Book of Common Prayer

⁴ How can we sing the songs of the Lord^(I)
    while in a foreign land?
⁵ If I forget you,^(J) Jerusalem,
    may my right hand forget its skill.
⁶ May my tongue cling to the roof^(K) of my mouth
    if I do not remember^(L) you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem^(M)
    my highest joy.

⁷ Remember, Lord, what the Edomites^(N) did
    on the day Jerusalem fell.^(O)
“Tear it down,” they cried,
    “tear it down to its foundations!”^(P)
8 Daughter Babylon, doomed to destruction,^(Q)
    happy is the one who repays you
    according to what you have done to us.
⁹ Happy is the one who seizes your infants
    and dashes them^(R) against the rocks.

³ Lord, what are human beings^(F) that you care for them,
    mere mortals that you think of them?
⁴ They are like a breath;^(G)
    their days are like a fleeting shadow.^(H)

⁵ Part your heavens,^(I) Lord, and come down;^(J)
    touch the mountains, so that they smoke.^(K)
6 Send forth lightning^(L) and scatter^(M) the enemy;
    shoot your arrows^(N) and rout them.
⁷ Reach down your hand from on high;^(O)
    deliver me and rescue me^(P)
from the mighty waters,^(Q)
    from the hands of foreigners^(R)
8 whose mouths are full of lies,^(S)
    whose right hands^(T) are deceitful.^(U)

⁹ I will sing a new song^(V) to you, my God;
    on the ten-stringed lyre^(W) I will make music to you,
¹⁰ to the One who gives victory to kings,^(X)
    who delivers his servant David.^(Y)

From the deadly sword^{(Z) 11} deliver me;
    rescue me^(AA) from the hands of foreigners^(AB)
whose mouths are full of lies,^(AC)
    whose right hands are deceitful.^(AD)

¹² Then our sons in their youth
    will be like well-nurtured plants,^(AE)
and our daughters will be like pillars^(AF)
    carved to adorn a palace.
¹³ Our barns will be filled^(AG)
    with every kind of provision.
Our sheep will increase by thousands,
    by tens of thousands in our fields;
¹⁴     our oxen^(AH) will draw heavy loads.^[b]
There will be no breaching of walls,^(AI)
    no going into captivity,
    no cry of distress in our streets.^(AJ)
15 Blessed is the people^(AK) of whom this is true;
    blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.

Lord my God, you are very great;
    you are clothed with splendor and majesty.^(B)

² The Lord wraps^(C) himself in light^(D) as with a garment;
    he stretches^(E) out the heavens^(F) like a tent^(G)
3     and lays the beams^(H) of his upper chambers on their waters.^(I)
He makes the clouds^(J) his chariot^(K)
    and rides on the wings of the wind.^(L)
4 He makes winds his messengers,^[a](M)
    flames of fire^(N) his servants.

⁵ He set the earth^(O) on its foundations;^(P)
    it can never be moved.
⁶ You covered it^(Q) with the watery depths^(R) as with a garment;
    the waters stood^(S) above the mountains.
⁷ But at your rebuke^(T) the waters fled,
    at the sound of your thunder^(U) they took to flight;
⁸ they flowed over the mountains,
    they went down into the valleys,
    to the place you assigned^(V) for them.
⁹ You set a boundary^(W) they cannot cross;
    never again will they cover the earth.

¹⁰ He makes springs^(X) pour water into the ravines;
    it flows between the mountains.
¹¹ They give water^(Y) to all the beasts of the field;
    the wild donkeys^(Z) quench their thirst.
¹² The birds of the sky^(AA) nest by the waters;
    they sing among the branches.^(AB)
13 He waters the mountains^(AC) from his upper chambers;^(AD)
    the land is satisfied by the fruit of his work.^(AE)
14 He makes grass grow^(AF) for the cattle,
    and plants for people to cultivate—
    bringing forth food^(AG) from the earth:
¹⁵ wine^(AH) that gladdens human hearts,
    oil^(AI) to make their faces shine,
    and bread that sustains^(AJ) their hearts.
¹⁶ The trees of the Lord^(AK) are well watered,
    the cedars of Lebanon^(AL) that he planted.
¹⁷ There the birds^(AM) make their nests;
    the stork has its home in the junipers.
¹⁸ The high mountains belong to the wild goats;^(AN)
    the crags are a refuge for the hyrax.^(AO)

