Book of Common Prayer

A Safe Place in God

61 Hear my cry, O God. Listen to my prayer. ² I call to You from the end of the earth when my heart is weak. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I. ³ For You have been a safe place for me, a tower of strength where I am safe from those who fight against me. ⁴ Let me live in Your tent forever. Let me be safe under the covering of Your wings. ⁵ For You have heard my promises, O God. You have given me that which You give to those who fear Your name. ⁶ You will add days to the life of the king. His years will be as long as the lives of many children and grandchildren added together. ⁷ He will stay forever with God. Set apart loving-kindness and truth to keep him safe. ⁸ So I will sing thanks to Your name forever and keep my promises day by day.

Thankful for God’s Care

62 My soul is quiet and waits for God alone. He is the One Who saves me. ² He alone is my rock and the One Who saves me. He is my strong place. I will not be shaken.

³ How long will all of you go against a man to break him down, that you may kill him, like a wall that no longer stands straight, like a fence ready to fall? ⁴ They have talked only about throwing him down from his high place. They find joy in lies. They pray with their mouth that good will come. But inside they hope that bad will come instead.

⁵ My soul is quiet and waits for God alone. My hope comes from Him. ⁶ He alone is my rock and the One Who saves me. He is my strong place. I will not be shaken. ⁷ My being safe and my honor rest with God. My safe place is in God, the rock of my strength. ⁸ Trust in Him at all times, O people. Pour out your heart before Him. God is a safe place for us.

⁹ Men who are not important come to nothing. Men who are important are a lie. When weighed they go up. Together they weigh less than a breath. ¹⁰ Do not get money in a wrong way or be proud in stolen things. If you get more riches, do not set your heart on them.

¹¹ God has spoken once. I have heard this twice: Power belongs to God. ¹² And loving-kindness belongs to You, O Lord. For You pay every man by the work he has done.

Good Comes to the Person Who Honors the Lord

112 Praise the Lord! How happy is the man who honors the Lord with fear and finds joy in His Law! ² His children will be powerful in the land. Each family who is right will be happy. ³ Riches and well-being are in his house. And his right-standing with God will last forever. ⁴ Light rises even in darkness for the one who is right. He is kind and has loving-pity and does what is right. ⁵ Good will come to the man who is ready to give much, and fair in what he does. ⁶ He will never be shaken. The man who is right and good will be remembered forever. ⁷ He will not be afraid of bad news. His heart is strong because he trusts in the Lord. ⁸ His heart will not be shaken. He will not be afraid and will watch those lose who fight against him. ⁹ He has given much to the poor. His right-standing with God lasts forever. His horn will be lifted high in honor.

¹⁰ The sinful man will see it and be troubled and angry. He will grind his teeth and waste away. The desire of the sinful will come to nothing.

One True God

115 Let honor be given to Your name and not to us, O Lord, not to us. Because You are loving and kind and faithful. ² Why should the nations say, “Where is their God now?” ³ But our God is in the heavens. He does whatever He wants to do. ⁴ Their gods are silver and gold, the work of human hands. ⁵ They have mouths but they cannot speak. They have eyes but they cannot see. ⁶ They have ears but they cannot hear. They have noses but they cannot smell. ⁷ They have hands but they cannot feel. They have feet but they cannot walk. They cannot make a sound come out of their mouths. ⁸ Those who make them and trust them will be like them.

⁹ O Israel, trust in the Lord. He is their help and safe-covering. ¹⁰ O house of Aaron, trust in the Lord. He is their help and safe-covering. ¹¹ You who fear the Lord, trust in the Lord. He is their help and safe-covering. ¹² The Lord has remembered us and will make good come to us. He will make good come to the house of Israel. He will make good come to the house of Aaron. ¹³ He will make good come to those who fear the Lord, both the small and the great. ¹⁴ May the Lord make your numbers grow, both you and your children. ¹⁵ May you be given good things by the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.

¹⁶ The heavens belong to the Lord. But He has given the earth to the children of men. ¹⁷ The dead do not praise the Lord. Neither do those who go down into the quiet place. ¹⁸ But we will give honor and thanks to the Lord, now and forever. Praise the Lord!

