Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 31
A Plea for Protection
For the choir director. A Davidic psalm.
1 Lord, I seek refuge in You;
let me never be disgraced.(A)
Save me by Your righteousness.
2 Listen closely to me; rescue me quickly.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a mountain fortress to save me.(B)
3 For You are my rock and my fortress;(C)
You lead and guide me
because of Your name.(D)
4 You will free me from the net
that is secretly set for me,
for You are my refuge.(E)
5 Into Your hand I entrust my spirit;(F)
You redeem[a] me, Lord, God of truth.(G)
6 I[b] hate those who are devoted to worthless idols,
but I trust in the Lord.(H)
7 I will rejoice and be glad in Your faithful love
because You have seen my affliction.
You have known the troubles of my life(I)
8 and have not handed me over to the enemy.(J)
You have set my feet in a spacious place.(K)
9 Be gracious to me, Lord,
because I am in distress;(L)
my eyes are worn out from angry sorrow—
my whole being[c] as well.(M)
10 Indeed, my life is consumed with grief
and my years with groaning;(N)
my strength has failed
because of my sinfulness,[d]
and my bones waste away.(O)
11 I am ridiculed by all my adversaries
and even by my neighbors.
I am dreaded by my acquaintances;
those who see me in the street run from me.(P)
12 I am forgotten: gone from memory
like a dead person—like broken pottery.(Q)
13 I have heard the gossip of many;
terror is on every side.(R)
When they conspired against me,
they plotted to take my life.(S)
14 But I trust in You, Lord;
I say, “You are my God.”(T)
15 The course of my life is in Your power;(U)
deliver me from the power of my enemies
and from my persecutors.(V)
16 Show Your favor to Your servant;
save me by Your faithful love.(W)
17 Lord, do not let me be disgraced when I call on You.(X)
Let the wicked be disgraced;
let them be silent[e][f] in Sheol.(Y)
18 Let lying lips be quieted;(Z)
they speak arrogantly against the righteous
with pride and contempt.(AA)
19 How great is Your goodness
that You have stored up for those who fear You
and accomplished in the sight of everyone
for those who take refuge in You.(AB)
20 You hide them in the protection of Your presence;
You conceal them in a shelter[g]
from the schemes of men,
from quarrelsome tongues.(AC)
21 May the Lord be praised,
for He has wonderfully shown His faithful love to me
in a city under siege.[h](AD)
22 In my alarm I had said,
“I am cut off from Your sight.”(AE)
But You heard the sound of my pleading
when I cried to You for help.(AF)
Psalm 35
Prayer for Victory
Davidic.
1 Oppose my opponents, Lord;
fight those who fight me.(A)
2 Take Your shields—large and small—
and come to my aid.(B)
3 Draw the spear and javelin against my pursuers,
and assure me: “I am your deliverance.”(C)
4 Let those who seek to kill me
be disgraced and humiliated;
let those who plan to harm me
be turned back and ashamed.(D)
5 Let them be like chaff in the wind,
with the angel of the Lord driving them away.(E)
6 Let their way be dark and slippery,
with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.(F)
7 They hid their net for me without cause;
they dug a pit for me without cause.(G)
8 Let ruin come on him unexpectedly,
and let the net that he hid ensnare him;
let him fall into it—to his ruin.(H)
9 Then I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will delight in His deliverance.(I)
10 My very bones will say,
“Lord, who is like You,(J)
rescuing the poor from one too strong for him,
the poor or the needy from one who robs him?”(K)
11 Malicious witnesses come forward;
they question me about things I do not know.(L)
12 They repay me evil for good,
making me desolate.(M)
13 Yet when they were sick,
my clothing was sackcloth;
I humbled myself with fasting,
and my prayer was genuine.[a](N)
14 I went about grieving as if for my friend or brother;
I was bowed down with grief,
like one mourning a mother.(O)
15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;
they gathered against me.
Assailants I did not know
tore at me and did not stop.(P)
16 With godless mockery[b]
they gnashed their teeth at me.(Q)
17 Lord, how long will You look on?(R)
Rescue my life from their ravages,
my only one from the young lions.(S)
18 I will praise You in the great congregation;
I will exalt You among many people.(T)
19 Do not let my deceitful enemies rejoice over me;
do not let those who hate me without cause(U)
look at me maliciously.(V)
20 For they do not speak in friendly ways,
but contrive deceitful schemes[c]
against those who live peacefully in the land.(W)
21 They open their mouths wide against me and say,
“Aha, aha! We saw it!”[d](X)
22 You saw it, Lord; do not be silent.
Lord, do not be far from me.(Y)
23 Wake up and rise to my defense,
to my cause, my God and my Lord!(Z)
24 Vindicate me, Lord my God,
in keeping with Your righteousness,
and do not let them rejoice over me.(AA)
25 Do not let them say in their hearts,
“Aha! Just what we wanted.”
