Book of Common Prayer
In God I Trust, I Shall Not Be Afraid
For the choir director. According to [a]Jonath Elem Rehokim. A [b]Mikhtam of David. [c]When the Philistines seized him in Gath.
56 Be gracious to me, O God, for man has [d](A)trampled upon me;
All day long, an attacker (B)oppresses me.
2 My foes have [e](C)trampled upon me all day long,
For many (D)attack me proudly.
3 [f]When I am (E)afraid,
[g]I will (F)trust in You.
4 (G)In God, whose word I praise,
In God I trust;
I shall not be afraid.
(H)What can mere [h]man do to me?
5 All day long they [i](I)distort my words;
All their [j](J)thoughts are against me for evil.
6 They [k](K)attack, they lurk,
They (L)watch my heels,
As they have (M)hoped to take my [l]life.
7 On account of their wickedness, (N)will they have an escape?
In anger, (O)bring down the peoples, O God!
8 You (P)have taken account of my wanderings;
Put my (Q)tears in Your bottle.
Are they not in (R)Your book?
9 Then my enemies will (S)turn back (T)in the day when I call;
This I know, [m]that (U)God is for me.
10 In God, whose word I praise,
In Yahweh, whose word I praise,
11 In God I [n]trust, I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?
12 Your (V)vows are binding upon me, O God;
I will [o]fulfill thank offerings to You.
13 [p]For You have (W)delivered my soul from death,
Indeed (X)my feet from stumbling,
So that I may (Y)walk before God
In the (Z)light of the [q]living.
Let Your Glory Be Above All the Earth
For the choir director. [r]Al-tashheth. Of David. A [s]Mikhtam. [t]When he fled from Saul in the cave.
57 Be gracious to me, O God, be gracious to me,
For my soul (AA)takes refuge in You;
And in the (AB)shadow of Your wings I will take refuge
Until destruction (AC)passes by.
2 I will call to God Most High,
To God who (AD)accomplishes all things for me.
3 He will (AE)send from heaven and save me;
He reproaches him who [u](AF)tramples upon me. [v]Selah.
God will send His (AG)lovingkindness and His [w]truth.
4 My soul is among (AH)lions;
I am lying down among those who breathe forth fire,
Sons of men whose (AI)teeth are spears and arrows
And their (AJ)tongue a sharp sword.
5 (AK)Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
6 They have [x]set a (AL)net for my steps;
My soul is (AM)bowed down;
They (AN)dug a pit before me;
They themselves have (AO)fallen into the midst of it. Selah.
7 (AP)My (AQ)heart is set, O God, my heart is set;
I will sing, yes, I will sing praises!
8 Awake, (AR)my glory!
Awake, (AS)harp and lyre!
I will awaken the dawn.
9 (AT)I will give thanks to You, O Lord, among the peoples;
I will sing praises to You among the [y]nations.
10 For Your (AU)lovingkindness is great to the heavens
And Your [z]truth to the skies.
11 (AV)Be exalted above the heavens, O God;
Let Your glory be above all the earth.
There Is a God Who Judges on Earth
For the choir director. [aa]Al-tashheth. Of David. A [ab]Mikhtam.
58 Do you indeed [ac]speak righteousness, O [ad]gods?
Do you (AW)judge [ae]with equity, O sons of men?
2 No, in heart you (AX)work unrighteousness;
On earth you [af](AY)prepare a path for the violence of your hands.
3 The wicked are estranged (AZ)from the womb;
These who speak falsehood (BA)wander in error from [ag]birth.
4 They have venom like the (BB)venom of a serpent;
Like a deaf cobra that stops up its ear,
5 So that it (BC)does not hear the voice of [ah](BD)charmers,
Or a skillful caster of spells.
6 O God, (BE)shatter their teeth in their mouth;
Break out the fangs of the young lions, O Yahweh.
7 Let them (BF)flow away like water that runs off;
When he [ai](BG)aims his arrows, let them be as [aj]headless shafts.
