Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for Help against Persecutors.
For the music director. A Psalm of David; for a memorial.
70 (A)God, hurry to save me;
Lord, hurry to help me!
2 (B)May those who seek my [a]life
Be put to shame and humiliated;
May those who delight [b]in my harm
Be turned back and dishonored.
3 (C)May those who say, “Aha, aha!” be [c]turned back
Because of their shame.
4 May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You;
And may those who love Your salvation say continually,
“May God be exalted!”
5 But (D)I am afflicted and needy;
(E)Hurry to me, God!
You are my help and my savior;
Lord, do not delay.
Prayer of an Old Man for Rescue.
71 (F)In You, Lord, I have taken refuge;
Let me never be put to shame.
2 (G)In Your righteousness rescue me and save me;
(H)Extend Your ear to me and help me.
3 (I)Be to me a rock of (J)dwelling to which I may continually come;
You have given the (K)commandment to save me,
For You are (L)my rock and my fortress.
4 (M)Save me, my God, from the hand of the wicked,
From the [d]grasp of the wrongdoer and the ruthless,
5 For You are my (N)hope;
Lord [e]God, You are my (O)confidence from my youth.
6 I have (P)leaned on You since my birth;
You are He who (Q)took me from my mother’s womb;
My (R)praise is continually [f]of You.
7 I have become a (S)marvel to many,
For You are (T)my strong refuge.
8 My (U)mouth is filled with Your praise
And with (V)Your glory all day long.
9 Do not cast me away at the (W)time of my old age;
Do not abandon me when my strength fails.
10 For my enemies have spoken [g]against me;
And those who (X)watch for my [h]life (Y)have consulted together,
11 Saying, “(Z)God has abandoned him;
Pursue and seize him, for there is (AA)no one to save him.”
12 God, (AB)do not be far from me;
My God, (AC)hurry to my aid!
13 May those who are enemies of my soul be (AD)put to shame and consumed;
May they be (AE)covered with disgrace and dishonor, who (AF)seek [i]to injure me.
14 But as for me, I will (AG)wait continually,
And will [j](AH)praise You yet more and more.
15 My (AI)mouth shall tell of Your righteousness
And of (AJ)Your salvation all day long;
For I (AK)do not know the art of writing.
16 I will come (AL)with the mighty deeds of the Lord [k]God;
I will (AM)make mention of Your righteousness, Yours alone.
17 God, You (AN)have taught me from my youth,
And I still (AO)declare Your wondrous deeds.
18 And even when I am (AP)old and gray, God, do not abandon me,
Until I (AQ)declare Your [l]strength to this generation,
Your power to all who are to come.
19 [m]For Your (AR)righteousness, God, reaches to the [n]heavens,
You who have (AS)done great things;
God, (AT)who is like You?
20 You who have (AU)shown [o]me many troubles and distresses
Will (AV)revive [p]me again,
And will bring [q]me up again (AW)from the depths of the earth.
21 May You increase my (AX)greatness
And turn to (AY)comfort me.
22 I will also praise You with [r](AZ)a harp,
And Your [s]truth, my God;
I will sing praises to You with the (BA)lyre,
(BB)Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will (BC)shout for joy when I sing praises to You;
And my (BD)soul, which You have redeemed.
24 My (BE)tongue also will tell of Your righteousness all day long;
For they are (BF)put to shame, for they are humiliated who seek [t]my harm.
An Appeal against the Devastation of the Land by the Enemy.
A [a]Maskil of Asaph.
74 God, why have You (A)rejected us forever?
Why does Your anger (B)smoke against the (C)sheep of Your [b]pasture?
2 Remember Your congregation, which You (D)purchased of old,
Which You have (E)redeemed to be the (F)tribe of Your inheritance;
And this Mount (G)Zion, where You have dwelt.
3 [c]Step toward the [d](H)irreparable ruins;
The enemy (I)has damaged everything in the sanctuary.
4 Your adversaries have (J)roared in the midst of Your meeting place;
They have set up their (K)own signs as (L)signs.
5 It [e]seems like one bringing up
His (M)axe into a [f]forest of trees.
6 And now they break down [g]all its (N)carved work
With axe and hammers.
7 They have [h](O)burned Your sanctuary [i]to the ground;
They have (P)defiled the dwelling place of Your name.
