Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 70
A Call for Deliverance
For the choir director. Davidic. To bring remembrance.(A)
1 God, deliver me.
Hurry to help me, Lord!(B)
2 Let those who seek my life
be disgraced and confounded;
let those who wish me harm
be driven back and humiliated.
3 Let those who say, “Aha, aha!”
retreat because of their shame.(C)
4 Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
let those who love Your salvation
continually say, “God is great!”(D)
5 I am afflicted and needy;
hurry to me, God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Lord, do not delay.(E)
Psalm 71
God’s Help in Old Age
1 Lord, I seek refuge in You;
let me never be disgraced.(F)
2 In Your justice, rescue and deliver me;
listen closely to me and save me.(G)
3 Be a rock of refuge for me,
where I can always go.
Give the command to save me,
for You are my rock and fortress.(H)
4 Deliver me, my God, from the power of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and oppressive.(I)
5 For You are my hope, Lord God,
my confidence from my youth.(J)
6 I have leaned on You from birth;
You took me from my mother’s womb.(K)
My praise is always about You.(L)
7 I have become an ominous sign to many,
but You are my strong refuge.(M)
8 My mouth is full of praise
and honor to You all day long.(N)
9 Don’t discard me in my old age;
as my strength fails, do not abandon me.(O)
10 For my enemies talk about me,
and those who spy on me plot together,(P)
11 saying, “God has abandoned him;
chase him and catch him,
for there is no one to rescue him.”(Q)
12 God, do not be far from me;
my God, hurry to help me.(R)
13 May my adversaries be disgraced and destroyed;
may those who seek my harm
be covered with disgrace and humiliation.(S)
14 But I will hope continually
and will praise You more and more.(T)
15 My mouth will tell about Your righteousness
and Your salvation all day long,
though I cannot sum them up.(U)
16 I come because of the mighty acts of the Lord God;
I will proclaim Your righteousness, Yours alone.(V)
17 God, You have taught me from my youth,
and I still proclaim Your wonderful works.(W)
18 Even when I am old and gray,
God, do not abandon me.(X)
Then I will[a] proclaim Your power
to another generation,
Your strength to all who are to come.(Y)
19 Your righteousness reaches heaven, God,
You who have done great things;
God, who is like You?(Z)
20 You caused me to experience
many troubles and misfortunes,(AA)
but You will revive me again.(AB)
You will bring me up again,
even from the depths of the earth.(AC)
21 You will increase my honor
and comfort me once again.(AD)
22 Therefore, I will praise You with a harp
for Your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing to You with a lyre,
Holy One of Israel.(AE)
23 My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praise to You
because You have redeemed me.(AF)
24 Therefore, my tongue will proclaim
Your righteousness all day long,
for those who seek my harm
will be disgraced and confounded.(AG)
Psalm 74
Prayer for Israel
A Maskil of Asaph.(A)
1 Why have You rejected us forever, God?
Why does Your anger burn
against the sheep of Your pasture?(B)
2 Remember Your congregation,
which You purchased long ago
and redeemed as the tribe for Your own possession.(C)
Remember Mount Zion where You dwell.(D)
3 Make Your way[a] to the everlasting ruins,
to all that the enemy has destroyed in the sanctuary.(E)
4 Your adversaries roared in the meeting place
where You met with us.[b]
They set up their emblems as signs.(F)
5 It was like men in a thicket of trees,
wielding axes,(G)
6 then smashing all the carvings
with hatchets and picks.(H)
7 They set Your sanctuary on fire;
they utterly[c] desecrated
the dwelling place of Your name.(I)
8 They said in their hearts,
“Let us oppress them relentlessly.”
They burned down every place throughout the land
where God met with us.[d](J)
9 There are no signs for us to see.
There is no longer a prophet.
And none of us knows how long this will last.(K)
10 God, how long will the enemy mock?
Will the foe insult Your name forever?(L)
11 Why do You hold back Your hand?
Stretch out[e] Your right hand and destroy them!(M)
12 God my King is from ancient times,
performing saving acts on the earth.(N)
13 You divided the sea with Your strength;
You smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the waters;(O)
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan;
You fed him to the creatures of the desert.(P)
15 You opened up springs and streams;(Q)
You dried up ever-flowing rivers.(R)
16 The day is Yours, also the night;
You established the moon and the sun.(S)
17 You set all the boundaries of the earth;
You made summer and winter.(T)
18 Remember this: the enemy has mocked Yahweh,
and a foolish people has insulted Your name.(U)
19 Do not give the life of Your dove to beasts;[f]
do not forget the lives of Your poor people forever.(V)
20 Consider the covenant,(W)
for the dark places of the land are full of violence.(X)
21 Do not let the oppressed turn away in shame;
let the poor and needy praise Your name.(Y)
22 Rise up, God, defend Your cause!(Z)
Remember the insults
that fools bring against You all day long.(AA)
23 Do not forget the clamor of Your adversaries,
the tumult of Your opponents that goes up constantly.(AB)
Ezra’s Arrival
7 After these events, during the reign of King Artaxerxes(A) of Persia, Ezra—
Seraiah’s(B) son, Azariah’s son,
Hilkiah’s(C) son, 2 Shallum’s son,
Zadok’s(D) son, Ahitub’s son,
3 Amariah’s son, Azariah’s son,
Meraioth’s son, 4 Zerahiah’s son,
Uzzi’s son, Bukki’s son,
5 Abishua’s son, Phinehas’s son,
Eleazar’s son, Aaron the chief priest’s son(E)
6 —came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the law of Moses,(F) which Yahweh, the God of Israel, had given. The king had granted him everything he requested(G) because the hand of Yahweh his God was on him.(H) 7 Some of the Israelites, priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, and temple servants(I) accompanied him to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes.
