Book of Common Prayer
Save Me, O God
For the choir director. According to [a]Shoshannim. Of David.
69 Save me, O God,
For the (A)waters have [b]threatened my life.
2 I have sunk in deep (B)clay, and there is no foothold;
I have come into deep waters, and a [c](C)flood overflows me.
3 I am (D)weary with my calling out; my throat is parched;
My (E)eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 Those (F)who hate me without cause are more than the hairs of my head;
Those who would [d]destroy me (G)are powerful, being wrongfully my enemies;
(H)What I did not steal, I then have to restore.
5 O God, it is You who knows (I)my folly,
And [e](J)all my guilt is not hidden from You.
6 May those who hope for You not (K)be ashamed through me, O Lord Yahweh of hosts;
May those who seek You not be dishonored through me, O God of Israel,
7 Because (L)for Your sake I have borne reproach;
(M)Dishonor has covered my face.
8 I have become (N)estranged [f]from my brothers
And a foreigner to my mother’s sons.
9 For (O)zeal for Your house has consumed me,
And (P)the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
10 When I wept (Q)in my soul with fasting,
It became my reproach.
11 When I made (R)sackcloth my clothing,
I became (S)a byword to them.
12 Those who (T)dwell at the gate moan about me,
And I am (U)the drunkards’ songs.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to You, O Yahweh, (V)at an acceptable time;
O God, in the (W)abundance of Your lovingkindness,
Answer me with the truth of Your salvation.
14 Deliver me from the (X)mire and do not let me sink;
May I be (Y)delivered from [g]my foes and from the [h](Z)deep waters.
15 May the [i](AA)flood of water not overflow me
Nor the deep swallow me up,
Nor the (AB)pit shut its mouth on me.
16 Answer me, O Yahweh, for (AC)Your lovingkindness is good;
(AD)According to the abundance of Your compassion, (AE)turn to me,
17 And (AF)do not hide Your face from Your slave,
For I am (AG)in distress; answer me quickly.
18 Oh draw near to my soul and (AH)redeem it;
(AI)Ransom me because of my enemies!
19 You know my (AJ)reproach and my shame and my dishonor;
All my adversaries are [j]before You.
20 Reproach has (AK)broken my heart and I am so sick.
And (AL)I hoped for sympathy, but there was none,
And for (AM)comforters, but I found none.
21 They also gave me [k](AN)gall [l]for my food
And for my thirst they (AO)gave me vinegar to drink.
22 May (AP)their table before them become a snare;
And [m](AQ)when they are in peace, may it become a trap.
23 May their (AR)eyes darken so that they cannot see,
And make their (AS)loins quake continually.
24 (AT)Pour out Your indignation on them,
And may Your burning anger overtake them.
25 May their [n](AU)camp be desolate;
May none dwell in their tents.
26 For they have (AV)persecuted him whom (AW)You Yourself have struck down,
And they recount the pain of those whom (AX)You have [o]wounded.
27 Add (AY)iniquity to their iniquity,
And (AZ)may they not come into (BA)Your righteousness.
28 May they be (BB)blotted out of the (BC)book of life
And may they not be [p](BD)recorded with the righteous.
29 But I am (BE)afflicted and in pain;
[q]May Your salvation, O God, (BF)set me securely on high.
30 I will (BG)praise the name of God with song
And (BH)magnify Him with (BI)thanksgiving.
31 And this will (BJ)please Yahweh better than an ox
Or a young bull with horns and hoofs.
32 The (BK)humble [r]see it and are glad;
You who seek God, (BL)let your heart [s]revive.
33 For (BM)Yahweh hears the needy
And (BN)does not despise His who are prisoners.
BOOK 3
The Nearness of God Is My Good
A Psalm of Asaph.
73 Surely God is (A)good to Israel,
To those who are (B)pure in heart!
2 But as for me, (C)my feet had almost stumbled,
My steps [a]had almost slipped.
3 For I was (D)envious of the boastful,
I saw the (E)peace of the wicked.
4 For there are no pains in their death,
And their [b]body is fat.
5 They are (F)not [c]in trouble as other [d]men,
And they are not (G)stricken along with the rest of mankind.
6 Therefore lofty pride is (H)their necklace;
The (I)garment of violence covers them.
7 Their eye [e]bulges from (J)fatness;
The delusions of their heart overflow.
8 They (K)scoff and [f]wickedly speak of oppression;
They (L)speak from on high.
9 They have (M)set their mouth [g]against the heavens,
And their tongue goes through the earth.
10 Therefore [h]his people return here, to his place,
And waters of (N)fullness are [i]drunk by them.
11 They say, “(O)How does God know?
And is there knowledge with the Most High?”
12 Behold, (P)these are the wicked;
And always (Q)at ease, they have increased in wealth.
13 Surely (R)in vain I have [j]kept my heart pure
And (S)washed my hands in innocence;
14 For I have been stricken (T)all day long
And [k](U)reproved every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will recount thus,”
Behold, I would have betrayed the (V)generation of Your children.
16 When I (W)gave thought to know this,
It was trouble in my sight
17 Until I came into the [l](X)sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their (Y)end.
18 Surely You set them in (Z)slippery places;
You cause them to fall to [m](AA)destruction.
19 How they become (AB)desolate in a moment!
They are completely swept away by (AC)terrors!
20 Like a (AD)dream when one awakes,
O Lord, when (AE)aroused, You will (AF)despise their [n]form.
21 When my (AG)heart was embittered
And I was (AH)pierced [o]within,
22 Then I was (AI)senseless and ignorant;
I was like [p]an (AJ)animal [q]before You.
23 Nevertheless (AK)I am continually with You;
You have taken hold of my right hand.
24 With Your counsel You will (AL)lead me,
And afterward (AM)take me [r]in glory.
25 (AN)Whom have I in heaven but You?
And [s]besides You, I desire nothing on earth.
26 My (AO)flesh and my heart fail,
But God is the rock of my heart and my (AP)portion forever.
27 For, behold, (AQ)those who are far from You will (AR)perish;
You have [t]destroyed everyone who [u](AS)is unfaithful to You.
28 But as for me, (AT)the nearness of God is my good;
I have set Lord Yahweh as my (AU)refuge,
That I may (AV)recount all Your works.
Yahweh Put This in the King’s Heart
27 Blessed be Yahweh, the God of our fathers, (A)who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of Yahweh which is in Jerusalem, 28 and (B)has extended lovingkindness to me before the king and his counselors and before all the king’s mighty princes. Thus I was strengthened according to (C)the hand of Yahweh my God upon me, and I gathered [a]chief men from Israel to go up with me.
God’s Protection Sought
21 Then I called for (A)a fast there at (B)the river of Ahava, that we might (C)humble ourselves before our God to seek from Him a [a]direct journey for us, our little ones, and all our possessions. 22 For I was ashamed to ask from the king for a military force and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the way, because we had said to the king, “(D)The hand of our God is upon all those who seek Him, for their good, but (E)His strength and His anger are against all those who (F)forsake Him.” 23 So we fasted and sought our God concerning this matter, and He [b](G)was moved by our entreaty.
24 Then I [c]set apart twelve of the leading priests, (H)Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and with them ten of their brothers; 25 and I (I)weighed out to them (J)the silver, the gold, and the utensils, the contribution for the house of our God which the king and (K)his counselors and his princes and all Israel present there had offered. 26 (L)Thus I weighed into their hands [d]650 talents of silver, and silver utensils worth 100 talents, and 100 gold talents, 27 and 20 gold bowls worth 1,000 [e]darics, and two utensils of fine shiny bronze, precious as gold. 28 Then I said to them, “(M)You are holy to Yahweh, and the (N)utensils are holy; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to Yahweh, the God of your fathers. 29 Watch and keep them (O)until you weigh them before the officials of the priests, the Levites and the officials of the fathers’ households of Israel at Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of Yahweh.” 30 So the priests and the Levites (P)accepted the weighed out silver and gold and the utensils, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.
31 Then we set out from (Q)the river Ahava on (R)the twelfth of the first month to go to Jerusalem; and (S)the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and the ambushes by the way. 32 (T)Thus we came to Jerusalem and remained there three days.
Silver, Gold, and Utensils Weighed
33 On the fourth day the silver and the gold and the utensils (U)were weighed out in the house of our God into the hand of (V)Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; and with them were the Levites, Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui. 34 Everything was numbered and weighed, and all the weight was written down at that time.
35 (W)The exiles who had come from the captivity brought burnt offerings near to the God of Israel: (X)12 bulls for all Israel, 96 rams, 77 lambs, 12 male goats for a sin offering, all as a burnt offering to Yahweh. 36 Then (Y)they gave the king’s edicts to (Z)the king’s satraps and to the governors in the provinces beyond the [f]River, and they supported the people and the house of God.
Seven Angels, Seven Plagues
15 Then I saw (A)another sign in heaven, great and marvelous, (B)seven angels who have (C)seven plagues, which are (D)the last, because in them the wrath of God is finished.
2 Then I saw something like a (E)sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who have (F)overcome [a]the (G)beast and (H)his image and the (I)number of his name, standing on the (J)sea of glass, having (K)harps of God. 3 And they *sang the (L)song of Moses, (M)the slave of God, and the (N)song of the Lamb, saying,
“(O)Great and marvelous are Your works,
(P)O [b]Lord God, the Almighty;
Righteous and true are Your ways,
(Q)King of the [c]nations!
4 (R)Who will not fear, O [d]Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are holy;
For (S)all the nations will come and worship before You,
For Your [e](T)righteous acts have been revealed.”
5 And after these things I looked, and (U)the sanctuary of the (V)tabernacle of testimony in heaven was opened, 6 and the (W)seven angels who have the seven plagues (X)came out of the sanctuary, clothed in [f]linen, clean and bright, and (Y)girded around their chests with golden sashes. 7 Then one of the (Z)four living creatures gave to the (AA)seven angels seven (AB)golden bowls full of the (AC)wrath of God, who (AD)lives forever and ever. 8 And the sanctuary was filled with (AE)smoke from the glory of God and from His power; and no one was able to enter the sanctuary until the seven plagues of the seven angels were finished.
Jesus Feeds Five Thousand
13 (A)Now when Jesus heard about John, He withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by Himself; and when the crowds heard of this, they followed Him on foot from the cities. 14 And when He went [a]ashore, He (B)saw a large crowd, and felt compassion for them and (C)healed their sick.
15 Now when it was evening, the disciples came to Him and said, “This place is desolate and the hour is already [b]late; so send the crowds away, that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!” 17 But they *said to Him, “We have here only (D)five loaves and two fish.” 18 And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 19 And ordering the crowds to [c]sit down on the grass, He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He (E)blessed the food. And breaking the loaves, He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds, 20 and they all ate and were satisfied. They picked up what was left over of the broken pieces, twelve full (F)baskets. 21 And there were about five thousand men who ate, besides women and children.
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