Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 61
For the music leader, with stringed instruments. Of David.
61 God, listen to my cry;
pay attention to my prayer!
2 When my heart is weak,
I cry out to you from the very ends of the earth.
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I am
3 because you have been my refuge,
a tower of strength in the face of the enemy.
4 Please let me live in your tent forever!
Please let me take refuge
in the shelter of your wings! Selah
5 Because you, God, have heard my promises;
you’ve given me[a] the same possession
as those who honor your name.
6 Add days to the king’s life!
Let his years extend for many generations!
7 Let him be enthroned forever before God!
Make it so love and faithfulness watch over him!
8 Then I will sing praises to your name forever,
and I will do what I promised every single day.
Psalm 62
For the music leader. According to Jeduthun. A psalm of David.
62 Only in God do I[b] find rest;
my salvation comes from him.
2 Only God is my rock and my salvation—
my stronghold!—I won’t be shaken anymore.
3 How long will all of you attack others;
how long will you tear them down[c]
as if they were leaning walls or broken-down fences?
4 The only desire of this people
is to bring others down low;
they delight in deception.
With their mouths they bless,
but inside they are cursing. Selah
5 Oh, I[d] must find rest in God only,
because my hope comes from him!
6 Only God is my rock and my salvation—
my stronghold!—I will not be shaken.
7 My deliverance and glory depend on God.
God is my strong rock.
My refuge is in God.
8 All you people: Trust in him at all times!
Pour out your hearts before him!
God is our refuge! Selah
9 Human beings are nothing but a breath.
Human beings are nothing but lies.
They don’t even register on a scale;
taken all together they are lighter than a breath!
10 Don’t trust in violence;
don’t set false hopes in robbery.
When wealth bears fruit,
don’t set your heart on it.
11 God has spoken one thing—
make it two things—
that I myself have heard:
that strength belongs to God,
12 and faithful love comes from you, my Lord—
and that you will repay
everyone according to their deeds.
Psalm 68
For the music leader. Of David. A psalm. A song.
68 Let God rise up;
let his enemies scatter;
let those who hate him
run scared before him!
2 Like smoke is driven away,
drive them away!
Like wax melting before fire,
let the wicked perish before God!
3 But let the righteous be glad
and celebrate before God.
Let them rejoice with gladness!
4 Sing to God! Sing praises to his name!
Exalt the one who rides the clouds!
The Lord is his name.
Celebrate before him!
5 Father of orphans and defender of widows
is God in his holy habitation.
6 God settles the lonely in their homes;
he sets prisoners free with happiness,[a]
but the rebellious dwell in a parched land.
7 When you went forth before your people, God,
when you marched through the wasteland, Selah
8 the earth shook!
Yes, heaven poured down
before God, the one from Sinai—
before God, the God of Israel!
9 You showered down abundant rain, God;
when your inheritance grew weary,
you restored it yourself,
10 and your creatures settled in it.
In your goodness, God,
you provided for the poor.
11 My Lord gives the command—
many messengers are bringing good news:
12 “The kings of armies are on the run!
The women back home divide the spoil.
13 Even if you lie down among the sheepfolds,
there are wings of a dove covered with silver;
its pinions covered in precious gold.”[b]
14 When the Almighty[c] scattered the kings there,
snow fell on Mount Zalmon.
15 Mighty mountain, Mount Bashan;
many-peaked mountain, Mount Bashan!
16 You many-peaked mountain:
Why do you look with envy
at the mountain God desired for his dwelling,
the mountain where the Lord dwells forever?
17 God’s chariots are twice ten thousand—
countless thousands!
My Lord came from Sinai[d] into the sanctuary.
18 You ascended the heights,
leading away your captives,
receiving tribute from people,
even from those who rebel
against the Lord God’s dwelling there.
19 Bless the Lord!
The God of our salvation
supports us day after day! Selah
20 Our God is the God of salvation,
and escape from certain death comes through God my Lord.
21 Yes, God will shatter the heads of his enemies—
the very skulls of those who walk in guilt.
22 My Lord has spoken:
“From Bashan I will bring those people back.
I will bring them back from the ocean’s depths
23 so that you can wash your feet in their blood,
so that your dogs’ tongues
can lap up their share of your enemies.”
24 They saw your procession, God—
the procession of my God,
my king, into the sanctuary.
25 First came the singers,
then the musicians;
between them the young women
were playing hand drums:
26 “Bless God in the great congregation;
bless the Lord from Israel’s fountain!”
27 There’s Benjamin leading them,
though he’s little;
then the princes of Judah,
their speaker;
then the princes of Zebulun
and the princes of Naphtali.
28 Summon your strength, God!
Show how strong you are, God,
just as you’ve done for us before,
29 from your temple above Jerusalem,
where kings bring you gifts.
30 Rebuke the wild animals of the marshland,
the herd of bulls among the calves of the peoples.
