Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 70
For the music leader. Of David. For the memorial offering.
70 Hurry, God, to deliver me;
hurry, Lord, to help me!
2 Let those who seek my life be ashamed and humiliated!
Let them fall back and be disgraced—
those people who delight in my downfall!
3 Let those who say, “Aha! Aha!”
stop because of their shameful behavior.
4 But let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you,
and let those who love your saving help say again and again:
“God is great!”
5 But me? I’m poor and needy.
Hurry to me, God!
You are my helper and my deliverer.
Oh, Lord, don’t delay!
Psalm 71
71 I’ve taken refuge in you, Lord.
Don’t let me ever be put to shame!
2 Deliver me and rescue me by your righteousness!
Bend your ear toward me and save me!
3 Be my rock of refuge
where I can always escape.
You commanded that my life be saved
because you are my rock and my fortress.
4 My God, rescue me from the power of the wicked;
rescue me from the grip of the wrongdoer and the oppressor
5 because you are my hope, Lord.
You, Lord, are the one I’ve trusted since childhood.
6 I’ve depended on you from birth—
you cut the cord when I came from my mother’s womb.
My praise is always about you.
7 I’ve become an example to many people
because you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise,
glorifying you all day long.
9 Don’t cast me off in old age.
Don’t abandon me when my strength is used up!
10 Yes, my enemies have been talking about me;
those who stalk me plot together:
11 “God has abandoned him!
Pursue him!
Grab him because no one will deliver him!”
12 Don’t be far from me, God!
My God, hurry to help me!
13 Let my accusers be put to shame,
completely finished off!
Let those who seek my downfall
be dressed in insults and disgrace!
14 But me? I will hope. Always.
I will add to all your praise.
15 My mouth will repeat your righteous acts
and your saving deeds all day long.
I don’t even know how many of those there are!
16 I will dwell on your mighty acts, my Lord.
Lord, I will help others remember nothing but your righteous deeds.
17 You’ve taught me since my youth, God,
and I’m still proclaiming your wondrous deeds!
18 So, even in my old age with gray hair,
don’t abandon me, God!
Not until I tell generations about your mighty arm,
tell all who are yet to come about your strength,
19 and about your ultimate righteousness, God,
because you’ve done awesome things!
Who can compare to you, God?
20 You, who have shown me many troubles and calamities,
will revive me once more.[a]
From the depths of the earth,
you will raise me up one more time.
21 Please increase my honor
and comfort me all around.
22 Then I’ll give you thanks with a harp—
I will thank you for your faithfulness, my God.
I will make music for you with the lyre, holy one of Israel.
23 My lips will rejoice aloud when I make music for you;
my whole being,[b] which you saved, will do the same.
24 My tongue, also, will tell of your righteousness all day long,
because those who seek my downfall
have been put to shame and disgraced.
Psalm 74
A maskil[a] of Asaph.
74 God, why have you abandoned us forever?
Why does your anger smolder
at the sheep of your own pasture?
2 Remember your congregation
that you took as your own long ago,
that you redeemed to be the tribe of your own possession—
remember Mount Zion, where you dwell.
3 March to the unending ruins,
to all that the enemy destroyed in the sanctuary.
4 Your enemies roared in your own meeting place;
they set up their own signs there!
5 It looked like axes raised
against a thicket of trees.[b]
6 And then all its carvings
they hacked down with hatchet and pick.
7 They set fire to your sanctuary, burned it to the ground;
they defiled the dwelling place of your name.
8 They said in their hearts, We’ll kill all of them together!
They burned all of God’s meeting places in the land.
9 We don’t see our own signs anymore.
No prophet is left.
And none of us know how long it will last.
10 How long, God, will foes insult you?
Are enemies going to abuse your name forever?
11 Why do you pull your hand back?
Why do you hold your strong hand close to your chest?
12 Yet God has been my king from ancient days—
God, who makes salvation happen in the heart of the earth!
13 You split the sea with your power.
You shattered the heads of the sea monsters on the water.
14 You crushed Leviathan’s heads.
You gave it to the desert dwellers for food!
15 You split open springs and streams;
you made strong-flowing rivers dry right up.
16 The day belongs to you! The night too!
You established both the moon and the sun.
17 You set all the boundaries of the earth in place.
Summer and winter? You made them!
18 So remember this, Lord:
how enemies have insulted you,
how unbelieving fools have abused your name.
19 Don’t deliver the life of your dove to wild animals!
Don’t forget the lives of your afflicted people forever!
20 Consider the covenant!
Because the land’s dark places are full of violence.
21 Don’t let the oppressed live in shame.
No, let the poor and needy praise your name!
22 God, rise up! Make your case!
Remember how unbelieving fools insult you all day long.
23 Don’t forget the voices of your enemies,
the racket of your adversaries that never quits.
