Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 89
A maskil[a] of Ethan the Ezrahite.
89 I will sing of the Lord’s loyal love forever.
I will proclaim your faithfulness
with my own mouth
from one generation to the next.
2 That’s why I say,
“Your[b] loyal love is rightly built—forever!
You establish your faithfulness in heaven.”
3 You said,[c] “I made a covenant with my chosen one;
I promised my servant David:
4 ‘I will establish your offspring forever;
I will build up your throne from one generation to the next.’” Selah
5 Heaven thanks you for your wondrous acts, Lord—
for your faithfulness too—
in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 Is there any in the sky who could compare to the Lord?
Who among the gods is equal to the Lord?
7 God is respected in the council of the holy ones;
God is awesome and revered more than all those around him.
8 Who is like you, Lord God of heavenly forces?
Mighty Lord, your faithfulness surrounds you!
9 You rule over the surging sea:
When its waves rise up,
it’s you who makes them still.
10 It’s you who crushed Rahab like a dead body;
you scattered your enemies with your strong arm.
11 Heaven is yours! The earth too!
The world and all that fills it—
you made all of it! North and south—you created them!
12 The mountains Tabor and Hermon
shout praises to your name.
13 You have a powerful arm;
your hand is strong;
your strong hand is raised high!
14 Your throne is built on righteousness and justice;
loyal love and faithfulness stand in front of you.
15 The people who know the celebratory shout are truly happy!
They walk in the light of your presence, Lord!
16 They rejoice in your name all day long
and are uplifted by your righteousness
17 because you are the splendor of their strength.
By your favor you make us strong
18 because our shield is the Lord’s own;
our king belongs to the holy one of Israel!
19 Once you spoke in a vision
to your faithful servants:
I placed a crown on a strong man.
I raised up someone specially chosen from the people.
20 I discovered my servant David.
I anointed him with my holy oil.
21 My hand will sustain him—
yes, my arm will strengthen him!
22 No enemy will oppress him;
no wicked person will make him suffer.
23 I will crush all his foes in front of him.
I will strike down all those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and my loyal love will be with him.
He will be strengthened by my name.
25 I will set his hand on the sea.
I will set his strong hand on the rivers.
26 He will cry out to me:
“You are my father,
my God, the rock of my salvation.”
27 Yes, I’ll make him the one born first—
I’ll make him the high king of all earth’s kings.
28 I will always guard my loyal love toward him.
My covenant with him will last forever.
29 I will establish his dynasty for all time.
His throne will last as long as heaven does.
30 But if his children ever abandon my Instruction,
stop following my rules—
31 if they treat my statutes like dirt,
stop keeping my commandments—
32 then I will punish their sin with a stick,
and I will punish their wrongdoing with a severe beating.
33 But even then I won’t withdraw my loyal love from him.
I won’t betray my faithfulness.
34 I won’t break my covenant.
I won’t renege on what crossed my lips.
35 By my own holiness I’ve sworn one thing:
I will not lie to David.
36 His dynasty will last forever.
His throne will be like the sun, always before me.
37 It will be securely established forever;
like the moon, a faithful witness in the sky. Selah
38 But you, God, have rejected and despised him.
You’ve become infuriated with your anointed one.
39 You’ve canceled the covenant with your servant.
You’ve thrown his crown in the dirt.
40 You’ve broken through all his walls.
You’ve made his strongholds a pile of ruins.
41 All those who pass by plunder him.
He’s nothing but a joke to his neighbors.
42 You lifted high his foes’ strong hand.
You gave all his enemies reason to celebrate.
43 Yes, you dulled the edge of his sword
and didn’t support him in battle.
44 You’ve put an end to his splendor.
You’ve thrown his throne to the ground.
45 You’ve shortened the prime of his life.
You’ve wrapped him up in shame. Selah
46 How long will it last, Lord?
Will you hide yourself forever?
How long will your wrath burn like fire?
47 Remember how short my life is!
Have you created humans for no good reason?
48 Who lives their life without seeing death?
Who is ever rescued from the grip of the grave?[d] Selah
49 Where now are your loving acts
from long ago, my Lord—
the same ones you promised to David
by your own faithfulness?
50 Remember your servant’s abuse, my Lord!
Remember how I bear in my heart
all the insults of the nations,[e]
51 the ones your enemies, Lord, use—
the ones they use to abuse
every step your anointed one takes.
52 Bless the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen!
Early victories of Judas
3 Then his son Judas, known as Maccabeus, took command in his place. 2 Every one of his brothers and all who had joined his father helped him, and they gladly fought for Israel.
