.(P)
Let them bring me to Your holy mountain,
to Your dwelling place.(Q)
4 Then I will come to the altar of God,
to God, my greatest joy.(R)
I will praise You with the lyre,
God, my God.(S)
5 Why am I so depressed?
Why this turmoil within me?
Put your hope in God, for I will still praise Him,
my Savior and my God.(T)
27 “The days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will sow the house of Israel(A) and the house of Judah with the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28 Just as I watched over them to uproot and to tear them down, to demolish and to destroy, and to cause disaster, so will I be attentive to build and to plant them,”(B) says the Lord. 29 “In those days, it will never again be said:
The fathers have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.(C)
30 Rather, each will die for his own wrongdoing.(D) Anyone who eats sour grapes—his own teeth will be set on edge.
The New Covenant
31 “Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant(E) with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt—a covenant they broke even though I had married them”(F)—the Lord’s declaration. 33 “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put My teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. 34 No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’(G) for they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their wrongdoing(H) and never again remember their sin.”(I)
25 So that you will not be conceited,(A) brothers, I do not want you to be unaware(B) of this mystery:(C) A partial hardening has come to Israel(D) until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.(E) 26 And in this way all[a] Israel will be saved, as it is written:
The Liberator will come from Zion;
He will turn away godlessness from Jacob.
27 And this will be My covenant with them(F)[b]
when I take away their sins.(G)[c]
28 Regarding the gospel, they are enemies for your advantage,(H) but regarding election, they are loved because of the patriarchs,(I) 29 since God’s gracious gifts and calling(J) are irrevocable.[d](K) 30 As you once disobeyed God, but now have received mercy through their disobedience, 31 so they too have now disobeyed, resulting in mercy to you, so that they also now[e] may receive mercy. 32 For God has imprisoned all in disobedience,(L) so that He may have mercy on all.
A Hymn of Praise
33 Oh, the depth of the riches(M)
both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!(N)
How unsearchable His judgments(O)
and untraceable His ways!
34 For who has known the mind of the Lord?(P)
Or who has been His counselor?
35 Or who has ever first given to Him,
and has to be repaid?(Q)[f]
36 For from Him and through Him
and to Him are all things.(R)
To Him be the glory forever. Amen.
Jesus Shares the Sorrow of Death
28 Having said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”
29 As soon as she heard this, she got up quickly and went to Him.(A) 30 Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still in the place where Martha had met Him. 31 The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw that Mary got up quickly and went out. So they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb(B) to cry there.
32 When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet(C) and told Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died!”
33 When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, He was angry[a] in His spirit(D) and deeply moved. 34 “Where have you put him?” He asked.
“Lord,” they told Him, “come and see.”
35 Jesus wept.(E)
36 So the Jews said, “See how He loved(F) him!” 37 But some of them said, “Couldn’t He who opened the blind man’s eyes(G) also have kept this man from dying?”
The Seventh Sign: Raising Lazarus from the Dead
38 Then Jesus, angry[b] in Himself again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.(H) 39 “Remove the stone,” Jesus said.
Martha, the dead man’s sister, told Him, “Lord, he’s already decaying.[c] It’s been four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory(I) of God?”(J)
41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes and said, “Father, I thank(K) You that You heard Me.(L) 42 I know that You always hear Me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so they may believe You sent(M) Me.” 43 After He said this, He shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him and let him go.”
Isaiah’s Prophecies Fulfilled
37 Even though He had performed so many signs in their presence, they did not believe in Him. 38 But this was to fulfill(A) the word of Isaiah(B) the prophet, who said:[a]
39 This is why they were unable to believe, because Isaiah also said:
40 He has blinded(E) their eyes
and hardened their hearts,(F)
so that they would not see with their eyes
or understand with their hearts,
and be converted,(G)
and I would heal them.(H)[c]
41 Isaiah said these things because[d] he saw His glory(I) and spoke about Him.
42 Nevertheless, many did believe in Him even among the rulers,(J) but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, so they would not be banned from the synagogue. 43 For they loved praise from men(K) more than praise from God.[e](L)
A Summary of Jesus’ Mission
44 Then Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in Me(M) believes not in Me, but in Him who sent Me. 45 And the one who sees Me sees Him(N) who sent Me. 46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in Me would not remain in darkness. 47 If anyone hears My words and doesn’t keep(O) them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world(P) but to save the world.(Q) 48 The one who rejects Me(R) and doesn’t accept My sayings has this as his judge:[f] The word I have spoken will judge him on the last day.(S) 49 For I have not spoken on My own, but the Father(T) Himself who sent Me has given Me a command as to what I should say and what I should speak. 50 I know that His command is eternal life.(U) So the things that I speak, I speak just as the Father has told Me.”(V)
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