Book of Common Prayer
God Humbles the Proud, but Exalts the Righteous.
For the music director; set to [a]Al-tashheth. A Psalm of Asaph, a Song.
75 We (A)give thanks to You, God, we give thanks,
For Your name is (B)near;
People declare (C)Your wondrous works.
2 “When I select an (D)appointed time,
It is I who (E)judge fairly.
3 The (F)earth and all who inhabit it [b]are unsteady;
It is I who have firmly set its (G)pillars. Selah
4 I said to the boastful, ‘Do not boast,’
And to the wicked, ‘(H)Do not lift up the horn;
5 Do not lift up your horn on high,
(I)Do not speak with insolent [c]pride.’”
6 For not from the east, nor from the west,
Nor from the [d](J)desert comes exaltation;
7 But (K)God is the Judge;
He (L)puts down one and exalts another.
8 For a (M)cup is in the hand of the Lord, and the wine foams;
It is [e](N)well mixed, and He pours out of this;
Certainly all the wicked of the earth must drain and (O)drink its dregs.
9 But as for me, I will (P)declare it forever;
I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.
10 And [f]He will cut off all the (Q)horns of the wicked,
But (R)the horns of the righteous will be lifted up.
The Victorious Power of the God of Jacob.
For the music director; on stringed instruments. A Psalm of Asaph, a Song.
76 God is (S)known in Judah;
His name is (T)great in Israel.
2 His [g](U)tabernacle is in (V)Salem;
His (W)dwelling place also is in Zion.
3 There He (X)broke the [h]flaming arrows,
The shield, the sword, and the [i]weapons of war. Selah
4 You are resplendent,
[j]More majestic than the mountains of prey.
5 The (Y)stouthearted were plundered,
[k]They sank into sleep;
And none of the [l]warriors could use his hands.
6 At Your (Z)rebuke, God of Jacob,
Both [m](AA)rider and horse were cast into a dead sleep.
7 You, You indeed are (AB)to be feared,
And (AC)who may stand in Your presence, [n]once You are angry?
The Lord, the Psalmist’s Shepherd.
A Psalm of David.
23 The Lord is my (A)shepherd,
I will (B)not be in need.
2 He lets me lie down in (C)green pastures;
He (D)leads me beside [a](E)quiet waters.
3 He (F)restores my soul;
He (G)guides me in the [b](H)paths of righteousness
For the sake of His name.
4 Even though I (I)walk through the [c]valley of the shadow of death,
I (J)fear no [d]evil, for (K)You are with me;
Your (L)rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
5 You (M)prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You [e]have (N)anointed my head with oil;
My (O)cup overflows.
6 [f]Certainly (P)goodness and [g]faithfulness will follow me all the days of my life,
And my (Q)dwelling will be in the house of the Lord [h]forever.
A Psalm of Fearless Trust in God.
A Psalm of David.
27 The Lord is my (A)light and my (B)salvation;
Whom should I fear?
The Lord is the [a](C)defense of my life;
(D)Whom should I dread?
2 When evildoers came upon me to (E)devour my flesh,
My adversaries and my enemies, they (F)stumbled and fell.
3 If an (G)army encamps against me,
My heart will not fear;
If war arises against me,
In spite of this I am (H)confident.
4 (I)One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek:
That I may (J)dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
To behold (K)the [b]beauty of the Lord
And to [c](L)meditate in His temple.
5 For on the (M)day of trouble He will (N)conceal me in His [d]tabernacle;
He will (O)hide me in the secret place of His tent;
He will (P)lift me up on a rock.
6 And now (Q)my head will be lifted up above my enemies around me,
And I will offer (R)sacrifices in His tent [e]with shouts of joy;
I will (S)sing, yes, I will sing praises to the Lord.
7 (T)Hear, Lord, when I cry with my voice,
And be gracious to me and (U)answer me.
8 When You said, “(V)Seek My face,” my heart said to You,
“(W)I shall seek Your face, Lord.”
9 (X)Do not hide Your face from me,
Do not turn Your servant away in (Y)anger;
You have been (Z)my help;
(AA)Do not abandon me nor (AB)forsake me,
God of my salvation!
10 [f]For my father and (AC)my mother have forsaken me,
But (AD)the Lord will take me up.
11 (AE)Teach me Your way, Lord,
And lead me on a (AF)level path
Because of my enemies.
12 Do not turn me over to the [g](AG)desire of my enemies,
For (AH)false witnesses have risen against me,
And the violent (AI)witness.
13 I certainly believed that I would see the (AJ)goodness of the Lord
In the (AK)land of the living.
14 (AL)Wait for the Lord;
Be (AM)strong and let your heart take courage;
Yes, wait for the Lord.
Mixed Marriages
9 Now when these things had been completed, the officials approached me, saying, “The people of Israel and the priests and the Levites have not (A)separated themselves from the peoples of the lands, (B)as to their abominations, those of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Jebusites, the Ammonites, the Moabites, the Egyptians, and the Amorites. 2 For (C)they have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and for their sons, so that (D)the holy [a]line has (E)intermingled with the peoples of the lands; indeed, the hands of the officials and the leaders have taken the lead in this unfaithfulness.” 3 When I heard about this matter, I (F)tore my garment and my robe, and pulled out some of the hair from my head and my beard, and (G)sat down [b]appalled. 4 Then (H)everyone who was frightened by the words of the God of Israel on account of the unfaithfulness of the exiles gathered to me, and I sat [c]appalled until (I)the evening offering.
Prayer of Confession
5 But at the evening offering I stood up from my [d]humiliation, even with my garment and my robe torn, and I bowed down on my knees and (J)spread out my [e]hands to the Lord my God; 6 and I said, “My God, I am ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God, for our wrongful deeds have [f]risen above our heads, and our (K)guilt has grown even to the heavens. 7 (L)Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been in great guilt, and because of our wrongful deeds we, our kings, and our priests have been handed over to the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to [g](M)open shame, as it is this day. 8 But now for a brief moment grace has been shown from the Lord our God, (N)to leave us an escaped remnant and to give us a [h](O)peg in His holy place, so that our God may (P)enlighten our eyes and grant us a little reviving in our bondage. 9 (Q)For we are slaves; yet in our bondage our God has not abandoned us, but (R)has extended favor to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to give us reviving to erect the house of our God, to restore its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.
10 “And now, our God, what shall we say after this? For we have abandoned Your commandments, 11 which You have commanded by Your servants the prophets, saying, ‘The land which you are entering to possess is an unclean land with the uncleanness of the peoples of the lands, with their abominations which have filled it from end to end, and (S)with their impurity. 12 So now do not (T)give your daughters to their sons nor take their daughters for your sons, and (U)never seek their peace or their prosperity, so that you may be strong and may eat the good things of the land, and (V)leave it as an inheritance to your sons forever.’ 13 And after everything that has come upon us for our evil deeds and (W)our great guilt, since You our God have spared us by inflicting less than our wrongdoing deserves, and have given us such (X)an escaped remnant as this, 14 (Y)shall we again break Your commandments and intermarry with the peoples [i]who commit these abominations? (Z)Would You not be angry with us [j]to the point of destruction, until there would be no remnant nor any who would escape? 15 Lord God of Israel, (AA)You are righteous, for we have been left an escaped remnant, as it is this day; behold, we are before You in (AB)our guilt, for (AC)no one can stand before You because of this.”
The Doom of Babylon
17 (A)Then one of the (B)seven angels who had the (C)seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you (D)the judgment of the (E)great prostitute who (F)sits on many waters, 2 with whom (G)the kings of the earth committed acts of sexual immorality, and (H)those who live on the earth (I)became drunk with the wine of her sexual immorality.” 3 And (J)he carried me away [a](K)in the Spirit (L)into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a (M)scarlet beast, full of (N)blasphemous names, having (O)seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman (P)was clothed in purple and scarlet, and [b]adorned with gold, precious [c]stones, and pearls, holding in her hand (Q)a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her sexual immorality, 5 and on her forehead a name was written, [d]a (R)mystery: “(S)BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF (T)THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” 6 And I saw the woman drunk with (U)the blood of the [e]saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered [f]greatly. 7 And the angel said to me, “Why [g]do you wonder? I will tell you the (V)mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the (W)seven heads and the ten horns.
8 “(X)The beast that you saw (Y)was, and is not, and is about to (Z)come up out of the (AA)abyss and [h](AB)go to destruction. And (AC)those who live on the earth, (AD)whose names have not been written in the book of life (AE)from the foundation of the world, will (AF)wonder when they see the beast, that he was, and is not, and will [i]come. 9 (AG)Here is the mind which has wisdom. The (AH)seven heads are seven mountains upon which the woman sits, 10 and they are seven (AI)kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. 11 The beast which (AJ)was, and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he (AK)goes to destruction. 12 The (AL)ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast (AM)for one hour. 13 These have (AN)one [j]purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast.
Victory for the Lamb
14 These will wage (AO)war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will (AP)overcome them because He is (AQ)Lord of lords and (AR)King of kings; and (AS)those who are with Him are the (AT)called and chosen and faithful.”
Jesus Walks on the Water
22 (A)Immediately afterward He compelled the disciples to get into the boat and to go ahead of Him to the other side, while He sent the crowds away. 23 After He had sent the crowds away, (B)He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone. 24 But the boat was already [a]a long distance from the land, [b]battered by the waves; for the wind was [c](C)contrary. 25 And in (D)the [d]fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is (E)a ghost!” And they cried out [e]in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “(F)Take courage, [f]it is I; (G)do not be afraid.”
28 Peter responded and said to Him, “Lord, if [g]it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus reached out with His hand and took hold of him, and *said to him, “(H)You of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are truly (I)God’s Son!”
34 (J)When they had crossed over, they came to land at (K)Gennesaret. 35 And when the men of that place [h]recognized Him, they sent word into all that surrounding region and brought to Him all who were sick; 36 and they pleaded with Him that they might just touch (L)the [i]border of His cloak; and all who (M)touched it were cured.
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