8 Ezra[a] came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, during the seventh year of the king. 9 He began the journey from Babylon on the first day of the first month(J) and arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month(K) since the gracious hand of his God was on him.(L) 10 Now Ezra had determined in his heart to study the law of the Lord, obey it, and teach(M) its statutes and ordinances in Israel.
Letter from Artaxerxes
11 This is the text of the letter King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, an expert in matters of the Lord’s commands and statutes for Israel:[b]
12 Artaxerxes, king of kings,(N) to Ezra the priest, an expert in the law of the God of heaven:
Greetings.
13 I issue a decree that any of the Israelites in my kingdom, including their priests and Levites, who want to go to Jerusalem, may go with you.(O) 14 You are sent by the king and his seven counselors(P) to evaluate Judah and Jerusalem according to the law of your God, which is in your possession. 15 You are also to bring the silver and gold the king and his counselors have willingly given to the God of Israel,(Q) whose dwelling is in Jerusalem,(R) 16 and all the silver and gold you receive throughout the province of Babylon, together with the freewill offerings given by the people and the priests to the house of their God in Jerusalem.(S) 17 Then you are to buy with this money as many bulls, rams, and lambs as needed, along with their grain and drink offerings, and offer them on the altar at the house of your God in Jerusalem.(T) 18 You may do whatever seems best to you and your brothers with the rest of the silver and gold, according to the will of your God. 19 You must deliver to the God of Jerusalem all the articles given to you for the service of the house of your God.(U) 20 You may use the royal treasury to pay for anything else needed for the house of your God.(V)
21 I, King Artaxerxes, issue a decree to all the treasurers in the region west of the Euphrates River:(W)
Whatever Ezra the priest, an expert in the law of the God of heaven, asks of you must be provided promptly,(X) 22 up to 7,500 pounds[c] of silver, 500 bushels[d] of wheat, 550 gallons[e] of wine, 550 gallons[f] of oil, and salt without limit.[g] 23 Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven must be done diligently for the house of the God of heaven, so that wrath will not fall on the realm of the king and his sons.(Y) 24 Be advised that tribute, duty, and land tax must not be imposed on any priests, Levites, singers, doorkeepers, temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
25 And you, Ezra, according to[h] God’s wisdom that you possess, appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people in the region west of the Euphrates who know the laws of your God and to teach anyone who does not know them.(Z) 26 Anyone who does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, let a fair judgment be executed against him, whether death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.(AA)
The Lamb and the 144,000
14 Then I looked, and there on Mount Zion stood the Lamb, and with Him were 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.(A) 2 I heard a sound[a] from heaven like the sound of cascading waters(B) and like the rumbling of loud thunder. The sound I heard was also like harpists playing on their harps.(C) 3 They sang[b] a new song(D) before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders,(E) but no one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed[c] from the earth. 4 These are the ones not defiled with women, for they have kept their virginity.(F) These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They were redeemed[d][e] from the human race as the firstfruits(G) for God and the Lamb. 5 No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.(H)
The Proclamation of Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying high overhead,(I) having the eternal gospel to announce to the inhabitants of the earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people.(J) 7 He spoke with a loud voice: “Fear God and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come. Worship the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
8 A second angel[f] followed, saying: “It has fallen, Babylon the Great has fallen,[g] who made all nations drink the wine of her sexual immorality,[h] which brings wrath.”(K)
9 And a third angel[i] followed them and spoke with a loud voice: “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he will also drink the wine of God’s wrath, which is mixed full strength in the cup of His anger.(L) He will be tormented with fire and sulfur(M) in the sight of the holy angels and in the sight of the Lamb, 11 and the smoke of their torment will go up forever and ever.(N) There is no rest[j] day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or anyone who receives the mark of his name. 12 This demands the perseverance[k] of the saints,(O) who keep God’s commands and their faith in Jesus.”[l]
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Write: The dead who die in the Lord from now on are blessed.”(P)
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “let them rest from their labors, for their works follow them!”
John the Baptist Beheaded
14 At that time(A) Herod the tetrarch(B) heard the report about Jesus. 2 “This is John the Baptist!” he told his servants. “He has been raised from the dead, and that’s why supernatural powers are at work in him.”(C)
3 For Herod had arrested John, chained[a] him, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife,(D) 4 since John had been telling him, “It’s not lawful(E) for you to have her!” 5 Though he wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd, since they regarded him as a prophet.(F)
6 But when Herod’s birthday celebration came, Herodias’s daughter danced before them[b] and pleased Herod. 7 So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask. 8 And prompted by her mother, she answered, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter!” 9 Although the king regretted it, he commanded that it be granted because of his oaths and his guests. 10 So he sent orders and had John beheaded in the prison. 11 His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, who carried it to her mother. 12 Then his disciples came, removed the corpse,[c] buried it, and went and reported to Jesus.
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