Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 83
Prayer against Enemies
A song. A psalm of Asaph.(A)
1 God, do not keep silent.
Do not be deaf, God; do not be idle.(B)
2 See how Your enemies make an uproar;
those who hate You have acted arrogantly.[a](C)
3 They devise clever schemes against Your people;
they conspire against Your treasured ones.(D)
4 They say, “Come, let us wipe them out as a nation
so that Israel’s name will no longer be remembered.”(E)
5 For they have conspired with one mind;
they form an alliance[b] against You(F)—
6 the tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites,(G)
Moab and the Hagrites,(H)
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,(I)
Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre.(J)
8 Even Assyria has joined them;
they lend support[c] to the sons of Lot.[d](K)
9 Deal with them as You did with Midian,(L)
as You did with Sisera
and Jabin at the Kishon River.(M)
10 They were destroyed at En-dor;
they became manure for the ground.(N)
11 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb,(O)
and all their tribal leaders like Zebah and Zalmunna,(P)
12 who said, “Let us seize God’s pastures for ourselves.”(Q)
13 Make them like tumbleweed, my God,
like straw before the wind.(R)
14 As fire burns a forest,
as a flame blazes through mountains,(S)
15 so pursue them with Your tempest
and terrify them with Your storm.(T)
16 Cover their faces with shame
so that they will seek Your name Yahweh.(U)
17 Let them be put to shame and terrified forever;
let them perish in disgrace.(V)
18 May they know that You alone—
whose name is Yahweh—
are the Most High over all the earth.(W)
Psalm 23
The Good Shepherd
A Davidic psalm.
1 The Lord is my shepherd;(A)
there is nothing I lack.(B)
2 He lets me lie down in green pastures;(C)
He leads me beside quiet waters.(D)
3 He renews my life;
He leads me along the right paths[a]
for His name’s sake.(E)
4 Even when I go through the darkest valley,[b]
I fear no danger,
for You are with me;(F)
Your rod and Your staff[c]—they comfort me.(G)
Psalm 27
My Stronghold
Davidic.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom should I fear?(A)
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom should I be afraid?(B)
2 When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh,(C)
my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.(D)
3 Though an army deploys against me,
my heart is not afraid;
though a war breaks out against me,
still I am confident.(E)
4 I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,(F)
gazing on the beauty of the Lord(G)
and seeking Him in His temple.(H)
5 For He will conceal me in His shelter
in the day of adversity;
He will hide me under the cover of His tent;
He will set me high on a rock.(I)
6 Then my head will be high
above my enemies around me;(J)
I will offer sacrifices in His tent with shouts of joy.(K)
I will sing and make music to the Lord.(L)
7 Lord, hear my voice when I call;
be gracious to me and answer me.(M)
8 My heart says this about You,
“You[a] are to seek My face.”
Lord, I will seek Your face.(N)
9 Do not hide Your face from me;(O)
do not turn Your servant away in anger.(P)
You have been my helper;(Q)
do not leave me or abandon me,
God of my salvation.
10 Even if my father and mother abandon me,
the Lord cares for me.(R)
Psalm 85
Restoration of Favor
For the choir director. A psalm of the sons of Korah.
1 Lord, You showed favor to Your land;(A)
You restored Jacob’s prosperity.[a](B)
2 You took away Your people’s guilt;
You covered all their sin.(C)
3 You withdrew all Your fury;
You turned from Your burning anger.(D)
4 Return to us, God of our salvation,
and abandon Your displeasure with us.(E)
5 Will You be angry with us forever?
Will You prolong Your anger for all generations?(F)
6 Will You not revive us again
so that Your people may rejoice in You?(G)
7 Show us Your faithful love, Lord,
and give us Your salvation.(H)
8 I will listen to what God will say;
surely the Lord will declare peace
to His people, His godly ones,
and not let them go back to foolish ways.(I)
9 His salvation is very near those who fear Him,
so that glory may dwell in our land.(J)
10 Faithful love and truth will join together;
righteousness and peace will embrace.(K)
11 Truth will spring up from the earth,
and righteousness will look down from heaven.(L)
12 Also, the Lord will provide what is good,
and our land will yield its crops.(M)
13 Righteousness will go before Him
to prepare the way for His steps.(N)
Psalm 86
Lament and Petition
A Davidic prayer.
