Book of Common Prayer
David wrote this song for the music leader, to ask God to help him.
A prayer for help[a]
70 God, please save me!
Lord, come quickly to help me!
2 Stop the people who want to kill me,
so that they become ashamed and confused.
Chase the people who want to hurt me,
so that they run away in shame.
3 When people laugh at me,
make them ashamed for what they have done.
4 God, may those who want to know you be very happy.
Everyone who loves you because you have saved them
should never stop saying, ‘Praise God.’
5 But I am poor and weak, God.
Please hurry to give me help.
You are the one who helps me
and who saves me.
Lord, come quickly to help me!
A song for old age
71 Lord, I have come to you to keep me safe.
Never let me become ashamed.
2 You always do what is right,
so please rescue me!
Listen to me, and come to save me!
3 Be a rock where I can hide.
Be a strong place where I can be safe.
You are my high rock and my strong, safe place.
4 My God, save me from the power of wicked people,
so that those cruel people cannot catch me.
5 My Lord, I trust you to help me.
I have trusted in you, Lord,
since I was young.
6 Since I was born,
you have been there to help me.
You have taken care of me
since my mother gave birth to me.
So I will always praise you!
7 When people see me,
they see trouble!
But you are a strong place to keep me safe.
8 I can never stop praising you!
All the time, I speak about your glory!
9 Do not chase me away when I am old.
When I am no longer strong,
do not turn away from me.[b]
10 For my enemies say things against me.
They think of ways that they can kill me.
11 They say, ‘God has turned away from him.
Run after him and catch him,
for nobody will rescue him.’
12 God, do not stay far away from me.
My God, come quickly to help me!
13 Make my enemies become completely ashamed.
They speak against me and they want to hurt me.
So let them fall with great shame!
14 But as for me, I will always wait for you to help me.
I will continue to praise you more and more.
15 I will tell people that you always do what is right.
I will always speak about your power to save people.
But you have done more than I will ever know about!
16 I will tell about the great things that you have done,
Almighty Lord.
I will tell everyone that you are righteous.
You, only you, are righteous.
17 God, you have taught me since I was young.
I still tell people about the great things that you have done.
18 And even when I am old and my hair is grey,
do not turn away from me, God.
I need to tell the people still to be born
about your great strength.
My descendants need to know about your power.
19 Your justice reaches beyond the sky above!
You have done such great things, God.
There is nobody like you!
20 You have caused me to have many bad troubles.
But you will make my life strong again.
You will lift me back out
from this deep hole under the earth.[c]
21 You will make me great again,
so that people respect me.
You will turn back to me,
so that I feel strong.
22 I will pick up my harp
and I will sing to thank you.
I will praise you, my God,
because you do what you promise.
I will sing to praise you, the Holy One of Israel,
with the music of a lyre.[d]
23 I will shout aloud with joy,
as I praise you with music!
I will sing songs to praise you,
because you have rescued me.
24 I will talk about your justice all the time.
The people who want to hurt me
will become confused and ashamed.
This is a special song that Asaph wrote.
A prayer for our nation[a]
74 God, have you turned against us for ever?
Why are you so angry with us?
We belong to you, so please take care of us,
like a shepherd takes care of his sheep.
2 Remember that we are your people.
Long ago you chose us for yourself.
You rescued us from being slaves,
so that we could be your special nation of people.[b]
So please think about us,
as well as your home on Mount Zion.
3 Come and look at our buildings!
Your enemies have completely destroyed them.
They have also destroyed everything that is in your temple.
4 Your enemies shout battle cries
inside your special meeting place.
They have put up their own flags there.
5 They used axes to cut the temple into pieces,
like people who cut down trees!
6 They used their hammers and axes
to break the wooden boards with pictures on them.
7 They completely burned your temple.
They knocked it down to the ground!
They caused your special place to become useless!
8 They said to themselves,
‘We will completely destroy them all.’
So they burned down every place in the land
where people meet to worship God.
9 We no longer see any signs that God is with us.
There are no more prophets among us.
Nobody can tell us how long this will continue.
10 God, how long will our enemies laugh at you?
Will they insult your name for ever?
11 Why do you do nothing to help us?
Use your power now to punish them!
12 God, you have been my king from the beginning.
You have done great things to rescue us
all over the earth.
13 You broke the sea into separate pieces,
because you are so strong.[c]
You broke the heads of the monsters
in the waters of the sea.[d]
14 You broke the heads of Leviathan.[e]
You gave his body as food
for the animals that live in the desert.
