Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Help against Persecutors.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David; for a memorial.
70 (A)O God, hasten to deliver me;
O Lord, hasten to my help!
2 (B)Let those be ashamed and humiliated
Who seek my [a]life;
Let those be turned back and dishonored
Who delight [b]in my hurt.
3 (C)Let those be [c]turned back because of their shame
Who say, “Aha, aha!”
4 Let all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“Let God be magnified.”
5 But (D)I am afflicted and needy;
(E)Hasten to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay.
Prayer of an Old Man for Deliverance.
71 (F)In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be ashamed.
2 (G)In Your righteousness deliver me and rescue me;
(H)Incline Your ear to me and save me.
3 (I)Be to me a rock of (J)habitation to which I may continually come;
You have given (K)commandment to save me,
For You are (L)my [d]rock and my fortress.
4 (M)Rescue me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
Out of the [e]grasp of the wrongdoer and ruthless man,
5 For You are my (N)hope;
O Lord [f]God, You are my (O)confidence from my youth.
6 [g]By You I have been (P)sustained from my birth;
You are He who (Q)took me from my mother’s womb;
My (R)praise is continually [h]of You.
7 I have become a (S)marvel to many,
For You are (T)my strong refuge.
8 My (U)mouth is filled with Your praise
And with (V)Your glory all day long.
9 Do not cast me off in the (W)time of old age;
Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
10 For my enemies have spoken [i]against me;
And those who (X)watch for my [j]life (Y)have consulted together,
11 Saying, “(Z)God has forsaken him;
Pursue and seize him, for there is (AA)no one to deliver.”
12 O God, (AB)do not be far from me;
O my God, (AC)hasten to my help!
13 Let those who are adversaries of my soul be (AD)ashamed and consumed;
Let them be (AE)covered with reproach and dishonor, who (AF)seek [k]to injure me.
14 But as for me, I will (AG)hope continually,
And will [l](AH)praise You yet more and more.
15 My (AI)mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And of (AJ)Your salvation all day long;
For I (AK)do not know the [m]sum of them.
16 I will come (AL)with the mighty deeds of the Lord [n]God;
I will (AM)make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.
17 O God, You (AN)have taught me from my youth,
And I still (AO)declare Your wondrous deeds.
18 And even when I am (AP)old and gray, O God, do not forsake me,
Until I (AQ)declare Your [o]strength to this generation,
Your power to all who are to come.
19 [p]For Your (AR)righteousness, O God, reaches to the [q]heavens,
You who have (AS)done great things;
O God, (AT)who is like You?
20 You who have (AU)shown [r]me many troubles and distresses
Will (AV)revive [s]me again,
And will bring [t]me up again (AW)from the depths of the earth.
21 May You increase my (AX)greatness
And turn to (AY)comfort me.
22 I will also praise You with [u](AZ)a harp,
Even Your [v]truth, O my God;
To You I will sing praises with the (BA)lyre,
O (BB)Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will (BC)shout for joy when I sing praises to You;
And my (BD)soul, which You have redeemed.
24 My (BE)tongue also will utter Your righteousness all day long;
For they are (BF)ashamed, for they are humiliated who seek [w]my hurt.
An Appeal against the Devastation of the Land by the Enemy.
A [a]Maskil of Asaph.
74 O God, why have You (A)rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger (B)smoke against the (C)sheep of Your [b]pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You have (D)purchased of old,
Which You have (E)redeemed to be the (F)tribe of Your inheritance;
And this Mount (G)Zion, where You have dwelt.
3 [c]Turn Your footsteps toward the (H)perpetual ruins;
The enemy (I)has damaged everything within the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have (J)roared in the midst of Your meeting place;
They have set up their (K)own [d]standards (L)for signs.
5 It seems as if one had lifted up
His [e](M)axe in a [f]forest of trees.
6 And now [g]all its (N)carved work
They smash with hatchet and [h]hammers.
7 They have [i](O)burned Your sanctuary [j]to the ground;
They have (P)defiled the dwelling place of Your name.
8 They (Q)said in their heart, “Let us [k]completely [l]subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our (R)signs;
There is (S)no longer any prophet,
Nor is there any among us who knows (T)how long.
10 How long, O God, will the adversary (U)revile,
And the enemy (V)spurn Your name forever?
11 Why (W)do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
From within Your bosom, (X)destroy them!
12 Yet God is (Y)my king from of old,
Who works deeds of deliverance in the midst of the earth.
13 [m]You (Z)divided the sea by Your strength;
[n]You (AA)broke the heads of the (AB)sea monsters [o]in the waters.
14 [p]You crushed the heads of [q](AC)Leviathan;
[r]You gave him as food for the [s]creatures (AD)of the wilderness.
15 [t]You (AE)broke open springs and torrents;
[u]You (AF)dried up ever-flowing streams.
16 Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;
[v]You have (AG)prepared the [w]light and the sun.
17 [x]You have (AH)established all the boundaries of the earth;
[y]You have [z]made (AI)summer and winter.
18 Remember this, [aa]O Lord, that the enemy has (AJ)reviled,
And a (AK)foolish people has spurned Your name.
19 Do not deliver the soul of Your (AL)turtledove to the wild beast;
(AM)Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
20 Consider the (AN)covenant;
For the (AO)dark places of the land are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Let not the (AP)oppressed return dishonored;
Let the (AQ)afflicted and needy praise Your name.
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the (A)great river, the Euphrates; and (B)its water was dried up, so that (C)the way would be prepared for the kings (D)from the [a]east.
Armageddon
13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the (E)dragon and out of the mouth of the (F)beast and out of the mouth of the (G)false prophet, three (H)unclean spirits like (I)frogs; 14 for they are (J)spirits of demons, (K)performing signs, which go out to the kings of the (L)whole [b]world, to (M)gather them together for the war of the (N)great day of God, the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, (O)I am coming like a thief. (P)Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, (Q)so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”) 16 And they (R)gathered them together to the place which (S)in Hebrew is called [c](T)Har-Magedon.
Seventh Bowl of Wrath
17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon (U)the air, and a (V)loud voice came out of the [d](W)temple from the throne, saying, “(X)It is done.” 18 And there were flashes of (Y)lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was (Z)a great earthquake, (AA)such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. 19 (AB)The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the [e]nations fell. (AC)Babylon the great was (AD)remembered before God, to give her (AE)the cup of the wine of [f]His fierce wrath. 20 And (AF)every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. 21 And (AG)huge [g]hailstones, about [h]one hundred pounds each, *came down from heaven upon men; and men (AH)blasphemed God because of the (AI)plague of the hail, because its plague *was extremely [i]severe.
Parables of Mustard Seed and Leaven
18 So (A)He was saying, “(B)What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and (C)the birds of the [a]air nested in its branches.”
20 And again He said, “(D)To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 (E)It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in (F)three [b]pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”
Teaching in the Villages
22 And He was passing through from one city and village to another, teaching, and (G)proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, 24 “(H)Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 Once the head of the house gets up and (I)shuts the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘(J)Lord, open up to us!’ then He will answer and say to you, ‘(K)I do not know where you are from.’ 26 Then you will (L)begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets’; 27 and He will say, ‘I tell you, (M)I do not know where you are from; (N)depart from Me, all you evildoers.’ 28 (O)In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham and Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. 29 And they (P)will come from east and west and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, (Q)some are last who will be first and some are first who will be last.”
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