8 They (Q)said in their heart, “Let’s [j]completely [k]subdue them.”
They have burned all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We do not see our (R)signs;
There is (S)no longer any prophet,
Nor is there anyone among us who knows (T)how long.
10 How long, God, will the enemy (U)taunt You?
Shall the enemy (V)treat Your name disrespectfully forever?
11 Why (W)do You withdraw Your hand, even Your right hand?
Extend it from Your chest and (X)destroy them!
12 Yet God is (Y)my King from long ago,
Who performs acts of salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 [l]You (Z)divided the sea by Your strength;
[m]You (AA)broke the heads of the (AB)sea monsters [n]in the waters.
14 [o]You crushed the heads of [p](AC)Leviathan;
You gave him as food for the [q]creatures (AD)of the wilderness.
15 [r]You (AE)broke open springs and torrents;
[s]You (AF)dried up ever-flowing streams.
16 Yours is the day, Yours also is the night;
[t]You have (AG)prepared the [u]light and the sun.
17 [v]You have (AH)established all the boundaries of the earth;
[w]You have [x]created (AI)summer and winter.
18 Remember this, [y]Lord, that the enemy has (AJ)taunted You,
And a (AK)foolish people has treated Your name disrespectfully.
19 Do not give the soul of Your (AL)turtledove to the wild animal;
(AM)Do not forget the life of Your afflicted forever.
20 Consider the (AN)covenant;
For the (AO)dark places of the land are full of the places of violence.
21 May the (AP)oppressed person not return dishonored;
May the (AQ)afflicted and the needy praise Your name.
12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the (A)great river, the Euphrates; and (B)its water was dried up, so that (C)the way would be prepared for the kings (D)from the [a]east.
Har-Magedon (Armageddon)
13 And I saw coming out of the mouth of the (E)dragon, and out of the mouth of the (F)beast, and out of the mouth of the (G)false prophet, three (H)unclean spirits like (I)frogs; 14 for they are (J)spirits of demons, (K)performing signs, which go out to the kings of the (L)entire [b]world, to (M)gather them together for the war of the (N)great day of God, the Almighty. 15 (“Behold, (O)I am coming like a thief. (P)Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, (Q)so that he will not walk about naked and people will not see his shame.”) 16 And they (R)gathered them together to the place which (S)in Hebrew is called (T)Har-Magedon.
The Seventh Bowl of Wrath
17 Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon (U)the air, and a (V)loud voice came out of the [c](W)temple from the throne, saying, “(X)It is done.” 18 And there were flashes of (Y)lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was (Z)a great earthquake, (AA)such as there had not been since mankind came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. 19 (AB)The great city [d]was split into three parts, and the cities of the [e]nations fell. (AC)Babylon the great was (AD)remembered in the sight of God, to give her (AE)the cup of the wine of [f]His fierce wrath. 20 And (AF)every island fled, and no mountains were found. 21 And (AG)huge [g]hailstones, weighing about [h]a talent each, *came down from heaven upon people; and people (AH)blasphemed God because of the (AI)plague of the hail, because [i]the hailstone plague *was extremely [j]severe.
Parables of Mustard Seed and Leaven
18 So (A)He was saying, “(B)What is the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I compare it? 19 It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and threw into his own garden; and it grew and became a tree, and (C)the birds of the sky nested in its branches.”
20 And again He said, “(D)To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? 21 (E)It is like [a]leaven, which a woman took and hid in (F)three [b]sata of flour until it was all leavened.”
Teaching in the Villages
22 And He was passing through one city and village after another, teaching, and (G)proceeding on His way to Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved?” And He said to them, 24 “(H)Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able. 25 Once the head of the house gets up and (I)shuts the door, and you begin standing outside and knocking on the door, saying, ‘(J)Lord, open up to us!’ and He then will answer and say to you, ‘(K)I do not know where you are from.’ 26 Then you will (L)begin saying, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets!’ 27 And yet He will [c]say, ‘(M)I do not know where you are from; (N)leave Me, all you [d]evildoers.’ 28 (O)In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, but yourselves being thrown out. 29 And they (P)will come from east and west, and from north and south, and will recline at the table in the kingdom of God. 30 And behold, (Q)some are last who will be first, and some are first who will be last.”
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