Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for the Destruction of the Treacherous.
For the choir director; on stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David.
55 (A)Give ear to my prayer, O God;
And (B)do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
2 Give (C)heed to me and answer me;
I am restless in my (D)complaint and [b](E)am surely distracted,
3 Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the (F)pressure of the wicked;
For they (G)bring down [c]trouble upon me
And in anger they (H)bear a grudge against me.
4 My (I)heart is in anguish within me,
And the terrors of (J)death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and (K)trembling come upon me,
And [d](L)horror has overwhelmed me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and [e](M)be at rest.
7 “Behold, I would wander far away,
I would (N)lodge in the wilderness. [f]Selah.
8 “I would hasten to my place of refuge
From the (O)stormy wind and tempest.”
9 [g]Confuse, O Lord, (P)divide their tongues,
For I have seen (Q)violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around her upon her walls,
And iniquity and mischief are in her midst.
11 (R)Destruction is in her midst;
(S)Oppression and deceit do not depart from her [h]streets.
12 For it is (T)not an enemy who reproaches me,
Then I could bear it;
Nor is it one who hates me who (U)has exalted himself against me,
Then I could hide myself from him.
13 But it is you, a man [i]my equal,
My (V)companion and my [j](W)familiar friend;
14 We who had sweet [k]fellowship together
(X)Walked in the house of God in the throng.
15 Let [l]death come (Y)deceitfully upon them;
Let them (Z)go down alive to [m]Sheol,
For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.
16 As for me, I shall (AA)call upon God,
And the Lord will save me.
17 (AB)Evening and (AC)morning and at (AD)noon, I will complain and murmur,
And He will hear my voice.
18 He will (AE)redeem my soul in peace [n]from the battle which is against me,
For they are (AF)many who strive with me.
19 God will (AG)hear and [o]answer them—
Even the one (AH)who [p]sits enthroned from of old— Selah.
With whom there [q]is no change,
And who (AI)do not fear God.
20 He has put forth his hands against (AJ)those who were at peace with him;
He has [r](AK)violated his covenant.
21 His [s]speech was (AL)smoother than butter,
But his heart was war;
His words were (AM)softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn (AN)swords.
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.
A Psalm of David.
138 (A)I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the (B)gods.
2 I will bow down (C)toward Your holy temple
And (D)give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your [a]truth;
For You have (E)magnified Your [b]word [c]according to all Your name.
3 On the day I (F)called, You answered me;
You made me bold with (G)strength in my soul.
4 (H)All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, O Lord,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth.
5 And they will (I)sing of the ways of the Lord,
For (J)great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For (K)though the Lord is exalted,
Yet He (L)regards the lowly,
But the (M)haughty He knows from afar.
7 Though I (N)walk in the midst of trouble, You will [d](O)revive me;
You will (P)stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will (Q)save me.
8 The Lord will (R)accomplish what concerns me;
Your (S)lovingkindness, O Lord, is everlasting;
(T)Do not forsake the (U)works of Your hands.
God’s Omnipresence and Omniscience.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
139 O Lord, You have (V)searched me and known me.
2 You (W)know [e]when I sit down and [f]when I rise up;
You (X)understand my thought from afar.
3 You [g](Y)scrutinize my [h]path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 [i]Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Lord, You (Z)know it all.
5 You have (AA)enclosed me behind and before,
And (AB)laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such (AC)knowledge is (AD)too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 (AE)Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 (AF)If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in [j]Sheol, behold, (AG)You are there.
9 If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will (AH)lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the (AI)darkness will [k]overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12 Even the (AJ)darkness is not dark [l]to You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
(AK)Darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For You (AL)formed my [m]inward parts;
You (AM)wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for [n]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
(AN)Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My [o](AO)frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the (AP)depths of the earth;
16 Your (AQ)eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in (AR)Your book were all written
The (AS)days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious also are Your (AT)thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would (AU)outnumber the sand.
When (AV)I awake, I am still with You.
19 O that You would (AW)slay the wicked, O God;
(AX)Depart from me, therefore, (AY)men of bloodshed.
20 For they (AZ)speak [p]against You wickedly,
And Your enemies [q](BA)take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not (BB)hate those who hate You, O Lord?
And do I not (BC)loathe those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
Work Is Ridiculed
4 [a]Now it came about that when (A)Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became furious and very angry and mocked the Jews. 2 He spoke in the presence of his brothers and (B)the [b]wealthy men of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they finish in a day? Can they revive the stones from the [c](C)dusty rubble even the burned ones?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, “Even what they are building—(D)if a fox should [d]jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!”
4 (E)Hear, O our God, how we are despised! (F)Return their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not [e](G)forgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before You, for they have [f]demoralized the builders.
6 So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, for the people had a [g]mind to work.
7 [h]Now when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the [i]repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the breaches began to be closed, they were very angry. 8 All of them (H)conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it.
Discouragement Overcome
9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we (I)set up a guard against them day and night.
10 Thus [j]in Judah it was said,
“The strength of the burden bearers is failing,
Yet there is much [k]rubbish;
And we ourselves are unable
To rebuild the wall.”
11 Our enemies said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them and put a stop to the work.” 12 When the Jews who lived near them came and told us ten times, “[l]They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,” 13 then I stationed men in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the [m]exposed places, and I (J)stationed the people in families with their swords, spears and bows. 14 When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: “(K)Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and (L)fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses.”
15 When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that (M)God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. 16 From that day on, half of my servants carried on the work while half of them held the spears, the shields, the bows and the breastplates; and the captains were behind the whole house of Judah. 17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. 18 As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while [n]the trumpeter stood near me. 19 I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another. 20 At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, [o]rally to us there. (N)Our God will fight for us.”
21 So we carried on the work with half of them holding spears from [p]dawn until the stars [q]appeared. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Let each man with his servant spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a laborer by day.” 23 So neither I, my brothers, my servants, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, each took his weapon even to the water.
The 144,000
4 And I heard the (A)number of those who were sealed, (B)one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5 from the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad twelve thousand, 6 from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh twelve thousand, 7 from the tribe of Simeon twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar twelve thousand, 8 from the tribe of Zebulun twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.
A Multitude from the Tribulation
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could count, from (C)every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing (D)before the throne and (E)before the Lamb, clothed in (F)white robes, and (G)palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying,
“(H)Salvation to our God (I)who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11 And all the angels were standing (J)around the throne and around (K)the elders and the (L)four living creatures; and they (M)fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying,
“(N)Amen, (O)blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. (P)Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders (Q)answered, saying to me, “These who are clothed in the (R)white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” 14 I [a]said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the (S)great tribulation, and they have (T)washed their robes and made them (U)white in the (V)blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason, they are (W)before the throne of God; and they (X)serve Him day and night in His [b](Y)temple; and (Z)He who sits on the throne will spread His (AA)tabernacle over them. 16 (AB)They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun [c]beat down on them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb in the center of the throne will be their (AC)shepherd, and will guide them to springs of the [d](AD)water of life; and (AE)God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
The Mustard Seed
31 He presented another parable to them, saying, “(A)The kingdom of heaven is like (B)a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that (C)the birds of the [a]air come and nest in its branches.”
The Leaven
33 He spoke another parable to them, “(D)The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in (E)three [b]pecks of flour until it was all leavened.”
34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He did not speak to them (F)without a parable. 35 This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet:
“(G)I will open My mouth in parables;
I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.