Book of Common Prayer
61 (0) For the leader. With stringed instruments. By David:
2 (1) Hear my cry, God;
listen to my prayer.
3 (2) From the end of the earth, with fainting heart,
I call out to you.
Set me down on a rock
far above where I am now.
4 (3) For you have been a refuge for me,
a tower of strength in the face of the foe.
5 (4) I will live in your tent forever
and find refuge in the shelter of your wings. (Selah)
6 (5) For you, God, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
7 (6) Prolong the life of the king!
May his years go on for many generations.
8 (7) May he be enthroned in God’s presence forever!
Appoint grace and truth to preserve him!
9 (8) Then I will sing praise to your name forever,
as day after day I fulfill my vows.
62 (0) For the leader. Set in the style of Y’dutun. A psalm of David:
2 (1) My soul waits in silence for God alone;
my salvation comes from him.
3 (2) He alone is my rock and salvation,
my stronghold; I won’t be greatly moved.
4 (3) How long will you assail a person
in order to murder him, all of you,
as if he were a sagging wall
or a shaky fence?
5 (4) They only want to shake him from his height,
they take delight in lying —
with their mouths they bless,
but inwardly they curse. (Selah)
6 (5) My soul, wait in silence for God alone,
because my hope comes from him.
7 (6) He alone is my rock and salvation,
my stronghold; I won’t be moved.
8 (7) My safety and honor rest on God.
My strong rock and refuge are in God.
9 (8) Trust in him, people, at all times;
pour out your heart before him;
God is a refuge for us. (Selah)
10 (9) Ordinary folks are merely a breath
and important people a sham;
if you lay them on a balance-scale, they go up —
both together are lighter than nothing.
11 (10) Don’t put your trust in extortion,
don’t put false hopes in robbery;
even if wealth increases,
don’t set your heart on it.
12 (11) God has spoken once, I have heard it twice:
strength belongs to God.
13 (12) Also to you, Adonai, belongs grace;
for you reward all as their deeds deserve.
68 (0) For the leader. A psalm of David. A song:
2 (1) Let God arise, let his enemies be scattered;
let those who hate him flee from his presence.
3 (2) Drive them away as smoke is driven away;
like wax melting in the presence of a fire,
let the wicked perish in the presence of God.
4 (3) But let the righteous rejoice and be glad in God’s presence;
yes, let them exult and rejoice.
5 (4) Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
extol him who rides on the clouds
by his name, Yah;
and be glad in his presence.
6 (5) God in his holy dwelling,
is a father to orphans and defender of widows.
7 (6) God gives homes to those who are alone
and leads prisoners out into prosperity.
But rebels must live in a parched wasteland.
8 (7) God, when you went out at the head of your people,
when you marched out through the wilderness, (Selah)
9 (8) the earth quaked, and rain poured from the sky,
at the presence of God.
Even Sinai [shook] at the presence of God,
the God of Isra’el.
10 (9) You rained down showers in plenty, God;
when your heritage was weary, you restored it.
11 (10) Your flock settled in it;
in your goodness, God, you provided for the poor.
12 (11) Adonai gives the command;
the women with the good news are a mighty army.
13 (12) Kings and their armies are fleeing, fleeing,
while the women at home divide the spoil.
14 (13) Even if you lie among the animal stalls,
there are wings of a dove covered with silver
and its plumes with green gold.
15 (14) When Shaddai scatters kings there,
snow falls on Tzalmon.
16 (15) You mighty mountain, Mount Bashan!
You rugged mountain, Mount Bashan!
17 (16) You rugged mountain, why look with envy
at the mountain God wants for his place to live?
Truly, Adonai will live there forever.
18 (17) God’s chariots are myriads, repeated thousands;
Adonai is among them as in Sinai, in holiness.
19 (18) After you went up into the heights,
you led captivity captive,
you took gifts among mankind,
yes, even among the rebels,
so that Yah, God, might live there.
20 (19) Blessed be Adonai!
Every day he bears our burden,
does God, our salvation. (Selah)
21 (20) Our God is a God who saves;
from Adonai Adonai comes escape from death.
22 (21) God will surely crush the heads of his enemies,
the hairy crowns of those who continue in their guilt.
23 (22) Adonai said, “I will bring them back from Bashan,
I will fetch [those rebels] even from the depths of the sea;
24 (23) so that you can wash your feet in their blood,
and your dogs’ tongues too can get their share from your foes.
25 (24) They see your processions, God,
the processions of my God, my king, in holiness.
26 (25) The singers are in front, the musicians last,
in the middle are girls playing tambourines.
27 (26) “In choruses, bless God, Adonai,
you whose source is Isra’el.”
28 (27) There is Binyamin, the youngest, at the head;
the princes of Y’hudah, crowding along;
the princes of Z’vulun; the princes of Naftali.
29 (28) God, summon your strength!
Use your strength, God, as you did for us before,
30 (29) from your temple in Yerushalayim,
where kings will bring tribute to you.
31 (30) Rebuke the wild beast of the reeds,
that herd of bulls with their calves, the peoples,
who ingratiate themselves with bars of silver;
let him scatter the peoples who take pleasure in fighting.
32 (31) Let envoys come from Egypt,
Let Ethiopia stretch out its hands to God.
33 (32) Sing to God, kingdoms of the earth!
