Book of Common Prayer
God the Help of Those Who Seek Him
A Song of Ascents.
121 I (A)will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2 (B)My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.
3 (C)He will not allow your foot to [a]be moved;
(D)He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your [b]keeper;
The Lord is (E)your shade (F)at your right hand.
6 (G)The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord shall [c]preserve you from all evil;
He shall (H)preserve your soul.
8 The Lord shall (I)preserve[d] your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore.
The Joy of Going to the House of the Lord
A Song of Ascents. Of David.
122 I was glad when they said to me,
(J)“Let us go into the house of the Lord.”
2 Our feet have been standing
Within your gates, O Jerusalem!
3 Jerusalem is built
As a city that is (K)compact together,
4 (L)Where the tribes go up,
The tribes of the Lord,
[e]To (M)the Testimony of Israel,
To give thanks to the name of the Lord.
5 (N)For thrones are set there for judgment,
The thrones of the house of David.
6 (O)Pray for the peace of Jerusalem:
“May they prosper who love you.
7 Peace be within your walls,
Prosperity within your palaces.”
8 For the sake of my brethren and companions,
I will now say, “Peace be within you.”
9 Because of the house of the Lord our God
I will (P)seek your good.
Prayer for Relief from Contempt
A Song of Ascents.
123 Unto You (Q)I lift up my eyes,
O You (R)who dwell in the heavens.
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
(S)So our eyes look to the Lord our God,
Until He has mercy on us.
3 Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us!
For we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4 Our soul is exceedingly filled
With the scorn of those who are at ease,
With the contempt of the proud.
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.”
The Lord in Judgment and Salvation
63 Who is this who comes from Edom,
With dyed garments from Bozrah,
This One who is [a]glorious in His apparel,
Traveling in the greatness of His strength?—
“I who speak in righteousness, mighty to save.”
2 Why (A)is Your apparel red,
And Your garments like one who treads in the winepress?
3 “I have (B)trodden the winepress alone,
And from the peoples no one was with Me.
For I have trodden them in My anger,
And trampled them in My fury;
Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments,
And I have stained all My robes.
4 For the (C)day of vengeance is in My heart,
And the year of My redeemed has come.
5 (D)I looked, but (E)there was no one to help,
And I wondered
That there was no one to uphold;
Therefore My own (F)arm brought salvation for Me;
And My own fury, it sustained Me.
The Corrupt Church
18 “And to the [a]angel of the church in Thyatira write,
‘These things says the Son of God, (A)who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet like fine brass: 19 (B)“I know your works, love, [b]service, faith, and your [c]patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. 20 Nevertheless I have [d]a few things against you, because you allow [e]that woman (C)Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, [f]to teach and seduce My servants (D)to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols. 21 And I gave her time (E)to [g]repent of her sexual immorality, and she did not repent. 22 Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of [h]their deeds. 23 I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who (F)searches[i] the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.
24 “Now to you I say, [j]and to the rest in Thyatira, as many as do not have this doctrine, who have not known the (G)depths of Satan, as they say, (H)I [k]will put on you no other burden. 25 But hold fast (I)what you have till I come. 26 And he who overcomes, and keeps (J)My works until the end, (K)to him I will give power over the nations—
27 ‘He(L) shall rule them with a rod of iron;
They shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—
as I also have received from My Father; 28 and I will give him (M)the morning star.
29 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” ’
A Man Healed at the Pool of Bethesda
5 After (A)this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus (B)went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem (C)by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, [a]Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, [b]paralyzed, [c]waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. 5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”
7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”
8 Jesus said to him, (D)“Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.
And (E)that day was the Sabbath. 10 The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; (F)it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”
11 He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”
12 Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 But the one who was (G)healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. (H)Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”
15 The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.