Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 69[a]
A Cry of Anguish in Great Distress
1 For the leader; according to “Lilies.”[b] Of David.
I
2 Save me, God,
for the waters[c] have reached my neck.(A)
3 I have sunk into the mire of the deep,
where there is no foothold.
I have gone down to the watery depths;
the flood overwhelms me.(B)
4 I am weary with crying out;
my throat is parched.
My eyes fail,
from looking for my God.(C)
5 More numerous than the hairs of my head
are those who hate me without cause.(D)
Those who would destroy me are mighty,
my enemies without reason.
Must I now restore
what I did not steal?[d]
II
6 God, you know my folly;
my faults are not hidden from you.
7 Let those who wait in hope for you, Lord of hosts,
not be shamed because of me.
Let those who seek you, God of Israel,(E)
not be disgraced because of me.
8 For it is on your account I bear insult,
that disgrace covers my face.(F)
9 I have become an outcast to my kindred,
a stranger to my mother’s children.(G)
10 Because zeal for your house has consumed me,[e]
I am scorned by those who scorn you.(H)
11 When I humbled my spirit with fasting,(I)
this led only to scorn.
12 When I clothed myself in sackcloth;
I became a byword for them.
13 Those who sit in the gate gossip about me;
drunkards make me the butt of songs.
III
14 But I will pray to you, Lord,
at a favorable time.
God, in your abundant kindness, answer me
with your sure deliverance.(J)
15 Rescue me from the mire,(K)
and do not let me sink.
Rescue me from those who hate me
and from the watery depths.
16 Do not let the flood waters overwhelm me,
nor the deep swallow me,
nor the pit close its mouth over me.
17 Answer me, Lord, in your generous love;
in your great mercy turn to me.
18 Do not hide your face from your servant;
hasten to answer me, for I am in distress.(L)
19 Come and redeem my life;
because of my enemies ransom me.
20 You know my reproach, my shame, my disgrace;
before you stand all my foes.
21 Insult has broken my heart, and I despair;
I looked for compassion, but there was none,(M)
for comforters, but found none.
22 Instead they gave me poison for my food;
and for my thirst they gave me vinegar.(N)
IV
23 May their own table be a snare for them,
and their communion offerings a trap.(O)
24 Make their eyes so dim they cannot see;
keep their backs ever feeble.
25 Pour out your wrath upon them;
let the fury of your anger overtake them.
26 Make their camp desolate,
with none to dwell in their tents.(P)
27 For they pursued the one you struck,
added to the pain of the one you wounded.
28 Heap punishment upon their punishment;
let them gain from you no vindication.
29 May they be blotted from the book of life;
not registered among the just!(Q)
V
30 But here I am miserable and in pain;
let your saving help protect me, God,
31 [f]That I may praise God’s name in song
and glorify it with thanksgiving.
32 That will please the Lord more than oxen,
more than bulls with horns and hooves:(R)
33 “See, you lowly ones, and be glad;
you who seek God, take heart!(S)
34 For the Lord hears the poor,
and does not spurn those in bondage.
35 Let the heaven and the earth praise him,
the seas and whatever moves in them!”
VI
Third Book—Psalms 73–89
Psalm 73[a]
The Trial of the Just
1 A psalm of Asaph.
How good God is to the upright,
to those who are pure of heart!
I
2 But, as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
my steps had nearly slipped,
3 Because I was envious of the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.(A)
4 For they suffer no pain;
their bodies are healthy and sleek.
5 They are free of the burdens of life;
they are not afflicted like others.
6 Thus pride adorns them as a necklace;
violence clothes them as a robe.
7 Out of such blindness comes sin;
evil thoughts flood their hearts.(B)
8 They scoff and spout their malice;
from on high they utter threats.(C)
9 [b]They set their mouths against the heavens,
their tongues roam the earth.
10 [c]So my people turn to them
and drink deeply of their words.
11 They say, “Does God really know?”
“Does the Most High have any knowledge?”(D)
12 Such, then, are the wicked,
always carefree, increasing their wealth.
II
13 Is it in vain that I have kept my heart pure,
washed my hands in innocence?(E)
14 For I am afflicted day after day,
chastised every morning.
15 Had I thought, “I will speak as they do,”
I would have betrayed this generation of your children.
16 Though I tried to understand all this,
it was too difficult for me,
17 Till I entered the sanctuary of God
and came to understand their end.[d]
III
18 You set them, indeed, on a slippery road;
you hurl them down to ruin.
19 How suddenly they are devastated;
utterly undone by disaster!