Do not let them say,
“We have swallowed him up!”(AB)
26 Let those who rejoice at my misfortune
be disgraced and humiliated;
let those who exalt themselves over me
be clothed with shame and reproach.(AC)
Command to Rebuild the Temple
1 In the second year of King Darius,[a](A) on the first day of the sixth month, the word of the Lord came through Haggai(B) the prophet to Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel,(C) the governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Jehozadak, the high priest:(D)
2 “The Lord of Hosts says this: These people say: The time has not come for the house of the Lord to be rebuilt.”(E)
3 The word of the Lord came through Haggai the prophet: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to live in your paneled houses,(F) while this house[b] lies in ruins?” 5 Now, the Lord of Hosts says this: “Think carefully(G) about[c] your ways:
6 You have planted much
but harvested little.
You eat
but never have enough to be satisfied.
You drink
but never have enough to become drunk.
You put on clothes
but never have enough to get warm.
The wage earner puts his wages
into a bag with a hole in it.”(H)
7 The Lord of Hosts says this: “Think carefully about[d] your ways. 8 Go up into the hills, bring down lumber, and build the house. Then I will be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord. 9 “You expected much, but then it amounted to little. When you brought the harvest to your house, I ruined[e] it. Why?” This is the declaration of the Lord of Hosts. “Because My house still lies in ruins, while each of you is busy with his own house.
10 So on your account,[f]
the skies have withheld the dew
and the land its crops.(I)
11 I have summoned a drought
on the fields and the hills,
on the grain, new wine, olive oil,
and whatever the ground yields,
on man and beast,
and on all that your hands produce.”
The People’s Response
12 Then Zerubbabel(J) son of Shealtiel, the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the entire remnant of the people(K) obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of the prophet Haggai, because the Lord their God had sent him. So the people feared the Lord.(L)
13 Haggai, the Lord’s messenger, delivered the Lord’s message to the people, “I am with you”(M)—this is the Lord’s declaration.
14 The Lord stirred up the spirit(N) of Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, the spirit of the high priest Joshua son of Jehozadak, and the spirit of all the remnant of the people. They began work on the house of Yahweh of Hosts, their God, 15 on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month, in the second year of King Darius.
The Letter to Thyatira
18 “Write to the angel of the church in Thyatira:
“The Son of God, the One whose eyes are like a fiery flame and whose feet are like fine bronze,[a] says: 19 I know your works—your love, faithfulness,[b] service, and endurance. Your last works are greater than the first. 20 But I have this against you: You tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess and teaches and deceives My slaves to commit sexual immorality[c] and to eat meat sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to repent, but she does not want to repent of her sexual immorality.[d] 22 Look! I will throw her into a sickbed and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her[e] practices. 23 I will kill her children with the plague.[f](A) Then all the churches will know that I am the One who examines minds[g] and hearts, and I will give to each of you according to your works. 24 I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who haven’t known the deep things[h] of Satan—as they say—I do not put any other burden on you. 25 But hold on to what you have until I come.(B) 26 The one who is victorious and keeps My works to the end: I will give him authority over the nations—
just as I have received this from My Father. 28 I will also give him the morning star.(E)
29 “Anyone who has an ear should listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs,(A) which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and every impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, 30 and you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we wouldn’t have taken part with them in shedding the prophets’ blood.’[a] 31 You, therefore, testify against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers’ sins
33 “Snakes! Brood of vipers! How can you escape being condemned to hell?[c](C) 34 This is why I am sending you prophets,(D) sages, and scribes. Some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will flog in your synagogues(E) and hound from town to town. 35 So all the righteous blood shed on the earth will be charged to you,[d] from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah,(F) son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar.(G) 36 I assure you: All these things will come on this generation!(H)
Jesus’ Lamentation over Jerusalem
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem!(I) She who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her. How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks[e] under her wings, yet you were not willing!(J) 38 See, your house is left to you desolate.(K) 39 For I tell you, you will never see Me again until you say, ‘He who comes in the name of the Lord is the blessed One’!”(L)[f]
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville Tennessee. All rights reserved.