Book of Common Prayer
God Himself Is Judge
A Psalm of [a]Asaph.
50 (A)The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, has spoken,
And called the earth (B)from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, (C)the perfection of beauty,
God (D)has shone forth.
3 May our God (E)come and not be silent;
(F)Fire devours before Him,
And (G)a storm whirls around Him.
4 He (H)calls the heavens above,
And the earth, to render justice to His people:
5 “Gather My (I)holy ones to Me,
Those who have cut a (J)covenant with Me by (K)sacrifice.”
6 And the (L)heavens declare His righteousness,
For (M)God Himself is judge. [b]Selah.
7 “(N)Hear, O My people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify [c]against you;
I am God, (O)your God.
8 I do (P)not reprove you for your sacrifices,
And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
9 I shall take no (Q)young bull out of your house
Nor male goats out of your folds.
10 For (R)every beast of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every (S)bird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is [d]Mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the (T)world is Mine, as well as its fullness.
13 Shall I eat the flesh of [e](U)bulls
Or drink the blood of male goats?
14 Offer to God (V)a sacrifice of thanksgiving
And (W)pay your vows to the Most High;
15 (X)Call upon Me in the day of distress;
I shall (Y)rescue you, and you will (Z)glorify Me.”
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to recount My statutes
And to take (AA)My covenant in your mouth?
17 For you (AB)hate discipline,
And you (AC)cast My words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you [f](AD)are pleased with him,
And [g]you (AE)associate with adulterers.
19 You [h](AF)let your mouth loose in evil
And you harness your (AG)tongue for deceit.
20 You sit and (AH)speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done and (AI)I kept silent;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will (AJ)reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.
Deliver Me from My Enemies
For the choir director. [a]Al-tashheth. Of David. A [b]Mikhtam. [c]When Saul sent men and they watched the house in order to put him to death.
59 (A)Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
[d](B)Set me securely on high away from those who rise up against me.
2 Deliver me from (C)workers of iniquity
And save me from (D)men of bloodshed.
3 For behold, they (E)have lain in wait for my soul;
[e]Fierce men [f](F)launch an attack against me,
(G)Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Yahweh,
4 [g](H)For no guilt of mine, they run and set themselves against me.
(I)Arouse Yourself to meet me, and see!
5 You, (J)O Yahweh God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Awake to [h](K)punish all the nations;
(L)Do not be gracious to any who are treacherous in [i]iniquity. [j]Selah.
6 They (M)return at evening, they howl like a (N)dog,
And go around the city.
7 Behold, they (O)pour forth speech with their mouth;
(P)Swords are in their lips,
For, they say, “(Q)Who hears?”
8 But You, O Yahweh, (R)laugh at them;
You (S)mock all the nations.
9 Because of [k]his (T)strength I will watch for You,
For God is my (U)stronghold.
10 [l]My God (V)in His lovingkindness will approach me;
God will let me (W)look triumphantly upon [m]my foes.
11 Do not slay them, (X)or my people will forget;
(Y)Make them wander about by Your power, and bring them down,
O Lord, (Z)our shield.
12 [n]On account of the (AA)sin of their mouth and the word of their lips,
Let them even be (AB)caught in their pride,
And on account of (AC)curses and [o]lies which they utter.
13 [p](AD)Destroy them in wrath, [q]destroy them that they may be no more;
That men may (AE)know that God [r]rules in Jacob
To the ends of the earth. Selah.
14 They (AF)return at evening, they howl like a dog,
And go around the city.
15 They (AG)wander about [s]for food
And [t]growl if they are not satisfied.
16 But as for me, I shall (AH)sing of Your strength;
And I shall (AI)joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the (AJ)morning,
For You have been my (AK)stronghold
And a (AL)refuge in the day of my distress.
17 (AM)O my strength, I will sing praises to You;
For God is my (AN)stronghold, the [u]God who shows me lovingkindness.
Through God We Shall Do Valiantly
For the choir director. According to [v]Shushan Eduth. A [w]Mikhtam of David. For teaching. [x]When he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
60 O God, (AO)You have rejected us. You have [y](AP)broken us;
You have been (AQ)angry; Oh, (AR)restore us.
2 You have made the [z](AS)land quake, You have split it open;
(AT)Heal its breaches, for it shakes.
3 You have (AU)caused Your people to see hardship;
You have given us [aa]wine to (AV)drink that causes reeling.
4 You have given a (AW)banner to those who fear You,
[ab]In order to flee to it from the bow. [ac]Selah.
5 (AX)That Your (AY)beloved may be rescued,
(AZ)Save with Your right hand, and answer [ad]us!
6 God has spoken in His [ae](BA)holiness:
“I will exult, I will portion out (BB)Shechem and measure out the valley of (BC)Succoth.
7 (BD)Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;
(BE)Ephraim also is the [af]helmet of My head;
Judah is My [ag](BF)scepter.
8 (BG)Moab is My washbowl;
Over (BH)Edom I shall throw My shoe;
Make a loud shout, O (BI)Philistia, because of Me!”
9 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who [ah]will lead me to Edom?
10 Have You Yourself, O God, not (BJ)rejected us?
And (BK)will You, O God, not go forth with our armies?
11 Oh give us help against the adversary,
For (BL)salvation [ai]by man is worthless.
12 [aj]Through God we shall (BM)do valiantly,
And it is He who will (BN)tread down our adversaries.
Yahweh Is Our Help and Our Shield
33 (A)Sing for joy in Yahweh, O righteous ones;
Praise is (B)becoming to the upright.
2 Give thanks to Yahweh with the (C)lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a (D)harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a (E)new song;
Play skillfully with (F)a loud shout.
4 For the word of Yahweh (G)is upright,
And all His work is done (H)in faithfulness.
5 He (I)loves righteousness and justice;
The (J)earth is full of the lovingkindness of Yahweh.
6 By the (K)word of Yahweh the heavens were made,
And (L)by the breath of His mouth (M)all their host.
7 He gathers the (N)waters of the sea [a]as a heap;
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let (O)all the earth fear Yahweh;
Let all the inhabitants of the world (P)stand in awe of Him.
9 For (Q)He spoke, and it was;
He commanded, and it [b]stood.
10 Yahweh (R)nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He frustrates the thoughts of the peoples.
11 The (S)counsel of Yahweh stands forever,
The (T)thoughts of His heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the (U)nation whose God is Yahweh,
The people whom He has (V)chosen for His own inheritance.
13 Yahweh (W)looks from heaven;
He (X)sees all the sons of men;
14 From (Y)the place of His habitation He gazes
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who (Z)forms [c]the hearts of them all,
He who (AA)understands all their works.
16 (AB)The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
17 A (AC)horse is a false hope for salvation;
Nor does it provide escape to anyone by its great strength.
18 Behold, (AD)the eye of Yahweh is on those who fear Him,
On those who (AE)wait for His lovingkindness,
19 To (AF)deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive (AG)in famine.
20 Our soul (AH)is patient for Yahweh;
He is our (AI)help and our shield.
21 For our (AJ)heart is glad in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O Yahweh, be upon us,
As we wait for You.
Nehemiah Prays for the Sons of Israel
1 The words of (A)Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now it happened in (B)the month Chislev, (C)in the twentieth year—and I was in (D)Susa the [a]capitol— 2 that (E)Hanani, one of my brothers, and [b]some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and remain from the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “The remnant there in the (F)province who remain from the captivity are in great calamity and (G)reproach, and (H)the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and (I)its gates are burned with fire.”
4 Now it happened that when I heard these words, (J)I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before (K)the God of heaven. 5 I said, “I beseech You, O [c]Yahweh, the God of heaven, (L)the great and fearsome God, (M)who keeps the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6 (N)let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your slave which I am praying before You today, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your slaves, (O)confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; (P)I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 (Q)We have worked in utter destruction against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the judgments (R)which You commanded Your [d]servant Moses. 8 Remember the word which You commanded Your [e]servant Moses, saying, ‘(S)If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples; 9 (T)but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been banished were at the ends of the sky, I (U)will gather them from there and will bring them (V)to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’ 10 (W)They are Your slaves and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11 O Lord, I beseech You, (X)may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your slave and the prayer of Your slaves who delight to fear Your name, and make Your slave successful today and grant him compassion before this man.”
Now I was the (Y)cupbearer to the king.
Angels Worship the Lamb
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels (A)around the throne and the (B)living creatures and the (C)elders; and the number of them was (D)myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,
“(E)Worthy is the (F)Lamb that was (G)slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.”
13 And (H)every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying,
“To Him who (I)sits on the throne, and to the (J)Lamb, (K)be the blessing and the honor and the glory and the might forever and ever.”
14 And the (L)four living creatures kept saying, “(M)Amen.” And the (N)elders (O)fell down and worshiped.
The Seven Seals
6 Then I looked when the (P)Lamb opened one of the (Q)seven seals, and I heard one of the (R)four living creatures saying as with a (S)voice of thunder, “[a]Come.” 2 Then I looked, and behold, a (T)white horse, and he who sits on it had a bow; and (U)a crown was given to him, and he went out (V)overcoming and to overcome.
3 And when He opened the second seal, I heard the (W)second living creature saying, “Come.” 4 And another, (X)a red horse, went out; and to him who sits on it, it was given to him to (Y)take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.
5 And when He opened the third seal, I heard the (Z)third living creature saying, “Come.” Then I looked, and behold, a (AA)black horse; and he who sits on it had a (AB)pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard something like a voice in the midst of the (AC)four living creatures saying, “One [b]choinix of wheat for one [c]denarius, and three [d]choinix of barley for one [e]denarius, and (AD)do not harm the oil and the wine.”
7 And when He opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the (AE)fourth living creature saying, “Come.” 8 Then I looked, and behold, a (AF)pale horse; and he who sits on it had the name (AG)Death, and (AH)Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, (AI)to kill with sword and with famine and with [f]pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
9 And when He opened the fifth seal, I saw (AJ)underneath the (AK)altar the (AL)souls of those who had been slain (AM)because of the word of God, and because of the (AN)witness which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “(AO)How long, O (AP)Master, (AQ)holy and true? [g]Will You not (AR)judge and avenge our blood on (AS)those who dwell on the earth?” 11 And (AT)a white robe was given to each of them; and it was told to them that they should (AU)rest for a little while longer, (AV)until the number of their fellow slaves and their brothers who were to be killed even as they had been, would be (AW)completed also.
The Parable of the Sower Explained
18 “(A)Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears (B)the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, (C)the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. 20 And the one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he [a](D)falls away. 22 And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the one who hears the word, and the worry of (E)the [b]world and the (F)deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some (G)a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
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