Introduction to Ezra
7 After this, in the rule of Persia’s King Artaxerxes, Ezra son of Seraiah son of Azariah son of Hilkiah 2 son of Shallum son of Zadok son of Ahitub 3 son of Amariah son of Azariah son of Meraioth 4 son of Zerahiah son of Uzzi son of Bukki 5 son of Abishua son of Phinehas son of Eleazar son of Aaron the chief priest— 6 this Ezra came up from Babylon. He was a scribe skilled in the Instruction from Moses, which the Lord, the God of Israel, had given. Moreover, the king gave him everything he requested because the Lord his God’s power was with him.
7 Some of the Israelites and some of the priests and the Levites, the singers and gatekeepers and the temple servants also came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. 8 They reached Jerusalem in the fifth month, in the seventh year of the king. 9 The journey from Babylon began on the first day of the first month, and they came to Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month, for the gracious hand of his God was upon him. 10 Ezra had determined to study and perform the Lord’s Instruction, and to teach law and justice in Israel.
Letter from Artaxerxes
11 This is a copy of the letter that Artaxerxes gave to Ezra the priest and scribe, a scholar of the text of the Lord’s commandments and his requirements for Israel:
12 [a] Artaxerxes, king of kings,
And now 13 I decree that any of the people of Israel or their priests or Levites in my kingdom who volunteer to go to Jerusalem with you may go. 14 You are sent by the king and his seven counselors to investigate Judah and Jerusalem according to the Instruction from your God, which is in your hand.
15 You should bring the silver and gold that the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose dwelling is in Jerusalem, 16 together with any of the silver and gold that you find in the entire province of Babylonia. You should also bring the spontaneous gifts of the people and the priests, given freely for God’s house in Jerusalem. 17 With this money you will be careful to buy bulls, rams, and lambs, as well as their grain offerings and their drink offerings. And you will offer them on the altar of God’s house in Jerusalem. 18 As long as it is God’s will, you and your colleagues may do what you think best with the rest of the silver and gold. 19 You will deliver the equipment that has been given to you for the service of God’s house to the God of Jerusalem. 20 If anything else is required for God’s house that you are responsible to provide, you may provide it from the royal treasury.
21 I, King Artaxerxes, decree to all of the treasurers in the province Beyond the River: Whatever Ezra the priest and scribe of the Instruction from the God of heaven requires of you, it must be provided precisely, 22 even up to one hundred kikkars of silver, one hundred kors of wheat, one hundred baths[c] of wine, one hundred baths of oil, and unlimited salt. 23 Whatever the God of heaven commands will be done carefully for the house of the God of heaven, or wrath will come upon the realm of the king and his heirs. 24 You must also know that it is illegal for you to charge tribute, custom, or dues on any of the priests and Levites, the singers, the doorkeepers, the temple servants, or other servants of this house of God.
25 And you, Ezra, based on the divine wisdom that you have, appoint supervisors and judges to adjudicate among all the people in the province Beyond the River who know the laws of your God. You will also teach those who do not know them. 26 Let judgment be strictly carried out upon anyone who does not obey the Instruction from your God and the law of your king, including death, banishment, confiscation of property, or imprisonment.
The Lamb and the one hundred forty-four thousand
14 Then I looked, and there was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion. With him were one hundred forty-four thousand who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads. 2 I heard a sound from heaven that was like the sound of rushing water and loud thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. 3 They sing a new song in front of the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders. And no one could learn the song except the one hundred forty-four thousand who had been purchased from the earth. 4 They weren’t defiled with women, for these people who follow the Lamb wherever he goes are virgins. They were purchased from among humankind as early produce for God and the Lamb. 5 No lie came from their mouths; they are blameless.
Messages of three angels
6 Then I saw another angel flying high overhead with eternal good news to proclaim to those who live on earth, and to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 He said in a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, for the hour of his judgment has come. Worship the one who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
8 Another angel, a second one, followed and said, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She made all the nations drink the wine of her lustful passion.”
9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them and said in a loud voice, “If any worship the beast and its image, and receive a mark on their foreheads or their hands, 10 they themselves will also drink the wine of God’s passionate anger, poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. They will suffer the pain of fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. 11 The smoke of their painful suffering goes up forever and always. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image, and those who receive the mark of its name.”
12 This calls for the endurance of the saints, who keep God’s commandments and keep faith with Jesus.
13 And I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Favored are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, “so they can rest from their labors, because their deeds follow them.”
Death of John the Baptist
14 At that time Herod the ruler[a] heard the news about Jesus. 2 He said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist. He’s been raised from the dead. This is why these miraculous powers are at work through him.” 3 Herod had arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison because of Herodias, the wife of Herod’s brother Philip.
4 That’s because John told Herod, “It’s against the law for you to marry her.”
5 Although Herod wanted to kill him, he feared the crowd because they thought John was a prophet. 6 But at Herod’s birthday party Herodias’ daughter danced in front of the guests and thrilled Herod. 7 Then he swore to give her anything she asked.
8 At her mother’s urging, the girl said, “Give me the head of John the Baptist here on a plate.” 9 Although the king was upset, because of his solemn pledge and his guests he commanded that they give it to her. 10 Then he had John beheaded in prison. 11 They brought his head on a plate and gave it to the young woman, and she brought it to her mother. 12 But John’s disciples came and took his body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus what had happened.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible