Book of Common Prayer
55 Hear my prayer, O God, and do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
2 Hear me and answer me. I mourn in my prayer and make a noise
3 for the voice of the enemy, for the troubling of the wicked; because they have brought iniquity upon me and furiously hate me.
4 My heart trembles within me; and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and trembling have come upon me; and a horrible fear has covered me.
6 And I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! Then I would fly away and rest!
7 “Behold, I would wander far off and lodge in the wilderness. Selah.
8 “He would hurry for my deliverance from the stormy wind and tempest.”
9 Destroy, O LORD, and divide their tongues; for I have seen cruelty and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof. Both iniquity and mischief are in the midst of it.
11 Wickedness is in the midst thereof. Deceit and guile do not depart from her streets.
12 Surely my enemy did not defame me (for I could have borne it); nor did my adversary exalt himself against me (for I would have hidden myself from him).
13 But it was you, O man, even my companion, my guide, and my intimate.
14 We delighted in consulting together; and went into the House of God as companions.
15 Let death seize them. Let them go down quick into the grave; for wickedness is in their dwellings, even in the midst of them.
16 I will call to God and the LORD will save me.
17 Evening and morning, and at noon, I will pray and make a noise; and He will hear my voice.
18 He has delivered my soul in peace from the battle against me, for many were with me.
19 God shall hear and afflict them, even He Who reigns of old. Selah. Because they do not change, therefore they do not fear God.
20 He laid his hand upon such who are at peace with Him. He broke His Covenant.
21 The words of his mouth were softer than butter; yet war was in his heart. His words were more gentle than oil; yet they were swords.
22 Cast your burden upon the LORD, and He shall nourish you. He will not allow the righteous to fall forever.
23 And You, O God, shall bring them down into the pit of corruption. The bloody and deceitful men shall not live half their days. But I will trust in You. To him who excels: A Psalm of David on Michtam, concerning the dumb dove in a far country, when the Philistines took him in Gath
138 I will praise You with my whole heart; before the gods I will praise You.
2 I will worship toward Your Holy Temple, and praise Your Name, because of Your lovingkindness and for Your Truth; for You have magnified Your Name by Your Word above all things.
3 When I called, then You heard me and increased strength in my soul.
4 All the kings of the Earth shall praise You, O LORD; for they have heard the words of Your mouth.
5 And they shall sing of the ways of the LORD, because the Glory of the LORD is great.
6 For the LORD is high, yet He beholds the lowly; but He knows the proud afar off.
7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me. You will stretch forth Your hand upon the wrath of my enemies; and Your right hand shall save me.
8 The LORD will perform toward me. O LORD, Your mercy endures forever! Do not forsake the works of Your hands. To him who excels: A Psalm of David
139 O LORD, You have searched me and known.
2 You know my sitting and my rising. You understand my thoughts afar off.
3 You winnow my paths, and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 For there is not a word on my tongue but that You know it wholly, O LORD.
5 You fortify me behind and before and lay Your hand upon me.
6 Your knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is so high that I cannot attain to it.
7 Where shall I go from Your Spirit; or where shall I flee from Your presence?
8 If I ascend into Heaven, You are there. If I lie down in Hell, You are there.
9 Let me take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea.
10 Even there shall Your hand lead me, and Your right hand hold me.
11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall hide me,” even the night shall be light around me.
12 Indeed, the darkness shall not hide from You, but the night shines as the day. The darkness and light are both alike.
13 For You have possessed my core. You have covered me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wondrously made. Marvelous are Your works; and my soul knows it well!
15 My bones are not hidden from You; though I was made in secret, fashioned beneath, in the Earth.
16 Your eyes saw me when I was without form; for in Your Book were all things written, days fashioned at a time when there were still none of them.
17 How dear, therefore, are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they are more than the sand. When I awake, I am still with You.
19 Oh that You would slay, O God, the wicked and bloody men. Depart from me
20 those who speak wickedly of You! Your enemies are lifted up in vain.
21 Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD? And do I not earnestly contend with those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with an unfeigned hatred, as if they were my enemies.
23 Try me, O God, and know my heart. Test me and know my thoughts
4 But when Sanballat heard that we built the wall, he was angry and very grieved and mocked the Jews
2 and spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these weak Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish it in a day? Will they make the stones whole again out of the heaps of dust, seeing they are burnt?”
