Book of Common Prayer
To the Director: A composition[a] by David for stringed instruments.
A Prayer for God’s Protection
61 God, hear my cry;
pay attention to my prayer.
2 From the end of the earth I will cry to you
whenever my heart is overwhelmed.
Place me on the rock that’s too high for me.
3 For you have been a refuge for me,
a tower of strength before the enemy.
4 Let me make my home in your tent forever;
let me hide under the shelter of your wings.
5 For you, God, have heard my promises;
you have assigned to me[b] the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 Add day after day to the king’s life;
may his years continue[c] for many generations.
7 May he be enthroned before God forever;
Appoint your[d] gracious love and truth to guard him.
8 So I will sing songs to your name forever;
I will fulfill my promises day by day.
To the Director: According to Jeduthun’s style. A Davidic Psalm.
A Psalm of Trust in God
62 My soul rests quietly only when it looks[e] to God;
from him comes my deliverance.
2 He alone is my rock, my deliverance, and my high tower;
nothing will shake me.
3 How long will you rage against someone?
Would you attack him
as if he were a leaning wall or a tottering fence?
4 They plan to cast him down from his exalted position.
They delight in lies;
their mouth utters blessings,
while their heart is cursing.
5 My soul, be quiet before God,
for from him comes my hope.
6 He alone is my rock, my deliverance, and my high tower;
nothing will shake me.
7 I rely on God who is my deliverance and my glory;
he is my strong rock,
and my refuge is in God.
8 People, in every situation put your trust in God;[f]
pour out your heart before him;
for God is a refuge for us.
9 Human beings[g] are a mere vapor,
while people in high positions[h] are not what they appear.
When they are placed on the scales, they weigh nothing;
even when weighed together, they are less than nothing.
10 Don’t trust in oppression
or put false hope in stealing;
if you become wealthy,
do not set your heart on it.
11 God spoke once,
but I heard it twice,
“Power belongs to God.”
12 Also to you, Lord, belongs gracious love,
because you reward each person according to what he does.
To the Director of music: A Psalm. A song.
A Song of Praise to God
68 God arises,
and his enemies are scattered.
Those who hate him flee from his presence.[a]
2 As smoke is driven away, so you drive them away.
As wax melts in the presence of fire,
so the wicked die in the presence of God.
3 But the righteous rejoice and exult before God;
they are overwhelmed with joy.
4 Sing to God!
Sing praise to his name!
Exalt the one who rides on the clouds.
The Lord is his name.
Be jubilant in his presence.
5 A father to orphans and an advocate for widows
is God in his holy dwelling place.
6 God causes the lonely to dwell in families.[b]
He leads prisoners into prosperity,
but rebels live on parched land.
7 God, when you led out your people,
when you marched through the desert,
8 the land quaked.
Indeed, the heavens poured down rain
from the presence of God,
this God of Sinai,
from the presence of God,
the God of Israel.
9 God, you poured out abundant rain on your inheritance.
When Israel[c] was weary, you sustained her.
10 Your people live[d] there;
you sustain the needy[e] with your goodness, God.
11 The Lord issues a command.
Numerous are the women who announce the news:
12 “Kings of armies retreat and flee,
while the lady of the house divides the spoil.
13 When you men lie down among the sheepfolds,
you are like[f] the wings of the dove covered with silver,
with its feathers in glittering gold.”
14 When the Almighty scattered the kings there,
there was snow on Mt. Zalmon.
15 The mountain of God is as the mountain of Bashan;
a mountain of many peaks is Mount Bashan.
16 You mountains of many peaks, why do you watch with envy
the mountain in which God has chosen to dwell?
Indeed, the Lord will live there forever.
17 God’s chariots were many thousands.
The Lord was there with them at Sinai in holiness.
18 You ascended to the heights,
you took captives.
You received gifts among mankind,
even the rebellious,
so the Lord God may live there.[g]
19 Blessed be the Lord who daily carries us.
God is our deliverer.
20 God is for us the God of our deliverance.
The Lord God rescues us from death.
21 God surely strikes the heads of his enemies,
even the hairy heads of those who continue in their guilt.
22 The Lord says, “From Bashan I will bring them,
I will bring them from the depths of the sea,
23 that your feet may wade through blood.
The tongues of your dogs will have their portions
from your enemies.”
