Book of Common Prayer
The psalmist in sickness complains of enemies and false friends.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.
41 Blessed is he that considereth [a]the poor:
Jehovah will deliver him in the day of evil.
2 Jehovah will preserve him, and keep him alive,
And he shall be blessed [b]upon the earth;
And deliver not thou him unto the will of his enemies.
3 Jehovah will support him upon the couch of languishing:
Thou [c]makest all his bed in his sickness.
4 I said, O Jehovah, have mercy upon me:
Heal my soul; for I have sinned against thee.
5 Mine enemies speak evil against me, saying,
When will he die, and his name perish?
6 And if he come to see me, he speaketh falsehood;
His heart gathereth iniquity to itself:
When he goeth abroad, he telleth it.
7 All that hate me whisper together against me;
Against me do they devise my hurt.
8 [d]An evil disease, say they, [e]cleaveth fast unto him;
And now that he lieth he shall rise up no more.
9 Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted,
Who did eat of my bread,
Hath lifted up his heel against me.
10 But thou, O Jehovah, have mercy upon me, and raise me up,
That I may requite them.
11 By this I know that thou delightest in me,
Because mine enemy doth not triumph over me.
12 And as for me, thou upholdest me in mine integrity,
And settest me before thy face for ever.
13 Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel,
From everlasting and to everlasting.
Amen, and Amen.
Futility of boastful wickedness.
For the Chief Musician. Maschil of David; when Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech.
52 Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man?
The lovingkindness of God endureth continually.
2 Thy tongue deviseth very wickedness,
Like a sharp razor, working deceitfully.
3 Thou lovest evil more than good,
And lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah
4 Thou lovest all devouring words,
[a]O thou deceitful tongue.
5 God will likewise [b]destroy thee for ever;
He will take thee up, and pluck thee out of thy tent,
And root thee out of the land of the living. Selah
6 The righteous also shall see it, and fear,
And shall laugh at him, saying,
7 Lo, this is the man that made not God his [c]strength,
But trusted in the abundance of his riches,
And strengthened himself in his wickedness.
8 But as for me, I am like a green olive-tree in the house of God:
I trust in the lovingkindness of God for ever and ever.
9 I will give thee thanks for ever, because thou hast done it;
And I will hope in thy name, for it is good, in the presence of thy saints.
Former deliverances and present troubles.
For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. Maschil.
44 We have heard with our ears, O God,
Our fathers have told us,
What work thou didst in their days,
In the days of old.
2 Thou didst drive out the nations with thy hand;
But them thou didst plant:
Thou didst afflict the peoples;
But them thou didst spread abroad.
3 For they gat not the land in possession by their own sword,
Neither did their own arm save them;
But thy right hand, and thine arm, and the light of thy countenance,
Because thou wast favorable unto them.
4 Thou art my King, O God:
Command [a]deliverance for Jacob.
5 Through thee will we push down our adversaries:
Through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
6 For I will not trust in my bow,
Neither shall my sword save me.
7 But thou hast saved us from our adversaries,
And hast put them to shame that hate us.
8 In God have we made our boast all the day long,
And we will give thanks unto thy name for ever. Selah
9 But now thou hast cast us off, and brought us to dishonor,
And goest not forth with our hosts.
10 Thou makest us to turn back from the adversary;
And they that hate us take spoil for themselves.
11 Thou hast made us like sheep appointed for food,
And hast scattered us among the nations.
12 Thou sellest thy people for nought,
And hast not increased thy wealth by their price.
13 Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbors,
A scoffing and a derision to them that are round about us.
14 Thou makest us a byword among the nations,
A shaking of the head among the peoples.
15 All the day long is my dishonor before me,
And the shame of my face hath covered me,
16 For the voice of him that reproacheth and blasphemeth,
By reason of the enemy and the avenger.
17 All this is come upon us; yet have we not forgotten thee,
Neither have we dealt falsely in thy covenant.
18 Our heart is not turned back,
Neither have our steps declined from thy way,
19 [b]That thou hast sore broken us in the place of jackals,
And covered us with the shadow of death.
20 If we have forgotten the name of our God,
Or spread forth our hands to a strange god;
21 Will not God search this out?
For he knoweth the secrets of the heart.
22 Yea, for thy sake are we killed all the day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.
23 Awake, why sleepest thou, O Lord?
Arise, cast us not off for ever.
24 Wherefore hidest thou thy face,
And forgettest our affliction and our oppression?
25 For our soul is bowed down to the dust:
Our body cleaveth unto the earth.
26 Rise up for our help,
And redeem us for thy lovingkindness’ sake.
7 Upon the four and twentieth day of the eleventh month, which is the month Shebat, in the second year of Darius, came the word of Jehovah unto Zechariah the son of Berechiah, the son of Iddo, the prophet, saying, 8 I saw in the night, and, behold, a man riding upon a red horse, and he stood among the myrtle-trees that were in the [a]bottom; and behind him there were horses, red, sorrel, and white. 9 Then said I, O my lord, what are these? And the angel that talked with me said unto me, I will show thee what these are. 10 And the man that stood among the myrtle-trees answered and said, These are they whom Jehovah hath sent to walk to and fro through the earth. 11 And they answered the angel of Jehovah that stood among the myrtle-trees, and said, We have walked to and fro through the earth, and, behold, all the earth sitteth still, and is at rest.
12 Then the angel of Jehovah answered and said, O Jehovah of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem and on the cities of Judah, against which thou hast had indignation these threescore and ten years? 13 And Jehovah answered the angel that talked with me with good words, even comfortable words. 14 So the angel that talked with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. 15 And I am very sore displeased with the nations that are at ease; for I was but a little displeased, and they [b]helped forward the affliction. 16 Therefore thus saith Jehovah: I am returned to Jerusalem with mercies; my house shall be built in it, saith Jehovah of hosts, and a line shall be stretched forth over Jerusalem. 17 Cry yet again, saying, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: My cities [c]shall yet overflow with prosperity; and Jehovah shall yet comfort Zion, and shall yet choose Jerusalem.
7 And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These things saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he that openeth and none shall shut, and that shutteth and none openeth: 8 I know thy works (behold, I have [a]set before thee a door opened, which none can shut), that thou hast a little power, and didst keep my word, and didst not deny my name. 9 Behold, I give of the synagogue of Satan, of them that say they are Jews, and they are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and [b]worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee. 10 Because thou didst keep the word of my [c]patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of [d]trial, that hour which is to come upon the whole [e]world, to [f]try them that dwell upon the earth. 11 I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast, that no one take thy crown. 12 He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the [g]temple of my God, and he shall go out thence no more: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and mine own new name. 13 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
15 When therefore ye see the abomination of desolation, which was [a]spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in [b]the holy place (let him that readeth understand), 16 then let them that are in Judaea flee unto the mountains: 17 let him that is on the housetop not go down to take out the things that are in his house: 18 and let him that is in the field not return back to take his cloak. 19 But woe unto them that are with child and to them that give suck in those days! 20 And pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on a sabbath: 21 for then shall be great tribulation, such as hath not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, nor ever shall be. 22 And except those days had been shortened, no flesh would have been saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened. 23 Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is the Christ, or, Here; believe [c]it not. 24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 Behold, I have told you beforehand. 26 If therefore they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the wilderness; go not forth: Behold, he is in the inner chambers; believe [d]it not. 27 For as the lightning cometh forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the [e]coming of the Son of man. 28 Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the [f]eagles be gathered together.
29 But immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: 30 and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 31 And he shall send forth his angels [g]with [h]a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
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