8 Let them be as a snail which [ak]melts away as it goes along,
Like the (BH)miscarriages of a woman which never behold the sun.
9 Before your (BI)pots can feel the fire of thorns
He will (BJ)sweep them away with a whirlwind, the living and the burning alike.
The Righteous Will Be Glad in Yahweh
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
64 Hear my voice, O God, in (A)my [a]complaint;
(B)Guard my life from dread of the enemy.
2 Hide me from the (C)secret counsel of evildoers,
From the tumult of the (D)workers of iniquity,
3 Who (E)have sharpened their tongue like a sword.
They (F)aimed bitter speech as their arrow,
4 To (G)shoot [b]from places of hiding at the blameless;
Suddenly they shoot at him, and (H)do not fear.
5 They [c]hold fast to themselves an evil purpose;
They [d]talk of (I)laying snares secretly;
They say, “(J)Who can see them?”
6 They searched out unrighteousness, saying,
“We have completed a diligent search”;
For the [e](K)inward thought of a man and his heart are [f]deep.
7 But (L)God [g]will shoot them with an arrow;
Suddenly they will be wounded.
8 So [h]they will (M)cause their own tongue (N)to turn against them;
All who see them will (O)shake their head.
9 Then all men [i]will (P)fear,
And they [j]will (Q)declare the work of God,
And [k]will consider [l]what He has done.
10 The righteous man will be (R)glad in Yahweh and will (S)take refuge in Him;
And all the upright in heart will boast.
Blessed Is the One Whom You Choose
For the choir director. A Psalm of David. A Song.
65 To You, there will be silence and praise in Zion, O God,
And to You the (T)vow will be paid.
2 O You who hear prayer,
To You (U)all flesh comes.
3 (V)Words of iniquity prevail against me;
As for our transgressions, You (W)atone for them.
4 How (X)blessed is the one whom You (Y)choose and bring near to You
That he would dwell in Your courts.
We will be (Z)satisfied with the goodness of Your house,
Your holy temple.
5 By [m](AA)fearsome deeds You answer us in righteousness, O (AB)God of our salvation,
You who are the trust of all the (AC)ends of the earth and of the farthest [n](AD)sea;
6 Who (AE)establishes the mountains by His strength,
Being (AF)girded with might;
7 Who (AG)stills the rumbling of the seas,
The rumbling of their waves,
And the (AH)tumult of the peoples.
8 They who inhabit the (AI)ends of the earth are in fear on account of Your signs;
You make [o]the dawn and the sunset shout for joy.
9 You visit the earth and (AJ)cause it to overflow;
You greatly (AK)enrich it;
The [p](AL)stream of God is full of water;
You establish their (AM)grain, for thus You establish [q]the earth.
10 You water its furrows abundantly,
You smooth its ridges,
You soften it (AN)with showers,
You bless its growth.
11 You crown the year [r]with Your (AO)goodness,
And Your [s]paths (AP)drip with richness.
12 (AQ)The pastures of the wilderness drip,
And the (AR)hills gird themselves with rejoicing.
13 The meadows are (AS)clothed with flocks
And the valleys are (AT)covered with grain;
They (AU)make a loud shout, indeed, they sing.
Enemies Try to Make Nehemiah Fearful
6 Now it happened when it was heard by Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem the Arab, and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall, and that no breach remained in it, (A)although at that time I had not made the doors to stand in the gates, 2 that Sanballat and Geshem sent a message to me, saying, “Come, let us meet together at [a]Chephirim in the plain of (B)Ono.” But they were planning to [b]do me harm. 3 So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and come down to you?” 4 And they sent messages to me four times in this manner, and I responded to them in the same manner. 5 Then Sanballat sent his young man to me in the same manner a fifth time with an open letter in his hand. 6 In it was written,
“It is heard among the nations, and [c]Gashmu says, that (C)you and the Jews are planning to rebel; therefore you are rebuilding the wall. And you are to be their king, according to these words.
7 You have also [d]set up prophets to call out in Jerusalem concerning [e]you, ‘A king is in Judah!’ So now it will be heard by the king according to these words. So now, come, let us take counsel together.”
