Book of Common Prayer
The Psalmist in Sickness Complains of Enemies and False Friends.
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
41 How blessed is he who (A)considers the [a]helpless;
The Lord will deliver him (B)in a day of [b]trouble.
2 The Lord will (C)protect him and keep him alive,
And he shall [c]be called (D)blessed upon the earth;
And (E)do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
3 The Lord will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You [d]restore him to health.
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, be gracious to me;
(F)Heal my soul, for (G)I have sinned against You.”
5 My enemies (H)speak evil against me,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And [e]when he comes to see me, he (I)speaks [f]falsehood;
His heart gathers wickedness to itself;
When he goes outside, he tells it.
7 All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me they (J)devise my hurt, saying,
8 “A wicked thing is poured out [g]upon him,
That when he lies down, he will (K)not rise up again.”
9 Even my (L)close friend in whom I trusted,
Who ate my bread,
Has lifted up his heel against me.
10 But You, O Lord, be gracious to me and (M)raise me up,
That I may repay them.
11 By this I know that (N)You are pleased with me,
Because (O)my enemy does not shout in triumph over me.
12 As for me, (P)You uphold me in my integrity,
And You set me (Q)in Your presence forever.
13 (R)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
Futility of Boastful Wickedness.
For the choir director. A [a]Maskil of David, [b]when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul and said to him, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you (A)boast in evil, O mighty man?
The (B)lovingkindness of God endures all day long.
2 Your tongue devises (C)destruction,
Like a (D)sharp razor, (E)O worker of deceit.
3 You (F)love evil more than good,
(G)Falsehood more than speaking what is right. [c]Selah.
4 You love all words that devour,
O (H)deceitful tongue.
5 [d]But God will break you down forever;
He will snatch you up and (I)tear you away from your tent,
And (J)uproot you from the (K)land of the living. Selah.
6 The righteous will (L)see and fear,
And will (M)laugh at him, saying,
7 “Behold, the man who would not make God his refuge,
But (N)trusted in the abundance of his riches
And (O)was strong in [e]his evil desire.”
Former Deliverances and Present Troubles.
For the choir director. A [a]Maskil of the sons of Korah.
44 O God, we have heard with our ears,
Our (A)fathers have told us
The (B)work that You did in their days,
In the (C)days of old.
2 You with Your own hand (D)drove out the nations;
Then You (E)planted them;
You (F)afflicted the peoples,
Then You (G)spread them abroad.
3 For by their own sword they (H)did not possess the land,
And their own arm did not save them,
But Your right hand and Your (I)arm and the (J)light of Your presence,
For You (K)favored them.
4 You are (L)my King, O God;
(M)Command [b]victories for Jacob.
5 Through You we will (N)push back our adversaries;
Through Your name we will (O)trample down those who rise up against us.
6 For I will (P)not trust in my bow,
Nor will my sword save me.
7 But You (Q)have saved us from our adversaries,
And You have (R)put to shame those who hate us.
8 In God we have (S)boasted all day long,
And we will (T)give thanks to Your name forever. [c]Selah.
9 Yet You (U)have rejected us and brought us to (V)dishonor,
And (W)do not go out with our armies.
10 You cause us to (X)turn back from the adversary;
And those who hate us (Y)have taken spoil for themselves.
11 You give us as (Z)sheep [d]to be eaten
And have (AA)scattered us among the nations.
12 You (AB)sell Your people [e]cheaply,
And have not [f]profited by their sale.
13 You make us a (AC)reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and a (AD)derision to those around us.
14 You make us (AE)a byword among the nations,
A [g](AF)laughingstock among the peoples.
15 All day long my dishonor is before me
And [h]my (AG)humiliation has overwhelmed me,
16 Because of the voice of him who (AH)reproaches and reviles,
Because of the presence of the (AI)enemy and the avenger.
17 All this has come upon us, but we have (AJ)not forgotten You,
And we have not (AK)dealt falsely with Your covenant.
18 Our heart has not (AL)turned back,
And our steps (AM)have not deviated from Your way,
19 Yet You have (AN)crushed us in a place of (AO)jackals
And covered us with (AP)the shadow of death.
20 If we had (AQ)forgotten the name of our God
Or extended our [i]hands to (AR)a strange god,
21 Would not God (AS)find this out?
For He knows the secrets of the heart.
22 But (AT)for Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are considered as (AU)sheep to be slaughtered.
23 (AV)Arouse Yourself, why (AW)do You sleep, O Lord?
Awake, (AX)do not reject us forever.
24 Why do You (AY)hide Your face
And (AZ)forget our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our (BA)soul has sunk down into the dust;
Our body cleaves to the earth.
26 (BB)Rise up, be our help,
And (BC)redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.
Patrol of the Earth
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, as follows: 8 I saw at night, and behold, a man was riding on a (A)red horse, and he was standing among the (B)myrtle trees which were in the ravine, with red, sorrel and (C)white horses behind him. 9 Then I said, “My (D)lord, what are these?” And the (E)angel who was speaking with me said to me, “I will show you what these are.” 10 And the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered and said, “These are those whom the Lord has sent to [a](F)patrol the earth.” 11 So they answered the angel of the Lord who was (G)standing among the myrtle trees and said, “We have [b]patrolled the earth, and behold, (H)all the earth is [c]peaceful and quiet.”
12 Then the angel of the Lord said, “O Lord of hosts, (I)how long will You (J)have no compassion for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, with which You have been (K)indignant these (L)seventy years?” 13 The Lord answered the (M)angel who was speaking with me with [d]gracious words, (N)comforting words. 14 So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “(O)Proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “I am (P)exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. 15 But I am very (Q)angry with the nations who are (R)at ease; for while I was only a little angry, they [e](S)furthered the disaster.” 16 Therefore thus says the Lord, “I will (T)return to Jerusalem with compassion; My (U)house will be built in it,” declares the Lord of hosts, “and a measuring (V)line will be stretched over Jerusalem.”’ 17 Again, proclaim, saying, ‘Thus says the Lord of hosts, “My (W)cities will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again (X)comfort Zion and again (Y)choose Jerusalem.”’”
Message to Philadelphia
7 “And to the angel of the church in (A)Philadelphia write:
(B)He who is holy, (C)who is true, who has (D)the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:
8 ‘(E)I know your [a]deeds. Behold, I have put before you (F)an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and (G)have not denied My name. 9 Behold, I [b]will cause those of (H)the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—I will make them (I)come and bow down [c]at your feet, and make them know that (J)I have loved you. 10 Because you have (K)kept the word of (L)My [d]perseverance, (M)I also will keep you from the hour of [e](N)testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole [f](O)world, to [g]test (P)those who dwell on the earth. 11 (Q)I am coming quickly; (R)hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your (S)crown. 12 (T)He who overcomes, I will make him a (U)pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the (V)name of My God, and (W)the name of the city of My God, (X)the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My (Y)new name. 13 (Z)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
Perilous Times
15 “Therefore when you see the (A)abomination of desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in (B)the holy place ((C)let the reader understand), 16 then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. 17 [a]Whoever is on (D)the housetop must not go down to get the things out that are in his house. 18 [b]Whoever is in the field must not turn back to get his cloak. 19 But (E)woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days! 20 But pray that your flight will not be in the winter, or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be a (F)great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever will. 22 Unless those days had been cut short, no [c]life would have been saved; but for (G)the sake of the [d]elect those days will be cut short. 23 (H)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Behold, here is the [e]Christ,’ or ‘[f]There He is,’ do not believe him. 24 For false Christs and (I)false prophets will arise and will [g]show great [h](J)signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even (K)the [i]elect. 25 Behold, I have told you in advance. 26 So if they say to you, ‘Behold, He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out, or, ‘Behold, He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe them. 27 (L)For just as the lightning comes from the east and flashes even to the west, so will the (M)coming of the (N)Son of Man be. 28 (O)Wherever the corpse is, there the [j]vultures will gather.
The Glorious Return
29 “But immediately after the (P)tribulation of those days (Q)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and (R)the stars will fall from [k]the sky, and the powers of [l]the heavens will be shaken. 30 And then (S)the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see (T)the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky with power and great glory. 31 And (U)He will send forth His angels with (V)a great trumpet and they will gather together His [m](W)elect from (X)the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
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