Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 50[a]
The Acceptable Sacrifice
1 A psalm of Asaph.
I
The God of gods, the Lord,
has spoken and summoned the earth
from the rising of the sun to its setting.(A)
2 From Zion, the perfection of beauty,
God shines forth.(B)
3 Our God comes and will not be silent!
Devouring fire precedes him,
it rages strongly around him.(C)
4 He calls to the heavens above
and to the earth to judge his people:
5 “Gather my loyal ones to me,
those who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.”
6 The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
for God himself is the judge.(D)
Selah
II
7 “Listen, my people, I will speak;
Israel, I will testify against you;
God, your God, am I.
8 Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you,
your burnt offerings are always before me.
9 I will not take a bullock from your house,
or he-goats from your folds.(E)
10 For every animal of the forest is mine,
beasts by the thousands on my mountains.
11 I know every bird in the heights;
whatever moves in the wild is mine.
12 Were I hungry, I would not tell you,
for mine is the world and all that fills it.(F)
13 Do I eat the flesh of bulls
or drink the blood of he-goats?
14 Offer praise as your sacrifice to God;(G)
fulfill your vows to the Most High.
15 Then call on me on the day of distress;(H)
I will rescue you, and you shall honor me.”
III
16 But to the wicked God says:
“Why do you recite my commandments
and profess my covenant with your mouth?
17 You hate discipline;
you cast my words behind you!
18 If you see a thief, you run with him;
with adulterers you throw in your lot.
19 You give your mouth free rein for evil;
you yoke your tongue to deceit.
20 You sit and speak against your brother,
slandering your mother’s son.
21 When you do these things should I be silent?
Do you think that I am like you?
I accuse you, I lay out the matter before your eyes.
IV
22 “Now understand this, you who forget God,
lest I start ripping apart and there be no rescuer.
23 Those who offer praise as a sacrifice honor me;
I will let him whose way is steadfast
look upon the salvation of God.”(I)
Psalm 59[a]
Complaint Against Bloodthirsty Enemies
1 For the director. Do not destroy.[b] A miktam of David, when Saul sent people to watch his house and kill him.(A)
I
2 Rescue me from my enemies, my God;
lift me out of reach of my foes.
3 Deliver me from evildoers;
from the bloodthirsty save me.
4 They have set an ambush for my life;
the powerful conspire against me.
For no offense or misdeed of mine, Lord,
5 for no fault they hurry to take up arms.
Come near and see my plight!
6 You, Lord God of hosts, are the God of Israel!
Awake! Punish all the nations.
Have no mercy on these worthless traitors.
Selah
7 Each evening they return,
growling like dogs, prowling the city.(B)
8 Their mouths pour out insult;
sharp words are on their lips.
They say: “Who is there to hear?”[c]
9 But you, Lord, laugh at them;
you deride all the nations.(C)
10 My strength, for you I watch;
you, God, are my fortress,
11 my loving God.
II
May God go before me,
and show me my fallen foes.
12 Slay them, God,
lest they deceive my people.
Shake them by your power;
Lord, our shield, bring them down.
13 For the sinful words of their mouths and lips
let them be caught in their pride.
For the lies they have told under oath(D)
14 destroy them in anger,
destroy till they are no more.
Then people will know God rules over Jacob,
yes, even to the ends of the earth.(E)
Selah
15 Each evening they return,
growling like dogs, prowling the city.
16 They roam about as scavengers;
if they are not filled, they howl.
III
17 But I shall sing of your strength,
extol your mercy at dawn,
For you are my fortress,
my refuge in time of trouble.
18 My strength, your praise I will sing;
you, God, are my fortress, my loving God.
Psalm 60[d]
Lament After Defeat in Battle
1 For the leader; according to “The Lily of.…” A miktam of David (for teaching), 2 when he fought against Aram-Naharaim and Aram-Zobah; and Joab, coming back, killed twelve thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.(F)
I
3 O God, you rejected us, broke our defenses;
you were angry but now revive us.
4 You rocked the earth, split it open;(G)
repair the cracks for it totters.
5 You made your people go through hardship,
made us stagger from the wine you gave us.(H)
6 Raise up a banner for those who revere you,
a refuge for them out of bow shot.
Selah
7 [e]Help with your right hand and answer us
that your loved ones may escape.
II
8 [f]In the sanctuary God promised:
“I will exult, will apportion Shechem;
the valley of Succoth I will measure out.
9 Gilead is mine, mine is Manasseh;
Ephraim is the helmet for my head,
Judah, my own scepter.[g]
10 [h]Moab is my washbowl;
upon Edom I cast my sandal.(I)
I will triumph over Philistia.”
III
Psalm 33[a]
Praise of God’s Power and Providence
I
1 Rejoice, you righteous, in the Lord;
praise from the upright is fitting.(A)
2 Give thanks to the Lord on the harp;
on the ten-stringed lyre offer praise.(B)
3 Sing to him a new song;
skillfully play with joyful chant.
4 For the Lord’s word is upright;
all his works are trustworthy.
