Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 61
For the Music Director. With stringed instruments. A Psalm of David.
1 Hear my cry, O God,
attend to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth I will cry to You;
when my heart faints,
lead me to the rock that is higher than I.
3 For You have been a refuge for me,
and a strong tower from the enemy.
4 I will abide in Your tent forever;
I will seek refuge in the covering of Your wings. Selah
5 For You, O God, have heard my vows;
You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name.
6 May You prolong the king’s life,
and may his years be as many generations.
7 May he sit enthroned before God forever;
oh, prepare mercy and truth, which may preserve him.
8 Thus will I sing praise to Your name forever,
that I may fulfill my vows day by day.
Psalm 62
For the Music Director. According to Jeduthun. A Psalm of David.
1 My soul waits in silence on God alone;
from Him comes my salvation.
2 He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my refuge; I will not be greatly shaken.
3 How long will you attack a man,
to batter him, all of you,
as you would a leaning wall, a tottering fence?
4 They only conspire to cast him down
from his high position;
they delight in lies,
they bless with their mouth,
but they curse inwardly. Selah
5 My soul, wait silently for God,
for my hope is from Him.
6 He only is my rock and my salvation;
He is my refuge; I will not be moved.
7 In God is my salvation and my glory;
the rock of my strength, and my shelter, is in God.
8 Trust in Him at all times;
you people, pour out your heart before Him;
God is a shelter for us. Selah
9 Surely people of low degree are a breath,
and men of high degree are a lie;
if they are placed in the balance,
they are altogether lighter than vapor.
10 Do not trust in oppression,
and do not become vain in robbery;
if riches increase,
do not set your heart on them.
11 God has spoken once,
twice have I heard this:
that power belongs to God.
12 Also to You, O Lord, belongs mercy;
for You render to each one
according to his work.
Psalm 68
For the Music Director. A Psalm of David. A Song.
1 Let God arise, let His enemies be scattered;
let those who hate Him flee before Him.
2 As smoke is driven away,
You drive them away;
as wax melts before the fire,
so may the wicked perish before God.
3 But let the righteous be glad;
let them rejoice before God;
let them rejoice exceedingly.
4 Sing to God, sing praises to His name;
raise a song to Him who rides through the deserts—
His name is the Lord;
exult before Him.
5 A father of the fatherless, and a protector of the widows,
is God in His holy habitation.
6 God sets the deserted in families;
He brings out prisoners into prosperity,
but the rebellious dwell in a dry land.
7 O God, when You went forth before Your people,
when You marched through the wasteland, Selah
8 the earth shook;
the heavens also poured down rain
at the presence of God; even Sinai shook
at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
9 You, O God, sent plentiful rain;
You established Your inheritance when it was weary.
10 Your congregation has lived in it;
You, O God, by Your goodness have prepared for the poor.
11 The Lord gave the word;
great was the company of women who proclaimed it:
12 “Kings of armies flee; they flee!”
Even the women who were at home divided the spoil.
13 Though you sleep between the sheepfolds,
yet you will be like the wings of a dove overlaid with silver,
and its feathers with yellow gold.
14 When the Almighty scattered kings in it,
it was white as snow on Mount Zalmon.
15 The mountain of God is as the mountain of Bashan;
a mountain of many peaks like the mountain of Bashan.
16 Why are you envious, you mountains of many peaks?
This is the mountain which God desires to dwell in;
yes, the Lord will dwell in it forever.
17 The chariots of God are twice ten thousand, even thousands of thousands;
the Lord is among them, as in Sinai, in the holy place.
18 You have ascended on high,
You have led captivity captive;
You have received gifts from people,
yes, even from the rebellious,
that the Lord God might dwell among them.
19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loads us with benefits,
even the God who is our salvation. Selah
20 That God is for us, the God of saving acts;
and to God the Lord belongs escape from death.
21 But God will shatter the head of His enemies,
and the scalp of one who walks in his trespasses.
22 The Lord said, “I will cause them to return from Bashan,
I will bring my people again from the depths of the sea,
23 that your foot may stomp in the blood of your enemies,
and the tongue of your dogs may have a portion in it.”