Sing praises to Adonai, (Selah)
34 (33) to him who rides on the most ancient heavens.
Listen, as he utters his voice, a mighty voice!
35 (34) Acknowledge that strength belongs to God,
with his majesty over Isra’el and his strength in the skies.
36 (35) How awe-inspiring you are, God,
from your holy places,
the God of Isra’el, who gives strength
and power to the people.
Blessed be God!
27 At the dedication of the wall of Yerushalayim, they sought out the L’vi’im from wherever they had settled to bring them to Yerushalayim and celebrate the dedication with hymns of thanksgiving and with songs accompanied by cymbals, lutes and lyres. 28 The trained singers assembled together from the area around Yerushalayim, the villages of the N’tofati, 29 Beit-Gilgal and the region of Geva and ‘Azmavet; for the singers had built villages for themselves all around Yerushalayim.
30 The cohanim and L’vi’im first purified themselves; then they purified the people, the gates and the wall; 31 and after that I brought the leaders of Y’hudah up onto the wall and appointed two large choirs to give thanks and to walk in procession. One went to the right on the wall toward the Dung Gate.
42 also Ma‘aseiyah, Sh’ma‘yah, El‘azar, ‘Uzi, Y’hochanan, Malkiyah, ‘Eilam and ‘Ezer. The singers sang loudly, directed by Yizrachyah. 43 With joy they offered great sacrifices that day, for God had made them celebrate with great joy. The women and children too rejoiced, so that the celebrating in Yerushalayim could be heard far off.
44 At that time, men were appointed to be in charge of the storerooms for supplies, contributions, firstfruits and tenths, and to gather into them, from the fields belonging to the cities, the portions prescribed by the Torah for the cohanim and L’vi’im. For Y’hudah rejoiced over the cohanim and L’vi’im who took their position 45 carrying out the duties of their God and the duties of purification, as also did the singers and gatekeepers, in accordance with the order of David and of Shlomo his son. 46 For back in the days of David and Asaf, there had been leaders for those singing the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God. 47 So in the days of Z’rubavel and in the days of Nechemyah, all Isra’el gave portions to the singers and gatekeepers as required daily. They set aside a portion for the L’vi’im, who, in turn set aside a portion for the descendants of Aharon.
11 I was given a measuring rod like a stick and told, “Get up, and measure the Temple of God and the altar, and count how many people are worshipping there! 2 But the court outside the Temple, leave that out; don’t measure it; because it has been given to the Goyim, and they will trample over the holy city for forty-two months.
3 “Also I will give power to my two witnesses; and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, dressed in sackcloth.” 4 These are the two olive trees and the two menorahs standing before the Lord of the earth. 5 If anyone tries to do them harm, fire comes out of their mouth and consumes their enemies — yes, if anyone tries to harm them, that is how he must die. 6 They have the authority to shut up the sky, so that no rain falls during the period of their prophesying; also they have the authority to turn the waters into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague as often as they want.
7 When they finish their witnessing, the beast coming up out of the Abyss will fight against them, overcome them and kill them; 8 and their dead bodies will lie in the main street of the great city whose name, to reflect its spiritual condition, is “S’dom” and “Egypt” — the city where their Lord was executed on a stake. 9 Some from the nations, tribes, languages and peoples see their bodies for three-and-a-half days and do not permit the corpses to be placed in a tomb. 10 The people living in the Land rejoice over them, they celebrate and send each other gifts, because these two prophets tormented them so.
11 But after the three-and-a-half days a breath of life from God entered them, they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. 12 Then the two heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, “Come up here!” And they went up into heaven in a cloud, while their enemies watched them. 13 In that hour there was a great earthquake, and a tenth of the city collapsed. Seven thousand people were killed in the earthquake, and the rest were awestruck and gave glory to the God of heaven.
14 The second woe has passed; see, the third woe is coming quickly
15 The seventh angel sounded his shofar; and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,
“The kingdom of the world
has become the Kingdom
of our Lord and his Messiah,
and he will rule forever and ever!”
16 The twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones in God’s presence fell on their faces and worshipped God, 17 saying,
“We thank you, Adonai,
God of heaven’s armies,[a]
the One who is and was,
that you have taken your power
and have begun to rule.
18 “The Goyim raged.[b]
But now your rage has come,
the time for the dead to be judged,
the time for rewarding your servants the prophets
and your holy people,
those who stand in awe of your name,
both small and great.
It is also the time for destroying
those who destroy the earth.”
19 Then the Temple of God in heaven was opened, and the Ark of the Covenant was seen in his Temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake and violent hail.
44 “The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field. A man found it, hid it again, then in great joy went and sold everything he owned, and bought that field.
45 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for fine pearls. 46 On finding one very valuable pearl he went away, sold everything he owned and bought it.
47 “Once more, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a net thrown into the lake, that caught all kinds of fish. 48 When it was full, the fishermen brought the net up onto the shore, sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad fish away. 49 So it will be at the close of the age — the angels will go forth and separate the evil people from among the righteous 50 and throw them into the fiery furnace, where they will wail and grind their teeth.
51 “Have you understood all these things?” “Yes,” they answered. 52 He said to them, “So then, every Torah-teacher who has been made into a talmid for the Kingdom of Heaven is like the owner of a home who brings out of his storage room both new things and old.”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.