Book of Common Prayer
41 God blesses those who are kind to the poor. He helps them out of their troubles. 2 He protects them and keeps them alive; he publicly honors them and destroys the power of their enemies. 3 He nurses them when they are sick and soothes their pains and worries.[a]
4 “O Lord,” I prayed, “be kind and heal me, for I have confessed my sins.” 5 But my enemies say, “May he soon die and be forgotten!” 6 They act so friendly when they come to visit me while I am sick; but all the time they hate me and are glad that I am lying there upon my bed of pain. And when they leave, they laugh and mock. 7 They whisper together about what they will do when I am dead. 8 “It’s fatal, whatever it is,” they say. “He’ll never get out of that bed!”
9 Even my best friend has turned against me—a man I completely trusted; how often we ate together. 10 Lord, don’t you desert me! Be gracious, Lord, and make me well again so I can pay them back! 11 I know you are pleased with me because you haven’t let my enemies triumph over me. 12 You have preserved me because I was honest; you have admitted me forever to your presence.
13 Bless the Lord, the God of Israel, who exists from everlasting ages past—and on into everlasting eternity ahead. Amen and amen!
52 Written by David to protest against his enemy Doeg (1 Samuel 22), who later slaughtered eighty-five priests and their families.
You call yourself a hero, do you? You boast about this evil deed of yours against God’s people. 2 You are sharp as a tack in plotting your evil tricks. 3 How you love wickedness—far more than good! And lying more than truth! 4 You love to slander—you love to say anything that will do harm, O man with the lying tongue.
5 But God will strike you down, pull you from your home, and drag you away from the land of the living. 6 The followers of God will see it happen. They will watch in awe. Then they will laugh and say, 7 “See what happens to those who despise God and trust in their wealth, and become ever more bold in their wickedness.”[a]
8 But I am like a sheltered olive tree protected by the Lord himself. I trust in the mercy of God forever and ever. 9 O Lord, I will praise you forever and ever for your punishment.[b] And I will wait for your mercies—for everyone knows what a merciful God you are.
44 1-2 O God, we have heard of the glorious miracles you did in the days of long ago. Our forefathers have told us how you drove the heathen nations from this land and gave it all to us, spreading Israel from one end of the country to the other. 3 They did not conquer by their own strength and skill, but by your mighty power and because you smiled upon them and favored them.
4 You are my King and my God. Decree victories for your people. 5 For it is only by your power and through your name that we tread down our enemies; 6 I do not trust my weapons. They could never save me. 7 Only you can give us the victory over those who hate us.
8 My constant boast is God. I can never thank you enough! 9 And yet for a time, O Lord, you have tossed us aside in dishonor and have not helped us in our battles. 10 You have actually fought against us and defeated us before our foes. Our enemies have invaded our land and pillaged the countryside. 11 You have treated us like sheep in a slaughter pen and scattered us among the nations. 12 You sold us for a pittance. You valued us at nothing at all. 13 The neighboring nations mock and laugh at us because of all the evil you have sent. 14 You have made the word Jew a byword of contempt and shame among the nations, disliked by all. 15-16 I am constantly despised, mocked, taunted, and cursed by my vengeful enemies.
17 And all this has happened, Lord, despite our loyalty to you. We have not violated your covenant. 18 Our hearts have not deserted you! We have not left your path by a single step. 19 If we had, we could understand your punishing us in the barren wilderness and sending us into darkness and death. 20 If we had turned away from worshiping our God and were worshiping idols, 21 would God not know it? Yes, he knows the secrets of every heart. 22 But that is not our case. For we are facing death threats constantly because of serving you! We are like sheep awaiting slaughter.
23 Waken! Rouse yourself! Don’t sleep, O Lord! Are we cast off forever? 24 Why do you look the other way? Why do you ignore our sorrows and oppression? 25 We lie face downward in the dust. 26 Rise up, O Lord, and come and help us. Save us by your constant love.
7 The following February, still in the second year of the reign of King Darius, another message from the Lord came to Zechariah (son of Berechiah and grandson of Iddo the prophet), in a vision in the night: 8 I saw a Man sitting on a red horse that was standing among the myrtle trees beside a river. Behind him were other horses, red and bay and white, each with its rider.[a]
9 An angel stood beside me, and I asked him, “Sir, what are all those horses for?”
“I’ll tell you,” he replied.
