Book of Common Prayer
ק Qoph
145 I call with all my heart;(A) answer me, Lord,
and I will obey your decrees.(B)
146 I call out to you; save me(C)
and I will keep your statutes.
147 I rise before dawn(D) and cry for help;
I have put my hope in your word.
148 My eyes stay open through the watches of the night,(E)
that I may meditate on your promises.
149 Hear my voice(F) in accordance with your love;(G)
preserve my life,(H) Lord, according to your laws.
150 Those who devise wicked schemes(I) are near,
but they are far from your law.
151 Yet you are near,(J) Lord,
and all your commands are true.(K)
152 Long ago I learned from your statutes(L)
that you established them to last forever.(M)
ר Resh
153 Look on my suffering(N) and deliver me,(O)
for I have not forgotten(P) your law.
154 Defend my cause(Q) and redeem me;(R)
preserve my life(S) according to your promise.(T)
155 Salvation is far from the wicked,
for they do not seek out(U) your decrees.
156 Your compassion, Lord, is great;(V)
preserve my life(W) according to your laws.(X)
157 Many are the foes who persecute me,(Y)
but I have not turned(Z) from your statutes.
158 I look on the faithless with loathing,(AA)
for they do not obey your word.(AB)
159 See how I love your precepts;
preserve my life,(AC) Lord, in accordance with your love.
160 All your words are true;
all your righteous laws are eternal.(AD)
ש Sin and Shin
161 Rulers persecute me(AE) without cause,
but my heart trembles(AF) at your word.
162 I rejoice(AG) in your promise
like one who finds great spoil.(AH)
163 I hate and detest(AI) falsehood
but I love your law.(AJ)
164 Seven times a day I praise you
for your righteous laws.(AK)
165 Great peace(AL) have those who love your law,
and nothing can make them stumble.(AM)
166 I wait for your salvation,(AN) Lord,
and I follow your commands.
167 I obey your statutes,
for I love them(AO) greatly.
168 I obey your precepts(AP) and your statutes,(AQ)
for all my ways are known(AR) to you.
ת Taw
169 May my cry come(AS) before you, Lord;
give me understanding(AT) according to your word.(AU)
170 May my supplication come(AV) before you;
deliver me(AW) according to your promise.(AX)
171 May my lips overflow with praise,(AY)
for you teach me(AZ) your decrees.
172 May my tongue sing(BA) of your word,
for all your commands are righteous.(BB)
173 May your hand be ready to help(BC) me,
for I have chosen(BD) your precepts.
174 I long for your salvation,(BE) Lord,
and your law gives me delight.(BF)
175 Let me live(BG) that I may praise you,
and may your laws sustain me.
176 I have strayed like a lost sheep.(BH)
Seek your servant,
for I have not forgotten(BI) your commands.
Psalm 128
A song of ascents.
1 Blessed are all who fear the Lord,(A)
who walk in obedience to him.(B)
2 You will eat the fruit of your labor;(C)
blessings and prosperity(D) will be yours.
3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine(E)
within your house;
your children(F) will be like olive shoots(G)
around your table.
4 Yes, this will be the blessing(H)
for the man who fears the Lord.(I)
5 May the Lord bless you from Zion;(J)
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem(K)
all the days of your life.
6 May you live to see your children’s children—(L)
peace be on Israel.(M)
Psalm 129
A song of ascents.
1 “They have greatly oppressed(N) me from my youth,”(O)
let Israel say;(P)
2 “they have greatly oppressed me from my youth,
but they have not gained the victory(Q) over me.
3 Plowmen have plowed my back
and made their furrows long.
4 But the Lord is righteous;(R)
he has cut me free(S) from the cords of the wicked.”(T)
5 May all who hate Zion(U)
be turned back in shame.(V)
6 May they be like grass on the roof,(W)
which withers(X) before it can grow;
7 a reaper cannot fill his hands with it,(Y)
nor one who gathers fill his arms.
8 May those who pass by not say to them,
“The blessing of the Lord be on you;
we bless you(Z) in the name of the Lord.”
Psalm 130
A song of ascents.
1 Out of the depths(AA) I cry to you,(AB) Lord;
2 Lord, hear my voice.(AC)
Let your ears be attentive(AD)
to my cry for mercy.(AE)
3 If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?(AF)
4 But with you there is forgiveness,(AG)
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.(AH)
Aaron’s Staff Becomes a Snake
8 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Perform a miracle,(A)’ then say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh,’ and it will become a snake.”(B)
10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers,(C) and the Egyptian magicians(D) also did the same things by their secret arts:(E) 12 Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh’s heart(F) became hard and he would not listen(G) to them, just as the Lord had said.
The Plague of Blood
14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Pharaoh’s heart is unyielding;(H) he refuses to let the people go. 15 Go to Pharaoh in the morning as he goes out to the river.(I) Confront him on the bank of the Nile,(J) and take in your hand the staff that was changed into a snake. 16 Then say to him, ‘The Lord, the God of the Hebrews, has sent me to say to you: Let my people go, so that they may worship(K) me in the wilderness. But until now you have not listened.(L) 17 This is what the Lord says: By this you will know that I am the Lord:(M) With the staff that is in my hand I will strike the water of the Nile, and it will be changed into blood.(N) 18 The fish in the Nile will die, and the river will stink;(O) the Egyptians will not be able to drink its water.’”(P)
19 The Lord said to Moses, “Tell Aaron, ‘Take your staff(Q) and stretch out your hand(R) over the waters of Egypt—over the streams and canals, over the ponds and all the reservoirs—and they will turn to blood.’ Blood will be everywhere in Egypt, even in vessels[a] of wood and stone.”
20 Moses and Aaron did just as the Lord had commanded.(S) He raised his staff in the presence of Pharaoh and his officials and struck the water of the Nile,(T) and all the water was changed into blood.(U) 21 The fish in the Nile died, and the river smelled so bad that the Egyptians could not drink its water. Blood was everywhere in Egypt.
22 But the Egyptian magicians(V) did the same things by their secret arts,(W) and Pharaoh’s heart(X) became hard; he would not listen to Moses and Aaron, just as the Lord had said. 23 Instead, he turned and went into his palace, and did not take even this to heart. 24 And all the Egyptians dug along the Nile to get drinking water(Y), because they could not drink the water of the river.
14 But thanks be to God,(A) who always leads us as captives in Christ’s triumphal procession and uses us to spread the aroma(B) of the knowledge(C) of him everywhere. 15 For we are to God the pleasing aroma(D) of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.(E) 16 To the one we are an aroma that brings death;(F) to the other, an aroma that brings life. And who is equal to such a task?(G) 17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit.(H) On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity,(I) as those sent from God.(J)
3 Are we beginning to commend ourselves(K) again? Or do we need, like some people, letters of recommendation(L) to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone.(M) 3 You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God,(N) not on tablets of stone(O) but on tablets of human hearts.(P)
4 Such confidence(Q) we have through Christ before God. 5 Not that we are competent in ourselves(R) to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God.(S) 6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant(T)—not of the letter(U) but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.(V)
Divorce(A)
10 Jesus then left that place and went into the region of Judea and across the Jordan.(B) Again crowds of people came to him, and as was his custom, he taught them.(C)
2 Some Pharisees(D) came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”
3 “What did Moses command you?” he replied.
4 They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”(E)
5 “It was because your hearts were hard(F) that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. 6 “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’[a](G) 7 ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife,[b] 8 and the two will become one flesh.’[c](H) So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10 When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. 11 He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her.(I) 12 And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”(J)
The Little Children and Jesus(K)
13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.(L) 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”(M) 16 And he took the children in his arms,(N) placed his hands on them and blessed them.
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