Book of Common Prayer

Prayer to Be Kept Safe from Enemies

25 I lift up my soul to You, O Lord. ² O my God, I trust in You. Do not let me be ashamed. Do not let those who fight against me win. ³ Yes, let no one who hopes in You be put to shame. But put to shame those who hurt others without a reason.

⁴ Show me Your ways, O Lord. Teach me Your paths. ⁵ Lead me in Your truth and teach me. For You are the God Who saves me. I wait for You all day long. ⁶ Remember Your loving-pity and Your loving-kindness, O Lord. For they have been from old. ⁷ Do not remember my sins from when I was young, or my sinful ways. By Your loving-kindness remember me for You are good, O Lord.

⁸ Good and right is the Lord. So He teaches sinners in His ways. ⁹ He leads those without pride into what is right, and teaches them His way. ¹⁰ All the paths of the Lord are loving and true for those who keep His agreement and keep His Laws. ¹¹ For the good of Your name, O Lord, forgive my sin, even as big as it is.

¹² Who is the man who fears the Lord? He will teach him in the way he should choose. ¹³ His soul will live a rich life. And his children will be given the land. ¹⁴ The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him. And He will make them know His agreement. ¹⁵ My eyes are always on the Lord. For He will take my feet out of the net.

¹⁶ Turn to me and show me Your loving-kindness. For I am alone and in trouble. ¹⁷ The troubles of my heart have grown. Bring me out of my suffering. ¹⁸ Look upon my troubles and my pain, and forgive all my sins. ¹⁹ Look upon those who hate me, for they are many. And how very much they hate me! ²⁰ Keep me safe, Lord, and set me free. Do not let me be put to shame for I put my trust in You. ²¹ Let what is good and what is right keep me safe, because I wait for You. ²² O God, make Israel free from all their troubles.

Thanks to God for the Way He Judges

9 I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart. I will tell of all the great things You have done. ² I will be glad and full of joy because of You. I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High. ³ When those who hate me turn away, they fall and are lost from You. ⁴ For You have stood by my right actions. You sit on Your throne, and are right in how You judge. ⁵ You have spoken sharp words to the nations and have destroyed the sinful. You have thrown out their name forever and ever. ⁶ Those who fight against You are finished forever. You have destroyed their cities. They will be remembered no more. ⁷ But the Lord lives forever. He has set up His throne to say who is guilty or not. ⁸ He will punish the world by what is right. He will be fair as He rules the people.

⁹ The Lord also keeps safe those who suffer. He is a safe place in times of trouble. ¹⁰ Those who know Your name will put their trust in You. For You, O Lord, have never left alone those who look for You. ¹¹ Sing praises to the Lord, Who lives in Zion! Tell all the nations what He has done! ¹² For He Who punishes for the blood of another remembers them. He does not forget the cry of those who suffer. ¹³ Have pity on me, O Lord! See how I suffer from those who hate me, You Who have lifted me up from the gates of death, ¹⁴ that I may tell of all Your praises in the gates of the people of Zion. There I will be full of joy because You save.

¹⁵ The nations have fallen into the hole they have dug. Their own feet have been caught in the net they have hidden. ¹⁶ The Lord has made Himself known. He is fair in His Law. The sinful trap themselves by the work of their own hands. ¹⁷ The sinful, all the nations that forget God, will be turned back into the grave.

¹⁸ But those in need will not always be forgotten. The hope of the poor will not be lost forever. ¹⁹ Rise up, O Lord! Do not let man win the fight against You. Let the nations come to You and be judged. ²⁰ Make them afraid, O Lord. Let the nations know they are only men.

Good Men

15 O Lord, who may live in Your tent? Who may live on Your holy hill? ² He who walks without blame and does what is right and good, and speaks the truth in his heart. ³ He does not hurt others with his tongue, or do wrong to his neighbor, or bring shame to his friend. ⁴ He looks down upon a sinful person, but honors those who fear the Lord. He keeps his promises even if it may hurt him. ⁵ He gives money to be used without being paid for its use. And he does not take money to hurt those who are not guilty. He who does these things will never be shaken.

The Servants God Owns Are Marked

7 After this I saw four angels. They were standing at the four corners of the earth. They were holding back the four winds of the earth so no wind would blow on the earth or the sea or on any tree. ² I saw another angel coming from the east. He was carrying the mark of the living God. He called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to hurt the earth and sea. ³ The angel from the east said, “Do not hurt the earth or the sea or the trees until we have put the mark of God on the foreheads of the servants He owns.”

⁴ I heard how many there were who received the mark of God. There were 144,000 people of the twelve family groups of Israel. ⁵ These received the mark of God: 12,000 from the family group of Judah, 12,000 from the family group of Reuben, 12,000 from the family group of Gad, ⁶ 12,000 from the family group of Asher, 12,000 from the family group of Naphtali, 12,000 from the family group of Manasseh, ⁷ 12,000 from the family group of Simeon, 12,000 from the family group of Levi, 12,000 from the family group of Issachar, ⁸ 12,000 from the family group of Zebulun, 12,000 from the family group of Joseph, and 12,000 from the family group of Benjamin.

Jesus and His Followers Leave Galilee

⁵¹ It was about time for Jesus to be taken up into heaven. He turned toward Jerusalem and was sure that nothing would stop Him from going. ⁵² He sent men on ahead of Him. They came to a town in Samaria. There they got things ready for Jesus. ⁵³ The people did not want Him there because they knew He was on His way to Jerusalem. ⁵⁴ James and John, His followers, saw this. They said, “Lord, do You want us to speak so fire will come down from heaven and burn them up as Elijah did?” ⁵⁵ Jesus turned and spoke sharp words to them. (*He said, “You do not know what kind of spirit you have. ⁵⁶ The Son of Man did not come to destroy men’s lives. He came to save them from the punishment of sin.” They went on their way to another town.)

The Testing of Some Followers ^(A)

⁵⁷ As they were going on their way, a man said to Jesus, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” ⁵⁸ Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes. Birds of the sky have nests. The Son of Man has no place to put His head.” ⁵⁹ He said to another, “Follow Me.” But the man said, “Lord, let me go first and bury my father.” ⁶⁰ Jesus said to him, “Let the people who are dead bury their own dead. You go and preach about the holy nation of God.” ⁶¹ And another one said, “Lord, I will follow You, but first let me go and say good-bye to those at home.” ⁶² Jesus said to him, “Anyone who puts his hand on a plow and looks back at the things behind is of no use in the holy nation of God.”