Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 34[a]
Presence of God, Protector of the Righteous
1 Of David. When he pretended to be mad before Abimelech, who forced him to depart.[b]
2 [c]I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise will be continually on my lips.
3 My soul[d] will glory in the Lord;
let the lowly hear and be glad.
4 Magnify the Lord with me;
let us exalt his name together.
5 I sought the Lord, and he answered me;
he set me free from all my fears.
6 Look to him and you will be radiant;
your faces will never be covered with shame.
7 In my anguish[e] I cried out;
the Lord heard my plea,
and I was saved from all my troubles.
8 The angel of the Lord[f] encamps around those who fear God,
and he delivers them.
9 Taste and see that the Lord is good;
blessed[g] is the man who takes refuge in him.
10 Fear the Lord,[h] you his saints;
nothing is lacking for those who fear him.
11 The powerful[i] suffer want and go hungry,
but those who seek the Lord want for no good thing.
12 [j]Come, my children,[k] and listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the Lord.
13 Who among you delights in life
and desires many years to enjoy prosperity?[l]
14 Then keep your tongue[m] from evil
and your lips from telling lies.
15 Shun evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.
16 [n]The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
and his ears are open to their cry.
17 The face of the Lord is turned against those who do evil,
to erase all memory of them from the earth.
18 [o]The righteous call out, and the Lord hears them;
he rescues them from all their troubles.
19 The Lord remains close to the brokenhearted,
and he saves those whose spirit is crushed.
20 [p]The misfortunes of the righteous man are many,
but the Lord delivers him,[q] from all of them.
21 He watches with care over all his bones;
not a single one will be broken.
22 [r]Evil will bring death to the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
23 The Lord redeems the lives of those who serve him;
no one will be condemned who takes refuge in him.
For the Righteous—Life Eternal[a]
Chapter 3
Their Hope Is Full of Immortality[b]
1 [c]But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God,
and no torment can overtake them.
2 From the viewpoint of the foolish, they seemed to be dead,
and their passing away was reckoned as a misfortune,
3 and their departure from us as their ruin.
But they are at peace.[d]
4 Although in the eyes of others they were chastised,
their hope is full of immortality.
5 Having endured a slight chastisement, they will receive great blessings,
because God tested them
and found them worthy to be with him.[e]
6 He put them to the proof like gold in a furnace,
and he accepted them as a sacrificial burnt offering.[f]
7 In the time of their visitation[g] they will shine brightly
and spread like sparks among the stubble.
8 They will judge nations and have dominion over peoples,
and the Lord will be their King forever.
9 Those who trust in him will understand truth,
and the faithful will dwell with him in love,
because grace and mercy are reserved for his holy ones,
and he shows concern for his elect.
4 The twenty-four elders and the four living creatures threw themselves to the ground and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, and they cried:
“Amen. Alleluia!”
5 Then a voice came from the throne, saying:
“Praise our God,
all you his servants,
and all who fear him,
small and great alike.”
6 And I heard what seemed to be the sound of a vast multitude, like the sound of a torrential stream or of great peals of thunder, crying out:
“Alleluia.
The reign of the Lord our God,
the Almighty, has begun.
7 Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory.
For the wedding day of the Lamb has come,
and the bride has made herself ready.
8 She has been permitted to wear
a bright and clean garment of fine linen.”
(The fine linen represents the righteous deeds of the saints.)
9 Then the angel said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed[a] are those who are invited to the wedding banquet of the Lamb.’ ” And he added, “These are the true words of God.”
10 I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and with your brethren who have given witness to Jesus.[b] Worship God! For the witness to Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.
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