Trample those who delight in money;
scatter the peoples who take pleasure in battles.
31 Let ambassadors come from Egypt;
let Cush stretch out its hands to God.
32 Sing to God, all kingdoms of the earth!
Sing praises to my Lord. Selah
33 Sing to the one who rides through heaven,
the most ancient heaven.
Look! God sends forth his voice,
his mighty voice.
34 Recognize how strong God is!
His majesty extends over Israel;
his strength is in the clouds.
35 You are awesome, God, in your sanctuaries—
the God of Israel who gives strength and power to his people!
Bless God!
Dedication of the wall
27 When it was time for the dedication of Jerusalem’s wall, they sought out the Levites in all the places where they lived in order to bring them to Jerusalem to celebrate the dedication with joy, with thanks and singing, and with cymbals, harps, and lyres.
28 The singers also gathered together both from the region around Jerusalem and from the villages of the Netophathites, 29 also from Beth-hagilgal and from the region of Geba and Azmaveth, because the singers had built themselves villages around Jerusalem. 30 After the priests and the Levites purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.
31 Then I[a] brought the leaders of Judah up onto the wall and organized two large groups to give thanks. The first group went in procession on the wall toward the right, in the direction of the Dung Gate.
42 Also there were Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers sang with Jezrahiah as their leader.
43 They offered great sacrifices on that day and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy. The women and children also rejoiced, and the sound of the joy in Jerusalem could be heard from far away.
44 On that day, people were appointed over the rooms for the things to be stored, the contributions, the early produce, and the tenth-part gifts. They were to gather into them the portions required by the Instruction for the priests and for the Levites from the fields belonging to the towns, for the people of Judah were delighted with the ministry of the priests and the Levites.
45 They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, as did the singers and the gatekeepers, according to the command of David and his son Solomon.
46 Long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there was a leader of the singers, and there were songs of praise and thanks to God.
47 In the days of Zerubbabel and of Nehemiah all Israel gave the daily portions for the singers and the gatekeepers. They also set aside the portion for the Levites, and the Levites set aside the portion for the Aaronites.
Two witnesses
11 Then I was given a measuring rod, which was like a pole. And I was told, “Get up and measure God’s temple, the altar, and those who worship there. 2 But don’t measure the court outside the temple. Leave that out, because it has been given to the nations, and they will trample the holy city underfoot for forty-two months.
3 “And I will allow my two witnesses to prophesy for one thousand two hundred sixty days, wearing mourning clothes. 4 These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone wants to hurt them, fire comes out of their mouth and burns up their enemies. So if anyone wants to hurt them, they have to be killed in this way. 6 They have the power to close up the sky so that no rain will fall for as long as they prophesy. They also have power over the waters, to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with any plague, as often as they wish.
7 “When they have finished their witnessing, the beast that comes up from the abyss will make war on them, gain victory over them, and kill them. 8 Their dead bodies will lie on the street of the great city that is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 And for three and a half days, members of the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead bodies, but they won’t let their dead bodies be put in a tomb. 10 Those who live on earth will rejoice over them. They will celebrate and give each other gifts, because these two prophets had brought such pain to those who live on earth.
11 “But after three and a half days, the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet. Great fear came over those who saw them. 12 Then they heard a loud voice from heaven say to them, ‘Come up here.’ And they went up to heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them. 13 At that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell. Seven thousand people were killed by the earthquake, and the rest were afraid and gave glory to the God of heaven.”
14 The second horror is over. The third horror is coming soon.
Seventh trumpet
15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying,
“The kingdom of the world has become
the kingdom of our Lord and his Christ,
and he will rule forever and always.”
16 Then the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshipped God. 17 They said,
“We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty,
who is and was,
for you have taken your great power and enforced your rule.
18 The nations were enraged, but your wrath came.
The time came for the dead to be judged.
The time came to reward your servants, the prophets and saints,
and those who fear your name, both small and great,
and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the chest containing his covenant appeared in his temple. There were lightning, voices, thunder, an earthquake, and large hail.
Parable of the treasure
44 “The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that somebody hid in a field, which someone else found and covered up. Full of joy, the finder sold everything and bought that field.
Parable of the merchant
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. 46 When he found one very precious pearl, he went and sold all that he owned and bought it.
Parable of the net
47 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that people threw into the lake and gathered all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, they pulled it to the shore, where they sat down and put the good fish together into containers. But the bad fish they threw away. 49 That’s the way it will be at the end of the present age. The angels will go out and separate the evil people from the righteous people, 50 and will throw the evil ones into a burning furnace. People there will be weeping and grinding their teeth.
Treasures new and old
51 “Have you understood all these things?”Jesus asked.
They said to him, “Yes.”
52 Then he said to them, “Therefore, every legal expert who has been trained as a disciple for the kingdom of heaven is like the head of a household who brings old and new things out of their treasure chest.”
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible