Book of Common Prayer
101 I will sing about your loving-kindness and your justice, Lord. I will sing your praises!
2 I will try to walk a blameless path, but how I need your help, especially in my own home, where I long to act as I should.
3 Help me to refuse the low and vulgar things; help me to abhor all crooked deals of every kind, to have no part in them. 4 I will reject all selfishness and stay away from every evil. 5 I will not tolerate anyone who secretly slanders his neighbors; I will not permit conceit and pride. 6 I will make the godly of the land my heroes and invite them to my home. Only those who are truly good shall be my servants. 7 But I will not allow those who deceive and lie to stay in my house. 8 My daily task will be to ferret out criminals and free the city of God from their grip.
109 O God of my praise, don’t stand silent and aloof 2 while the wicked slander me and tell their lies. 3 They have no reason to hate and fight me, yet they do! 4 I love them, but even while I am praying for them, they are trying to destroy me. 5 They return evil for good, and hatred for love.
6 Show him how it feels![a] Let lies be told about him, and bring him to court before an unfair judge. 7 When his case is called for judgment, let him be pronounced guilty. Count his prayers as sins. 8 Let his years be few and brief; let others step forward to replace him. 9-10 May his children become fatherless and his wife a widow; may they be evicted from the ruins of their home. 11 May creditors seize his entire estate and strangers take all he has earned. 12-13 Let no one be kind to him; let no one pity his fatherless children. May they die. May his family name be blotted out in a single generation. 14 Punish the sins of his father and mother. Don’t overlook them. 15 Think constantly about the evil things he has done, and cut off his name from the memory of man.
16 For he refused all kindness to others, and persecuted those in need, and hounded brokenhearted ones to death. 17 He loved to curse others; now you curse him. He never blessed others; now don’t you bless him. 18 Cursing is as much a part of him as his clothing, or as the water he drinks, or the rich food he eats.
19 Now may those curses return and cling to him like his clothing or his belt. 20 This is the Lord’s punishment upon my enemies who tell lies about me and threaten me with death.
21 But as for me, O Lord, deal with me as your child, as one who bears your name! Because you are so kind, O Lord, deliver me.
22-23 I am slipping down the hill to death; I am shaken off from life as easily as a man brushes a grasshopper from his arm. 24 My knees are weak from fasting, and I am skin and bones. 25 I am a symbol of failure to all mankind; when they see me they shake their heads.
26 Help me, O Lord my God! Save me because you are loving and kind. 27 Do it publicly, so all will see that you yourself have done it. 28 Then let them curse me if they like—I won’t mind that if you are blessing me! For then all their efforts to destroy me will fail, and I shall go right on rejoicing!
29 Make them fail in everything they do. Clothe them with disgrace. 30 But I will give repeated thanks to the Lord, praising him to everyone.
121 Don’t leave me to the mercy of my enemies, for I have done what is right; I’ve been perfectly fair. 122 Commit yourself to bless me! Don’t let the proud oppress me! 123 My eyes grow dim with longing for you to fulfill your wonderful promise to rescue me. 124 Lord, deal with me in loving-kindness, and teach me, your servant, to obey; 125 for I am your servant; therefore give me common sense to apply your rules to everything I do.
126 Lord, it is time for you to act. For these evil men have violated your laws, 127 while I love your commandments more than the finest gold. 128 Every law of God is right, whatever it concerns. I hate every other way.
129 Your laws are wonderful; no wonder I obey them. 130 As your plan unfolds, even the simple can understand it. 131 No wonder I wait expectantly for each of your commands.
132 Come and have mercy on me as is your way with those who love you. 133 Guide me with your laws so that I will not be overcome by evil. 134 Rescue me from the oppression of evil men; then I can obey you. 135 Look down in love upon me and teach me all your laws. 136 I weep because your laws are disobeyed.
137 O Lord, you are just and your punishments are fair. 138 Your demands are just and right. 139 I am indignant and angry because of the way my enemies have disregarded your laws. 140 I have thoroughly tested your promises, and that is why I love them so much. 141 I am worthless and despised, but I don’t despise your laws.
142 Your justice is eternal for your laws are perfectly fair. 143 In my distress and anguish your commandments comfort me. 144 Your laws are always fair; help me to understand them, and I shall live.
9 Then one of the seven angels who had emptied the flasks containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come with me and I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.”
10 In a vision he took me to a towering mountain peak, and from there I watched that wondrous city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of the skies from God. 11 It was filled with the glory of God and flashed and glowed like a precious gem, crystal clear like jasper. 12 Its walls were broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. 13 There were three gates on each side—north, south, east, and west. 14 The walls had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
15 The angel held in his hand a golden measuring stick to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 When he measured it, he found it was a square as wide as it was long; in fact it was in the form of a cube, for its height was exactly the same as its other dimensions—1,500 miles each way. 17 Then he measured the thickness of the walls and found them to be 216 feet across (the angel called out these measurements to me, using standard units).[a]
18-20 The city itself was pure, transparent gold like glass! The wall was made of jasper, and was built on twelve layers of foundation stones inlaid with gems: the first layer[b] with jasper; the second with sapphire; the third with chalcedony; the fourth with emerald; the fifth with sardonyx; the sixth layer with sardus; the seventh with chrysolite; the eighth with beryl; the ninth with topaz; the tenth with chrysoprase; the eleventh with jacinth; the twelfth with amethyst.
21 The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure, transparent gold, like glass.
22-23 One day while they were still in Galilee, Jesus told them, “I am going to be betrayed into the power of those who will kill me, and on the third day afterwards I will be brought back to life again.” And the disciples’ hearts were filled with sorrow and dread.
24 On their arrival in Capernaum, the Temple tax collectors came to Peter and asked him, “Doesn’t your master pay taxes?”
25 “Of course he does,” Peter replied.
Then he went into the house to talk to Jesus about it, but before he had a chance to speak, Jesus asked him, “What do you think, Peter? Do kings levy assessments against their own people or against conquered foreigners?”
26-27 “Against the foreigners,” Peter replied.
“Well, then,” Jesus said, “the citizens are free! However, we don’t want to offend them, so go down to the shore and throw in a line, and open the mouth of the first fish you catch. You will find a coin to cover the taxes for both of us; take it and pay them.”
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.