1 Listen, Lord, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.(O)
2 Protect my life, for I am faithful.(P)
You are my God; save Your servant who trusts in You.(Q)
3 Be gracious to me, Lord,
for I call to You all day long.(R)
4 Bring joy to Your servant’s life,
because I turn to You, Lord.(S)
5 For You, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive,(T)
rich in faithful love to all who call on You.(U)
6 Lord, hear my prayer;
listen to my plea for mercy.(V)
7 I call on You in the day of my distress,
for You will answer me.(W)
8 Lord, there is no one like You among the gods,
and there are no works like Yours.(X)
9 All the nations You have made
will come and bow down before You, Lord,
and will honor Your name.(Y)
10 For You are great and perform wonders;
You alone are God.(Z)
11 Teach me Your way, Yahweh,
and I will live by Your truth.
Give me an undivided mind to fear Your name.(AA)
12 I will praise You with all my heart, Lord my God,
and will honor Your name forever.(AB)
13 For Your faithful love for me is great,
and You deliver my life from the depths of Sheol.(AC)
14 God, arrogant people have attacked me;
a gang of ruthless men seeks my life.
They have no regard for You.(AD)
15 But You, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God,
slow to anger and rich in faithful love and truth.(AE)
16 Turn to me and be gracious to me.
Give Your strength to Your servant;
save the son of Your female servant.(AF)
17 Show me a sign of Your goodness;
my enemies will see and be put to shame
because You, Lord, have helped and comforted me.(AG)
Celebration in Heaven
19 After this I heard something like the loud voice of a vast multitude in heaven, saying:
Hallelujah!(A)
Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God,
2 because His judgments are true[a] and righteous,(B)
because He has judged the notorious prostitute
who corrupted the earth with her sexual immorality;
and He has avenged the blood of His slaves
that was on her hands.(C)
3 A second time they said:
Hallelujah!
Her smoke ascends forever and ever!(D)
4 Then the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God,(E) who is seated on the throne, saying:
Amen! Hallelujah!(F)
5 A voice came from the throne, saying:
Praise our God,
all His slaves, who fear Him,
both small and great!(G)
Marriage of the Lamb Announced
6 Then I heard something like the voice of a vast multitude, like the sound of cascading waters,(H) and like the rumbling of loud thunder, saying:
Hallelujah, because our Lord God, the Almighty,
has begun to reign!
7 Let us be glad, rejoice, and give Him glory,(I)
because the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and His wife has prepared herself.
8 She was given fine linen to wear, bright and pure.(J)
For the fine linen represents the righteous acts of the saints.(K)
9 Then he[b] said to me,(L) “Write: Those invited to the marriage feast(M) of the Lamb are fortunate!” He also said to me, “These words of God are true.” 10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “Don’t do that! I am a fellow slave with you and your brothers who have the testimony about[c] Jesus.(N) Worship God, because the testimony about Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”[d]
The Yeast of the Pharisees and the Sadducees
16 The Pharisees and Sadducees approached,(A) and as a test, asked Him to show them a sign from heaven.(B)
2 He answered them: “When evening comes you say, ‘It will be good weather because the sky is red.’ 3 And in the morning, ‘Today will be stormy because the sky is red and threatening.’ You[a] know how to read the appearance of the sky, but you can’t read the signs of the times.[b] 4 An evil and adulterous generation demands a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of[c] Jonah.”(C) Then He left them and went away.
5 The disciples reached the other shore,[d] and they had forgotten to take bread.
6 Then Jesus told them, “Watch out and beware of the yeast[e] of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”(D)
7 And they discussed among themselves, “We didn’t bring any bread.”
8 Aware of this, Jesus said, “You of little faith!(E) Why are you discussing among yourselves that you do not have bread? 9 Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the 5,000 and how many baskets you collected? 10 Or the seven loaves for the 4,000 and how many large baskets you collected?(F) 11 Why is it you don’t understand that when I told you, ‘Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees,’ it wasn’t about bread?”(G) 12 Then they understood that He did not tell them to beware of the yeast in bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.(H)
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