3 He advanced the honor of his people.
He put on his breastplate like a giant.
He strapped on his war armor
and waged battles,
protecting the camp with his sword.
4 He was like a lion in his actions,
like a lion’s cub roaring after prey.
5 He hunted and pursued
those who broke the Law.
He burned up
those who troubled his people.
6 Lawbreakers were afraid of him
and retreated.
All evildoers were in turmoil.
His hand successfully
brought deliverance.
7 He angered many kings,
but he brought joy to Jacob by his deeds.
His memory is blessed forever.
8 He went through the cities of Judah
and destroyed the ungodly
out of the land.
As a result, he turned wrath
away from Israel.
9 His fame extended
to the ends of the earth.
He gathered together
those who were perishing.
10 Apollonius gathered Gentiles and a large force from Samaria to fight against Israel. 11 When Judas found out about it, he went out to meet him in battle, then defeated and killed him. Judas wounded and killed many, while the rest fled. 12 Then the Israelites seized their spoils. Judas took Apollonius’ sword and used it in battle for the rest of his life.
13 At this point, Seron the commander of the Syrian army heard that Judas had gathered a large company, including a group of faithful soldiers who stayed with him and went out to battle. 14 He said, “I will make a name for myself and win honor in the kingdom. I will make war on Judas and his companions who reject the king’s command.” 15 Once more, a strong army of godless men went up with Seron to help him take vengeance on the Israelites.
16 When he approached the ascent to go up to Beth-horon, Judas went out to meet him with a small group. 17 When they saw Seron’s army that was coming against them, they said to Judas, “How can we, who are so few, fight against so large and strong a multitude? What’s more, we feel faint because we haven’t eaten today.”
18 Judas answered, “It’s easy for many to be trapped by a few. In the sight of heaven, it makes no difference to win by many or by few. 19 It’s not the size of the army that brings victory in battle, because strength comes from heaven. 20 They’re coming against us with a lot of pride and evil. They want to destroy us, along with our wives and children. They want to ruin us. 21 But we are fighting for our lives and for our laws. 22 The heavenly one himself will crush them before us. Don’t be afraid of them.”
23 After Judas said these words, his soldiers rushed suddenly against Seron’s army, and they crushed them. 24 Judas’ soldiers pursued Seron’s army down the hill from Beth-horon to the plain below. Eight hundred of them died. The rest fled into the land of the Philistines.
Satan’s defeat
7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison. 8 He will go out to deceive the nations that are at the four corners of the earth—Gog and Magog. He will gather them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea. 9 They came up across the whole earth and surrounded the saints’ camp, the city that God loves. But fire came down from heaven and consumed them. 10 Then the devil, who had deceived them, was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet also were. There painful suffering will be inflicted upon them day and night, forever and always.
Final judgment
11 Then I saw a great white throne and the one who is seated on it. Before his face both earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them. 12 I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and scrolls were opened. Another scroll was opened too; this is the scroll of life. And the dead were judged on the basis of what was written in the scrolls about what they had done. 13 The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and Death and the Grave gave up the dead that were in them, and people were judged by what they had done. 14 Then Death and the Grave were thrown into the fiery lake. This, the fiery lake, is the second death. 15 Then anyone whose name wasn’t found written in the scroll of life was thrown into the fiery lake.
Jesus’ transformation
17 Six days later Jesus took Peter, James, and John his brother, and brought them to the top of a very high mountain. 2 He was transformed in front of them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as light.
3 Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Jesus. 4 Peter reacted to all of this by saying to Jesus, “Lord, it’s good that we’re here. If you want, I’ll make three shrines: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”
5 While he was still speaking, look, a bright cloud overshadowed them. A voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son whom I dearly love. I am very pleased with him. Listen to him!” 6 Hearing this, the disciples fell on their faces, filled with awe.
7 But Jesus came and touched them. “Get up,” he said. “Don’t be afraid.” 8 When they looked up, they saw no one except Jesus.
9 As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus commanded them, “Don’t tell anybody about the vision until the Human One[a] is raised from the dead.”
10 The disciples asked, “Then why do the legal experts say that Elijah must first come?”
11 Jesus responded, “Elijah does come first and will restore all things. 12 In fact, I tell you that Elijah has already come, and they didn’t know him. But they did to him whatever they wanted. In the same way the Human One[b] is also going to suffer at their hands.” 13 Then the disciples realized he was telling them about John the Baptist.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible