Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Relief from Adversaries(A)
To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. (B)To bring to remembrance.
70 Make haste, (C)O God, to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O Lord!
2 (D)Let them be ashamed and confounded
Who seek my life;
Let them be [a]turned back and confused
Who desire my hurt.
3 (E)Let them be turned back because of their shame,
Who say, [b]“Aha, aha!”
4 Let all those who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And let those who love Your salvation say continually,
“Let God be magnified!”
5 (F)But I am poor and needy;
(G)Make haste to me, O God!
You are my help and my deliverer;
O Lord, do not delay.
God the Rock of Salvation
71 In (H)You, O Lord, I put my trust;
Let me never be put to shame.
2 (I)Deliver me in Your righteousness, and cause me to escape;
(J)Incline Your ear to me, and save me.
3 (K)Be my [c]strong refuge,
To which I may resort continually;
You have given the (L)commandment to save me,
For You are my rock and my fortress.
4 (M)Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked,
Out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.
5 For You are (N)my hope, O Lord God;
You are my trust from my youth.
6 (O)By You I have been [d]upheld from birth;
You are He who took me out of my mother’s womb.
My praise shall be continually of You.
7 (P)I have become as a wonder to many,
But You are my strong refuge.
8 Let (Q)my mouth be filled with Your praise
And with Your glory all the day.
9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age;
Do not forsake me when my strength fails.
10 For my enemies speak against me;
And those who lie in wait for my life (R)take counsel together,
11 Saying, “God has forsaken him;
Pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him.”
12 (S)O God, do not be far from me;
O my God, (T)make haste to help me!
13 Let them be [e]confounded and consumed
Who are adversaries of my life;
Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor
Who seek my hurt.
14 But I will hope continually,
And will praise You yet more and more.
15 My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And Your salvation all the day,
For I do not know their limits.
16 I will go in the strength of the Lord God;
I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only.
17 O God, You have taught me from my (U)youth;
And to this day I declare Your wondrous works.
18 Now also (V)when I am old and grayheaded,
O God, do not forsake me,
Until I declare Your strength to this generation,
Your power to everyone who is to come.
19 Also (W)Your righteousness, O God, is [f]very high,
You who have done great things;
(X)O God, who is like You?
20 (Y)You, who have shown me great and severe troubles,
(Z)Shall revive me again,
And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.
21 You shall increase my greatness,
And comfort me on every side.
22 Also (AA)with the lute I will praise You—
And Your faithfulness, O my God!
To You I will sing with the harp,
O (AB)Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips shall greatly rejoice when I sing to You,
And (AC)my soul, which You have redeemed.
24 My tongue also shall talk of Your righteousness all the day long;
For they are confounded,
For they are brought to shame
Who seek my hurt.
A Plea for Relief from Oppressors
A [a]Contemplation of Asaph.
74 O God, why have You cast us off forever?
Why does Your anger smoke against the sheep of Your pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You have purchased of old,
The tribe of Your inheritance, which You have redeemed—
This Mount Zion where You have dwelt.
3 Lift up Your feet to the perpetual desolations.
The enemy has damaged everything in the sanctuary.
4 (A)Your enemies roar in the midst of Your meeting place;
(B)They set up their banners for signs.
5 They seem like men who lift up
Axes among the thick trees.
6 And now they break down its carved work, all at once,
With axes and hammers.
7 They have set fire to Your sanctuary;
They have defiled the dwelling place of Your name to the ground.
8 (C)They said in their hearts,
“Let us [b]destroy them altogether.”
They have burned up all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our signs;
(D)There is no longer any prophet;
Nor is there any among us who knows how long.
10 O God, how long will the adversary [c]reproach?
Will the enemy blaspheme Your name forever?
11 (E)Why do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
Take it out of Your bosom and destroy them.
12 For (F)God is my King from of old,
Working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 (G)You divided the sea by Your strength;
You broke the heads of the [d]sea serpents in the waters.
14 You broke the heads of [e]Leviathan in pieces,
And gave him as food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15 (H)You broke open the fountain and the flood;
(I)You dried up mighty rivers.
16 The day is Yours, the night also is (J)Yours;
(K)You have prepared the light and the sun.
17 You have (L)set all the borders of the earth;
(M)You have made summer and winter.
18 Remember this, that the enemy has reproached, O Lord,
And that a foolish people has blasphemed Your name.
19 Oh, do not deliver the life of Your turtledove to the wild beast!
Do not forget the life of Your poor forever.
20 (N)Have respect to the covenant;
For the [f]dark places of the earth are full of the [g]haunts of [h]cruelty.
21 Oh, do not let the oppressed return ashamed!
Let the poor and needy praise Your name.
22 Arise, O God, plead Your own cause;
Remember how the foolish man [i]reproaches You daily.
23 Do not forget the voice of Your enemies;
The tumult of those who rise up against You increases continually.
