Book of Common Prayer

³ Who can go up on the Lord’s mountain^[a]?
    Who can stand in his holy Temple?
⁴ Only those who have not done evil,
    who have pure hearts,
who have not used my name^[b] to hide their lies,
    and who have not made false promises.

⁵ Good people ask the Lord to bless others.
    They ask God, their Savior, to do good things.
⁶ They try to follow God.
    They go to the God of Jacob for help. Selah

⁷ Gates, proudly lift your heads!
    Open, ancient doors,
    and the glorious King will come in.
⁸ Who is the glorious King?
    He is the Lord, the powerful soldier.
    He is the Lord, the war hero.

⁹ Gates, proudly lift your heads!
    Open, ancient doors,
    and the glorious King will come in.
¹⁰ Who is the glorious King?
    The Lord All-Powerful is the glorious King. Selah

¹⁰ The Lord ruled as king at the time of the flood,
    and the Lord will rule as king forever.
¹¹ May the Lord make his people strong.
    May the Lord bless his people with peace.

² From the mouths of children and babies come songs of praise to you.
    They sing of your power to silence your enemies who were seeking revenge.

³ I look at the heavens you made with your hands.
    I see the moon and the stars you created.
⁴ And I wonder, “Why are people so important to you?
    Why do you even think about them?
Why do you care so much about humans^[a]?
    Why do you even notice them?”

⁵ But you made them almost like gods
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
⁶ You put them in charge of everything you made.
    You put everything under their control.
⁷ People rule over the sheep and cattle and all the wild animals.
⁸ They rule over the birds in the sky
    and the fish that swim in the sea.
⁹ Lord our Lord, your name is the most wonderful name in all the earth!

⁵ Great blessings belong to those who depend on you for strength!
    Their heart’s desire is to make the trip to your Temple.
⁶ They travel through Baca Valley,
    which God has made into a place of springs.
    Autumn rains form pools of water there.
⁷ The people travel from town to town^[a]
    on their way to Zion, where they will meet with God.

⁸ Lord God All-Powerful, listen to my prayer.
    God of Jacob, listen to me. Selah

⁹ God, watch over the king, our protector.^[b]
    Be kind to him, the one you have chosen.
¹⁰ One day in your Temple is better
    than a thousand days anywhere else.
Serving as a guard at the gate of my God’s house is better
    than living in the homes of the wicked.
¹¹ The Lord God is our protector and glorious king.^[c]
    He blesses us with kindness and honor.
The Lord freely gives every good thing
    to those who do what is right.
¹² Lord All-Powerful,
    great blessings belong to those who trust in you!

¹⁹ “Where does light come from?
    Where does darkness come from?
²⁰ Can you take them back to where they belong?
    Do you know how to get there?
²¹ Surely you know these things, since you are so old and wise.
    You were alive when I made them, weren’t you?^[a]

²² “Have you ever gone into the storerooms
    where I keep the snow and the hail?
²³ I save them there for times of trouble,
    for the times of war and battle.
²⁴ Have you ever gone to the place where the sun comes up,
    where it makes the east wind blow all over the earth?^[b]
25 Who dug ditches in the sky for the heavy rain?
    Who made a path for the thunderstorm?
²⁶ Who makes it rain even in desert places
    where no one lives?
²⁷ The rain gives that dry empty land all the water it needs,
    and grass begins to grow.
²⁸ Does the rain have a father?
    Who produces the drops of dew?
²⁹ Does ice have a mother?
    Who gives birth to the frost?
³⁰ That’s when the water freezes as hard as a rock.
    Even the deep sea freezes over!

³¹ “Can you tie up the Pleiades^[c]?
    Can you unfasten the belt of Orion^[d]?
³² Can you bring out the other constellations^[e] at the right times?
    Can you lead out the Bear^[f] with its cubs?
³³ Do you know the laws that control the sky?
    Can you put each star in its place above the earth?^[g]

³⁴ “Can you shout at the clouds
    and command them to cover you with rain?
³⁵ Can you give a command to the lightning?
    Will it come to you and say, ‘Here we are; what do you want, sir?’
    Will it go wherever you want it to go?

³⁶ “Who makes people wise?
    Who puts wisdom deep inside them?
³⁷ Who is wise enough to count the clouds
    and tip them over to pour out their rain?
³⁸ The rain makes the dust become mud,
    and the clumps of dirt stick together.

³⁹ “Do you find food for the lions?
    Do you feed their hungry babies?
⁴⁰ No, they hide in their caves
    or wait in the grass, ready to attack their prey.
⁴¹ Who feeds the ravens when their babies cry out to God
    and wander around without food?

“She is destroyed!
    The great city of Babylon is destroyed!
She has become a home for demons.
    That city has become a place for every unclean spirit to live.
She is a city filled with all kinds of unclean birds.
    She is a place where every unclean and hated animal lives.
³ All the peoples of the earth have drunk the wine
    of her sexual sin and of God’s anger.
The rulers of the earth sinned sexually with her,
    and the merchants of the world grew rich from the great wealth of her luxury.”

“Come out of that city, my people,
    so that you will not share in her sins.
    Then you will not suffer any of the terrible punishment she will get.
⁵ That city’s sins are piled up as high as heaven.
    God has not forgotten the wrongs she has done.
⁶ Give that city the same as she gave to others.
    Pay her back twice as much as she did.
Prepare wine for her that is twice as strong
    as the wine she prepared for others.
⁷ She gave herself much glory and rich living.
    Give her that much suffering and sadness.
She says to herself, ‘I am a queen sitting on my throne.
    I am not a widow;
    I will never be sad.’
⁸ So in one day she will suffer
    great hunger, mourning, and death.
She will be destroyed by fire,
    because the Lord God who judges her is powerful.