Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer for Protection[a]
61 Hear my cry, O God;
listen to my prayer!
2 In despair and far from home
I call to you!
Take me to a safe refuge,
3 for you are my protector,
my strong defense against my enemies.
4 Let me live in your sanctuary all my life;
let me find safety under your wings.
5 You have heard my promises, O God,
and you have given me what belongs to those who honor you.
6 Add many years to the king's life;
let him live on and on!
7 May he rule forever in your presence, O God;
protect him with your constant love and faithfulness.
8 So I will always sing praises to you,
as I offer you daily what I have promised.
Confidence in God's Protection[b]
62 I wait patiently for God to save me;
I depend on him alone.
2 He alone protects and saves me;
he is my defender,
and I shall never be defeated.
3 How much longer will all of you attack someone
who is no stronger than a broken-down fence?
4 You only want to bring him down from his place of honor;
you take pleasure in lies.
You speak words of blessing,
but in your heart you curse him.
5 I depend on God alone;
I put my hope in him.
6 He alone protects and saves me;
he is my defender,
and I shall never be defeated.
7 My salvation and honor depend on God;
he is my strong protector;
he is my shelter.
8 Trust in God at all times, my people.
Tell him all your troubles,
for he is our refuge.
9 Human beings are all like a puff of breath;
great and small alike are worthless.
Put them on the scales, and they weigh nothing;
they are lighter than a mere breath.
10 Don't put your trust in violence;
don't hope to gain anything by robbery;
even if your riches increase,
don't depend on them.
11 More than once I have heard God say
that power belongs to him
12 (A)and that his love is constant.
You yourself, O Lord, reward everyone according to their deeds.
A National Song of Triumph[a]
68 God rises up and scatters his enemies.
Those who hate him run away in defeat.
2 As smoke is blown away, so he drives them off;
as wax melts in front of the fire,
so do the wicked perish in God's presence.
3 But the righteous are glad and rejoice in his presence;
they are happy and shout for joy.
4 Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
prepare a way for him who rides on the clouds.[b]
His name is the Lord—be glad in his presence!
5 God, who lives in his sacred Temple,
cares for orphans and protects widows.
6 He gives the lonely a home to live in
and leads prisoners out into happy freedom,
but rebels will have to live in a desolate land.
7 O God, when you led your people,
when you marched across the desert,
8 (A)the earth shook, and the sky poured down rain,
because of the coming of the God of Sinai,[c]
the coming of the God of Israel.
9 You caused abundant rain to fall
and restored your worn-out land;
10 your people made their home there;
in your goodness you provided for the poor.
11 The Lord gave the command,
and many women carried the news:
12 “Kings and their armies are running away!”
The women at home divided what was captured:
13 figures of doves covered with silver,
whose wings glittered with fine gold.
(Why did some of you stay among the sheep pens on the day of battle?)
14 When Almighty God scattered the kings on Mount Zalmon,
he caused snow to fall there.
15 What a mighty mountain is Bashan,
a mountain of many peaks!
16 Why from your mighty peaks do you look with scorn
on the mountain[d] on which God chose to live?
The Lord will live there forever!
17 With his many thousands of mighty chariots
the Lord comes from Sinai[e] into the holy place.
18 (B)He goes up to the heights,
taking many captives with him;
he receives gifts from rebellious people.
The Lord God will live there.
19 Praise the Lord,
who carries our burdens day after day;
he is the God who saves us.
20 Our God is a God who saves;
he is the Lord, our Lord,
who rescues us from death.
21 God will surely break the heads of his enemies,
of those who persist in their sinful ways.
22 The Lord has said, “I will bring your enemies back from Bashan;
I will bring them back from the depths of the ocean,
23 so that you may wade in their blood,
and your dogs may lap up as much as they want.”
24 O God, your march of triumph is seen by all,
the procession of God, my king, into his sanctuary.
25 The singers are in front, the musicians are behind,
in between are the young women beating the tambourines.
26 “Praise God in the meeting of his people;
praise the Lord, all you descendants of Jacob!”
27 First comes Benjamin, the smallest tribe,
then the leaders of Judah with their group,
followed by the leaders of Zebulun and Naphtali.
28 Show your power, O God,
the power you have used on our behalf
29 from your Temple in Jerusalem,
where kings bring gifts to you.
30 Rebuke Egypt, that wild animal in the reeds;
rebuke the nations, that herd of bulls with their calves,
until they all bow down and offer you their silver.
Scatter those people who love to make war![f]
31 Ambassadors[g] will come from Egypt;
the Ethiopians[h] will raise their hands in prayer to God.
32 Sing to God, kingdoms of the world,
sing praise to the Lord,
33 to him who rides in the sky,
the ancient sky.
Listen to him shout with a mighty roar.
34 Proclaim God's power;
his majesty is over Israel,
his might is in the skies.
35 How awesome is God as he comes from his sanctuary—
the God of Israel!
He gives strength and power to his people.
Praise God!
