Book of Common Prayer
To the Music director. Davidic. As a memorial.
A Call for Help
70 God, come to my rescue.
Lord, hurry to help me.
2 May those who seek to kill me be publicly humiliated.
May those who take pleasure in my harm
be turned back in humiliation.
3 May those who say “Aha! Aha!”
be turned back because of their shameful deeds.[a]
4 Let those who seek you greatly rejoice in you.
Let those who love your deliverance say,
“May God be continuously exalted.”
5 As for me, I am poor and needy.
God, come quickly to me.
You are my helper and my deliverer.
Lord, please do not delay.
A Prayer for Deliverance
71 In you, Lord, I take refuge;
let me never be humiliated.
2 Rescue and deliver me,[b] because you are righteous.
Turn your ear to me and save me.
3 Be my sheltering refuge where I may go continuously;
command my deliverance
for you are my rock and fortress.
4 My God, deliver me from the power of the wicked
and the grasp of ruthless practicers of evil.
5 For you are my hope, Lord God,
my security since I was young.
6 I depended on you since birth,[c]
when you brought me[d] from my mother’s womb;
I praise you continuously.
7 I have become an example to many
that you are my strong refuge.
8 My mouth is filled with your praise
and your splendor daily.
9 Don’t throw me away when I am old;
do not abandon me when my strength fails.
10 For my enemies talk against me;
those who seek to kill me plot together
11 and say, “God has abandoned him.
Run after him and seize him,
because there’s no deliverer.”
12 God, do not be distant from me.
My God, come quickly to help me.
13 Let my adversaries be ashamed and consumed;[e]
let those who seek my destruction
be covered with scorn and disgrace.
14 As for me, I will hope continuously
and will praise you more and more.
15 I[f] will declare your righteousness
and your salvation every day,
though I do not fully understand
what the outcome will be.[g]
16 Lord God, I will come in the power of[h] your mighty acts,
remembering your righteousness—yours alone.
17 God, you taught me from my youth,
so I am still declaring your awesome deeds.
18 Also, when I reach old age and have gray hair,
God, do not forsake me,
until I have declared your power
to this generation
and your might to the next one.
19 Your many righteous deeds,[i] God, are great,
20 God, who can compare to you,
who caused me to experience[j] troubles
that were numerous and disastrous?
You will return to revive me
and lift me up from the depths of the earth.
21 You will increase my honor
and comfort me once again.
22 I also will praise you with the harp;
because of your faithfulness, my God,
I will praise you with the lyre—
Holy One of Israel.
23 My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you,
whose life you have redeemed.
24 Moreover, my tongue will speak all day about your justice;
for those who seek my destruction will be utterly humiliated.
An instruction[a] of Asaph
A Plea for Deliverance
74 Why, God? Have you rejected us forever?
Your anger is burning against the sheep of your pasture.
2 Remember your community,
whom you purchased long ago,
the tribe whom you redeemed
for your possession.
Remember[b] Mount Zion,
where you live.
3 Hurry! Look at the permanent ruins—
every calamity the enemy brought upon the Holy Place.
4 Those who are opposing you roar
where we were meeting with you;
they unfurl their war banners as signs.
5 As one blazes a trail
through a forest with an ax,
6 now they’re tearing down all its carved work
with hatchets and hammers.
7 They burned your sanctuary to the ground,
desecrating your dwelling place.
8 They say to themselves,
“We’ll crush them completely;”
They burned down all the meeting places of God in the land.
9 We see no signs for us;
there is no longer a prophet,
and no one among us knows the future.[c]
10 God, how long will the adversary scorn
while the enemy despises your name endlessly?
11 Why do you not withdraw your hand—
your right hand—from your bosom
and destroy them?[d]
12 But God is my king from ancient times,
who brings acts of deliverance throughout the earth.
13 You split the sea by your own power.
You shattered the heads of sea monsters in the water.
14 You crushed the heads of Leviathan.
You set it as food for desert creatures.[e]
15 You opened both the spring and the river;
you dried up flowing rivers.
16 Yours is the day, and yours is the night;
you established the moon and the sun.
17 You set all the boundaries of the earth;
you made summer and winter.
18 Remember this: The enemy scorns the Lord
and a foolish people despises your name.
19 Don’t hand over the life of your dove to beasts;
do not continuously forget your afflicted ones.
20 Pay attention to your covenant,
for the dark regions of the earth are full of violence.
21 Don’t let the oppressed return in humiliation.
The poor and needy will praise your name.
22 Get up, God, and prosecute your case—
remember that you’re being scorned
by fools all day long.
23 Don’t ignore the shout of those opposing you,
The uproar of those who rebel against you continuously.
Ezra’s Return to Jerusalem(A)
7 After all of this, during the reign of King Artaxerxes of Persia, Seraiah’s son Ezra (who was the grandson of Azariah, son of Hilkiah, 2 son of Shallum, son of Zadok, son of Ahitub, 3 son of Amariah, son of Azariah, son of Meraioth, 4 son of Zerahiah, son of Uzzi, son of Bukki, 5 son of Abishua, son of Phinehas, son of Eleazar, son of Aaron the chief priest) 6 left[a] Babylon. He was a skillful scribe of the Law of Moses that the Lord God of Israel had given. And the king granted him everything he had requested because the hand of the Lord his God was upon him. 7 Some of the descendants of Israel also left for Jerusalem, including the priests, the descendants of Levi, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the Temple Servants, during the seventh year of king Artaxerxes.
