Book of Common Prayer
O Yahweh, Be Gracious to Me
For the choir director. A Psalm of David.
41 How blessed is he who (A)considers the [a]poor;
Yahweh will provide him escape (B)in a day of [b]calamity.
2 Yahweh will (C)keep him and keep him alive,
And he shall be (D)blessed upon the earth;
And (E)do not give him over to the desire of his enemies.
3 Yahweh will sustain him upon his sickbed;
In his illness, You [c]restore him to health.
4 As for me, I said, “O Yahweh, 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 [d]when he comes to see me, he (I)speaks [e]worthlessness;
His heart gathers wickedness to itself;
When he goes outside, he speaks it.
7 All who hate me whisper together against me;
Against me, they (J)devise for me [f]calamity, saying,
8 “A vile 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 Yahweh, be gracious to me and (M)raise me up,
That I may repay them.
11 By this I know that (N)You delight in me,
Because (O)my enemy makes no shout in triumph over me.
12 As for me, (P)You uphold me in my integrity,
And You make me (Q)stand firm in Your presence forever.
13 (R)Blessed be Yahweh, the God of Israel,
From everlasting to everlasting.
Amen and Amen.
I Trust in the Lovingkindness of God
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 So that the righteous will (L)see and fear,
And will (M)laugh at him, saying,
7 “Behold, the man who would not set God as his strength,
But (N)trusted in the abundance of his riches
And (O)was strong in his destruction.”
Rise Up, Be Our Help
For the choir director. Of the sons of Korah. A [a]Maskil.
44 O God, we have heard with our ears,
Our (A)fathers have recounted to us
The (B)work that You did in their days,
In the (C)days of old.
2 You with Your own hand (D)dispossessed the nations;
Then You (E)planted them;
You (F)afflicted the peoples,
Then You (G)cast them out.
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]salvation for Jacob.
5 Through You we will (N)push back our adversaries;
Through Your name we will (O)tread down those who rise up against us.
6 For I will (P)not trust in my bow,
And my sword will not 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 plundered us 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]for no amount,
And You have not [f]profited from their price.
13 You make us a (AC)reproach to our neighbors,
A mockery 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]the (AG)shame of my face has covered 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,
Nor have our steps (AM)deviated from Your path,
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 spread 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 counted as (AU)sheep for the slaughter.
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 [j]body cleaves to the earth.
26 (BB)Rise up, be our help,
And (BC)redeem us for the sake of Your lovingkindness.
A Man on a Red Horse
7 On the twenty-fourth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, the word of Yahweh came to Zechariah the prophet, the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, saying, 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 Yahweh has sent to [a](F)patrol the earth.” 11 So they answered the angel of Yahweh who was (G)standing among the myrtle trees and said, “We have [b]patrolled the earth, and behold, (H)all the earth is sitting still and quiet.”
12 Then the angel of Yahweh answered and said, “O Yahweh 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 Yahweh answered the (M)angel who was speaking with me with good words, (N)comforting words. 14 So the angel who was speaking with me said to me, “(O)Call out, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “I am (P)exceedingly jealous for Jerusalem and Zion. 15 But I am very (Q)wrathful with the nations who are (R)at ease; for I was only a little wrathful, but they (S)helped increase the calamity.” 16 Therefore thus says Yahweh, “I will (T)return to Jerusalem with compassion; My (U)house will be built in it,” declares Yahweh of hosts, “and a measuring (V)line will be stretched over Jerusalem.”’ 17 Again, call out, saying, ‘Thus says Yahweh of hosts, “My (W)cities will again overflow with good, and Yahweh will again (X)comfort Zion and again (Y)choose Jerusalem.”’”
Message to the Seven Churches
4 (A)John to (B)the seven churches that are in (C)Asia: (D)Grace to you and peace, from (E)the One who is and who was and who [a]is to come, and from (F)the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, (G)the faithful witness, the (H)firstborn of the dead, and the (I)ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who (J)loves us and released us from our sins [b]by His blood— 6 and He has made us to be a (K)kingdom, (L)priests to [c](M)His God and Father—(N)to Him be the glory and the might forever and ever. Amen. 7 (O)Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and (P)every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will (Q)mourn over Him. Yes, amen.
8 “I am (R)the Alpha and the Omega,” says the [d](S)Lord God, “(T)who is and who was and who [e]is to come, the Almighty.”
The Vision of the Son of Man
9 (U)I, John, your (V)brother and (W)fellow partaker in the tribulation and (X)kingdom and [f](Y)perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos (Z)because of the word of God and the witness of Jesus. 10 I was [g](AA)in the Spirit on (AB)the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice (AC)like a trumpet, 11 saying, “(AD)Write in a scroll what you see, and send it to the (AE)seven churches: to (AF)Ephesus and to (AG)Smyrna and to (AH)Pergamum and to (AI)Thyatira and to (AJ)Sardis and to (AK)Philadelphia and to (AL)Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw (AM)seven golden lampstands; 13 and (AN)in the middle of the lampstands I saw one (AO)like [h]a son of man, (AP)clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and (AQ)girded across His chest with a golden sash. 14 And His head and His (AR)hair were white like white wool, like snow; and (AS)His eyes were like a flame of fire. 15 His (AT)feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His (AU)voice was like the sound of many waters, 16 and having in His right hand (AV)seven stars, and a (AW)sharp two-edged sword which comes out of His mouth, and His (AX)face was like (AY)the sun [i]shining in its power.
17 And when I saw Him, I (AZ)fell at His feet like a dead man. And He (BA)placed His right hand on me, saying, “(BB)Do not fear; (BC)I am the first and the last, 18 and the (BD)living One; and I [j](BE)was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever, and I have (BF)the keys of death and of Hades. 19 Therefore (BG)write (BH)the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place (BI)after these things. 20 As for the (BJ)mystery of the (BK)seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the (BL)seven golden lampstands: the (BM)seven stars are the angels of (BN)the seven churches, and the seven (BO)lampstands are the seven churches.
43 “(A)Now when the unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places seeking rest, and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came’; and when it comes, it finds it unoccupied, swept, and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there; and (B)the last state of that man becomes worse than the first. That is the way it will also be with this evil generation.”
Jesus’ Mother and Brothers
46 (C)While He was still speaking to the crowds, behold, His (D)mother and (E)brothers were standing outside, seeking to speak to Him. 47 [a]Now someone said to Him, “Behold, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside seeking to speak to You.” 48 But [b]Jesus answered the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” 49 And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold My mother and My brothers! 50 For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
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