Book of Common Prayer
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
20 May the Lord answer you when you are in trouble.
May the God of Jacob keep you safe.
2 May he send you help from the sacred tent.
May he give you aid from Zion.
3 May he remember all your sacrifices.
May he accept your burnt offerings.
4 May he give you what your heart wishes for.
May he make all your plans succeed.
5 May we shout for joy over your victory.
May we lift up our flags in the name of our God.
May the Lord give you everything you ask for.
6 Now I know that the Lord gives victory to his anointed king.
He answers him from his sacred home in heaven.
The power of God’s right hand gives victory to the king.
7 Some trust in chariots. Some trust in horses.
But we trust in the Lord our God.
8 They are brought to their knees and fall down.
But we get up and stand firm.
9 Lord, give victory to the king!
Answer us when we call out to you!
For the director of music. A psalm of David.
21 Lord, the king is filled with joy because you are strong.
How great is his joy because you help him win his battles!
2 You have given him what his heart wished for.
You haven’t kept back from him what his lips asked for.
3 You came to greet him with rich blessings.
You placed a crown of pure gold on his head.
4 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him.
You promised him days that would never end.
5 His glory is great because you helped him win his battles.
You have honored him with glory and majesty.
6 You have given him blessings that will never end.
You have made him glad and joyful because you are with him.
7 The king trusts in the Lord.
The faithful love of the Most High God
will keep the king secure.
8 You, the king, will capture all your enemies.
Your right hand will take hold of them.
9 When you appear for battle,
you will burn them up like they were in a flaming furnace.
The Lord will swallow them up in his great anger.
His fire will burn them up.
10 You will wipe their children from the face of the earth.
You will remove them from the human race.
11 Your enemies make evil plans against you.
They think up evil things to do. But they can’t succeed.
12 You will make them turn their backs and run away
when you aim your arrows at them.
13 Lord, may you be honored because you are strong.
We will sing and praise your might.
A psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd. He gives me everything I need.
2 He lets me lie down in fields of green grass.
He leads me beside quiet waters.
3 He gives me new strength.
He guides me in the right paths
for the honor of his name.
4 Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will not be afraid.
You are with me.
Your shepherd’s rod and staff
comfort me.
5 You prepare a feast for me
right in front of my enemies.
You pour oil on my head.
My cup runs over.
6 I am sure that your goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life.
And I will live in the house of the Lord
forever.
A psalm of David.
27 The Lord is my light, and he saves me.
Why should I fear anyone?
The Lord is my place of safety.
Why should I be afraid?
2 My enemies are evil.
They will trip and fall
when they attack me
and try to swallow me up.
3 Even if an army attacks me,
my heart will not be afraid.
Even if war breaks out against me,
I will still trust in God.
4 I’m asking the Lord for only one thing.
Here is what I want.
I want to live in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life.
I want to look at the beauty of the Lord.
I want to worship him in his temple.
5 When I’m in trouble,
he will keep me safe in his house.
He will hide me in the safety of his holy tent.
He will put me on a rock that is very high.
6 Then I will win the battle
over my enemies who are all around me.
At his holy tent I will offer my sacrifice with shouts of joy.
I will sing and make music to the Lord.
7 Lord, hear my voice when I call out to you.
Treat me with kindness and answer me.
8 My heart says, “Seek him!”
Lord, I will seek you.
9 Don’t turn your face away from me.
Don’t turn me away because you are angry.
You have helped me.
God my Savior, don’t say no to me.
Don’t desert me.
10 My father and mother may desert me,
but the Lord will accept me.
11 Lord, teach me your ways.
Lead me along a straight path.
There are many people who treat me badly.
12 My enemies want to harm me. So don’t turn me over to them.
Witnesses who tell lies are rising up against me.
They say all sorts of evil things about me.
13 Here is something I am still sure of.
I will see the Lord’s goodness
while I’m still alive.
14 Wait for the Lord.
Be strong and don’t lose hope.
Wait for the Lord.
A Song of Praise to the Lord
25 Lord, you are my God.
I will honor you.
I will praise your name.
You have been perfectly faithful.
You have done wonderful things.
You had planned them long ago.
2 You have turned cities into piles of trash.
You have pulled down the high walls that were around them.
You have destroyed our enemies’ forts.
They will never be rebuilt.
3 Powerful nations will honor you.
Even sinful people from their cities will have respect for you.
4 Poor people have come to you for safety.
You have kept needy people safe when they were in trouble.
You have been a place to hide when storms came.
You have been a shade from the heat of the sun.
Evil people attack us.
They are like a storm beating against a wall.
5 They are like the heat of the desert.
You stopped the noisy shouts of our enemies.
You kept them from winning the battle over us and singing about it.
You are like the shadow of a cloud that cools the earth.
6 On Mount Zion the Lord who rules over all will prepare
a feast for all the nations.
The best and richest foods
and the finest aged wines will be served.
7 On that mountain the Lord will destroy
the veil of sadness that covers all the nations.
He will destroy the gloom that is spread over everyone.
8 He will swallow up death forever.
The Lord and King will wipe away the tears
from everyone’s face.
He will remove the shame of his people
from the whole earth.
The Lord has spoken.
9 At that time they will say,
“He is our God.
We trusted in him, and he saved us.
He is the Lord. We trusted in him.
Let us be filled with joy because he saved us.”
John’s Vision of Christ
9 I, John, am a believer like you. I am a friend who suffers like you. As members of Jesus’ royal family, we can put up with anything that happens to us. I was on the island of Patmos because I taught God’s word and what Jesus said. 10 The Holy Spirit gave me a vision on the Lord’s Day. I heard a loud voice behind me that sounded like a trumpet. 11 The voice said, “Write on a scroll what you see. Send it to the seven churches in Asia Minor. They are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”
12 I turned around to see who was speaking to me. When I turned, I saw seven golden lampstands. 13 In the middle of them was someone who looked “like a son of man.” (Daniel 7:13) He was dressed in a long robe with a gold strip of cloth around his chest. 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze metal glowing in a furnace. His voice sounded like rushing waters. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand. Coming out of his mouth was a sharp sword with two edges. His face was like the sun shining in all its brightness.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as if I were dead. Then he put his right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One. I was dead. But now look! I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys to Death and Hell.
19 “So write down what you have seen. Write about what is happening now and what will happen later. 20 Here is the meaning of the mystery of the seven stars you saw in my right hand. They are the angels of the seven churches. And the seven golden lampstands you saw stand for the seven churches.
53 Then they all went home. 8 1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.
2 At sunrise he arrived again in the temple courtyard. All the people gathered around him there. He sat down to teach them. 3 The teachers of the law and the Pharisees brought in a woman. She had been caught committing adultery. They made her stand in front of the group. 4 They said to Jesus, “Teacher, this woman was caught sleeping with a man who was not her husband. 5 In the Law, Moses commanded us to kill such women by throwing stones at them. Now what do you say?” 6 They were trying to trap Jesus with that question. They wanted to have a reason to bring charges against him.
But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. 7 They kept asking him questions. So he stood up and said to them, “Has any one of you not sinned? Then you be the first to throw a stone at her.” 8 He bent down again and wrote on the ground.
9 Those who heard what he had said began to go away. They left one at a time, the older ones first. Soon only Jesus was left. The woman was still standing there. 10 Jesus stood up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Hasn’t anyone found you guilty?”
11 “No one, sir,” she said.
“Then I don’t find you guilty either,” Jesus said. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”
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