¹⁹ He made the moon to mark the seasons,^(AP)
    and the sun^(AQ) knows when to go down.
²⁰ You bring darkness,^(AR) it becomes night,^(AS)
    and all the beasts of the forest^(AT) prowl.
²¹ The lions roar for their prey^(AU)
    and seek their food from God.^(AV)
22 The sun rises, and they steal away;
    they return and lie down in their dens.^(AW)
23 Then people go out to their work,^(AX)
    to their labor until evening.^(AY)

²⁴ How many are your works,^(AZ) Lord!
    In wisdom you made^(BA) them all;
    the earth is full of your creatures.^(BB)
25 There is the sea,^(BC) vast and spacious,
    teeming with creatures beyond number—
    living things both large and small.^(BD)
26 There the ships^(BE) go to and fro,
    and Leviathan,^(BF) which you formed to frolic^(BG) there.^(BH)

²⁷ All creatures look to you
    to give them their food^(BI) at the proper time.
²⁸ When you give it to them,
    they gather it up;
when you open your hand,
    they are satisfied^(BJ) with good things.
²⁹ When you hide your face,^(BK)
    they are terrified;
when you take away their breath,
    they die and return to the dust.^(BL)
30 When you send your Spirit,^(BM)
    they are created,
    and you renew the face of the ground.

³¹ May the glory of the Lord^(BN) endure forever;
    may the Lord rejoice in his works^(BO)—
³² he who looks at the earth, and it trembles,^(BP)
    who touches the mountains,^(BQ) and they smoke.^(BR)

³³ I will sing^(BS) to the Lord all my life;
    I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
³⁴ May my meditation be pleasing to him,
    as I rejoice^(BT) in the Lord.
³⁵ But may sinners vanish^(BU) from the earth
    and the wicked be no more.^(BV)

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Praise the Lord.^[b](BW)

³ “May the day of my birth perish,
    and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’^(B)
4 That day—may it turn to darkness;
    may God above not care about it;
    may no light shine on it.
⁵ May gloom and utter darkness^(C) claim it once more;
    may a cloud settle over it;
    may blackness overwhelm it.
⁶ That night—may thick darkness^(D) seize it;
    may it not be included among the days of the year
    nor be entered in any of the months.
⁷ May that night be barren;
    may no shout of joy^(E) be heard in it.
⁸ May those who curse days^[a] curse that day,^(F)
    those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.^(G)
9 May its morning stars become dark;
    may it wait for daylight in vain
    and not see the first rays of dawn,^(H)
10 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me
    to hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹ “Why did I not perish at birth,
    and die as I came from the womb?^(I)
12 Why were there knees to receive me^(J)
    and breasts that I might be nursed?
¹³ For now I would be lying down^(K) in peace;
    I would be asleep and at rest^(L)
14 with kings and rulers of the earth,^(M)
    who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,^(N)
15 with princes^(O) who had gold,
    who filled their houses with silver.^(P)
16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,^(Q)
    like an infant who never saw the light of day?^(R)
17 There the wicked cease from turmoil,^(S)
    and there the weary are at rest.^(T)
18 Captives^(U) also enjoy their ease;
    they no longer hear the slave driver’s^(V) shout.^(W)
19 The small and the great are there,^(X)
    and the slaves are freed from their owners.

²⁰ “Why is light given to those in misery,
    and life to the bitter of soul,^(Y)
21 to those who long for death that does not come,^(Z)
    who search for it more than for hidden treasure,^(AA)
22 who are filled with gladness
    and rejoice when they reach the grave?^(AB)
23 Why is life given to a man
    whose way is hidden,^(AC)
    whom God has hedged in?^(AD)
24 For sighing^(AE) has become my daily food;^(AF)
    my groans^(AG) pour out like water.^(AH)
25 What I feared has come upon me;
    what I dreaded^(AI) has happened to me.^(AJ)
26 I have no peace,^(AK) no quietness;
    I have no rest,^(AL) but only turmoil.”^(AM)