Book of Common Prayer
God Himself Is Judge
A Psalm of (A)Asaph.
50 (B)The Mighty One, God the Lord,
speaks and summons the earth
(C)from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, (D)the perfection of beauty,
(E)God shines forth.
3 Our God comes; he (F)does not keep silence;[a]
before him is a devouring (G)fire,
around him a mighty tempest.
4 (H)He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth, that he may judge his people:
5 “Gather to me my faithful ones,
who made (I)a covenant with me by sacrifice!”
6 (J)The heavens declare his righteousness,
for (K)God himself is judge! Selah
7 (L)“Hear, O my people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify against you.
(M)I am God, your God.
8 Not for your sacrifices (N)do I rebuke you;
your burnt offerings are continually before me.
9 I will not accept a bull from your house
or goats from your folds.
10 For every beast of the forest is mine,
the cattle on a thousand hills.
11 (O)I know all the birds of the hills,
and all that moves in the field is mine.
12 “If I were hungry, I would not tell you,
(P)for the world and its fullness are mine.
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of goats?
14 (Q)Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving,[b]
and (R)perform your vows to the Most High,
15 and (S)call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will (T)deliver you, and you shall (U)glorify me.”
16 But to the wicked God says:
“What right have you to recite my statutes
or take my covenant on your lips?
17 (V)For you hate discipline,
(W)and you cast my words behind you.
18 If you see a thief, (X)you are pleased with him,
(Y)and you keep company with adulterers.
19 “You give your mouth free rein for evil,
(Z)and your tongue frames deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother;
you slander your own mother's son.
21 These things you have done, and I (AA)have been silent;
you thought that I[c] was one like yourself.
But now I (AB)rebuke you and (AC)lay the charge before you.
Deliver Me from My Enemies
To the choirmaster: according to (A)Do Not Destroy. A (B)Miktam[a] of David, (C)when Saul sent men to watch his house in order to kill him.
59 (D)Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
(E)protect me from those who (F)rise up against me;
2 deliver me from (G)those who work evil,
and save me from (H)bloodthirsty men.
3 For behold, they (I)lie in wait for my life;
fierce men (J)stir up strife against me.
(K)For no transgression or sin of mine, O Lord,
4 for no fault of mine, they run and make ready.
(L)Awake, come to meet me, and see!
5 You, (M)Lord God of hosts, are God of Israel.
Rouse yourself to punish all the nations;
spare none of those who treacherously plot evil. Selah
6 Each evening they (N)come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
7 There they are, (O)bellowing with their mouths
with (P)swords in their lips—
for (Q)“Who,” they think,[b] “will hear us?”
8 But you, O Lord, (R)laugh at them;
you hold all the nations in derision.
9 O my Strength, I will watch for you,
for you, O God, are (S)my fortress.
10 (T)My God in his steadfast love[c] (U)will meet me;
God will let me (V)look in triumph on my enemies.
11 Kill them not, lest my people forget;
make them totter[d] by your power and (W)bring them down,
O Lord, our (X)shield!
12 For (Y)the sin of their mouths, the words of their lips,
let them be trapped in their pride.
For the cursing and lies that they utter,
13 (Z)consume them in wrath;
consume them till they are no more,
that they may (AA)know that God rules over Jacob
to (AB)the ends of the earth. Selah
14 (AC)Each evening they come back,
howling like dogs
and prowling about the city.
15 They (AD)wander about for food
and growl if they do not get their fill.
16 But I will sing of your strength;
I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning.
For you have been to me (AE)a fortress
and (AF)a refuge in (AG)the day of my distress.
17 O my Strength, I will sing praises to you,
for you, O God, (AH)are my fortress,
(AI)the God who shows me steadfast love.
He Will Tread Down Our Foes
To the choirmaster: according to (AJ)Shushan Eduth. A (AK)Miktam[e] of David; (AL)for instruction; when he (AM)strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and when Joab on his return struck down twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
60 O God, (AN)you have rejected us, (AO)broken our defenses;
you have been angry; (AP)oh, restore us.
2 You have made the land to quake; you have torn it open;
(AQ)repair its breaches, for it totters.