5 He loves justice and right.
The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord.(C)
II
6 By the Lord’s word the heavens were made;
by the breath of his mouth all their host.[b](D)
7 [c]He gathered the waters of the sea as a mound;
he sets the deep into storage vaults.(E)
III
8 Let all the earth fear the Lord;
let all who dwell in the world show him reverence.
9 For he spoke, and it came to be,
commanded, and it stood in place.(F)
10 The Lord foils the plan of nations,
frustrates the designs of peoples.
11 But the plan of the Lord stands forever,
the designs of his heart through all generations.(G)
12 Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord,
the people chosen as his inheritance.(H)
IV
13 From heaven the Lord looks down
and observes the children of Adam,(I)
14 From his dwelling place he surveys
all who dwell on earth.
15 The One who fashioned together their hearts
is the One who knows all their works.
V
16 A king is not saved by a great army,
nor a warrior delivered by great strength.
17 Useless is the horse for safety;
despite its great strength, it cannot be saved.
18 Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon those who fear him,
upon those who count on his mercy,
19 To deliver their soul from death,
and to keep them alive through famine.
VI
20 Our soul waits for the Lord,
he is our help and shield.(J)
21 For in him our hearts rejoice;
in his holy name we trust.
22 May your mercy, Lord, be upon us;
as we put our hope in you.
I. The Deeds of Nehemiah
Chapter 1
Nehemiah Hears Bad News. 1 [a]The words of Nehemiah, son of Hacaliah.
In the month Kislev of the twentieth year, I was in the citadel of Susa 2 when Hanani, one of my brothers, came with other men from Judah. I asked them about the Jews, the remnant preserved after the captivity, and about Jerusalem. 3 They answered me: “The survivors of the captivity there in the province are in great distress and under reproach. The wall of Jerusalem has been breached, its gates gutted by fire.” 4 When I heard this report, I began to weep and continued mourning for several days, fasting and praying before the God of heaven.
5 [b](A)I prayed: “Lord, God of heaven, great and awesome God, you preserve your covenant of mercy with those who love you and keep your commandments. 6 (B)May your ears be attentive, and your eyes open, to hear the prayer that I, your servant, now offer in your presence day and night for your servants the Israelites, confessing the sins we have committed against you, I and my ancestral house included. 7 (C)We have greatly offended you, not keeping the commandments, the statutes, and the ordinances you entrusted to your servant Moses. 8 (D)But remember the admonition which you addressed to Moses, your servant, when you said: If you prove faithless, I will scatter you among the peoples; 9 but if you return to me and carefully keep my commandments, even though your outcasts have been driven to the farthest corner of the world, I will gather them from there, and bring them back to the place I have chosen as the dwelling place for my name. 10 (E)They are your servants, your people, whom you freed by your great might and strong hand. 11 (F)Lord, may your ears be attentive to the prayer of your servant and that of all your servants who willingly revere your name. Grant success to your servant this day, and let him find favor with this man”—for I was cupbearer to the king.[c]
11 I looked again and heard the voices of many angels who surrounded the throne and the living creatures and the elders. They were countless[a] in number,(A) 12 and they cried out in a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb that was slain
to receive power and riches, wisdom and strength,
honor and glory and blessing.”
13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, everything in the universe, cry out:
“To the one who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor, glory and might,
forever and ever.”
14 The four living creatures answered, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
IV. The Seven Seals, Trumpets, and Plagues, with Interludes[b]
Chapter 6[c]
The First Six Seals. 1 [d]Then I watched while the Lamb broke open the first of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures cry out in a voice like thunder, “Come forward.” 2 I looked, and there was a white horse, and its rider had a bow.[e] He was given a crown, and he rode forth victorious to further his victories.(B)
3 When he broke open the second seal, I heard the second living creature cry out, “Come forward.” 4 [f](C)Another horse came out, a red one. Its rider was given power to take peace away from the earth, so that people would slaughter one another. And he was given a huge sword.
5 When he broke open the third seal, I heard the third living creature cry out, “Come forward.” I looked, and there was a black horse,[g] and its rider held a scale in his hand. 6 I heard what seemed to be a voice in the midst of the four living creatures. It said, “A ration of wheat costs a day’s pay,[h] and three rations of barley cost a day’s pay. But do not damage the olive oil or the wine.”(D)
7 When he broke open the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature cry out, “Come forward.” 8 I looked, and there was a pale green[i] horse. Its rider was named Death, and Hades accompanied him. They were given authority over a quarter of the earth, to kill with sword, famine, and plague, and by means of the beasts of the earth.(E)
9 When he broke open the fifth seal, I saw underneath the altar[j] the souls of those who had been slaughtered because of the witness they bore to the word of God. 10 They cried out in a loud voice, “How long will it be, holy and true master,[k] before you sit in judgment and avenge our blood on the inhabitants of the earth?” 11 Each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to be patient a little while longer until the number was filled of their fellow servants and brothers who were going to be killed as they had been.
18 (A)“Hear then the parable of the sower. 19 The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. 20 The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. 21 But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. 22 The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. 23 But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
Scripture texts, prefaces, introductions, footnotes and cross references used in this work are taken from the New American Bible, revised edition © 2010, 1991, 1986, 1970 Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc., Washington, DC All Rights Reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.