Book of Common Prayer

God the Judge

For the director of music. To the tune of “Do Not Destroy.” A song of Asaph.

The God Who Always Wins

For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A song of Asaph.

The Lord the Shepherd

A song of David.

A Song of Trust in God

Of David.

Ezra’s Prayer

9 After these things had been done, the leaders came to me. They said, “Ezra, the Israelites, including the priests and Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the people around us. Those neighbors do evil things as the Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Jebusites, Ammonites, Moabites, Egyptians and Amorites did. ² The Israelite men and their sons have married the women of these non-Jewish people. They have mixed the people who belong to God with the people around them. The leaders and officers of Israel did this first. And they caused the rest of the Israelites to do this unfaithful thing.”

³ When I heard this, I angrily tore my robe and coat. I pulled hair from my head and beard and sat down in shock. ⁴ Then everyone who trembled in fear at the word of the God of Israel gathered around me. This was because of the unfaithfulness of the captives who had returned. I sat there in shock until the evening sacrifice.

⁵ Then, at the evening sacrifice, I got up from where I had shown my disgrace. My inner robe and coat were torn. And I fell on my knees with my hands spread out to the Lord my God. ⁶ I prayed,

“My God, I am too ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to you. I am in disgrace because our sins are so many they are higher than our heads. Our sins even reach up to the sky. ⁷ From the days of our ancestors until now, we have been very guilty. Because of our sins, we, our kings and priests have suffered punishment. We have been punished by the sword and captivity. Foreign kings have taken away our things and shamed us. It is that way today.

⁸ “But now, for a short time, the Lord our God has been kind to us. He has let some of us come back from captivity. He has let us live in safety in his holy place. And so our God gives us hope and a little relief from our slavery. ⁹ Even though we are slaves, our God has not left us. He caused the kings of Persia to be kind to us. He has given us new life. So we can rebuild the Temple and repair its ruins. And he has given us a wall to protect us in Judah and Jerusalem.

¹⁰ “But now, our God, what can we say after you have done all this? We have disobeyed your commands. ¹¹ You gave these commands through your servants the prophets. You said, ‘The land you are entering to own is ruined. The people living there have spoiled it by the evil they do. Their evil filled the land with uncleanness from one end to the other. ¹² So do not let your daughters marry their sons. And do not let their daughters marry your sons. Do not wish for their peace or success. Then you may be strong and eat the good things of the land. And then you can leave this land to your descendants forever.’

¹³ “What has happened to us is our own fault. We have done evil things. Our guilt is great. But you, our God, have punished us less than we deserve. You have left a few of us alive. ¹⁴ We should not again break your commands by allowing marriages with these wicked people. If we did, you would get angry enough to destroy us. Then none of us would be left alive. ¹⁵ Lord, God of Israel, by your goodness a few of us are left alive today. We admit that we are guilty. None of us should be allowed to stand before you.”

The Woman on the Animal

17 One of the seven angels came and spoke to me. This was one of the angels that had the seven bowls. He said, “Come, and I will show you the punishment that will be given to the famous prostitute. She is the one sitting over many waters. ² The kings of the earth sinned sexually with her. And the people of the earth became drunk from the wine of her sexual immorality.”

³ Then the angel carried me away by the Spirit to the desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a red beast. He was covered with names against God written on him. He had seven heads and ten horns. ⁴ The woman was dressed in purple and red. She was shining with the gold, jewels, and pearls she was wearing. She had a golden cup in her hand. This cup was filled with evil things and the uncleanness of her sexual immorality. ⁵ She had a title written on her forehead. This title has a hidden meaning. This is what was written:

⁶ I saw that the woman was drunk. She was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people. She was drunk with the blood of those who were killed because of their faith in Jesus.

When I saw the woman, I was fully amazed. ⁷ Then the angel said to me, “Why are you amazed? I will tell you the hidden meaning of this woman and the beast she rides—the one with seven heads and ten horns. ⁸ The beast that you saw was once alive. He is not alive now. But he will be alive and come up out of the bottomless pit and go away to be destroyed. The people who live on earth will be amazed when they see the beast. They will be amazed because he was once alive, is not alive now, but will come again. These are the people whose names have never been written in the book of life since the beginning of the world.

⁹ “You need a wise mind to understand this. The seven heads on the beast are the seven hills where the woman sits. They are also seven kings. ¹⁰ Five of the kings have already died. One of the kings lives now. And the last king is coming. When he comes, he will stay only a short time. ¹¹ The beast that was once alive but is not alive now is an eighth king. This eighth king also belongs to the first seven kings. And he will go away to be destroyed.

¹² “The ten horns you saw are ten kings. These ten kings have not yet begun to rule. But they will receive power to rule with the beast for one hour. ¹³ All ten of these kings have the same purpose. And they will give their power and authority to the beast. ¹⁴ They will make war against the Lamb. But the Lamb will defeat them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings. He will defeat them with his chosen and faithful followers—the people that he has called.”

Jesus Walks on the Water

²² Then Jesus made his followers get into the boat. He told them to go ahead of him to the other side of the lake. Jesus stayed there to tell the people they could go home. ²³ After he said good-bye to them, he went alone up into the hills to pray. It was late, and Jesus was there alone. ²⁴ By this time, the boat was already far away on the lake. The boat was having trouble because of the waves, and the wind was blowing against it.

²⁵ Between three and six o’clock in the morning, Jesus’ followers were still in the boat. Jesus came to them. He was walking on the water. ²⁶ When the followers saw him walking on the water, they were afraid. They said, “It’s a ghost!” and cried out in fear.

²⁷ But Jesus quickly spoke to them. He said, “Have courage! It is I! Don’t be afraid.”

²⁸ Peter said, “Lord, if that is really you, then tell me to come to you on the water.”

²⁹ Jesus said, “Come.”

And Peter left the boat and walked on the water to Jesus. ³⁰ But when Peter saw the wind and the waves, he became afraid and began to sink. He shouted, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ Then Jesus reached out his hand and caught Peter. Jesus said, “Your faith is small. Why did you doubt?”

³² After Peter and Jesus were in the boat, the wind became calm. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped Jesus and said, “Truly you are the Son of God!”

³⁴ After they crossed the lake, they came to the shore at Gennesaret. ³⁵ The people there saw Jesus and knew who he was. So they told people all around there that Jesus had come. They brought all their sick to him. ³⁶ They begged Jesus to let them just touch the edge of his coat to be healed. And all the sick people who touched it were healed.