3 (AR)You have made your people see hard things;
(AS)you have given us (AT)wine to drink that made us stagger.
4 You have set up (AU)a banner for those who fear you,
that they may flee to it (AV)from the bow.[f] Selah
5 (AW)That your (AX)beloved ones may be delivered,
give salvation by your right hand and answer us!
6 God has spoken (AY)in his holiness:[g]
“With exultation (AZ)I will divide up (BA)Shechem
and portion out the Vale of (BB)Succoth.
7 (BC)Gilead is mine; Manasseh is mine;
(BD)Ephraim is (BE)my helmet;
Judah is my (BF)scepter.
8 (BG)Moab is my washbasin;
upon Edom I (BH)cast my shoe;
over (BI)Philistia I shout in triumph.”[h]
9 Who will bring me to the fortified city?
(BJ)Who will lead me to Edom?
10 Have you not (BK)rejected us, O God?
You (BL)do not go forth, O God, with our armies.
11 Oh, grant us help against the foe,
for (BM)vain is the salvation of man!
12 With God we shall (BN)do valiantly;
it is he who will (BO)tread down our foes.
The Steadfast Love of the Lord
33 (A)Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous!
(B)Praise befits the upright.
2 Give thanks to the Lord with the (C)lyre;
make melody to him with (D)the harp of (E)ten strings!
3 Sing to him (F)a new song;
play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts.
4 For the word of the Lord is upright,
and all his work is done in (G)faithfulness.
5 He (H)loves righteousness and justice;
(I)the earth is full of the steadfast love of the Lord.
6 By (J)the word of the Lord the heavens were made,
and by (K)the breath of his mouth all (L)their host.
7 He gathers the waters of the sea as (M)a heap;
he (N)puts the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him!
9 For (O)he spoke, and it came to be;
he commanded, and it stood firm.
10 The Lord (P)brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
11 (Q)The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
the plans of his heart to all generations.
12 (R)Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people whom he has (S)chosen as his heritage!
13 The Lord (T)looks down from heaven;
he sees all the children of man;
14 from (U)where he sits enthroned he (V)looks out
on all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 he who fashions the hearts of them all
and observes all their deeds.
16 (W)The king is not saved by his great army;
a warrior is not delivered by his great strength.
17 (X)The war horse is a false hope for salvation,
and by its great might it cannot rescue.
A Vision of a Golden Lampstand
4 And (A)the angel who talked with me came again (B)and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, (C)a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and (D)seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are (E)two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” 4 And I said to (F)the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” 5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, (G)“Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 6 Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to (H)Zerubbabel: (I)Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. 7 Who are you, (J)O great mountain? Before (K)Zerubbabel (L)you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward (M)the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 (N)“The hands of (O)Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also (P)complete it. (Q)Then you will know that the Lord of hosts has sent me to you. 10 (R)For whoever has despised the day of small things shall rejoice, and shall see (S)the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.
(T)“These seven (U)are the eyes of the Lord, (V)which range through the whole earth.” 11 Then I said to him, “What are these (W)two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?” 12 And a second time I answered and said to him, “What are these (X)two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil[a] is poured out?” 13 He said to me, (Y)“Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” 14 Then he said, (Z)“These are the two anointed ones[b] who stand by (AA)the Lord of the whole earth.”
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, (A)who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders (B)fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast (C)their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 (D)“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for (E)you created all things,
and (F)by your will they existed and were created.”
The Scroll and the Lamb
5 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne (G)a scroll written within and on the back, (H)sealed with seven seals. 2 And (I)I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, (J)the Lion (K)of the tribe of Judah, (L)the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
The Parable of the Ten Virgins
25 “Then the kingdom of heaven will be like (A)ten virgins who took their lamps[a] and went to meet (B)the bridegroom.[b] 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were (C)wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom (D)was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. 6 But (E)at midnight there was a cry, ‘Here is the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.’ 7 Then all those virgins rose and (F)trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and (G)those who were ready went in with him to (H)the marriage feast, and (I)the door was shut. 11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, (J)‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ 12 (K)But he answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, (L)I do not know you.’ 13 (M)Watch therefore, for you (N)know neither the day nor the hour.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.