24 They have seen Your processions, O God,
the processions of my God, my King, in the sanctuary.
25 The singers went before,
the players on instruments followed after;
among them were the young women playing tambourines.
26 Bless God in the congregations,
the Lord, from the fountain of Israel.
27 There is little Benjamin leading them,
the princes of Judah and their throng of people,
the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.
28 Your God has commanded your strength;
strengthen, O God, what You have done for us.
29 From Your temple above Jerusalem,
kings will bring gifts to You.
30 Rebuke the animals that live among the reeds,
the herd of bulls, with the calves of the people,
until everyone submits himself with pieces of silver;
scatter peoples who delight in war.
31 Ambassadors will come out of Egypt;
Ethiopia will stretch out its hands to God.
32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth;
oh, sing praises to the Lord; Selah
33 to Him who rides on the heavens, the ancient heavens;
He who sends out His voice, a mighty voice.
34 Ascribe strength to God;
His majesty is over Israel,
and His strength is in the clouds.
35 O God, You are awesome from Your sanctuaries;
the God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to people.
Blessed be God!
52 Awake, awake!
Put on your strength, O Zion;
put on your beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem, the holy city.
For the uncircumcised and the unclean
will no longer enter you.
2 Shake yourself from the dust;
arise, O captive Jerusalem.
Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck,
O captive daughter of Zion.
3 For thus says the Lord:
You were sold for nothing,
and you shall be redeemed without money.
4 For thus says the Lord God:
My people went down at the first into Egypt to sojourn there;
then the Assyrian oppressed them without cause.
5 Now therefore, what do I have here, says the Lord,
seeing that My people have been taken away for nothing?
Those who rule over them make them wail,
says the Lord,
and My name is continually blasphemed
all day long.
6 Therefore, My people shall know My name;
therefore, they shall know in that day
that I am He who does speak:
Here I am.
7 How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet of him who brings good news,
who proclaims peace,
who brings good news of happiness,
who proclaims salvation,
who says to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”
8 Your watchmen lift up their voices;
they sing joyfully together;
for they shall see with their own eyes
when the Lord brings Zion back.
9 Break forth into joy, sing together,
you waste places of Jerusalem.
For the Lord has comforted His people;
He has redeemed Jerusalem.
10 The Lord has bared His holy arm
in the eyes of all the nations,
and all the ends of the earth shall see
the salvation of our God.
11 Depart, depart, go out from there,
touch no unclean thing;
go out of the midst of her; be clean,
you who bear the vessels of the Lord.
12 For you shall not go out with haste
nor go by flight.
For the Lord will go before you,
and the God of Israel will be your rear guard.
12 Brothers, I ask you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong. 13 You know that it was because of an infirmity of the flesh that I first preached the gospel to you. 14 Though my infirmity was a trial to you, you neither despised nor rejected me, but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. 15 So where is your blessing? For I bear witness of you that, if it had been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me. 16 Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?
17 They would zealously influence you, but not favorably. Yes, they would exclusively control you, so that you might consult them. 18 But it is good to be zealous in a good manner always and not only when I am present with you. 19 My little children, of whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, 20 I desire to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am displeased with you.
The Feeding of the Four Thousand(A)
8 In those days, the crowds being very great with nothing to eat, Jesus called His disciples to Him and said to them, 2 “I have compassion on the crowd, because they have now been with Me three days and have nothing to eat. 3 If I send them away fasting to their own houses, they will faint on the way, for some of them have come from afar.”
4 His disciples answered, “Where can one get bread to feed these men here in the wilderness?”
5 He asked them, “How many loaves do you have?”
They said, “Seven.”
6 He commanded the people to sit down on the ground. Taking the seven loaves and giving thanks, He broke them and gave them to His disciples to serve. And they served the crowd. 7 And they had a few small fish. And blessing them, He commanded that these also be served them. 8 So they ate and were filled. And they collected seven baskets of the broken pieces that were left. 9 There were about four thousand who had eaten, and He sent them away. 10 He immediately entered a boat with His disciples and came to the region of Dalmanutha.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.