20 They are like a dream after waking, Lord,
dismissed like shadows when you arise.(F)
IV
21 Since my heart was embittered
and my soul deeply wounded,
22 I was stupid and could not understand;
I was like a brute beast in your presence.
23 Yet I am always with you;
you take hold of my right hand.(G)
24 With your counsel you guide me,
and at the end receive me with honor.[e]
25 Whom else have I in the heavens?
None beside you delights me on earth.
26 Though my flesh and my heart fail,
God is the rock of my heart, my portion forever.
27 But those who are far from you perish;
you destroy those unfaithful to you.
28 As for me, to be near God is my good,
to make the Lord God my refuge.
I shall declare all your works
in the gates of daughter Zion.[f]
Ezra Prepares for the Journey. 27 Blessed be the Lord, the God of our ancestors, who put it into the heart of the king thus to glorify the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, 28 (A)and who let me find favor with the king, with his counselors, and with all the most influential royal officials. I therefore took courage and, with the hand of the Lord, my God, over me, I gathered together Israelite leaders to make the return journey with me.
21 Then I proclaimed a fast, there by the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our possessions. 22 (A)For I was ashamed to ask the king for troops and horsemen to protect us against enemies along the way, since we had said to the king, “The favoring hand of our God is over all who seek him, but his fierce anger is against all who forsake him.” 23 So we fasted, seeking this from our God, and it was granted. 24 Next I selected twelve of the priestly leaders along with Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their kinsmen, 25 and I weighed out before them the silver and the gold and the vessels offered for the house of our God by the king, his counselors, his officials, and all the Israelites of that region. 26 I weighed out into their hands these amounts: silver, six hundred and fifty talents; silver vessels, one hundred; gold, one hundred talents; 27 twenty golden bowls valued at a thousand darics; two vases of excellent polished bronze, as precious as gold. 28 I addressed them in these words: “You are consecrated to the Lord, and the vessels are also consecrated; the silver and the gold are a voluntary offering to the Lord, the God of your ancestors. 29 Watch over them carefully until you weigh them out in Jerusalem in the presence of the chief priests and Levites and the leaders of ancestral houses of Israel, in the chambers of the house of the Lord.” 30 The priests and the Levites then took over the silver, the gold, and the vessels that had been weighed out, to bring them to Jerusalem, to the house of our God.
Arrival in Jerusalem. 31 We set out from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem. The hand of our God remained over us, and he protected us from enemies and robbers along the way. 32 We arrived in Jerusalem, where we rested for three days. 33 On the fourth day, the silver, the gold, and the vessels were weighed out in the house of our God and given to the priest Meremoth, son of Uriah, with whom was Eleazar, son of Phinehas; they were assisted by the Levites Jozabad, son of Jeshua, and Noadiah, son of Binnui. 34 Everything was in order as to number and weight, and the total weight was registered. At that same time, 35 those who had returned from the captivity, the exiles, offered as burnt offerings to the God of Israel twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve goats as sin offerings: all these as a burnt offering to the Lord. 36 [a]Finally, the orders of the king were presented to the king’s satraps and to the governors in West-of-Euphrates, who gave their support to the people and to the house of God.
Chapter 15
The Seven Last Plagues. 1 [a]Then I saw in heaven another sign,[b] great and awe-inspiring: seven angels with the seven last plagues, for through them God’s fury is accomplished.
2 Then I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire.[c] On the sea of glass were standing those who had won the victory over the beast and its image and the number that signified its name. They were holding God’s harps,(A) 3 and they sang the song of Moses,[d] the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb:
“Great and wonderful are your works,
Lord God almighty.
Just and true are your ways,
O king of the nations.(B)
4 Who will not fear you, Lord,
or glorify your name?
For you alone are holy.
All the nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”(C)
5 [e]After this I had another vision. The temple that is the heavenly tent of testimony[f] opened, 6 and the seven angels with the seven plagues came out of the temple. They were dressed in clean white linen, with a gold sash around their chests.(D) 7 One of the four living creatures gave the seven angels seven gold bowls filled with the fury of God, who lives forever and ever. 8 Then the temple became so filled with the smoke from God’s glory and might that no one could enter it until the seven plagues of the seven angels had been accomplished.(E)
13 (A)When Jesus heard of it, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. 14 When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. 15 When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, “This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.” 16 [Jesus] said to them, “There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves.” 17 But they said to him, “Five loaves and two fish are all we have here.” 18 Then he said, “Bring them here to me,” 19 and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking[a] the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. 20 They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over[b]—twelve wicker baskets full. 21 Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.
The Walking on the Water.[c]
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.