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)
15 “The day of the Lord is near(A)
for all nations.
As you have done, it will be done to you;
your deeds(B) will return upon your own head.
16 Just as you drank(C) on my holy hill,(D)
so all the nations will drink(E) continually;
they will drink and drink
and be as if they had never been.(F)
17 But on Mount Zion will be deliverance;(G)
it will be holy,(H)
and Jacob will possess his inheritance.(I)
18 Jacob will be a fire
and Joseph a flame;
Esau will be stubble,
and they will set him on fire(J) and destroy(K) him.
There will be no survivors(L)
from Esau.”
The Lord has spoken.
19 People from the Negev will occupy
the mountains of Esau,
and people from the foothills will possess
the land of the Philistines.(M)
They will occupy the fields of Ephraim and Samaria,(N)
and Benjamin(O) will possess Gilead.
20 This company of Israelite exiles who are in Canaan
will possess the land as far as Zarephath;(P)
the exiles from Jerusalem who are in Sepharad
will possess the towns of the Negev.(Q)
21 Deliverers(R) will go up on[a] Mount Zion
to govern the mountains of Esau.
And the kingdom will be the Lord’s.(S)
2 Therefore, rid yourselves(A) of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander(B) of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk,(C) so that by it you may grow up(D) in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.(E)
The Living Stone and a Chosen People
4 As you come to him, the living Stone(F)—rejected by humans but chosen by God(G) and precious to him— 5 you also, like living stones, are being built(H) into a spiritual house[a](I) to be a holy priesthood,(J) offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.(K) 6 For in Scripture it says:
“See, I lay a stone in Zion,
a chosen and precious cornerstone,(L)
and the one who trusts in him
will never be put to shame.”[b](M)
7 Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe,(N)
8 and,
They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.(R)
9 But you are a chosen people,(S) a royal priesthood,(T) a holy nation,(U) God’s special possession,(V) that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.(W) 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God;(X) once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
23 Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich(A) to enter the kingdom of heaven. 24 Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
25 When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”(B)
27 Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you!(C) What then will there be for us?”
28 Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne,(D) you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.(E) 29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[a] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.(F) 30 But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.(G)
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