Book of Common Prayer
A song; a psalm by Asaph.
83 O God, do not remain silent.
Do not turn a deaf ear to me.
Do not keep quiet, O God.
2 Look, your enemies are in an uproar.
Those who hate you hold their heads high.
3 They make plans in secret against your people
and plot together against those you treasure.
4 They say, “Let’s wipe out their nation
so that the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.”
5 They agree completely on their plan.
They form an alliance against you:
6 the tents from Edom and Ishmael,
Moab and Hagar,
7 Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek,
Philistia, along with those who live in Tyre.
8 Even Assyria has joined them.
They helped the descendants of Lot. Selah
9 Do to them what you did to Midian,
to Sisera and Jabin at the Kishon River.
10 They were destroyed at Endor.
They became manure to fertilize the ground.
11 Treat their influential people as you treated Oreb and Zeeb.
Treat all their leaders like Zebah and Zalmunna.
12 They said, “Let’s take God’s pasturelands for ourselves.”
13 O my God, blow them away like tumbleweeds,[a]
like husks in the wind.
14 Pursue them with your storms,
and terrify them with your windstorms
15 the way fire burns a forest
and flames set mountains on fire.[b]
16 Let their faces blush with shame, O Lord,
so that they must look to you for help.
17 Let them be put to shame and terrified forever.
Let them die in disgrace
18 so that they must acknowledge you.
Your name is the Lord.
You alone are the Most High God of the whole earth.
A psalm by David.
23 The Lord is my shepherd.
I am never in need.
2 He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside peaceful waters.
3 He renews my soul.
He guides me along the paths of righteousness
for the sake of his name.
4 Even though I walk through the dark valley of death,
because you are with me, I fear no harm.
Your rod and your staff give me courage.
5 You prepare a banquet for me while my enemies watch.
You anoint my head with oil.
My cup overflows.
6 Certainly, goodness and mercy will stay close to me all the days of my life,
and I will remain in the Lord’s house for days without end.
By David.
27 The Lord is my light and my salvation.
Who is there to fear?
The Lord is my life’s fortress.
Who is there to be afraid of?
2 Evildoers closed in on me to tear me to pieces.
My opponents and enemies stumbled and fell.
3 Even though an army sets up camp against me,
my heart will not be afraid.
Even though a war breaks out against me,
I will still have confidence ⌞in the Lord⌟.
4 I have asked one thing from the Lord.
This I will seek:
to remain in the Lord’s house all the days of my life
in order to gaze at the Lord’s beauty
and to search for an answer in his temple.
5 He hides me in his shelter when there is trouble.
He keeps me hidden in his tent.
He sets me high on a rock.
6 Now my head will be raised above my enemies who surround me.
I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy in his tent.
I will sing and make music to praise the Lord.
7 Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud.
Have pity on me, and answer me.
8 ⌞When you said,⌟
“Seek my face,”
my heart said to you,
“O Lord, I will seek your face.” [a]
9 Do not hide your face from me.
Do not angrily turn me away.
You have been my help.
Do not leave me!
Do not abandon me, O God, my savior!
10 Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will take care of me.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord.
Lead me on a level path
because I have enemies who spy on me.
12 Do not surrender me to the will of my opponents.
False witnesses have risen against me.
They breathe out violence.
13 I believe that I will see the goodness of the Lord
in this world of the living.
14 Wait with hope for the Lord.
Be strong, and let your heart be courageous.
Yes, wait with hope for the Lord.
For the choir director; a psalm by Korah’s descendants.
85 You favored your land, O Lord.
You restored the fortunes of Jacob.
2 You removed your people’s guilt.
You pardoned all their sins. Selah
3 You laid aside all your fury.
You turned away from your burning anger.
4 Restore us, O God, our savior.
Put an end to your anger against us.
5 Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you ever let go of your anger in the generations to come?
6 Won’t you restore our lives again
so that your people may find joy in you?
7 Show us your mercy, O Lord,
by giving us your salvation.
8 I want to hear what God the Lord says,
because he promises peace to his people, to his godly ones.
But they must not go back to their stupidity.
9 Indeed, his salvation is near those who fear him,
and ⌞his⌟ glory will remain in our land.
10 Mercy and truth have met.
Righteousness and peace have kissed.
