Book of Common Prayer
For the choir director; a psalm by David.
31 I have taken refuge in you, O Lord.
Never let me be put to shame.
Save me because of your righteousness.
2 Turn your ear toward me.
Rescue me quickly.
Be a rock of refuge for me,
a strong fortress to save me.
3 Indeed, you are my rock and my fortress.
For the sake of your name, lead me and guide me.
4 You are my refuge,
so pull me out of the net that they have secretly laid for me.
5 Into your hands I entrust my spirit.
You have rescued me, O Lord, God of truth.
6 I hate those who cling to false gods, but I trust the Lord.
7 I will rejoice and be glad because of your mercy.
You have seen my misery.
You have known the troubles in my soul.
8 You have not handed me over to the enemy.
You have set my feet in a place where I can move freely.
9 Have pity on me, O Lord, because I am in distress.
My eyes, my soul, and my body waste away from grief.
10 My life is exhausted from sorrow,
my years from groaning.
My strength staggers under ⌞the weight of⌟ my guilt,
and my bones waste away.
11 I have become a disgrace because of all my opponents.
I have become someone dreaded by my friends,
even by my neighbors.
Those who see me on the street run away from me.
12 I have faded from memory as if I were dead
and have become like a piece of broken pottery.
13 I have heard the whispering of many people—
terror on every side—
while they made plans together against me.
They were plotting to take my life.
14 I trust you, O Lord.
I said, “You are my God.”
15 My future is in your hands.
Rescue me from my enemies, from those who persecute me.
16 Smile on me.
Save me with your mercy.
17 O Lord, I have called on you, so do not let me be put to shame.
Let wicked people be put to shame.
Let them be silent in the grave.
18 Let ⌞their⌟ lying lips be speechless,
since they speak against righteous people with arrogance and contempt.
19 Your kindness is so great!
You reserve it for those who fear you.
Adam’s descendants watch
as you show it to those who take refuge in you.
20 You hide them in the secret place of your presence
from those who scheme against them.
You keep them in a shelter,
safe from quarrelsome tongues.
21 Thank the Lord!
He has shown me the miracle of his mercy
in a city under attack.
22 When I was panic-stricken, I said,
“I have been cut off from your sight.”
But you heard my pleas for mercy when I cried out to you for help.
23 Love the Lord, all you godly ones!
The Lord protects faithful people,
but he pays back in full those who act arrogantly.
24 Be strong, all who wait with hope for the Lord,
and let your heart be courageous.
By David.
35 O Lord, attack those who attack me.
Fight against those who fight against me.
2 Use your shields, ⌞both⌟ small and large.
Arise to help me.
3 Hold your spear to block the way of those who pursue me.
Say to my soul, “I am your savior.”
4 Let those who seek my life be put to shame and disgraced.
Let those who plan my downfall be turned back in confusion.
5 Let them be like husks blown by the wind
as the Messenger of the Lord chases them.
6 Let their path be dark and slippery
as the Messenger of the Lord pursues them.
7 For no reason they hid their net in a pit.
For no reason they dug the pit ⌞to trap me⌟.
8 Let destruction surprise them.
Let the net that they hid catch them.
Let them fall into their own pit and be destroyed.
9 My soul will find joy in the Lord
and be joyful about his salvation.
10 All my bones will say, “O Lord, who can compare with you?
You rescue the weak person from the one who is too strong for him
and weak and needy people from the one who robs them.”
11 Malicious people bring charges against me.
They ask me things I know nothing about.
12 I am devastated
because they pay me back with evil instead of good.
13 But when they were sick, I wore sackcloth.
I humbled myself with fasting.
When my prayer returned unanswered,
14 I walked around as if I were mourning for my friend or my brother.
I was bent over as if I were mourning for my mother.
15 Yet, when I stumbled,
they rejoiced and gathered together.
They gathered together against me.
Unknown attackers tore me apart without stopping.
16 With crude and abusive mockers,
they grit their teeth at me.
17 O Lord, how long will you look on?
Rescue me from their attacks.
Rescue my precious life from the lions.
18 I will give you thanks in a large gathering.
I will praise you in a crowd ⌞of worshipers⌟.
19 Do not let my treacherous enemies gloat over me.
Do not let those who hate me for no reason wink ⌞at me⌟.
20 They do not talk about peace.
Instead, they scheme against the peaceful people in the land.
21 They open their big mouths and say about me,
“Aha! Aha! Our own eyes have seen it.”
22 You have seen it, O Lord.
Do not remain silent.
O Lord, do not be so far away from me.
23 Wake up, and rise to my defense.
Plead my case, O my God and my Lord.
24 Judge me by your righteousness, O Lord my God.
Do not let them gloat over me
25 or think, “Aha, just what we wanted!”
Do not let them say, “We have swallowed him up.”
26 Let those who gloat over my downfall
be thoroughly put to shame and confused.
