Book of Common Prayer
The Psalmist in Sickness Complains of Enemies and False Friends.
For the music director. A Psalm of David.
41 Blessed is one who (A)considers the [a]helpless;
The Lord will save him (B)on a day of [b]trouble.
2 The Lord will (C)protect him and keep him alive,
And he will be called [c](D)blessed upon the earth;
And (E)do not turn him over to the desire of his enemies.
3 The Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You [d]restore him to health.
4 As for me, I said, “Lord, be gracious to me;
(F)Heal my soul, for (G)I have sinned against You.”
5 My enemies (H)speak evil against me,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And [e]when he comes to see me, he (I)speaks [f]empty words;
His heart gathers wickedness to itself;
When he goes outside, he tells it.
7 All who hate me whisper together against me;
They (J)plot my harm against me, saying,
8 “A wicked thing is poured out [g]upon him,
So that when he lies down, he will (K)not get up again.”
9 Even my [h](L)close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.
10 But You, Lord, be gracious to me and (M)raise me up,
That I may repay them.
11 By this I know that (N)You are pleased with me,
Because (O)my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
12 As for me, (P)You uphold me in my integrity,
And You place me (Q)in Your presence forever.
13 (R)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
Futility of Boastful Wickedness.
For the music director. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you (A)boast in evil, you mighty man?
The (B)faithfulness of God endures all day long.
2 Your tongue devises (C)destruction,
Like a (D)sharp razor, (E)you worker of deceit.
3 You (F)love evil more than good,
(G)Lies more than speaking what is right. Selah
4 You love all words that devour,
You (H)deceitful tongue.
5 [c]But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and (I)tear you away from your tent,
And (J)uproot you from the (K)land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous will (L)see and fear,
And they will (M)laugh at him, saying,
7 “Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But (N)trusted in the abundance of his riches
And (O)was strong in [d]his evil desire.”
Former Times of Help and Present Troubles.
For the music director. A [a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.
44 God, we have heard with our ears,
Our (A)fathers have told us
The (B)work that You did in their days,
In the (C)days of old.
2 You with Your own hand (D)drove out the nations;
Then You (E)planted them;
You (F)afflicted the peoples,
Then You (G)let them go free.
3 For by their own sword they (H)did not possess the land,
And their own arm did not save them,
But Your right hand and Your (I)arm and the (J)light of Your presence,
For You (K)favored them.
4 You are (L)my King, God;
(M)Command [b]victories for Jacob.
5 Through You we will (N)push back our adversaries;
Through Your name we will (O)trample down those who rise up against us.
6 For I will (P)not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
7 But You (Q)have saved us from our adversaries,
And You have (R)put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have (S)boasted all day long,
And we will (T)give thanks to Your name forever. Selah
9 Yet You (U)have rejected us and brought us to (V)dishonor,
And (W)do not go out with our armies.
10 You cause us to (X)turn back from the enemy;
And those who hate us (Y)have taken spoils for themselves.
11 You turn us over [c]to be eaten like (Z)sheep,
And have (AA)scattered us among the nations.
12 You (AB)sell Your people [d]cheaply,
And have not [e]profited by their sale.
13 You make us an object of (AC)reproach to our neighbors,
Of scoffing and (AD)ridicule to those around us.
14 You make us (AE)a proverb among the nations,
A [f](AF)laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my dishonor is before me
And [g]I am covered with my (AG)humiliation,
16 Because of the voice of one who (AH)taunts and reviles,
Because of the presence of the (AI)enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us, but we have (AJ)not forgotten You,
And we have not (AK)dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18 Our heart has not (AL)turned back,
And our steps (AM)have not deviated from Your way,
19 Yet You have (AN)crushed us in a place of (AO)jackals
And covered us with [h](AP)deep darkness.
20 If we had (AQ)forgotten the name of our God
Or extended our [i]hands to (AR)a strange god,
21 Would God not (AS)find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 But (AT)for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are regarded as (AU)sheep to be slaughtered.
23 (AV)Wake Yourself up, why (AW)do You sleep, Lord?
Awake, (AX)do not reject us forever.
24 Why do You (AY)hide Your face
And (AZ)forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our (BA)souls have sunk down into the dust;
Our bodies cling to the earth.
26 (BB)Rise up, be our help,
And (BC)redeem us because of Your mercy.
The Two Witnesses
11 Then there was given to me a [a](A)measuring rod like a staff; [b]and (B)someone said, “Get up and measure the [c]temple of God and the altar, and those who worship in it. 2 [d]Leave out the (C)courtyard which is outside the [e]temple and do not measure it, because (D)it has been given to the nations; and they will (E)trample (F)the holy city for (G)forty-two months. 3 And I will grant authority to my two (H)witnesses, and they will prophesy for (I)1,260 days, clothed in (J)sackcloth.” 4 These are the (K)two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 And if anyone wants to harm them, (L)fire flows out of their mouth and devours their enemies; and so if anyone wants to harm them, (M)he must be killed in this way. 6 These have the power to (N)shut up the sky, so that rain will not fall during (O)the days of their prophesying; and they have power over the waters to (P)turn them into blood, and (Q)to strike the earth with every plague, as often as they desire.
7 When they have finished their testimony, (R)the beast that comes up out of the (S)abyss will (T)make war with them, and overcome them and kill them. 8 And their dead bodies will lie on the street of the (U)great city which [f]spiritually is called (V)Sodom and (W)Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified. 9 Those from (X)the peoples, tribes, languages, and nations will look at their dead [g]bodies for three and a half days, and [h](Y)will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb. 10 And (Z)those who live on the earth will rejoice over them and celebrate; and they will (AA)send gifts to one another, because these two prophets tormented (AB)those who live on the earth.
11 And after the three and a half days, (AC)the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear fell upon those who were watching them. 12 And they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “(AD)Come up here.” And they (AE)went up into heaven in the cloud, and their enemies watched them. 13 And [i]at that time there was a great (AF)earthquake, and a tenth of the city fell; [j]seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were terrified and (AG)gave glory to the (AH)God of heaven.
14 The second (AI)woe has passed; behold, the third woe is coming quickly.
Pharisees’ Blasphemy
14 (A)And He was casting out a mute demon; when the demon had gone out, the man who was previously unable to speak talked, and the crowds were amazed. 15 But some of them said, “He casts out the demons (B)by (C)Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” 16 Others, [a]to test Him, (D)were demanding of Him a [b]sign from heaven. 17 (E)But He knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste; and a house divided against [c]itself falls. 18 And if (F)Satan also has been divided against himself, how will his kingdom [d]stand? For you claim that I cast out the demons by (G)Beelzebul. 19 Yet if by (H)Beelzebul I cast out the demons, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore, they will be your judges. 20 But if I cast out the demons by [e]the (I)finger of God, then (J)the kingdom of God has come upon you. 21 When [f]a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are [g]secure. 22 But when someone stronger than he attacks him and overpowers him, that man takes away his armor on which he had relied and distributes his plunder. 23 (K)The one who is not with Me is against Me; and the one who does not gather with Me scatters.
24 “(L)When the unclean spirit comes out of [h]a person, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding any, it then says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came.’ 25 And when it comes, it finds it swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they come in and live there; and the last condition of that person becomes worse than the first.”
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