Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 70
A Call for Deliverance
For the choir director. Of David. To bring remembrance.(A)
1 God, hurry to rescue me.
Lord, hurry to help me!(B)
2 Let those who seek to kill me
be disgraced and confounded;
let those who wish me harm
be turned back and humiliated.
3 Let those who say, “Aha, aha!”
retreat because of their shame.(C)
4 Let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you;
let those who love your salvation
continually say, “God is great!” (D)
5 I am oppressed and needy;
hurry to me, God.
You are my help and my deliverer;
Lord, do not delay.(E)
Psalm 71
God’s Help in Old Age
1 Lord, I seek refuge in you;
let me never be disgraced.(F)
2 In your justice, rescue and deliver me;
listen closely to me and save me.(G)
3 Be a rock of refuge for me,
where I can always go.
Give the command to save me,
for you are my rock and fortress.(H)
4 Deliver me, my God, from the power of the wicked,
from the grasp of the unjust and oppressive.(I)
5 For you are my hope, Lord God,
my confidence from my youth.(J)
6 I have leaned on you from birth;
you took me from my mother’s womb.(K)
My praise is always about you.(L)
7 I am like a miraculous sign to many,
and you are my strong refuge.(M)
8 My mouth is full of praise
and honor to you all day long.(N)
9 Don’t discard me in my old age.
As my strength fails, do not abandon me.(O)
10 For my enemies talk about me,
and those who spy on me plot together,(P)
11 saying, “God has abandoned him;
chase him and catch him,
for there is no one to rescue him.”(Q)
12 God, do not be far from me;
my God, hurry to help me.(R)
13 May my adversaries be disgraced and destroyed;
may those who intend to harm me
be covered with disgrace and humiliation.(S)
14 But I will hope continually
and will praise you more and more.(T)
15 My mouth will tell about your righteousness
and your salvation all day long,
though I cannot sum them up.(U)
16 I come because of the mighty acts of the Lord God;
I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone.(V)
17 God, you have taught me from my youth,
and I still proclaim your wondrous works.(W)
18 Even while I am old and gray,
God, do not abandon me,(X)
while I proclaim your power
to another generation,
your strength to all who are to come.(Y)
19 Your righteousness reaches the heights, God,
you who have done great things;
God, who is like you?(Z)
20 You caused me to experience
many troubles and misfortunes,(AA)
but you will revive me again.(AB)
You will bring me up again,
even from the depths of the earth.(AC)
21 You will increase my honor
and comfort me once again.(AD)
22 Therefore, I will praise you with a harp
for your faithfulness, my God;
I will sing to you with a lyre,
Holy One of Israel.(AE)
23 My lips will shout for joy
when I sing praise to you
because you have redeemed me.(AF)
24 Therefore, my tongue will proclaim
your righteousness all day long,
for those who intend to harm me
will be disgraced and confounded.(AG)
Psalm 74
Prayer for Israel
A Maskil of Asaph.(A)
1 Why have you rejected us forever, God?
Why does your anger burn
against the sheep of your pasture?(B)
2 Remember your congregation,
which you purchased long ago
and redeemed as the tribe for your own possession.(C)
Remember Mount Zion where you dwell.(D)
3 Make your way[a] to the perpetual ruins,
to all that the enemy has destroyed in the sanctuary.(E)
4 Your adversaries roared in the meeting place
where you met with us.[b]
They set up their emblems as signs.(F)
5 It was like men in a thicket of trees,
wielding axes,(G)
6 then smashing all the carvings
with hatchets and picks.(H)
7 They set your sanctuary on fire;
they utterly[c] desecrated
the dwelling place of your name.(I)
8 They said in their hearts,
“Let’s oppress them relentlessly.”
They burned every place throughout the land
where God met with us.[d](J)
9 There are no signs for us to see.
There is no longer a prophet.
And none of us knows how long this will last.(K)
10 God, how long will the enemy mock?
Will the foe insult your name forever?(L)
11 Why do you hold back your hand?
Stretch out[e] your right hand and destroy them!(M)
12 God my King is from ancient times,
performing saving acts on the earth.(N)
13 You divided the sea with your strength;
you smashed the heads of the sea monsters in the water;(O)
14 you crushed the heads of Leviathan;
you fed him to the creatures of the desert. (P)
15 You opened up springs and streams;(Q)
you dried up ever-flowing rivers.(R)
16 The day is yours, also the night;
you established the moon and the sun.(S)
17 You set all the boundaries of the earth;
you made summer and winter.(T)
18 Remember this: the enemy has mocked the Lord,
and a foolish people has insulted your name.(U)
19 Do not give to beasts the life of your dove;[f]
do not forget the lives of your poor people forever.(V)
20 Consider the covenant,(W)
for the dark places of the land are full of violence.(X)
21 Do not let the oppressed turn away in shame;
let the poor and needy praise your name.(Y)
22 Rise up, God, champion your cause!(Z)
Remember the insults
that fools bring against you all day long.(AA)
23 Do not forget the clamor of your adversaries,
the tumult of your opponents that goes up constantly.(AB)
The Sixth Bowl
12 The sixth[a] poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates,(A) and its water was dried up(B) to prepare the way for the kings from the east. 13 Then I saw three unclean spirits like frogs(C) coming from the dragon’s mouth,(D) from the beast’s mouth,(E) and from the mouth of the false prophet.(F) 14 For they are demonic spirits performing signs,(G) who travel to the kings of the whole world to assemble them(H) for the battle on the great day of God, the Almighty.(I) 15 “Look, I am coming like a thief. Blessed(J) is the one who is alert and remains clothed[b](K) so that he may not go around naked and people see his shame.”(L) 16 So they assembled the kings at the place called in Hebrew, Armageddon.[c](M)
The Seventh Bowl
17 Then the seventh[d] poured out his bowl into the air,[e] and a loud voice came out of the temple[f](N) from the throne, saying, “It is done!” 18 There were flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. And a severe earthquake occurred like no other since people have been on the earth, so great was the quake.(O) 19 The great city(P) split into three parts, and the cities of the nations[g] fell. Babylon the Great was remembered in God’s presence; he gave her the cup filled with the wine of his fierce anger.(Q) 20 Every island fled, and the mountains disappeared.(R) 21 Enormous hailstones, each weighing about a hundred pounds,[h] fell from the sky on people, and they blasphemed God(S) for the plague of hail because that plague was extremely severe.(T)
The Parables of the Mustard Seed and of the Leaven
18 He said, therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like,(A) and what can I compare it to? 19 It’s like a mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds of the sky nested in its branches.”
20 Again he said, “What can I compare the kingdom of God(B) to? 21 It’s like leaven[a](C) that a woman took and mixed into fifty pounds[b] of flour until all of it was leavened.”
The Narrow Way
22 He went through one town and village after another, teaching and making his way to Jerusalem.(D) 23 “Lord,” someone asked him, “are only a few people going to be saved?” (E)
He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door,(F) because I tell you, many will try to enter and won’t be able 25 once the homeowner gets up and shuts the door.(G) Then you will stand outside and knock on the door, saying, ‘Lord, open up for us!’ He will answer you, ‘I don’t know you or where you’re from.’ 26 Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you or where you’re from. Get away from me,(H) all you evildoers!’ 28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth(I) in that place,(J) when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God,(K) but yourselves thrown out. 29 They will come from east and west, from north and south, to share the banquet[c] in the kingdom of God. 30 Note this: Some who are last will be first, and some who are first will be last.”(L)
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