8 He arrived in Jerusalem during the fifth month of the seventh year of the king’s reign.[b] 9 On the first day[c] of the first month he left Babylon and he arrived in Jerusalem on the first day[d] of the fifth month, since the beneficent hand of his God was upon him. 10 For Ezra had set his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, to obey it, and to teach God’s[e] statutes and judgments in Israel.
The Letter from King Artaxerxes
11 Here is a copy of the letter that King Artaxerxes gave to Ezra, the priest-scribe, a scholar[f] in matters concerning the commandments of the Lord and concerning his statutes pertaining to Israel:
12 From:[g] Artaxerxes, King of Kings
To: Ezra, the Priest, a scholar[h] in matters concerning the laws of the God of Heaven
Greetings![i]
13 I hereby decree that all of the people of Israel—along with their priests and descendants of Levi in my kingdom—who are determined to return to Jerusalem with you may do so. 14 You have authority to act for the king and for his Council of Seven to conduct an inquiry concerning Judah and Jerusalem in accordance with the Law of your God, which is in your possession. 15 You are carrying silver and gold that the King and his advisors have freely given to the God of Israel, whose Temple is in Jerusalem, 16 together with all of the silver and gold that you can raise in the province of Babylon, plus the freewill offerings given by the people and the priests, contributed for the Temple of their God, which is in Jerusalem.
17 Accordingly, you are to exercise due diligence to utilize this money to purchase bulls, rams, lambs, grain offerings, and drink offerings, and to offer them upon the altar of the Temple of your God, which is in Jerusalem.
18 Furthermore, the balance remaining of the silver and gold may be used for whatever other purpose you and your people desire, as long as such use is consistent with the will of your God.
19 Furthermore, you are to deliver to the God of Jerusalem the vessels for the service of the Temple of your God that have been given to you.
20 Furthermore, provide from the royal treasury whatever else may be needed for the Temple of your God.
21 I, Artaxerxes, in my capacity as king,[j] hereby decree to all royal treasuries beyond the Euphrates[k] River that whatever Ezra the priest-scribe of the Law of the God of Heaven, may require of you are to be performed with all due diligence, 22 up to 100 silver talents,[l] 100 measures of wheat, 100 measures of wine, 100 measures of oil, and salt without limitation. 23 Whatever is commanded by the God of Heaven is to be done with all due diligence for the Temple of the God of Heaven, or wrath will come against the king’s realm and his sons.
24 Furthermore, we decree that with respect to any of the priests, descendants of Levi, singers, gatekeepers, Temple Servants, or other servants of this Temple of God, it is not to be lawful to impose any tribute, tax, or toll on them.
25 And you, Ezra, in accordance with the wisdom given to you by your God, are to appoint magistrates and judges to administer justice to all the people beyond the Euphrates[m] River. All of them are to know the laws of your God, and you are to instruct those who do not know them. 26 Whoever refuses to practice the law of your God and the law of the king is to see judgment executed quickly, whether to death, banishment, confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.
The Vision of the New Song on Mount Zion
14 Then I looked, and there was the lamb, standing on Mount Zion! With him were 144,000 people who had his name and his Father’s name written on their foreheads.
2 Then I heard a sound from heaven like that of many waters and like the sound of loud thunder. The sound I heard was like harpists playing on their harps. 3 They were singing a new song in front of the throne, the four living creatures, and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth. 4 They have not defiled themselves with women, for they are virgins, and they follow the lamb wherever he goes. They have been redeemed from among humanity as the first fruits for God and the lamb. 5 In their mouth no lie was found. They are blameless.
The Vision of Angels Sounding a Warning
6 Then I saw another angel flying overhead with the eternal gospel to proclaim to those who live[a] on earth—to every nation, tribe, language, and people. 7 He said in a loud voice,
“Fear God and give him glory,
because the time for him to judge has arrived.
Worship the one who made heaven and earth,
the sea and springs of water.”
8 Then another angel, a second one, followed him, saying,
“Fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen!
She has made all nations drink the wine,
the wrath earned for her sexual sins.”
9 Then another angel, a third one, followed them, saying in a loud voice, “Whoever worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or his hand 10 will drink the wine of God’s wrath, which has been poured undiluted into the cup of his anger. He will be tortured with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the lamb. 11 The smoke from their torture goes up forever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and its image or for anyone who receives the mark of its name.”
A Call for Endurance
12 Here is a call for[b] the endurance of the saints, who keep the commandments of God and hold fast to their faithfulness in Jesus:
13 I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this:
How blessed are the dead,
that is, those who die in the Lord from now on!”
“Yes,” says the Spirit.
“Let them rest from their labors,
for their actions follow them.”
The Death of John the Baptist(A)
14 At that time Herod the tetrarch,[a] hearing about the fame of Jesus, 2 told his servants, “This is John the Baptist! He has been raised from the dead, and that’s why these miracles are being done by him.” 3 Herod had arrested John, bound him with chains, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s[b] wife.
4 John had been telling him, “It is not lawful for you to have her.” 5 Although Herod[c] wanted to kill him, he was afraid of the crowd, since they regarded John[d] as a prophet.
6 But when Herod’s birthday celebration was held, the daughter of Herodias danced before the guests.[e] She pleased Herod 7 so much that he promised with an oath to give her whatever she asked for. 8 Prompted by her mother, she said, “Give me, right here on a platter, the head of John the Baptist.” 9 Under pressure because of his promises and his assembled guests, the king ordered that it be done. 10 So he sent word[f] and had John beheaded in prison. 11 His head was brought on a platter and given to the girl, and she took it to her mother. 12 When John’s[g] disciples came, they carried off the body and buried it. Then they went and told Jesus.
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