Book of Common Prayer
He Will Never Allow the Righteous to Be Shaken
For the choir director. With stringed instruments. A [a]Maskil of David.
55 (A)Give ear to my prayer, O God;
And (B)do not hide Yourself from my supplication.
2 Give (C)heed to me and answer me;
I am restless in my (D)complaint and [b](E)am surely distracted,
3 Because of the voice of the enemy,
Because of the (F)pressure of the wicked;
For they (G)shake wickedness down upon me
And in anger they (H)bear a grudge against me.
4 My (I)heart is in anguish within me,
And the terrors of (J)death have fallen upon me.
5 Fear and (K)trembling come upon me,
And [c](L)horror has covered me.
6 I said, “Oh, that I had wings like a dove!
I would fly away and [d](M)be at rest.
7 Behold, I would wander far away,
I would (N)lodge in the wilderness. [e]Selah.
8 I would hasten to my place of refuge
From the (O)stormy wind and tempest.”
9 [f]Confuse, O Lord, (P)divide their tongues,
For I have seen (Q)violence and strife in the city.
10 Day and night they go around her upon her walls,
And wickedness and mischief are in her midst.
11 (R)Destruction is in her midst;
(S)Oppression and deceit do not depart from her [g]streets.
12 For it is (T)not an enemy who reproaches me,
Then I could bear it;
Nor is it one who hates me who (U)has magnified himself against me,
Then I could hide myself from him.
13 But it is you, a man [h]my equal,
My (V)close companion and my [i](W)familiar friend;
14 We who had sweet counsel together
(X)Walked in the house of God in the throng.
15 Let [j]death come (Y)deceitfully upon them;
Let them (Z)go down alive to Sheol,
For evil is in their dwelling, in their midst.
16 As for me, I shall (AA)call upon God,
And Yahweh will save me.
17 (AB)Evening and (AC)morning and at (AD)noon, I will bring my complaint and moan,
And He will hear my voice.
18 He will (AE)redeem my soul in peace [k]from the battle which is against me,
For they are (AF)many who strive with me.
19 God will (AG)hear and [l]answer them—
Even the one (AH)who [m]sits enthroned from of old— Selah.
Because they [n]do not change,
And (AI)do not fear God.
20 [o]My companion has put forth his hands against (AJ)those who were at peace with him;
He has [p](AK)violated his covenant.
21 His [q]speech was (AL)smoother than butter,
But his heart was war;
His words were (AM)softer than oil,
Yet they were drawn (AN)swords.
I Will Give Thanks to Your Name
Of David.
138 (A)I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing praises to You before the (B)gods.
2 I will worship (C)toward Your holy temple
And (D)give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your [a]truth;
For You have (E)magnified Your [b]word [c]according to all Your name.
3 On the day I (F)called, You answered me;
You made me bold with (G)strength in my soul.
4 (H)All the kings of the earth, O Yahweh, will give You thanks,
When they hear the words of Your mouth.
5 And they will (I)sing of the ways of Yahweh,
For (J)great is the glory of Yahweh.
6 For (K)Yahweh is high,
Yet He (L)sees the lowly,
But the (M)one who exalts himself He knows from afar.
7 Though I (N)walk in the midst of [d]distress, You will [e](O)revive me;
You will (P)stretch forth Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will (Q)save me.
8 Yahweh will (R)accomplish what concerns me;
O Yahweh, Your (S)lovingkindness endures forever;
(T)Do not fail the (U)works of Your hands.
Where Can I Go from Your Spirit?
For the choir director. Of David. A Psalm.
139 O Yahweh, You have (V)searched me and known me.
2 You (W)know [f]when I sit down and [g]when I rise up;
You (X)understand my thought from afar.
3 You [h](Y)scrutinize my [i]path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
4 [j]Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O Yahweh, You (Z)know it all.
5 You have (AA)enclosed me behind and before,
And You have (AB)put Your hand upon me.
6 Such (AC)knowledge is (AD)too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
7 (AE)Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
8 (AF)If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, (AG)You are there.
9 If I lift up the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
10 Even there Your hand will (AH)lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
11 If I say, “Surely the (AI)darkness will (AJ)bruise me,
And the light around me will be night,”
12 Even the (AK)darkness is not too dark for You,
And the night is as bright as the day.
(AL)Darkness and light are alike to You.
13 For You (AM)formed my [k]inward parts;
You (AN)wove me in my mother’s womb.
14 I will give thanks to You, for [l]I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
(AO)Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 My [m](AP)frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And (AQ)intricately woven in the (AR)depths of the earth;
16 Your (AS)eyes have seen my unshaped substance;
And in (AT)Your book all of them were written
The (AU)days that were formed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
17 How precious are Your (AV)thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 If I should count them, they would (AW)outnumber the sand.
When (AX)I awake, I am still with You.
19 Oh that You would (AY)slay the wicked, O God!
(AZ)O (BA)men of bloodshed, depart from me.
20 For they (BB)speak [n]against You wickedly,
And Your enemies [o](BC)take Your name in vain.
21 Do I not (BD)hate those who hate You, O Yahweh?
And do I not (BE)revile those who rise up against You?
22 I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
Sanballat and Tobiah Mock the Jews’ Work
4 [a]Now it happened that when (A)Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall, he became angry and very vexed and mocked the Jews. 2 He spoke in the presence of his brothers and (B)the [b]wealthy men of Samaria and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Are they going to restore it for themselves? Can they offer sacrifices? Can they complete it in a day? Can they bring the stones to life from the [c](C)dusty rubble, though they are burned?” 3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was near him and he said, “Even what they are building—(D)if a fox should [d]jump on it, he would break their stone wall down!”
4 (E)Hear, O our God, for we are despised! (F)Return their reproach on their own heads and give them up for plunder in a land of captivity. 5 Do not [e](G)forgive their iniquity and let not their sin be blotted out before You, for they have [f]vexed the builders.
6 So we built the wall and the whole wall was joined together to half its height, and the people had a heart to work.
7 [g]Now it happened that when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the [h]repair of the walls of Jerusalem went on, and that the places broken down began to be closed, they were very angry. 8 All of them (H)joined together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause a disturbance in it. 9 But we prayed to our God, and because of them we (I)stood a guard against them day and night.
10 Then Judah said,
“The [i]strength of the burden bearers is failing,
Yet there is much [j]rubbish;
And we ourselves are unable
To rebuild the wall.”
11 Our adversaries said, “They will not know or see until we come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work.” 12 Now it happened when the Jews who lived near them came and said to us ten times, “[k]They will come up against us from every place where you may turn,” 13 that I had men stand in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, the [l]exposed places, and I (J)had the people stand by families with their swords, spears, and bows. 14 Then I saw their fear. And I arose and said to the nobles, the officials, and the rest of the people: “(K)Do not fear them; remember the Lord who is great and fearsome, and (L)fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”
Doing the Work and Holding a Weapon
15 Now it happened that when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that (M)God had thwarted their counsel, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work. 16 And it happened that from that day on, half of my young men carried on the work while half of them took hold of the spears, the shields, the bows, and the breastplates; and the commanders were behind the whole house of Judah. 17 Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon. 18 As for the builders, each wore his sword girded at his side as he built, while [m]the trumpeter stood near me. 19 I said to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people, “The work is great and extensive, and we are separated on the wall far from one another. 20 At whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, there gather together to us. (N)Our God will fight for us.”
21 So we kept doing the work with half of them holding spears from [n]dawn until the stars came out. 22 At that time I also said to the people, “Let each man with his young man spend the night within Jerusalem so that they may be a guard for us by night and a worker by day.” 23 So neither I, my brothers, my young men, nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us removed our clothes, each took his weapon even to the water.
4 And I heard the (A)number of those having been sealed, (B)144,000 sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel:
5 from the tribe of Judah, 12,000 having been sealed,
from the tribe of Reuben 12,000,
from the tribe of Gad 12,000,
6 from the tribe of Asher 12,000,
from the tribe of Naphtali 12,000,
from the tribe of Manasseh 12,000,
7 from the tribe of Simeon 12,000,
from the tribe of Levi 12,000,
from the tribe of Issachar 12,000,
8 from the tribe of Zebulun 12,000,
from the tribe of Joseph 12,000,
from the tribe of Benjamin, 12,000 having been sealed.
A Multitude from Every Nation
9 After these things I looked, and behold, a great [a]multitude which no one could count, from (C)every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing (D)before the throne and (E)before the Lamb, clothed in (F)white robes, and (G)palm branches were in their hands; 10 and they cry out with a loud voice, saying,
“(H)Salvation belongs to our God (I)who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11 And all the angels were standing (J)around the throne and (K)the elders and the (L)four living creatures, and they (M)fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying,
“(N)Amen, (O)the blessing and the glory and the wisdom and the thanksgiving and the honor and the power and the strength, be to our God forever and ever. (P)Amen.”
13 Then one of the elders (Q)answered, saying to me, “These, clothed in the (R)white robes, who are they, and from where have they come?” 14 And I [b]said to him, “My lord, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the (S)great tribulation, and they (T)washed their robes and made them (U)white in the (V)blood of the Lamb. 15 For this reason, they are (W)before the throne of God; and they (X)serve Him day and night in His [c](Y)sanctuary; and (Z)He who sits on the throne will [d](AA)dwell over them. 16 (AB)They will hunger no longer, nor thirst anymore; nor will the sun [e]beat down on them, nor any heat; 17 for the Lamb at the center of the throne will (AC)shepherd them and will guide them to springs of the [f](AD)water of life. And (AE)God will wipe every tear from their eyes.”
Parables of the Mustard Seed and Leaven
31 He presented another parable to them, saying, “(A)The kingdom of heaven is like (B)a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; 32 and this is the [a]smallest of all seeds, but when it is fully grown, it is the [b]largest of the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that (C)the birds of the [c]air come and nest in its branches.”
33 He spoke another parable to them, “(D)The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in [d](E)three sata of flour until it was all leavened.”
34 All these things Jesus spoke to the crowds in parables, and He was not speaking to them (F)without a parable 35 so that what was spoken through the prophet might be fulfilled, saying,
“(G)I will open My mouth in parables;
I will utter things hidden since the foundation of the world.”
Legacy Standard Bible Copyright ©2021 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved. Managed in partnership with Three Sixteen Publishing Inc. LSBible.org For Permission to Quote Information visit https://www.LSBible.org.