Book of Common Prayer
O Lord, Be Gracious to Me
To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David.
41 (A)Blessed is the one who considers the poor![a]
(B)In the day of trouble the Lord delivers him;
2 the Lord protects him and keeps him alive;
he is called blessed in the land;
you (C)do not give him up to the will of his enemies.
3 The Lord sustains him on his sickbed;
in his illness you restore him to full health.[b]
4 As for me, I said, “O Lord, (D)be gracious to me;
(E)heal me,[c] for I have sinned against you!”
5 My enemies say of me in malice,
“When will he die, and his name perish?”
6 And when one comes to see me, (F)he utters empty words,
while his heart gathers iniquity;
when he goes out, he tells it abroad.
7 All who hate me whisper together about me;
they imagine the worst for me.[d]
8 They say, “A deadly thing is poured out[e] on him;
he will not rise again from where he lies.”
9 Even my (G)close friend in whom I trusted,
who (H)ate my bread, has lifted his heel against me.
10 But you, O Lord, be gracious to me,
and raise me up, that I may repay them!
11 By this I know that (I)you delight in me:
my enemy will not shout in triumph over me.
12 But (J)you have upheld me because of (K)my integrity,
and (L)set me in your presence (M)forever.
13 (N)Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting!
Amen and Amen.
The Steadfast Love of God Endures
To the choirmaster. A Maskil[a] of David, when (A)Doeg, the Edomite, came and told Saul, “David has come to the house of Ahimelech.”
52 Why do you boast of evil, O mighty man?
The steadfast love of God endures all the day.
2 Your (B)tongue plots destruction,
like (C)a sharp razor, you (D)worker of deceit.
3 You love evil more than good,
and (E)lying more than speaking what is right. Selah
4 You love all words that devour,
O deceitful tongue.
5 But God will break you down forever;
he will snatch and (F)tear you from your tent;
he will uproot you from (G)the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous shall (H)see and fear,
and shall (I)laugh at him, saying,
7 “See the man who would not make
God his refuge,
but (J)trusted in the abundance of his riches
and sought refuge in his own destruction!”[b]
Come to Our Help
To the choirmaster. (A)A Maskil[a] of the Sons of Korah.
44 O God, we have heard with our ears,
(B)our fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
(C)in the days of old:
2 you with your own hand (D)drove out the nations,
but (E)them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but (F)them you set free;
3 for not (G)by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
and (H)the light of your face,
(I)for you delighted in them.
4 (J)You are my King, O God;
(K)ordain salvation for Jacob!
5 Through you we (L)push down our foes;
through your name we (M)tread down those who rise up against us.
6 For not in (N)my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes
and have (O)put to shame those who hate us.
8 (P)In God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
9 But you have (Q)rejected us and disgraced us
and (R)have not gone out with our armies.
10 You have made us (S)turn back from the foe,
and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like (T)sheep for slaughter
and have (U)scattered us among the nations.
12 (V)You have sold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.
13 You have made us (W)the taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and (X)scorn of those around us.
14 You have made us (Y)a byword among the nations,
(Z)a laughingstock[b] among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and (AA)shame has covered my face
16 at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
at the sight of (AB)the enemy and the avenger.
17 (AC)All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our (AD)steps (AE)departed from your way;
19 yet you have (AF)broken us in the place of (AG)jackals
and covered us with (AH)the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or (AI)spread out our hands to (AJ)a foreign god,
21 (AK)would not God discover this?
(AL)For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yet (AM)for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 (AN)Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! (AO)Do not reject us forever!
24 Why (AP)do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our (AQ)soul is bowed down to the dust;
our belly clings to the ground.
26 Rise up; (AR)come to our help!
(AS)Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!
A Vision of a Horseman
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month of Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of the Lord came to the prophet (A)Zechariah, the son of (B)Berechiah, son of (C)Iddo, saying, 8 “I saw in the night, and behold, (D)a man riding on a red horse! He was standing among the myrtle trees in the glen, and behind him were (E)red, sorrel, and white horses. 9 Then I said, ‘What are these, my lord?’ (F)The angel who talked with me said to me, ‘I will show you what they are.’ 10 So (G)the man who was standing among the myrtle trees answered, (H)‘These are they whom the Lord has sent to (I)patrol the earth.’ 11 And they answered (J)the angel of the Lord who was standing among the myrtle trees, and said, (K)‘We have patrolled the earth, and behold, all the earth (L)remains at rest.’ 12 Then (M)the angel of the Lord said, (N)‘O Lord of hosts, (O)how long will you (P)have no mercy on Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, against which you have been angry these (Q)seventy years?’ 13 And the Lord answered (R)gracious and comforting words to (S)the angel who talked with me. 14 So (T)the angel who talked with me said to me, ‘Cry out, Thus says the Lord of hosts: (U)I am exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion. 15 (V)And I am exceedingly angry with the nations that are (W)at ease; (X)for while I was angry but a little, (Y)they furthered the disaster. 16 Therefore, thus says the Lord, (Z)I have returned to Jerusalem with mercy; (AA)my house shall be built in it, declares the Lord of hosts, and (AB)the measuring line shall be stretched out over Jerusalem. 17 Cry out again, Thus says the Lord of hosts: (AC)My cities shall again overflow with prosperity, (AD)and the Lord will again comfort Zion and again (AE)choose Jerusalem.’”
To the Church in Philadelphia
7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of (A)the holy one, (B)the true one, (C)who has the key of David, (D)who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.
8 “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you (E)an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. 9 Behold, I will make those of (F)the synagogue of Satan who say that they are Jews and are not, but lie—behold, (G)I will make them come and bow down before your feet, and they will learn that (H)I have loved you. 10 (I)Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try (J)those who dwell on the earth. 11 (K)I am coming soon. (L)Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize (M)your crown. 12 (N)The one who conquers, I will make him (O)a pillar in the temple of my God. Never shall he go out of it, and I will write on him (P)the name of my God, and (Q)the name of the city of my God, (R)the new Jerusalem, (S)which comes down from my God out of heaven, and my own (T)new name. 13 (U)He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’
The Abomination of Desolation
15 “So when you see the abomination of desolation (A)spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in (B)the holy place ((C)let the reader understand), 16 then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. 17 (D)Let the one who is on (E)the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, 18 and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. 19 And (F)alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! 20 Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. 21 For then there will be (G)great tribulation, (H)such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. 22 And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for (I)the sake of the elect those days will be cut short. 23 (J)Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it. 24 For (K)false christs and (L)false prophets will arise and (M)perform great signs and wonders, (N)so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, (O)I have told you beforehand. 26 So, if they say to you, ‘Look, (P)he is in the wilderness,’ do not go out. If they say, ‘Look, he is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it. 27 (Q)For as the lightning comes from the east and shines as far as the west, so will be (R)the coming of the Son of Man. 28 (S)Wherever the corpse is, there the vultures will gather.
The Coming of the Son of Man
29 “Immediately after (T)the tribulation of those days (U)the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light, and (V)the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then (W)will appear in heaven (X)the sign of the Son of Man, and then (Y)all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and (Z)they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven (AA)with power and great glory. 31 And (AB)he will send out his angels with a loud (AC)trumpet call, and they will (AD)gather (AE)his elect from (AF)the four winds, (AG)from one end of heaven to the other.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.