Nehemiah Dedicates the City Wall
27 When the city wall of Jerusalem was dedicated, the Levites were brought in from wherever they were living, so that they could join in celebrating the dedication with songs of thanksgiving and with the music of cymbals and harps. 28 The Levite families of singers gathered from the area where they had settled around Jerusalem and from the towns around Netophah, 29 and from Bethgilgal, Geba, and Azmaveth. 30 The priests and the Levites performed ritual purification for themselves, the people, the gates, and the city wall.
31 I assembled the leaders of Judah on top of the wall and put them in charge of two large groups to march around the city, giving thanks to God.
The first group went to the right on top of the wall toward the Rubbish Gate.[a]
42 and they were followed by Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. The singers, led by Jezrahiah, sang at the top of their voices.
43 That day many sacrifices were offered, and the people were full of joy because God had made them very happy. The women and the children joined in the celebration, and the noise they all made could be heard for miles.
Providing for Worship in the Temple
44 At that time men were put in charge of the storerooms where contributions for the Temple were kept, including the tithes and the first grain and fruit that ripened each year. These men were responsible for collecting from the farms near the various cities the contributions for the priests and the Levites which the Law required. All the people of Judah were pleased with the priests and the Levites, 45 (A)because they performed the ceremonies of purification and the other rituals that God had commanded. The Temple musicians and the Temple guards also performed their duties in accordance with the regulations made by King David and his son Solomon. 46 From the time of King David and the musician Asaph long ago, the musicians have led songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47 In the time of Zerubbabel and also in the time of Nehemiah, all the people of Israel gave daily gifts for the support of the Temple musicians and the Temple guards. The people gave a sacred offering to the Levites, and the Levites gave the required portion to the priests.
The Two Witnesses
11 (A)I was then given a stick that looked like a measuring-rod, and was told, “Go and measure the temple of God and the altar, and count those who are worshiping in the temple. 2 (B)But do not measure the outer courts, because they have been given to the heathen, who will trample on the Holy City for forty-two months. 3 I will send my two witnesses dressed in sackcloth, and they will proclaim God's message during those 1, 260 days.”
4 (C)The two witnesses are the two olive trees and the two lamps that stand before the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes out of their mouths and destroys their enemies; and in this way whoever tries to harm them will be killed. 6 (D)They have authority to shut up the sky so that there will be no rain during the time they proclaim God's message. They have authority also over the springs of water, to turn them into blood; they have authority also to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they wish.
7 (E)When they finish proclaiming their message, the beast that comes up out of the abyss will fight against them. He will defeat them and kill them, 8 (F)and their bodies will lie in the street of the great city, where their Lord was crucified. The symbolic name of that city is Sodom, or Egypt. 9 People from all nations, tribes, languages, and races will look at their bodies for three and a half days and will not allow them to be buried. 10 The people of the earth will be happy because of the death of these two. They will celebrate and send presents to each other, because those two prophets brought much suffering upon the whole human race. 11 (G)After three and a half days a life-giving breath came from God and entered them, and they stood up; and all who saw them were terrified. 12 (H)Then the two prophets heard a loud voice say to them from heaven, “Come up here!” As their enemies watched, they went up into heaven in a cloud. 13 (I)At that very moment there was a violent earthquake; a tenth of the city was destroyed, and seven thousand people were killed. The rest of the people were terrified and praised the greatness of the God of heaven.
14 The second horror is over, but the third horror will come soon!
The Seventh Trumpet
15 (J)Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying, “The power to rule over the world belongs now to our Lord and his Messiah, and he will rule forever and ever!” 16 Then the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones in front of God threw themselves face downward and worshiped God, 17 saying:
“Lord God Almighty, the one who is and who was!
We thank you that you have taken your great power
and have begun to rule!
18 (K)The heathen were filled with rage,
because the time for your anger has come,
the time for the dead to be judged.
The time has come to reward your servants, the prophets,
and all your people, all who have reverence for you,
great and small alike.
The time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth!”
19 (L)God's temple in heaven was opened, and the Covenant Box was seen there. Then there were flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.
The Parable of the Hidden Treasure
44 “The Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man happens to find a treasure hidden in a field. He covers it up again, and is so happy that he goes and sells everything he has, and then goes back and buys that field.
The Parable of the Pearl
45 “Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. A man is looking for fine pearls, 46 and when he finds one that is unusually fine, he goes and sells everything he has, and buys that pearl.
The Parable of the Net
47 “Also, the Kingdom of heaven is like this. Some fishermen throw their net out in the lake and catch all kinds of fish. 48 When the net is full, they pull it to shore and sit down to divide the fish: the good ones go into the buckets, the worthless ones are thrown away. 49 It will be like this at the end of the age: the angels will go out and gather up the evil people from among the good 50 and will throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will cry and gnash their teeth.
New Truths and Old
51 “Do you understand these things?” Jesus asked them.
“Yes,” they answered.
52 So he replied, “This means, then, that every teacher of the Law who becomes a disciple in the Kingdom of heaven is like a homeowner who takes new and old things out of his storage room.”
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.