Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 102[a]
A prayer of an afflicted person who has grown weak and pours out a lament before the Lord.
1 Hear my prayer,(A) Lord;
let my cry for help(B) come to you.
2 Do not hide your face(C) from me
when I am in distress.
Turn your ear(D) to me;
when I call, answer me quickly.
3 For my days vanish like smoke;(E)
my bones(F) burn like glowing embers.
4 My heart is blighted and withered like grass;(G)
I forget to eat my food.(H)
5 In my distress I groan aloud(I)
and am reduced to skin and bones.
6 I am like a desert owl,(J)
like an owl among the ruins.
7 I lie awake;(K) I have become
like a bird alone(L) on a roof.
8 All day long my enemies(M) taunt me;(N)
those who rail against me use my name as a curse.(O)
9 For I eat ashes(P) as my food
and mingle my drink with tears(Q)
10 because of your great wrath,(R)
for you have taken me up and thrown me aside.
11 My days are like the evening shadow;(S)
I wither(T) away like grass.
12 But you, Lord, sit enthroned forever;(U)
your renown endures(V) through all generations.(W)
13 You will arise(X) and have compassion(Y) on Zion,
for it is time(Z) to show favor(AA) to her;
the appointed time(AB) has come.
14 For her stones are dear to your servants;
her very dust moves them to pity.
15 The nations will fear(AC) the name of the Lord,
all the kings(AD) of the earth will revere your glory.
16 For the Lord will rebuild Zion(AE)
and appear in his glory.(AF)
17 He will respond to the prayer(AG) of the destitute;
he will not despise their plea.
18 Let this be written(AH) for a future generation,
that a people not yet created(AI) may praise the Lord:
19 “The Lord looked down(AJ) from his sanctuary on high,
from heaven he viewed the earth,
20 to hear the groans of the prisoners(AK)
and release those condemned to death.”
21 So the name of the Lord will be declared(AL) in Zion
and his praise(AM) in Jerusalem
22 when the peoples and the kingdoms
assemble to worship(AN) the Lord.
23 In the course of my life[b] he broke my strength;
he cut short my days.(AO)
24 So I said:
“Do not take me away, my God, in the midst of my days;
your years go on(AP) through all generations.
25 In the beginning(AQ) you laid the foundations of the earth,
and the heavens(AR) are the work of your hands.(AS)
26 They will perish,(AT) but you remain;
they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
and they will be discarded.
27 But you remain the same,(AU)
and your years will never end.(AV)
28 The children of your servants(AW) will live in your presence;
their descendants(AX) will be established before you.”
BOOK V
Psalms 107–150
Psalm 107
2 Let the redeemed(C) of the Lord tell their story—
those he redeemed from the hand of the foe,
3 those he gathered(D) from the lands,
from east and west, from north and south.[a]
4 Some wandered in desert(E) wastelands,
finding no way to a city(F) where they could settle.
5 They were hungry(G) and thirsty,(H)
and their lives ebbed away.
6 Then they cried out(I) to the Lord in their trouble,
and he delivered them from their distress.
7 He led them by a straight way(J)
to a city(K) where they could settle.
8 Let them give thanks(L) to the Lord for his unfailing love(M)
and his wonderful deeds(N) for mankind,
9 for he satisfies(O) the thirsty
and fills the hungry with good things.(P)
10 Some sat in darkness,(Q) in utter darkness,
prisoners suffering(R) in iron chains,(S)
11 because they rebelled(T) against God’s commands
and despised(U) the plans(V) of the Most High.
12 So he subjected them to bitter labor;
they stumbled, and there was no one to help.(W)
13 Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
and he saved them(X) from their distress.
14 He brought them out of darkness,(Y) the utter darkness,(Z)
and broke away their chains.(AA)
15 Let them give thanks(AB) to the Lord for his unfailing love(AC)
and his wonderful deeds(AD) for mankind,
16 for he breaks down gates of bronze
and cuts through bars of iron.
17 Some became fools(AE) through their rebellious ways(AF)
and suffered affliction(AG) because of their iniquities.