24 They have observed your processions, God,
the processions of my God,
my king, in the sanctuary.
25 The singers are in front,
the musicians follow,
strumming their stringed instruments
among the maidens who are playing their tambourines.
26 Bless God in the great congregation,
the Lord who is the fountain of Israel.
27 Little Benjamin is there, leading them,
and the princes of Judah all together
with the princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali.
28 Summon the power of your God,
the power, God, that you have shown us.
29 Because of your Temple in Jerusalem,
kings bring tribute to you.
30 Rebuke the wildlife that lives among the reeds,
the nations that congregate like bulls and cows,
humbling themselves with pieces of silver,
for God[h] scatters the nations that delight in battle.
31 Envoys will come from Egypt.
Let the Ethiopians stretch out their hands to God.
32 You kingdoms of the earth, sing to God!
Sing praises to the Lord,
33 to the one who rides the heavens, the ancient heavens.
Behold! He thunders with a mighty voice.
34 Ascribe power to God, whose glory is over Israel,
whose power is in the skies.
35 You are awesome, God, from your sanctuaries.
The God of Israel is the one
who gives strength and power to the people.
Blessed be God!
The Vision of Earth Harvested
14 Then I looked, and there was a white cloud! On the cloud sat someone who was like the Son of Man, with a gold victor’s crown on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand. 15 Another angel came out of the Temple, crying out in a loud voice to the one who sat on the cloud,
“Swing your sickle,
and gather the harvest,
for the hour has come to gather it,
because the harvest of the earth is fully ripe.”
16 The one who sat on the cloud swung his sickle across the earth, and the earth was harvested.
17 Then another angel came out of the Temple in heaven. He, too, had a sharp sickle. 18 From the altar came another angel who had authority over fire. He called out in a loud voice to the angel[a] who had the sharp sickle,
“Swing your sharp sickle,
and gather the bunches of grapes
from the vine of the earth,
because those grapes are ripe.”
19 So the angel swung his sickle in the earth, gathered the grapes from the earth, and threw them into the great winepress of God’s wrath. 20 The wine press was trampled outside the city, and blood flowed from the wine press as high as a horse’s bridle for about 1,600 stadia.[b]
The Vision of Seven Angels with Seven Plagues
15 I saw another sign in heaven. It was both spectacular and amazing. There were seven angels with the seven last plagues, with which God’s wrath is completed.
The Vision of the Sea of Glass
2 Then I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire. Those who had conquered the beast, its image, and the number of its name were standing on the sea of glass holding God’s harps in their hands. 3 They sang the song of God’s servant Moses and the song of the lamb:
“Your deeds are both spectacular and amazing,
Lord God Almighty.
Your ways are just and true,
King of the nations.[c]
4 Lord, who won’t fear and praise your name?
For you alone are holy,
and all the nations will come and worship you
because your judgments have been revealed.”
The Vision of the Temple Opened
5 After these things, I looked, and the Temple, which is the Tent of Testimony in heaven, was open! 6 The seven angels with the seven plagues came out of the Temple wearing clean, shining linen with gold sashes around their chests.[d] 7 One of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven gold bowls full of the wrath of God, who lives forever and ever. 8 The Temple was filled with smoke from the glory of God and his power, and no one could enter the Temple until the seven plagues of the seven angels came to an end.
Repent or Die
13 At that time, some people who were there told Jesus[a] about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.[b] 2 He asked them, “Do you think that these Galileans were more sinful than all the other Galileans because they suffered like this? 3 Absolutely not, I tell you! But if you don’t repent, then you, too, will all die. 4 What about those eighteen people who were killed when the tower at Siloam fell on them? Do you think they were worse offenders than all the other people living in Jerusalem? 5 Absolutely not, I tell you! But if you don’t repent, then you, too, will all die.”
The Parable about an Unfruitful Fig Tree
6 Then Jesus[c] told them this parable: “A man had a fig tree that had been planted in his vineyard. He went to look for fruit on it but didn’t find any. 7 So he told the gardener, ‘Look here! For three years I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this tree but I haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it waste the soil?’ 8 But the gardener[d] replied, ‘Sir, leave it alone for one more year, until I dig around it and fertilize it. 9 Maybe next year it will bear fruit. If not, then cut it down.’”
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