8 Then I sent a message to him, saying,
“Such words as you are saying have not been done, but you are (D)devising them in your own heart.”
9 For all of them were trying to frighten us, [f]thinking, “Their hands will [g]become limp in doing the work, and it will not be done.” But now, (E)O God, strengthen my hands.
10 Now I entered the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, (F)who was [h]confined at home, and he said, “Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us close the doors of the temple, for they are coming to kill you, and they are coming to kill you at night.” 11 But I said, “(G)Should a man like me flee? And could one such as I go into the temple just to live? I will not go in.” 12 Then I recognized [i]that surely God had not sent him, but he spoke his prophecy against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He was hired for this reason, (H)that I might become afraid and act accordingly and sin, so that they could give me a bad name in order that they could reproach me. 14 (I)Remember, O my God, Tobiah and Sanballat according to these works of theirs, and also Noadiah (J)the prophetess and the rest of the prophets who were trying to make me afraid.
The Wall Is Finished
15 So (K)the wall was finished on the twenty-fifth of the month Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 (L)Now it happened that when all our enemies heard of it, and all the nations surrounding us saw it, [j]their confidence fell. And (M)they knew that it was from our God that this work had been accomplished. 17 Also in those days many letters went from the nobles of Judah to Tobiah, and Tobiah’s letters came to them. 18 For many in Judah were sworn by oath to him because he was the son-in-law of Shecaniah the son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had taken the daughter of Meshullam the son of Berechiah as a wife. 19 Moreover, they were speaking about his good deeds in my presence and bringing my words to him. Then Tobiah sent letters to make me afraid.
The Angel and the Little Scroll
10 Then I saw another (A)strong angel (B)coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud, and the (C)rainbow was upon his head, and (D)his face was like the sun, and his (E)feet like pillars of fire; 2 and he had in his hand a (F)little scroll which was open. He placed (G)his right foot on the sea and his left on the earth, 3 and he cried out with a loud voice, (H)as when a lion roars. And when he had cried out, the (I)seven peals of thunder [a]uttered their voices. 4 And when the seven peals of thunder had spoken, (J)I was about to write; and I (K)heard a voice from heaven saying, “(L)Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken and do not write them.” 5 Then the angel, whom I saw standing on the sea and on the earth, (M)lifted up his right hand to heaven, 6 (N)and swore by (O)Him who lives forever and ever, (P)who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it, that (Q)there will be delay no longer, 7 but in the days of the voice of the (R)seventh angel, when he is about to sound, then (S)the mystery of God is finished, as He proclaimed good news to His slaves, the prophets.
8 Then (T)the voice which I heard from heaven, I heard again speaking with me, and saying, “Go, take (U)the scroll which is open in the hand of the angel who (V)stands on the sea and on the earth.” 9 So I went to the angel, telling him to give me the little scroll. And he *said to me, “(W)Take it and eat it; it will make your stomach bitter, but in your mouth it will be sweet as honey.” 10 And I took the little scroll out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and in my mouth it was sweet as honey; and when I had eaten it, my stomach was made bitter. 11 And (X)they *said to me, “You must (Y)prophesy again about (Z)many peoples and nations and tongues and (AA)kings.”
The Parable of Tares Explained
36 Then He left the crowds and went into (A)the house. And His disciples came to Him and said, “(B)Explain to us the parable of the [a]tares of the field.” 37 And He answered and said, “The one who sows the good seed is (C)the Son of Man, 38 and the field is the world; and as for the good seed, these are (D)the sons of the kingdom; and the tares are (E)the sons of (F)the evil one; 39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil, and the harvest is (G)the [b]end of the age; and the reapers are angels. 40 So just as the tares are gathered up and burned with fire, so shall it be at (H)the [c]end of the age. 41 (I)The Son of Man (J)will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom [d]all (K)stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, 42 and (L)will throw them into the fiery furnace; in that place (M)there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. 43 (N)Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. (O)He who has ears, [e]let him hear.
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