Book of Common Prayer
God Himself Is Judge
A Psalm of [a]Asaph.
50 (A)The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, has spoken,
And called the earth (B)from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, (C)the perfection of beauty,
God (D)has shone forth.
3 May our God (E)come and not be silent;
(F)Fire devours before Him,
And (G)a storm whirls around Him.
4 He (H)calls the heavens above,
And the earth, to render justice to His people:
5 “Gather My (I)holy ones to Me,
Those who have cut a (J)covenant with Me by (K)sacrifice.”
6 And the (L)heavens declare His righteousness,
For (M)God Himself is judge. [b]Selah.
7 “(N)Hear, O My people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify [c]against you;
I am God, (O)your God.
8 I do (P)not reprove you for your sacrifices,
And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
9 I shall take no (Q)young bull out of your house
Nor male goats out of your folds.
10 For (R)every beast of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every (S)bird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is [d]Mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the (T)world is Mine, as well as its fullness.
13 Shall I eat the flesh of [e](U)bulls
Or drink the blood of male goats?
14 Offer to God (V)a sacrifice of thanksgiving
And (W)pay your vows to the Most High;
15 (X)Call upon Me in the day of distress;
I shall (Y)rescue you, and you will (Z)glorify Me.”
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to recount My statutes
And to take (AA)My covenant in your mouth?
17 For you (AB)hate discipline,
And you (AC)cast My words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you [f](AD)are pleased with him,
And [g]you (AE)associate with adulterers.
19 You [h](AF)let your mouth loose in evil
And you harness your (AG)tongue for deceit.
20 You sit and (AH)speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done and (AI)I kept silent;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will (AJ)reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.
Deliver Me from My Enemies
For the choir director. [a]Al-tashheth. Of David. A [b]Mikhtam. [c]When Saul sent men and they watched the house in order to put him to death.
59 (A)Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
[d](B)Set me securely on high away from those who rise up against me.
2 Deliver me from (C)workers of iniquity
And save me from (D)men of bloodshed.
3 For behold, they (E)have lain in wait for my soul;
[e]Fierce men [f](F)launch an attack against me,
(G)Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Yahweh,
4 [g](H)For no guilt of mine, they run and set themselves against me.
(I)Arouse Yourself to meet me, and see!
5 You, (J)O Yahweh God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Awake to [h](K)punish all the nations;
(L)Do not be gracious to any who are treacherous in [i]iniquity. [j]Selah.
6 They (M)return at evening, they howl like a (N)dog,
And go around the city.
7 Behold, they (O)pour forth speech with their mouth;
(P)Swords are in their lips,
For, they say, “(Q)Who hears?”
8 But You, O Yahweh, (R)laugh at them;
You (S)mock all the nations.
9 Because of [k]his (T)strength I will watch for You,
For God is my (U)stronghold.
10 [l]My God (V)in His lovingkindness will approach me;
God will let me (W)look triumphantly upon [m]my foes.
11 Do not slay them, (X)or my people will forget;
(Y)Make them wander about by Your power, and bring them down,
O Lord, (Z)our shield.
12 [n]On account of the (AA)sin of their mouth and the word of their lips,
Let them even be (AB)caught in their pride,
And on account of (AC)curses and [o]lies which they utter.
13 [p](AD)Destroy them in wrath, [q]destroy them that they may be no more;
That men may (AE)know that God [r]rules in Jacob
To the ends of the earth. Selah.
14 They (AF)return at evening, they howl like a dog,
And go around the city.
15 They (AG)wander about [s]for food
And [t]growl if they are not satisfied.
16 But as for me, I shall (AH)sing of Your strength;
And I shall (AI)joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the (AJ)morning,
For You have been my (AK)stronghold
And a (AL)refuge in the day of my distress.
17 (AM)O my strength, I will sing praises to You;
For God is my (AN)stronghold, the [u]God who shows me lovingkindness.
Through God We Shall Do Valiantly
For the choir director. According to [v]Shushan Eduth. A [w]Mikhtam of David. For teaching. [x]When he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
60 O God, (AO)You have rejected us. You have [y](AP)broken us;
You have been (AQ)angry; Oh, (AR)restore us.
2 You have made the [z](AS)land quake, You have split it open;
(AT)Heal its breaches, for it shakes.
3 You have (AU)caused Your people to see hardship;
You have given us [aa]wine to (AV)drink that causes reeling.
4 You have given a (AW)banner to those who fear You,
[ab]In order to flee to it from the bow. [ac]Selah.
5 (AX)That Your (AY)beloved may be rescued,
(AZ)Save with Your right hand, and answer [ad]us!
6 God has spoken in His [ae](BA)holiness:
“I will exult, I will portion out (BB)Shechem and measure out the valley of (BC)Succoth.
7 (BD)Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;
(BE)Ephraim also is the [af]helmet of My head;
Judah is My [ag](BF)scepter.
8 (BG)Moab is My washbowl;
Over (BH)Edom I shall throw My shoe;
Make a loud shout, O (BI)Philistia, because of Me!”
9 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who [ah]will lead me to Edom?
10 Have You Yourself, O God, not (BJ)rejected us?
And (BK)will You, O God, not go forth with our armies?
11 Oh give us help against the adversary,
For (BL)salvation [ai]by man is worthless.
12 [aj]Through God we shall (BM)do valiantly,
And it is He who will (BN)tread down our adversaries.
Yahweh Is Our Help and Our Shield
33 (A)Sing for joy in Yahweh, O righteous ones;
Praise is (B)becoming to the upright.
2 Give thanks to Yahweh with the (C)lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a (D)harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a (E)new song;
Play skillfully with (F)a loud shout.
4 For the word of Yahweh (G)is upright,
And all His work is done (H)in faithfulness.
5 He (I)loves righteousness and justice;
The (J)earth is full of the lovingkindness of Yahweh.
6 By the (K)word of Yahweh the heavens were made,
And (L)by the breath of His mouth (M)all their host.
7 He gathers the (N)waters of the sea [a]as a heap;
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let (O)all the earth fear Yahweh;
Let all the inhabitants of the world (P)stand in awe of Him.
9 For (Q)He spoke, and it was;
He commanded, and it [b]stood.
10 Yahweh (R)nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He frustrates the thoughts of the peoples.
11 The (S)counsel of Yahweh stands forever,
The (T)thoughts of His heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the (U)nation whose God is Yahweh,
The people whom He has (V)chosen for His own inheritance.
13 Yahweh (W)looks from heaven;
He (X)sees all the sons of men;
14 From (Y)the place of His habitation He gazes
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who (Z)forms [c]the hearts of them all,
He who (AA)understands all their works.
16 (AB)The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
17 A (AC)horse is a false hope for salvation;
Nor does it provide escape to anyone by its great strength.
18 Behold, (AD)the eye of Yahweh is on those who fear Him,
On those who (AE)wait for His lovingkindness,
19 To (AF)deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive (AG)in famine.
20 Our soul (AH)is patient for Yahweh;
He is our (AI)help and our shield.
21 For our (AJ)heart is glad in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O Yahweh, be upon us,
As we wait for You.
War in Heaven
7 And there was war in heaven, (A)Michael and his angels waging war with the (B)dragon. The dragon and (C)his angels waged war, 8 and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a place found for them in heaven. 9 And the great (D)dragon was thrown down, the (E)serpent of old who is called the devil and (F)Satan, who (G)deceives the whole [a]world. He was (H)thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. 10 Then I heard (I)a loud voice in heaven, saying,
“Now the (J)salvation, and the power, and the (K)kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the (L)accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, he who accuses them before our God day and night. 11 And they (M)overcame him because of (N)the blood of the Lamb and because of (O)the word of their witness, and they (P)did not love their life even to death. 12 For this reason, (Q)rejoice, O heavens and (R)you who [b]dwell in them. (S)Woe to the earth and the sea, because (T)the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only (U)a short time.”
13 And when the (V)dragon saw that he was thrown down to the earth, he persecuted (W)the woman who gave birth to the male child. 14 But the (X)two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly (Y)into the wilderness to her place, where she *was nourished for (Z)a time and times and half a time, from the [c]presence of the serpent. 15 And the (AA)serpent [d]poured water like a river out of his mouth after the woman, so that he might cause her to be swept away with the flood. 16 [e]But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon [f]poured out of his mouth. 17 So the dragon was enraged with the woman and went off to (AB)make war with the rest of her (AC)seed, who (AD)keep the commandments of God and (AE)have the witness of Jesus.
53 And when He left there, the scribes and the Pharisees began to be very hostile and to question Him closely on many subjects, 54 (A)plotting (B)to catch [a]Him in something He might say.
Fear Only God
12 At this time, after [b]so many thousands of the crowd had gathered together that they were trampling on one another, He began saying to His disciples first, “(C)Be on your guard for the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. 2 (D)But there is nothing covered up that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known. 3 Accordingly, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in the light, and what you have [c]whispered in the inner rooms will be proclaimed upon (E)the housetops.
4 “But I say to you, (F)My friends, do not fear those who kill the body and after that have no more that they can do. 5 But I will show you whom to fear: (G)fear the One who, after He has killed, has authority to cast into [d](H)hell; yes, I tell you, fear Him! 6 Are not (I)five sparrows sold for two [e]assaria? Yet not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 (J)Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear; you are more valuable than many sparrows.
Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit
8 “And I say to you, everyone who (K)confesses Me before men, the Son of Man will confess him also before the angels of God, 9 but (L)he who denies Me before men will be denied (M)before the angels of God. 10 (N)And everyone who [f]speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him, but he who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him. 11 Now when they bring you before (O)the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not (P)worry about how or what you are to speak in your defense, or what you are to say, 12 for (Q)the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say.”
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.