Book of Common Prayer
Prayer for the destruction of the treacherous.
For the Chief Musician; on stringed instruments. Maschil of David.
55 Give ear to my prayer, O God;
And hide not thyself from my supplication.
2 Attend unto me, and answer me:
I am restless in my complaint, and moan,
3 Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the oppression of the wicked;
For they cast iniquity upon me,
And in anger they persecute me.
4 My heart is sore pained within me:
And the terrors of death are fallen upon me.
5 Fearfulness and trembling are come upon me,
And horror hath overwhelmed me.
6 And I said, Oh that I had wings like a dove!
Then would I fly away, and be at rest.
7 Lo, then would I wander far off,
I would lodge in the wilderness. Selah
8 I would [a]haste me to a shelter
From the stormy wind and tempest.
9 [b]Destroy, O Lord, and divide their tongue;
For I have seen violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go about it upon the walls thereof:
Iniquity also and mischief are in the midst of it.
11 Wickedness is in the midst thereof:
[c]Oppression and guile depart not from its streets.
12 For it was not an enemy that reproached me;
Then I could have borne it:
Neither was it he that hated me that did magnify himself against me;
Then I would have hid myself from him:
13 But it was thou, a man mine equal,
My companion, and my familiar friend.
14 We took sweet counsel together;
We walked in the house of God with the throng.
15 [d]Let death come suddenly upon them,
Let them go down alive into Sheol;
For wickedness is in their dwelling, in [e]the midst of them.
16 As for me, I will call upon God;
And Jehovah will save me.
17 Evening, and morning, and at noonday, will I complain, and moan;
And he will hear my voice.
18 He hath redeemed my soul in peace [f]from the battle that was against me;
For they were many that strove with me.
19 God will hear, and [g]answer them,
Even he that abideth of old, Selah
The men who have no changes,
And who fear not God.
20 He hath put forth his hands against such as were at peace with him:
He hath profaned his covenant.
21 His mouth was smooth as butter,
But his heart was war:
His words were softer than oil,
Yet were they drawn swords.
22 Cast [h]thy burden upon Jehovah, and he will sustain thee:
He will never suffer the righteous to be moved.
23 But thou, O God, wilt bring them down into the pit of destruction:
Bloodthirsty and deceitful men shall not live out half their days;
But I will trust in thee.
A complaint over the devastation of the land by the enemy.
Maschil of Asaph.
74 O God, why hast thou cast us off for ever?
Why doth thine anger smoke against the sheep of thy pasture?
2 Remember thy congregation, which thou hast gotten of old,
Which thou hast redeemed to be the tribe of thine inheritance;
And mount Zion, wherein thou hast dwelt.
3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual ruins,
[a]All the evil that the enemy hath done in the sanctuary.
4 Thine adversaries have roared in the midst of thine assembly;
They have set up their ensigns for signs.
5 They [b]seemed as men that lifted up
Axes upon a thicket of trees.
6 And now all the carved work thereof
They break down with hatchet and hammers.
7 They have set thy sanctuary on fire;
They have profaned the dwelling-place of thy name by casting it to the ground.
8 They said in their heart, Let us make havoc of them altogether:
They have burned up all the [c]synagogues of God in the land.
9 We see not our signs:
There is no more any prophet;
Neither is there among us any that knoweth how long.
10 How long, O God, shall the adversary reproach?
Shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?
11 Why drawest thou back thy hand, even thy right hand?
Pluck it out of thy bosom and consume them.
12 Yet God is my King of old,
Working salvation in the midst of the earth.
13 Thou didst [d]divide the sea by thy strength:
Thou brakest the heads of the sea-monsters in the waters.
14 Thou brakest the heads of leviathan in pieces;
Thou gavest him to be food to the people inhabiting the wilderness.
15 Thou didst cleave fountain and flood:
Thou driedst up [e]mighty rivers.
16 The day is thine, the night also is thine:
Thou hast prepared the [f]light and the sun.
17 Thou hast set all the borders of the earth:
Thou hast made summer and winter.
18 Remember this, that the enemy [g]hath reproached, O Jehovah,
And that a foolish people hath blasphemed thy name.
19 Oh deliver not [h]the soul of thy turtle-dove unto the wild beast:
Forget not the [i]life of thy poor for ever.
20 Have respect unto the covenant;
For the dark places of the [j]earth are full of the habitations of violence.
21 Oh let not the oppressed return ashamed:
Let the poor and needy praise thy name.
22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause:
Remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee all the day.
23 Forget not the voice of thine adversaries:
The tumult of those that rise up against thee [k]ascendeth continually.
5 Thus saith Jehovah: Cursed is the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from Jehovah. 6 For he shall be like [a]the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, a salt land and not inhabited. 7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in Jehovah, and whose trust Jehovah is. 8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, that spreadeth out its roots by the river, and shall not [b]fear when heat cometh, but its leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it? 10 I, Jehovah, search the mind, I try the [c]heart, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.
14 Heal me, O Jehovah, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved: for thou art my praise. 15 Behold, they say unto me, Where is the word of Jehovah? let it come now. 16 As for me, I have not hastened from being a shepherd after thee; neither have I desired [a]the woeful day; thou knowest: that which came out of my lips was before thy face. 17 Be not a terror unto me: thou art my refuge in the day of evil.
4 Wherefore, my brethren beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my beloved.
2 I exhort Euodia, and I exhort Syntyche, to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yea, I beseech thee also, true yokefellow, help these women, for they labored with me in the [a]gospel, with Clement also, and the rest of my fellow-workers, whose names are in the book of life.
4 Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your [b]forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are [c]honorable, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are [d]of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, [e]think on these things. 9 The things which ye both learned and received and heard and saw in me, these things do: and the God of peace shall be with you.
10 But I [f]rejoice in the Lord greatly, that now at length ye have revived your thought for me; [g]wherein ye did indeed take thought, but ye lacked opportunity. 11 Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therein to be content. 12 I know how to be abased, and I know also how to abound: in everything and in all things have I learned the secret both to be filled and to be hungry, both to abound and to be in want. 13 I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me.
27 Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this [a]hour. But for this cause came I unto this hour. 28 Father, glorify thy name. There came therefore a voice out of heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again. 29 The multitude therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it had thundered: others said, An angel hath spoken to him. 30 Jesus answered and said, This voice hath not come for my sake, but for your sakes. 31 Now is [b]the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. 32 And I, if I be lifted up [c]from the earth, will draw all men unto myself. 33 But this he said, signifying by what manner of death he should die. 34 The multitude therefore answered him, We have heard out of the law that the Christ abideth for ever: and how sayest thou, The Son of man must be lifted up? who is this Son of man? 35 Jesus therefore said unto them, Yet a little while is the light [d]among you. Walk while ye have the light, that darkness overtake you not: and he that walketh in the darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. 36 While ye have the light, believe on the light, that ye may become sons of light.
These things spake Jesus, and he departed and [e]hid himself from them.
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