15 You caused springs and streams of water to appear.
And you made large rivers become dry![f]
16 Days and nights both belong to you.
You put the moon and the sun in their places.
17 You said where the land must be among the seas.
You made both summer and winter.[g]
18 Lord, think about your enemies.
They are always laughing at you.
Foolish people are insulting your name.
19 We, your people, are like your own special dove.
Do not let wild animals destroy us!
We are weak and poor,
so do not forget about us!
20 Remember what you have promised to do for us.
There are dark places everywhere,
where cruel people hide.
21 We are weak, and people want to hurt us.
Do not let us become ashamed.
Instead, let the poor, weak people praise your name!
22 Do something, God!
Show everyone that you are good.
Think how fools are laughing at you all the time.
23 Do not forget what your enemies are saying.
They shout things against you all the time!
Ezra arrives in Jerusalem
7 After these things, Ezra came to Jerusalem from Babylon. This happened while Artaxerxes was king of Persia.
This is the list of Ezra's ancestors: He was the son of Seraiah, the son of Azariah, the son of Hilkiah. 2 Hilkiah was the son of Shallum, the son of Zadok, the son of Ahitub. 3 Ahitub was the son of Amariah, the son of Azariah, the son of Meraioth. 4 Meraioth was the son of Zerahiah, the son of Uzzi, the son of Bukki. 5 Bukki was the son of Abishua, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eleazar. Eleazar was a son of Aaron, the leader of the priests.
6 This man Ezra arrived from Babylon. He was a teacher who knew the law of Moses very well. The Lord, Israel's God, had given that law to Moses. Ezra served the Lord as his God. The Lord was kind and he helped Ezra, so that the king of Persia gave him everything that he asked for. 7 In the seventh year that Artaxerxes was king, Ezra came together with other Israelites. They included priests, Levites, and singers, servants and guards for the temple.
8 Ezra arrived in Jerusalem in the fifth month of Artaxerxes' seventh year as king. 9 He left Babylon on the first day of the first month and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day of the fifth month. God had helped him with his journey. 10 God was kind to Ezra because Ezra had decided to study the law of the Lord. Ezra always obeyed its rules. He also taught the law and its rules to the Israelite people.
King Artaxerxes' letter to Ezra
11 This is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes had given to Ezra, the priest and teacher. Ezra had studied the Lord's commands and laws for Israel.
12 ‘From Artaxerxes, king of all kings.
To Ezra the priest, who has studied very well the law of the God of heaven. I hope that you are well.
13 I have given this command: When you travel to Jerusalem, any other Israelites who live in my kingdom may go with you. Anyone who wants to go may go. That includes priests and Levites. 14 The king and his seven officers are sending you with their authority. You have the law of your God that he has given to you. Go and see if your people in Judah and Jerusalem are obeying his law. 15 Take with you the gold and silver that I and my officers have sent. They are a free gift for Israel's God, whose house is in Jerusalem. 16 Also take the gold and silver that other people in Babylonia give to you. And take the gifts that the people and the priests have given for their God's temple in Jerusalem. 17 You must use the money to buy bulls, male sheep and lambs. You must also buy grain and wine to offer to your God. Offer them as sacrifices on the altar of your God's temple in Jerusalem.
18 You and your friends may then use the rest of the silver and gold in the way that you choose. Decide what your God wants you to do. 19 Also take the valuable things that you use to worship your God in his temple. Take them safely to him in Jerusalem. 20 You may need other things to worship your God in his temple. You may take what you need from the royal store rooms.
21 I, King Artaxerxes, give this command to all my officers in the region on the west side of the Euphrates river: You must give Ezra anything that he asks for. He is a priest who studies the law of the God of heaven. 22 This is how much you may give to him:
3,400 kilograms of silver,
22,000 litres of grain,
2,200 litres of wine,
2,200 litres of oil,
and all the salt that he wants.
23 Be careful to give Ezra everything that the God of heaven wants for his temple. I do not want the God of heaven to be angry with the kingdom that I and my sons rule. 24 You must not take any kinds of taxes from the men who serve this God in his house. You have no authority to do this. Take no taxes from the priests, the Levites, or the singers, guards, and servants who work in the temple.