18 They loathed all food(AH)
and drew near the gates of death.(AI)
19 Then they cried(AJ) to the Lord in their trouble,
and he saved them(AK) from their distress.
20 He sent out his word(AL) and healed them;(AM)
he rescued(AN) them from the grave.(AO)
21 Let them give thanks(AP) to the Lord for his unfailing love(AQ)
and his wonderful deeds(AR) for mankind.
22 Let them sacrifice thank offerings(AS)
and tell of his works(AT) with songs of joy.(AU)
23 Some went out on the sea(AV) in ships;(AW)
they were merchants on the mighty waters.
24 They saw the works of the Lord,(AX)
his wonderful deeds in the deep.
25 For he spoke(AY) and stirred up a tempest(AZ)
that lifted high the waves.(BA)
26 They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths;
in their peril(BB) their courage melted(BC) away.
27 They reeled(BD) and staggered like drunkards;
they were at their wits’ end.
28 Then they cried(BE) out to the Lord in their trouble,
and he brought them out of their distress.(BF)
29 He stilled the storm(BG) to a whisper;
the waves(BH) of the sea[b] were hushed.(BI)
30 They were glad when it grew calm,
and he guided them(BJ) to their desired haven.
31 Let them give thanks(BK) to the Lord for his unfailing love(BL)
and his wonderful deeds(BM) for mankind.
32 Let them exalt(BN) him in the assembly(BO) of the people
and praise him in the council of the elders.
20 And Samson’s wife was given to one of his companions(A) who had attended him at the feast.
Samson’s Vengeance on the Philistines
15 Later on, at the time of wheat harvest,(B) Samson(C) took a young goat(D) and went to visit his wife. He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room.”(E) But her father would not let him go in.
2 “I was so sure you hated her,” he said, “that I gave her to your companion.(F) Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.”
3 Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.” 4 So he went out and caught three hundred foxes(G) and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch(H) to every pair of tails, 5 lit the torches(I) and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks(J) and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves.
6 When the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” they were told, “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion.(K)”
So the Philistines went up and burned her(L) and her father to death.(M) 7 Samson said to them, “Since you’ve acted like this, I swear that I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.” 8 He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock(N) of Etam.(O)
9 The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi.(P) 10 The people of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?”
“We have come to take Samson prisoner,” they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.”
11 Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us?(Q) What have you done to us?”
He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.”
12 They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines.”
Samson said, “Swear to me(R) that you won’t kill me yourselves.”
13 “Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes(S) and led him up from the rock. 14 As he approached Lehi,(T) the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him.(U) The ropes on his arms became like charred flax,(V) and the bindings dropped from his hands. 15 Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men.(W)
16 Then Samson said,
“With a donkey’s jawbone
I have made donkeys of them.[a](X)
With a donkey’s jawbone
I have killed a thousand men.”
17 When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi.[b](Y)
18 Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord,(Z) “You have given your servant this great victory.(AA) Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” 19 Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived.(AB) So the spring(AC) was called En Hakkore,[c] and it is still there in Lehi.
20 Samson led[d] Israel for twenty years(AD) in the days of the Philistines.
17 “As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt had greatly increased.(A) 18 Then ‘a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt.’[a](B) 19 He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our ancestors by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die.(C)
20 “At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child.[b] For three months he was cared for by his family.(D) 21 When he was placed outside, Pharaoh’s daughter took him and brought him up as her own son.(E) 22 Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians(F) and was powerful in speech and action.
23 “When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his own people, the Israelites. 24 He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. 25 Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. 26 The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, ‘Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?’
27 “But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, ‘Who made you ruler and judge over us?(G) 28 Are you thinking of killing me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?’[c] 29 When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons.(H)
Jesus Heals an Official’s Son
43 After the two days(A) he left for Galilee. 44 (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)(B) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival,(C) for they also had been there.
46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.(D) And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea,(E) he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.
48 “Unless you people see signs and wonders,”(F) Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”
49 The royal official said, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”
50 “Go,” Jesus replied, “your son will live.”
The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.”
53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” So he and his whole household(G) believed.
54 This was the second sign(H) Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.
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