3 And Tobiah the Ammonite was beside him, and said, “Although they build, even if a fox goes up on it, yet he shall break down their stony wall!”
4 Hear, O our God, for we are despised! And turn their shame upon their own heads and give them to a prey in the land of their captivity.
5 And do not cover their iniquity or let their sin be put out in Your presence. For they have provoked us before the builders.
6 So, we built the wall. And the whole wall was joined to its half. And the heart of the people was to work.
7 But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabians and the Ammonite, and the Ashdodims heard that the walls of Jerusalem had been repaired (for the breaches began to be stopped), then they were very angry
8 and conspired together to come and to fight against Jerusalem, and to hinder them.
9 Then we prayed to our God. And because of them we set watchmen against them, day and night.
10 And Judah said, “The strength of the bearers has weakened. And there is much earth, so that we are not able to build the wall.”
11 Also, our adversaries had said, “They shall neither know nor see until we come into the midst of them, and kill them, and cause the work to cease.”
12 But when the Jews who dwelt beside them came, they told us ten times, “From all places where you shall return, they will be upon us.”
13 Therefore I stationed men in the lower places, behind the wall, upon the tops of the stones, and placed the people by their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
14 Then I beheld, and rose up, and said to the princes and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them! Remember the great and fearful LORD! And fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses!”
15 And when our enemies heard that it was known to us, then God brought their plans to nothing. And we all turned to the wall again, each one to his work.
16 And from that day, half of the young men did the labor, and the other half of them held the spears, and shields, and bows, and armor. And the rulers stood behind the whole House of Judah,
17 those who built on the wall and those who bore burdens. Those who loaded did the work with one hand and held the sword with the other.
18 For every one of the builders had his sword girded on his loins and built. And he who blew the trumpet was beside me.
19 Then I said to the princes and to the rulers and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and large! And we are separated upon the wall, one far from another!
20 “In whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, return from there to us! Our God shall fight for us!”
21 So we labored in the work. And half of them held the spears, from the appearance of the morning until the stars came forth.
22 And at the same time, I said to the people, “Let everyone lodge with his servant within Jerusalem, so that they may be a watch for us in the night and labor in the day.”
23 So, neither I nor my brethren nor my servants nor the men of the ward who followed me (none of us) took off our clothes, except when everyone took them off for washing.
4 And I heard the number of those who were sealed. And there were sealed 144 thousand of all the tribes of the children of Israel.
5 Out of the tribe of Judah were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Reuben were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Gad were sealed twelve thousand.
6 Of the tribe of Asher were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Naphtali were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Manasseh were sealed twelve thousand.
7 Of the tribe of Simeon were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Levi were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Issachar were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Zebulun were sealed twelve thousand.
8 Of the tribe of Joseph were sealed twelve thousand. Of the tribe of Benjamin were sealed twelve thousand.
9 After these things I looked. And lo, a great multitude (which no man could number) of all nations and tribes and people and tongues stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with long white robes and palms in their hands.
10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation comes from our God Who sits upon the throne, and from the Lamb.”
11 And all the angels stood around the throne, and around the elders, and the four beasts. And they fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God,
12 Saying, “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and might be to our God for evermore! Amen!”
13 And one of the elders spoke, saying to me, “Who are these who are clothed in long white robes? And from where have they come?”
14 And I said to him, “Lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are those who came out of great tribulation and have washed their long robes and have made their long robes white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore, they are in the presence of the throne of God and serve Him day and night in His Temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them.
16 They shall hunger no more, nor thirst anymore, nor shall the Sun fall upon them, nor any heat.
17 For the Lamb, Who is in the midst of the throne, shall govern them and shall lead them to the lively fountains of waters. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.”
31 He put forth another parable to them, saying, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man takes and sows in his field,
32 “which indeed is the least of all seeds. But when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs. And it becomes a tree, so that the birds of heaven come and build in its branches.”
33 He spoke another parable to them, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, till all was leavened.”
34 Jesus spoke all these things to the multitude in parables. And He did not speak to them without parables.
35 So that which was spoken by the Prophet might be fulfilled, which says, “I will open my mouth in parables, and will utter the things which have been kept secret from the foundation of the world.”
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