The Arrival of Ezra
7 Now after these things, in the reign of (A)Artaxerxes king of Persia, Ezra the (B)son of Seraiah, (C)the son of Azariah, the son of (D)Hilkiah, 2 the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub, 3 the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth, 4 the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki, 5 the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron the chief priest— 6 this Ezra came up from Babylon; and he was (E)a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, which the Lord God of Israel had given. The king granted him all his request, (F)according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. 7 (G)Some of the children of Israel, the priests, (H)the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and (I)the Nethinim came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. 8 And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. 9 On the first day of the first month he began his journey from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, (J)according to the good hand of his God upon him. 10 For Ezra had prepared his heart to (K)seek[a] the Law of the Lord, and to do it, and to (L)teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.
The Letter of Artaxerxes to Ezra
11 This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave Ezra the priest, the scribe, expert in the words of the commandments of the Lord, and of His statutes to Israel:
To Ezra the priest, a scribe of the Law of the God of heaven:
13 I issue a decree that all those of the people of Israel and the priests and Levites in my realm, who volunteer to go up to Jerusalem, may go with you. 14 And whereas you are being sent [d]by the king and his (O)seven counselors to inquire concerning Judah and Jerusalem, with regard to the Law of your God which is in your hand; 15 and whereas you are to carry the silver and gold which the king and his counselors have freely offered to the God of Israel, (P)whose dwelling is in Jerusalem; 16 (Q)and whereas all the silver and gold that you may find in all the province of Babylon, along with the freewill offering of the people and the priests, are to be (R)freely offered for the [e]house of their God in Jerusalem— 17 now therefore, be careful to buy with this money bulls, rams, and lambs, with their (S)grain offerings and their drink offerings, and (T)offer them on the altar of the house of your God in Jerusalem.
18 And whatever seems good to you and your brethren to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, do it according to the will of your God. 19 Also the articles that are given to you for the service of the house of your God, deliver in full before the God of Jerusalem. 20 And whatever more may be needed for the house of your God, which you may have occasion to provide, pay for it from the king’s treasury.
21 And I, even I, Artaxerxes the king, issue a decree to all the treasurers who are in the region beyond the River, that whatever Ezra the priest, the scribe of the Law of the God of heaven, may require of you, let it be done diligently, 22 up to one hundred talents of silver, one hundred kors of wheat, one hundred baths of wine, one hundred baths of oil, and salt without prescribed limit. 23 Whatever [f]is commanded by the God of heaven, let it diligently be done for the [g]house of the God of heaven. For why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons?
24 Also we inform you that it shall not be lawful to impose tax, tribute, or custom on any of the priests, Levites, singers, gatekeepers, Nethinim, or servants of this house of God. 25 And you, Ezra, according to your God-given wisdom, (U)set magistrates and judges who may judge all the people who are in the region beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God; and (V)teach those who do not know them. 26 Whoever will not observe the law of your God and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily on him, whether it be death, or [h]banishment, or confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.
The Lamb and the 144,000
14 Then I looked, and behold, [a]a (A)Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him (B)one hundred and forty-four thousand, [b]having His Father’s name (C)written on their foreheads. 2 And I heard a voice from heaven, (D)like the voice of many waters, and like the voice of loud thunder. And I heard the sound of (E)harpists playing their harps. 3 They sang as it were a new song before the throne, before the four living creatures, and the elders; and no one could learn that song (F)except the hundred and forty-four thousand who were redeemed from the earth. 4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, (G)for they are virgins. These are the ones (H)who follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These (I)were [c]redeemed from among men, (J)being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb. 5 And (K)in their mouth was found no [d]deceit, for (L)they are without fault [e]before the throne of God.
The Proclamations of Three Angels
6 Then I saw another angel (M)flying in the midst of heaven, (N)having the everlasting gospel to preach to those who dwell on the earth—(O)to every nation, tribe, tongue, and people— 7 saying with a loud voice, (P)“Fear God and give glory to Him, for the hour of His judgment has come; (Q)and worship Him who made heaven and earth, the sea and springs of water.”
8 And another angel followed, saying, (R)“Babylon[f] is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because (S)she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication.”
9 Then a third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, (T)“If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his (U)mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he himself (V)shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is (W)poured out full strength into (X)the cup of His indignation. (Y)He shall be tormented with (Z)fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And (AA)the smoke of their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night, who worship the beast and his image, and whoever receives the mark of his name.”
12 (AB)Here is the [g]patience of the saints; (AC)here[h] are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice from heaven saying [i]to me, “Write: (AD)‘Blessed are the dead (AE)who die in the Lord from now on.’ ”
“Yes,” says the Spirit, (AF)“that they may rest from their labors, and their works follow (AG)them.”
John the Baptist Beheaded(A)
14 At that time (B)Herod the tetrarch heard the report about Jesus 2 and said to his servants, “This is John the Baptist; he is risen from the dead, and therefore these powers are at work in him.” 3 (C)For Herod had laid hold of John and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife. 4 Because John had said to him, (D)“It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 And although he wanted to put him to death, he feared the multitude, (E)because they counted him as a prophet.
6 But when Herod’s birthday was celebrated, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased Herod. 7 Therefore he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.
8 So she, having been prompted by her mother, said, “Give me John the Baptist’s head here on a platter.”
9 And the king was sorry; nevertheless, because of the oaths and because of those who sat with him, he commanded it to be given to her. 10 So he sent and had John beheaded in prison. 11 And his head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she brought it to her mother. 12 Then his disciples came and took away the body and buried it, and went and told Jesus.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.