Book of Common Prayer
God the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked.
A Psalm of [a]Asaph.
50 (A)The Mighty One, God, the Lord, has spoken,
And summoned 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 keep silence;
(F)Fire devours before Him,
And it is very (G)tempestuous around Him.
4 He (H)summons the heavens above,
And the earth, to judge His people:
5 “Gather My (I)godly ones to Me,
Those who have made 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, and [e]all it contains.
13 “Shall I eat the flesh of [f](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 trouble;
I shall (Y)rescue you, and you will (Z)honor Me.”
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to tell of 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 [g](AD)are pleased with him,
And [h]you (AE)associate with adulterers.
19 “You [i](AF)let your mouth loose in evil
And your (AG)tongue frames 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 silence;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will (AJ)reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.
Prayer for Deliverance from Enemies.
For the choir director; set to [a]Al-tashheth. A [b]Mikhtam of David, [c]when Saul sent men and they watched the house in order to kill him.
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)those who do iniquity
And save me from (D)men of bloodshed.
3 For behold, they (E)have [e]set an ambush for my [f]life;
[g]Fierce men [h](F)launch an attack against me,
(G)Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Lord,
4 [i](H)For no guilt of mine, they run and set themselves against me.
(I)Arouse Yourself to [j]help me, and see!
5 You, (J)O Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Awake to [k](K)punish all the nations;
(L)Do not be gracious to any who are treacherous in iniquity. [l]Selah.
6 They (M)return at evening, they howl like a (N)dog,
And go around the city.
7 Behold, they (O)belch forth with their mouth;
(P)Swords are in their lips,
For, they say, “(Q)Who hears?”
8 But You, O Lord, (R)laugh at them;
You (S)scoff at all the nations.
9 Because of [m]his (T)strength I will watch for You,
For God is my (U)stronghold.
10 [n]My God (V)in His lovingkindness will meet me;
God will let me (W)look triumphantly upon [o]my foes.
11 Do not slay them, (X)or my people will forget;
[p](Y)Scatter them by Your power, and bring them down,
O Lord, (Z)our shield.
12 [q]On account of the (AA)sin of their mouth and the words of their lips,
Let them even be (AB)caught in their pride,
And on account of (AC)curses and [r]lies which they utter.
13 [s](AD)Destroy them in wrath, [t]destroy them that they may be no more;
That men may (AE)know that God [u]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 [v]for food
And [w]growl if they are not satisfied.
16 But as for me, I shall (AH)sing of Your strength;
Yes, 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 [x]God who shows me lovingkindness.
Lament over Defeat in Battle, and Prayer for Help.
For the choir director; according to [y]Shushan Eduth. A [z]Mikhtam of David, to teach; [aa]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 [ab](AP)broken us;
You have been (AQ)angry; O, (AR)restore us.
2 You have made the [ac](AS)land quake, You have split it open;
(AT)Heal its breaches, for it totters.
3 You have [ad](AU)made Your people experience hardship;
You have given us [ae]wine to (AV)drink that makes us stagger.
4 You have given a (AW)banner to those who fear You,
That it may be displayed because of the truth. [af]Selah.
5 (AX)That Your (AY)beloved may be delivered,
(AZ)Save with Your right hand, and answer [ag]us!
6 God has spoken in His [ah](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 [ai]helmet of My head;
Judah is My [aj](BF)scepter.
8 “(BG)Moab is My washbowl;
Over (BH)Edom I shall throw My shoe;
Shout loud, O (BI)Philistia, because of Me!”
9 Who will bring me into the besieged city?
Who [ak]will lead me to Edom?
10 Have not You Yourself, O God, (BJ)rejected us?
And (BK)will You not go forth with our armies, O God?
11 O give us help against the adversary,
For (BL)deliverance [al]by man is in vain.
12 [am]Through God we shall (BM)do valiantly,
And it is He who will (BN)tread down our adversaries.
Praise to the Creator and Preserver.
33 (A)Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones;
Praise is (B)becoming to the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord 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 shout of joy.
4 For the word of the Lord (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 the Lord.
6 By the (K)word of the Lord 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 together [a]as a heap;
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let (O)all the earth fear the Lord;
Let all the inhabitants of the world (P)stand in awe of Him.
9 For (Q)He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it [b]stood fast.
10 The Lord (R)nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 The (S)counsel of the Lord stands forever,
The (T)plans of His heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the (U)nation whose God is the Lord,
The people whom He has (V)chosen for His own inheritance.
13 The Lord (W)looks from heaven;
He (X)sees all the sons of men;
14 From (Y)His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who (Z)fashions [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 victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.