10 Then the rider on the red horse—he was the Angel of the Lord—answered me, “The Lord has sent them to patrol the earth for him.”
11 Then the other riders reported to the Angel of the Lord, “We have patrolled the whole earth, and everywhere there is prosperity and peace.”
12 Upon hearing this, the Angel of the Lord prayed this prayer: “O Lord Almighty, for seventy years your anger has raged against Jerusalem and the cities of Judah. How long will it be until you again show mercy to them?”
13 And the Lord answered the angel who stood beside me, speaking words of comfort and assurance.
14 Then the angel said, “Shout out this message from the Lord Almighty: ‘Don’t you think I care about what has happened to Judah and Jerusalem? I am as jealous as a husband for his captive wife. 15 I am very angry with the heathen nations sitting around at ease, for I was only a little displeased with my people, but the nations afflicted them far beyond my intentions.’ 16 Therefore the Lord declares: ‘I have returned to Jerusalem filled with mercy; my Temple will be rebuilt,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and so will all Jerusalem.’ 17 Say it again: ‘The Lord Almighty declares that the cities of Israel will again overflow with prosperity, and the Lord will again comfort Jerusalem and bless her and live in her.’ ”
4 From: John
To: The seven churches in Turkey.[a]
Dear Friends:
May you have grace and peace from God who is, and was, and is to come; and from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; 5 and from Jesus Christ who faithfully reveals all truth to us. He was the first to rise from death, to die no more.[b] He is far greater than any king in all the earth. All praise to him who always loves us and who set us free from our sins by pouring out his lifeblood for us. 6 He has gathered us into his Kingdom and made us priests of God his Father. Give to him everlasting glory! He rules forever! Amen!
7 See! He is arriving, surrounded by clouds; and every eye shall see him—yes, and those who pierced him.[c] And the nations will weep in sorrow and in terror when he comes. Yes! Amen! Let it be so!
8 “I am the A and the Z,[d] the Beginning and the Ending of all things,” says God, who is the Lord, the All Powerful One who is, and was, and is coming again!
9 It is I, your brother John, a fellow sufferer for the Lord’s sake, who am writing this letter to you. I, too, have shared the patience Jesus gives, and we shall share his Kingdom!
I was on the island of Patmos, exiled there for preaching the Word of God and for telling what I knew about Jesus Christ. 10 It was the Lord’s Day and I was worshiping, when suddenly I heard a loud voice behind me, a voice that sounded like a trumpet blast, 11 saying, “I am A and Z, the First and Last!” And then I heard him say, “Write down everything you see, and send your letter to the seven churches in Turkey:[e] to the church in Ephesus, the one in Smyrna, and those in Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12 When I turned to see who was speaking, there behind me were seven candlesticks of gold. 13 And standing among them was one who looked like Jesus, who called himself the Son of Man,[f] wearing a long robe circled with a golden band across his chest. 14 His hair was white as wool or snow,[g] and his eyes penetrated like flames of fire. 15 His feet gleamed like burnished bronze, and his voice thundered like the waves against the shore. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand and a sharp, double-bladed sword in his mouth,[h] and his face shone like the power of the sun in unclouded brilliance.
17-18 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead; but he laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid! Though I am the First and Last, the Living One who died, who is now alive forevermore, who has the keys of hell and death—don’t be afraid! 19 Write down what you have just seen and what will soon be shown to you. 20 This is the meaning of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks: The seven stars are the leaders[i] of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks are the churches themselves.
43-45 “This evil nation is like a man possessed by a demon. For if the demon leaves, it goes into the deserts[a] for a while, seeking rest but finding none. Then it says, ‘I will return to the man I came from.’ So it returns and finds the man’s heart clean but empty! Then the demon finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and all enter the man and live in him. And so he is worse off than before.”
46-47 As Jesus was speaking in a crowded house,[b] his mother and brothers were outside, wanting to talk with him. When someone told him they were there, 48 he remarked, “Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?” 49 He pointed to his disciples. “Look!” he said, “these are my mother and brothers.” 50 Then he added, “Anyone who obeys my Father in heaven is my brother, sister, and mother!”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.