Book of Common Prayer
To the director: To the tune “The Lilies.” A song of David.
69 God, save me from all my troubles!
The rising water has reached my neck.
2 I have nothing to stand on.
I am sinking down, down into the mud.
I am in deep water,
and the waves are about to cover me.
3 I am getting weak from calling for help.
My throat is sore.
I have waited and looked for your help
until my eyes are hurting.
4 I have more enemies than the hairs on my head.
They hate me for no reason.
They try hard to destroy me.
My enemies tell lies about me.
They say I stole from them
and they demand that I pay for things I did not steal.
5 God, you know my faults.
I cannot hide my sins from you.
6 My Lord God All-Powerful, don’t let me embarrass your followers.
God of Israel, don’t let me bring disgrace to those who worship you.
7 My face is covered with shame.
I carry this shame for you.
8 My own brothers treat me like a stranger.
They act as if I came from a foreign land.
9 My strong devotion to your Temple is destroying me.
Those who insult you are also insulting me.
10 When I spend time crying and fasting,
they make fun of me.
11 When I wear sackcloth to show my sorrow,
they tell jokes about me.
12 They talk about me in public places.
The beer drinkers make up songs about me.
13 As for me, Lord, this is my prayer to you:
Please accept me!
God, I want you to answer me with love.
I know I can trust you to save me.
14 Pull me from the mud,
and don’t let me sink down deeper.
Save me from those who hate me.
Save me from this deep water.
15 Don’t let the waves drown me.
Don’t let the deep sea swallow me
or the grave close its mouth on me.
16 Answer me, Lord, from the goodness of your faithful love.
Out of your great kindness turn to me and help me!
17 Don’t turn away from your servant.
I am in trouble, so hurry and help me!
18 Come save my soul.
Rescue me from my enemies.
19 You know the shame I have suffered.
You know all my enemies.
You saw how they humiliated me.
20 I feel the pain of their insults.
The shame makes me feel like dying!
I wanted some sympathy,
but there was none.
I waited for someone to comfort me,
but no one came.
21 They gave me poison, not food.
They gave me vinegar, not wine.
22 Their tables are covered with food.
Let their fellowship meals destroy them.
23 Let them go blind and their backs become weak.
24 Show them how angry you are.
Let them feel what your anger can do.
25 Make their homes empty.
Don’t let anyone live there.
26 They try to hurt people you have already punished.
They tell everyone about the suffering you gave them.
27 Punish them for the bad things they have done.
Don’t show them how good you can be.
28 Erase their names from the book of life.
Don’t let their names appear on the list of those who do what is right.
29 I am sad and hurting.
God, lift me up and save me!
30 I will praise God’s name in song.
I will honor him by giving him thanks.
31 The Lord will be happier with this
than with the offering of an ox or a full-grown bull as a sacrifice.
32 Poor people, you came to worship God.
You will be happy to know these things.
33 The Lord listens to poor, helpless people.
He does not turn away from those who are in prison.
34 Praise him, heaven and earth!
Sea and everything in it, praise him!
35 God will save Zion.
He will rebuild the cities of Judah.
The people will settle there again and own the land.
36 The descendants of his servants will get that land.
Those who love his name will live there.
Book 3
(Psalms 73-89)
Asaph’s song of praise.
73 God is so good to Israel,
to those whose hearts are pure.
2 But I almost slipped and lost my balance.
I almost fell into sin.
3 I saw that wicked people were successful,
and I became jealous of those proud people.
4 They are healthy.
They don’t have to struggle to survive.[a]
5 They don’t suffer like the rest of us.
They don’t have troubles like other people.
6 So they are proud and hateful.
This is as easy to see as the jewels and fancy clothes they wear.
7 If they see something they like, they go and take it.
They do whatever they want.
8 They make fun of others and say cruel things about them.
In their pride they make plans to hurt people.
9 They think they are gods!
They think they are the rulers of the earth.
10 [b] Even God’s people turn to them
and do what they say.
11 Those evil people say, “God does not know what we are doing!
God Most High does not know!”
12 Those proud people are wicked,
but they are rich and getting richer.
13 Clearly, then, I gain nothing by keeping my thoughts pure!
What good is it to keep myself from sin?
14 God, I suffer all day long,
and you punish me every morning.
15 I wanted to tell others these things,
but that would have made me a traitor to your people.
16 I tried hard to understand all this,
but it was too hard for me.
17 But then, God, I went to your Temple,
and I understood what will happen to the wicked.
18 Clearly, you have put them in danger.
You make it easy for them to fall and be destroyed.
19 Trouble can come suddenly,
and they will be ruined.
Terrible things can happen to them,
and they will be finished.
20 Then they will be like a dream
that we forget when we wake up.
You will make them disappear
like the monsters in our dreams.
21-22 I was so stupid.
I thought about such people and became upset.
God, I was upset and angry with you!
I acted like a senseless animal.
23 But I am always with you.
You hold my hand.
24 You lead me and give me good advice,
and later you will lead me to glory.[c]
25 In heaven, God, I have only you.
And if I am with you, what on earth could I want?
26 Maybe my mind[d] and body will become weak,
but God is my source of strength.[e]
He is mine forever!