18 Behold, (AD)the eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him,
On those who [d](AE)hope for His lovingkindness,
19 To (AF)deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive (AG)in famine.
20 Our soul (AH)waits for the Lord;
He is our (AI)help and our shield.
21 For our (AJ)heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O Lord, be upon us,
According as we have [e]hoped in You.
Nehemiah’s Grief for the Exiles
1 The words of (A)Nehemiah the son of Hacaliah.
Now it happened in (B)the month Chislev, (C)in the twentieth year, while I was in (D)Susa the [a]capitol, 2 that (E)Hanani, one of my brothers, and [b]some men from Judah came; and I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “The remnant there in the (F)province who survived the captivity are in great distress and (G)reproach, and (H)the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and (I)its gates are burned with fire.”
4 When I heard these words, (J)I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before (K)the God of heaven. 5 I said, “I beseech You, O Lord God of heaven, (L)the great and awesome God, (M)who preserves the covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 6 (N)let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, (O)confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have sinned against You; (P)I and my father’s house have sinned. 7 (Q)We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances (R)which You commanded Your servant Moses. 8 Remember the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘(S)If you are unfaithful I will scatter you among the peoples; 9 (T)but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I (U)will gather them from there and will bring them (V)to the place where I have chosen to cause My name to dwell.’ 10 (W)They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. 11 O Lord, I beseech You, (X)may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to [c]revere Your name, and make Your servant successful today and grant him compassion before this man.”
Now I was the (Y)cupbearer to the king.
Angels Exalt the Lamb
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels (A)around the throne and the (B)living creatures and the (C)elders; and the number of them was (D)myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,
“(E)Worthy is the (F)Lamb that was (G)slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
13 And (H)every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying,
“To Him who (I)sits on the throne, and to the (J)Lamb, (K)be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”
14 And the (L)four living creatures kept saying, “(M)Amen.” And the (N)elders (O)fell down and worshiped.
The First Seal—Rider on White Horse
6 Then I saw when the (P)Lamb broke one of the (Q)seven seals, and I heard one of the (R)four living creatures saying as with a (S)voice of thunder, “Come[a].” 2 I looked, and behold, a (T)white horse, and he who sat on it had a bow; and (U)a crown was given to him, and he went out (V)conquering and to conquer.
The Second Seal—War
3 When He broke the second seal, I heard the (W)second living creature saying, “Come[b].” 4 And another, (X)a red horse, went out; and to him who sat on it, it was granted to (Y)take peace from the earth, and that men would slay one another; and a great sword was given to him.
The Third Seal—Famine
5 When He broke the third seal, I heard the (Z)third living creature saying, “Come[c].” I looked, and behold, a (AA)black horse; and he who sat on it had a (AB)pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard something like a voice in the center of the (AC)four living creatures saying, “A [d]quart of wheat for a [e]denarius, and three [f]quarts of barley for a [g]denarius; and (AD)do not damage the oil and the wine.”
The Fourth Seal—Death
7 When the Lamb broke the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the (AE)fourth living creature saying, “Come[h].” 8 I looked, and behold, an [i](AF)ashen horse; and he who sat on it had the name (AG)Death; and (AH)Hades was following with him. Authority was given to them over a fourth of the earth, (AI)to kill with sword and with famine and with [j]pestilence and by the wild beasts of the earth.
The Fifth Seal—Martyrs
9 When the Lamb broke the fifth seal, I saw (AJ)underneath the (AK)altar the (AL)souls of those who had been slain (AM)because of the word of God, and because of the (AN)testimony which they had maintained; 10 and they cried out with a loud voice, saying, “(AO)How long, O [k](AP)Lord, (AQ)holy and true, [l]will You refrain from (AR)judging and avenging our blood on (AS)those who dwell on the earth?” 11 And (AT)there was given to each of them a white robe; and they were told that they should (AU)rest for a little while longer, (AV)until the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who were to be killed even as they had been, would be (AW)completed also.
The Sower Explained
18 “(A)Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 When anyone hears (B)the [a]word of the kingdom and does not understand it, (C)the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is the one on whom seed was sown beside the road. 20 The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the [b]word, immediately he [c](D)falls away. 22 And the one on whom seed was sown among the thorns, this is the man who hears the word, and the worry of (E)the [d]world and the (F)deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. 23 And the one on whom seed was sown on the good soil, this is the man who hears the word and understands it; who indeed bears fruit and brings forth, some (G)a hundredfold, some sixty, and some thirty.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.