11 Truth sprouts from the ground,
and righteousness looks down from heaven.
12 The Lord will certainly give us what is good,
and our land will produce crops.
13 Righteousness will go ahead of him
and make a path for his steps.
A prayer by David.
86 Turn your ear ⌞toward me⌟, O Lord.
Answer me, because I am oppressed and needy.
2 Protect me, because I am faithful ⌞to you⌟.
Save your servant who trusts you. You are my God.
3 Have pity on me, O Lord,
because I call out to you all day long.
4 Give me joy, O Lord,
because I lift my soul to you.
5 You, O Lord, are good and forgiving,
full of mercy toward everyone who calls out to you.
6 Open your ears to my prayer, O Lord.
Pay attention when I plead for mercy.
7 When I am in trouble, I call out to you
because you answer me.
8 No god is like you, O Lord.
No one can do what you do.
9 All the nations that you have made
will bow in your presence, O Lord.
They will honor you.
10 Indeed, you are great, a worker of miracles.
You alone are God.
11 Teach me your way, O Lord,
so that I may live in your truth.
Focus my heart on fearing you.
12 I will give thanks to you with all my heart, O Lord my God.
I will honor you forever
13 because your mercy toward me is great.
You have rescued me from the depths of hell.
14 O God, arrogant people attack me,
and a mob of ruthless people seeks my life.
They think nothing of you.
15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God.
You are patient, always faithful and ready to forgive.
16 Turn toward me, and have pity on me.
Give me your strength because I am your servant.
Save me because I am the son of your female servant.
17 Grant me some proof of your goodness
so that those who hate me may see it and be put to shame.
You, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me.
The Lamb’s Wedding
19 After these things I heard what sounded like the loud noise from a large crowd in heaven, saying,
“Hallelujah!
Salvation, glory, and power belong to our God.
2 His judgments are true and fair.
He has condemned the notorious prostitute
who corrupted the world with her sexual sins.
He has taken revenge on her for the blood of his servants.”
3 A second time they said, “Hallelujah! The smoke goes up from her forever and ever.” 4 The 24 leaders and the 4 living creatures bowed and worshiped God, who was sitting on the throne. They said, “Amen! Hallelujah!” 5 A voice came from the throne. It said, “Praise our God, all who serve and fear him, no matter who you are.”
6 I heard what sounded like the noise from a large crowd, like the noise of raging waters, like the noise of loud thunder, saying,
“Hallelujah! The Lord our God, the Almighty, has become king.
7 Let us rejoice, be happy, and give him glory
because it’s time for the marriage of the lamb.
His bride has made herself ready.
8 She has been given the privilege of wearing
dazzling, pure linen.”
This fine linen represents the things that God’s holy people do that have his approval.
9 Then the angel said to me, “Write this: ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the lamb’s wedding banquet.’ ” He also told me, “These are God’s true words.” 10 I bowed at his feet to worship him. But he told me, “Don’t do that! I am your coworker and a coworker of the Christians who hold on to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God, because the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy!”
The Pharisees Ask for a Sign from Heaven(A)
16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to test Jesus. So they asked him to show them a miraculous sign from heaven.
2 He responded to them, “In the evening you say that the weather will be fine because the sky is red. 3 And in the morning you say that there will be a storm today because the sky is red and overcast. You can forecast the weather by judging the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times.
4 “Evil and unfaithful people look for a miraculous sign. But the only sign they will be given is that of Jonah.”
Then he left them standing there and went away.
The Yeast of the Pharisees(B)
5 The disciples had forgotten to take any bread along when they went to the other side of the Sea of Galilee.
6 Jesus said to them, “Be careful! Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”
7 The disciples had been discussing among themselves that they had not taken any bread along.
8 Jesus knew about their conversation and asked, “Why are you discussing among yourselves that you don’t have any bread? You have so little faith! 9 Don’t you understand yet? Don’t you remember the five loaves for the five thousand and how many baskets you filled? 10 Don’t you remember the seven loaves for the four thousand and how many large baskets you filled? 11 Why don’t you understand that I wasn’t talking to you about bread? Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees!”
12 Then they understood that he didn’t say to watch out for the yeast in bread, but to watch out for the teachings of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Copyright © 1995, 2003, 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020 by God’s Word to the Nations Mission Society. All rights reserved.