27 God, people who leave you will be lost.
You will destroy all who are not faithful to you.
28 As for me, all I need is to be close to God.
I have made the Lord God my place of safety.
And, God, I will tell about all that you have done.
Ezra Praises God
27 [a] Blessed is the Lord, the God of our ancestors. He put the idea into the king’s heart to honor the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem. 28 God showed his faithful love to me in front of the king, his advisors, and the king’s important officials. The Lord my God was with me, and that gave me courage. I gathered together the leaders of Israel to go with me to Jerusalem.
21 There near the Ahava River, I announced that we all should fast. We should fast to make ourselves humble before our God. We wanted to ask God for a safe trip for ourselves, our children, and for everything we owned. 22 I was embarrassed to ask King Artaxerxes for soldiers and horsemen to protect us as we traveled. There were enemies on the road. The reason I was embarrassed to ask for protection was because of what we had told the king. We had said to King Artaxerxes, “Our God is with everyone who trusts him, but he is very angry with everyone who turns away from him.” 23 So we fasted and prayed to our God about our trip. He answered our prayers.
24 Then I chose twelve of the priests who were leaders. I chose Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brothers. 25 I weighed the silver, gold, and the other things that were given for God’s Temple. I gave them to the twelve priests I had chosen. King Artaxerxes, his advisors, his important officials, and all the Israelites in Babylon gave those things for God’s Temple. 26 I weighed all these things. There were 25 tons[a] of silver. There were also 7500 pounds[b] of silver dishes and things. There were 3 3/4 tons of gold. 27 And I gave them 20 gold bowls. The bowls weighed about 19 pounds.[c] And I gave them two beautiful dishes made from polished bronze that were as valuable as gold. 28 Then I said to the twelve priests: “You and these things are holy to the Lord. People gave this silver and gold to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. 29 So guard these things carefully. You are responsible for them until you give them to the Temple leaders in Jerusalem. You will give them to the leading Levites and the family leaders of Israel. They will weigh them and put them in the rooms of the Lord’s Temple in Jerusalem.”
30 So the priests and Levites accepted the silver, gold, and special things that Ezra had weighed and given to them. They were told to take them to God’s Temple in Jerusalem.
31 On the twelfth day of the first month,[d] we left the Ahava River and started toward Jerusalem. God was with us, and he protected us from enemies and robbers along the way. 32 Then we arrived in Jerusalem. We rested there for three days. 33 On the fourth day, we went to the Temple and weighed the silver, gold, and special things. We gave them to Meremoth son of Uriah the priest. Eleazar son of Phinehas was with Meremoth. The Levites, Jozabad son of Jeshua, and Noadiah son of Binnui were with them also. 34 We counted and weighed everything and we wrote down the total weight.
35 Then the Jewish people who came back from captivity offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel. They offered twelve bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 male lambs, and twelve male goats for a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord.
36 Then the people gave the letter from King Artaxerxes to the royal satraps and to the governors of the area west of the Euphrates River. Then the leaders gave their support to the Israelites and to the Temple.
The Angels With the Last Plagues
15 Then I saw another wonder in heaven. It was great and amazing. There were seven angels bringing seven plagues. These are the last plagues, because after these, God’s anger is finished.
2 I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. All those who had won the victory over the beast and his idol and over the number of its name were standing by the sea. These people had harps that God had given them. 3 They sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:
“Great and wonderful are the things you do,
Lord God All-Powerful.
Right and true are your ways,
Ruler of the nations.
4 All people will fear you, O Lord.
All people will praise your name.
Only you are holy.
All people will come and worship before you,
because it is clear that you do what is right.”
5 After this I saw the temple, the holy place of God’s presence,[a] in heaven. It was opened, 6 and the seven angels bringing the seven plagues came out. They were dressed in clean, shining linen cloth. They wore golden bands tied around their chests. 7 Then one of the four living beings gave seven golden bowls to the seven angels. The bowls were filled with the anger of God, who lives forever and ever. 8 The temple was filled with smoke from the glory and the power of God. No one could enter the temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.
Jesus Feeds More Than 5000(A)
13 When Jesus heard what happened to John, he left in a boat. He went alone to a place where no one lived. But the people heard that Jesus had left. So they left their towns and followed him. They went by land to the same place he went. 14 When Jesus got out of the boat, he saw a large crowd of people. He felt sorry for them, and he healed the ones who were sick.
15 Late that afternoon, the followers came to Jesus and said, “No one lives in this place. And it is already late. Send the people away so they can go to the towns and buy food for themselves.”
16 Jesus said, “The people don’t need to go away. You give them some food to eat.”
17 The followers answered, “But we have only five loaves of bread and two fish.”
18 Jesus said, “Bring the bread and the fish to me.” 19 Then he told the people to sit down on the grass. He took the five loaves of bread and the two fish. He looked into the sky and thanked God for the food. Then he broke the bread into pieces, which he gave to the followers, and they gave the food to the people. 20 Everyone ate until they were full. When they finished eating, the followers filled twelve baskets with the pieces of food that were not eaten. 21 There were about 5000 men there who ate. There were also women and children who ate.
Copyright © 2006 by Bible League International