Let those who promote themselves at my expense
be clothed with shame and disgrace.
27 Let those who are happy when I am declared innocent
joyfully sing and rejoice.
Let them continually say, “The Lord is great.
He is happy when his servant has peace.”
28 Then my tongue will tell about your righteousness,
about your praise all day long.
A Call to Rebuild the Lord’s House
1 On the first day of the sixth month in Darius’ second year as king, the Lord spoke his word through the prophet Haggai to Zerubbabel (who was the son of Shealtiel and was governor of Judah) and to the chief priest Joshua (who was the son of Jehozadak). He said, 2 “This is what the Lord of Armies says: These people say it’s not the right time to rebuild the house of the Lord.”
3 Then the Lord spoke his word through the prophet Haggai. He said, 4 “Is it time for you to live in your paneled houses while this house lies in ruins? 5 Now, this is what the Lord of Armies says: Carefully consider your ways! 6 You planted a lot, but you harvested little. You eat, but you’re never full. You drink, but you’re still thirsty.[a] You wear clothing, but you never have enough to keep you warm. You spend money as fast as you earn it. 7 This is what the Lord of Armies says: Carefully consider your ways!
8 “Go to the mountains, get lumber, and build the house. I will be pleased with it, and I will be honored,” declares the Lord.
9 “You expected a lot, but you received a little. When you bring something home, I blow it away. Why?” declares the Lord of Armies. “It’s because my house lies in ruins while each of you is busy working on your own house. 10 It is because of you that the sky has withheld its dew and the earth has withheld its produce. 11 I called for a drought on the land, the hills, and on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil, and whatever the ground produces, on humans and animals, and on all your hard work.”
The Work on the House Resumes
12 Then Zerubbabel (who was the son of Shealtiel), the chief priest Joshua (who was the son of Jehozadak), and the faithful few who returned from Babylon obeyed the Lord their God. They also obeyed the words of the prophet Haggai because the Lord their God had sent him and because the people feared the Lord.
13 Then Haggai, the messenger of the Lord who had received the Lord’s message, said to the people, “I am with you, declares the Lord.”
14 The Lord inspired them ⌞to rebuild his house⌟. So Zerubbabel (who was the son of Shealtiel and was governor of Judah), the chief priest Joshua (who was the son of Jehozadak), and the faithful few who returned from Babylon began working on the house of the Lord of Armies, their God. 15 They began on the twenty-fourth day of the sixth month in Darius’ second year as king.
A Letter to the Church in Thyatira
18 “To the messenger of the church in Thyatira, write: The Son of God, whose eyes are like flames of fire and whose feet are like glowing bronze, says:
19 I know what you do. I know your love, faith, service, and endurance. I also know that what you are doing now is greater than what you did at first. 20 But I have something against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophet. She teaches and misleads my servants to sin sexually and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21 I gave her time to turn to me and change the way she thinks and acts, but she refuses to turn away from her sexual sins. 22 Watch me! I’m going to throw her into a sickbed. Those who commit sexual sins with her will also suffer a lot, unless they turn away from what she is doing. 23 I will kill her children. Then all the churches will know that I am the one who searches hearts and minds. I will reward each of you for what you have done. 24 But the rest of you in Thyatira—all who don’t hold on to Jezebel’s teaching, who haven’t learned what are called the deep things of Satan—I won’t burden you with anything else. 25 Just hold on to what you have until I come. 26 I have received authority from my Father.[a] I will give authority over the nations to everyone who wins the victory and continues to do what I want until the end. 27 Those people will rule the nations with iron scepters and shatter them like pottery. 28 I will also give them the morning star. 29 Let the person who has ears listen to what the Spirit says to the churches.
27 “How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You are like whitewashed graves that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead people’s bones and every kind of impurity. 28 So on the outside you look as though you have God’s approval, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
29 “How horrible it will be for you, experts in Moses’ Teachings and Pharisees! You hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the monuments of those who had God’s approval. 30 Then you say, ‘If we had lived at the time of our ancestors, we would not have helped to murder the prophets.’ 31 So you testify against yourselves that you are the descendants of those who murdered the prophets. 32 Go ahead, finish what your ancestors started!
33 “You snakes! You poisonous snakes! How can you escape being condemned to hell? 34 I’m sending you prophets, wise men, and teachers of the Scriptures. You will kill and crucify some of them. Others you will whip in your synagogues and persecute from city to city. 35 As a result, you will be held accountable for all the innocent blood of those murdered on earth. This includes the murder of Abel, who had God’s approval, to that of Zechariah, son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. 36 I can guarantee this truth: The people living now will be held accountable for all these things.
37 “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you kill the prophets and stone to death those sent to you! How often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings! But you were not willing! 38 Your house will be abandoned, deserted. 39 I can guarantee that you will not see me again until you say, ‘Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
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