Peace through the One from the Family of Jesse

11 Then One will come from the family of Jesse. A branch will grow out of his roots. ² And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of wise words and strength, the spirit of much learning and the fear of the Lord. ³ He will be glad in the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by what His eyes see, or decide by what His ears hear. ⁴ But He will judge the poor in a right and good way. He will be fair in what He decides for the people of the earth who have much trouble. He will punish the earth with His powerful mouth, and kill the sinful with the breath of His lips. ⁵ He will wear a belt of what is right and good and faithful around His body.

⁶ The wolf will live with the lamb. The leopard will lie down with the baby goat. The calf and the young lion and the young fat animal will lie down together. And a little boy will lead them. ⁷ The cow and the bear will eat side by side. And their young will lie down together. The lion will eat straw like the ox. ⁸ The nursing child will play by the hole of the cobra. And another child will put his hand in the hole of a snake whose bite is poison. ⁹ They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain. For the earth will be as full of much learning from the Lord as the seas are full of water.

Satan Is Chained for One Thousand Years

20 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven. He had in his hand a key to the hole without a bottom. He also had a strong chain. ² He took hold of the dragon, that old snake, who is the Devil, or Satan, and chained him for 1,000 years. ³ The angel threw the devil into the hole without a bottom. He shut it and locked him in it. He could not fool the nations anymore until the 1,000 years were completed. After this he must be free for awhile.

⁴ Then I saw thrones. Those who were sitting there were given the power to judge. I saw the souls of those who had been killed because they told about Jesus and preached the Word of God. They had not worshiped the wild animal or his false god. They had not received his mark on their foreheads or hands. They lived again and were leaders along with Christ for 1,000 years. ⁵ The rest of the dead did not come to life again until the 1,000 years were finished. This is the first time many people are raised from the dead at the same time. ⁶ Those who are raised from the dead during this first time are happy and holy. The second death has no power over them. They will be religious leaders of God and of Christ. They will be leaders with Him for 1,000 years.

Satan Is Destroyed Forever

⁷ When the 1,000 years are finished, Satan will be free to leave his prison. ⁸ He will go out and fool the nations who are over all the world. They are Gog and Magog. He will gather them all together for war. There will be as many as the sand along the sea-shore. ⁹ They will spread out over the earth and all around the place where God’s people are and around the city that is loved. Fire will come down from God out of heaven and destroy them. ¹⁰ Then the devil who fooled them will be thrown into the lake of fire burning with sulphur. The wild animal and the false preacher are already there. They will all be punished day and night forever.

Jesus Tells of John and of Himself

³⁰ “I can do nothing by Myself. I say who is guilty only as My Father tells Me. That way, what I say is right, because I am not trying to do what I want to do. I am doing what the Father, Who sent Me, wants Me to do. ³¹ If I tell about Myself, My words are worth nothing. ³² There is another One Who tells about Me. I know the words He says about Me are true.

³³ “You sent to John the Baptist and he told you the truth. ³⁴ I do not need words from men to say I am right. I say this that you might be saved from the punishment of sin. ³⁵ John the Baptist was a burning and shining light. You were willing for awhile to be glad in his light. ³⁶ I have something greater than John which tells of Me. I am doing works the Father has given Me to do and they are proving that the Father has sent Me. ³⁷ The Father has told of Me and has sent Me. You have never heard His voice. You have never seen Him. ³⁸ You do not have His Word living in your hearts because you do not put your trust in the One He sent.

³⁹ “You do read the Holy Writings. You think you have life that lasts forever just because you read them. They do tell of Me. ⁴⁰ But you do not want to come to Me so you might have life. ⁴¹ I do not take any honor from men. ⁴² I know you and you do not have the love of God in your hearts. ⁴³ I have come in the name of My Father. You do not receive Me. If another person comes in his own name, you will receive him. ⁴⁴ How can you believe when you are always wanting honor from each other? And yet you do not look for the honor that comes from the only God.

⁴⁵ “Do not think that I will tell the Father you are guilty. The one who says you are guilty is Moses. You trust him. ⁴⁶ If you had believed Moses, you would believe Me. For Moses wrote about Me. ⁴⁷ If you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe My Words?”