25 Ezra, your God has helped you to be wise. So you must choose judges and officers who know the laws of your God. Then they will decide things for all the people who live in the region on the west side of the Euphrates river. If the people do not know the laws of your God, you must teach them. 26 Everyone must obey the laws of your God and also the laws of the king. If they do not obey, they deserve the right punishment. They may have to die. They may have to leave the country. They may have to lose their valuable things. They may have to go to prison.’
The Lamb and the 144,000 people
14 Then I looked again and I saw the Lamb. He was standing on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. There were 144,000 people there with him. The Lamb's name and his Father's name were written on the front of those people's heads.
2 Then I heard a loud sound which came from heaven. The noise was like water that pours along a river very fast. It was like the loud noise of thunder. The sound was like people who were making music with harps. 3 The 144,000 people were singing a new song that they had learned. They sang it in front of the throne. They sang in front of the four beings that are alive and in front of the leaders. Only these 144,000 people could learn the new song. They are the people that God had saved from among the people who lived on the earth.
4 These 144,000 people have kept themselves pure. They have not had sex with women in a wrong way. They follow the Lamb everywhere that he goes. God has saved them from among the people of the world and he has paid for their sins. They are the first people to become a gift to God and to the Lamb. 5 They have not spoken any lies. They have done nothing wrong.[a]
The three angels with messages
6 Then I saw another angel who was flying high in the sky above me. He brought God's message of good news that is always true. He came to tell this news to everyone who lives on the earth. He would tell it to people from every nation, from every tribe and from every language. 7 He said in a loud voice, ‘Respect God and give him honour! Now it is time for him to judge people. He made the sky and the earth and the sea. He also made the springs of water. So worship him!’
8 A second angel followed the first one. He said, ‘God has destroyed Babylon! It is no longer a great city! It has caused people everywhere to do the same bad things as it enjoys. She is like a prostitute who makes men become drunk and have sex in a wrong way. She has caused them to turn away from God.’[b]
9 A third angel followed the other two angels. He said in a loud voice, ‘If anyone worships the wild animal and its idol, God will punish them. If anyone receives that animal's mark on their head or on their hand, God will punish them. 10 God will be very angry with all those people. They will be like people who must drink God's strong wine. When they drink wine from the cup of God's anger, they will have terrible pain. Fire and sulphur will burn them. God's angels and the Lamb will watch while God punishes them. 11 The smoke will rise for ever while they burn. They will have no rest during the day or during the night. This will happen to everyone who worships the wild animal and its image. It will happen to everyone who receives the mark which shows its name.’
12 This means that God's people must go on being patient and strong. They must continue to obey God's rules. They must continue to trust Jesus.
13 Then I heard a voice that spoke from heaven. It said, ‘Write this: From this time, people who continue to believe in the Lord and then they die will be very happy.’ God's Spirit says, ‘Yes, they will rest from their work. God will not forget the good things that they have done.’
Herod's soldiers kill John the Baptist
14 At that time, people told Herod about the things that Jesus was doing.[a] 2 Herod said to his servants, ‘That man Jesus is really John the Baptist. John died but he has become alive again. That is the reason why this man can do these very powerful things.’
3 Before that, Herod had commanded his soldiers, ‘Take hold of John. Tie his hands and feet and put him in prison.’ Herod had done this because of his wife Herodias. Before Herod married her, she was the wife of Herod's brother Philip. 4 John had said to Herod, ‘Herodias was your brother's wife. So it is not right for you to have her as your wife.’[b]
5 Herod wanted to tell his soldiers that they must kill John. But the people thought that John was a prophet from God. So Herod was afraid to kill him.
6 One day, when it was Herod's birthday, he asked people to come to a special meal. The daughter of Herodias danced in front of him and his visitors. Her dance caused Herod to become very happy. 7 He said to the girl, ‘Ask me for anything that you want. I make a strong promise that I will give it to you.’ 8 Herodias suggested to her daughter, ‘Ask Herod to give you John's head.’ So the girl said to Herod, ‘Give me the head of John the Baptist on a plate.’ 9 Then Herod felt sad. But he had made a special promise to the girl, and his visitors had heard him. So he sent his men to do what she had asked for. 10 He said to a soldier, ‘Go to the prison and cut off John's head.’ 11 The soldier did this. Then he brought the head on a plate and he gave it to the girl. The girl took it and gave it to her mother.
12 After this, John's disciples went to the prison. They took away John's body and they buried it. Then they went and they told Jesus what had happened.
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