Book of Common Prayer
God Himself Is Judge
A Psalm of [a]Asaph.
50 (A)The Mighty One, God, Yahweh, has spoken,
And called the earth (B)from the rising of the sun to its setting.
2 Out of Zion, (C)the perfection of beauty,
God (D)has shone forth.
3 May our God (E)come and not be silent;
(F)Fire devours before Him,
And (G)a storm whirls around Him.
4 He (H)calls the heavens above,
And the earth, to render justice to His people:
5 “Gather My (I)holy ones to Me,
Those who have cut a (J)covenant with Me by (K)sacrifice.”
6 And the (L)heavens declare His righteousness,
For (M)God Himself is judge. [b]Selah.
7 “(N)Hear, O My people, and I will speak;
O Israel, I will testify [c]against you;
I am God, (O)your God.
8 I do (P)not reprove you for your sacrifices,
And your burnt offerings are continually before Me.
9 I shall take no (Q)young bull out of your house
Nor male goats out of your folds.
10 For (R)every beast of the forest is Mine,
The cattle on a thousand hills.
11 I know every (S)bird of the mountains,
And everything that moves in the field is [d]Mine.
12 If I were hungry I would not tell you,
For the (T)world is Mine, as well as its fullness.
13 Shall I eat the flesh of [e](U)bulls
Or drink the blood of male goats?
14 Offer to God (V)a sacrifice of thanksgiving
And (W)pay your vows to the Most High;
15 (X)Call upon Me in the day of distress;
I shall (Y)rescue you, and you will (Z)glorify Me.”
16 But to the wicked God says,
“What right have you to recount My statutes
And to take (AA)My covenant in your mouth?
17 For you (AB)hate discipline,
And you (AC)cast My words behind you.
18 When you see a thief, you [f](AD)are pleased with him,
And [g]you (AE)associate with adulterers.
19 You [h](AF)let your mouth loose in evil
And you harness your (AG)tongue for deceit.
20 You sit and (AH)speak against your brother;
You slander your own mother’s son.
21 These things you have done and (AI)I kept silent;
You thought that I was just like you;
I will (AJ)reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes.
Deliver Me from My Enemies
For the choir director. [a]Al-tashheth. Of David. A [b]Mikhtam. [c]When Saul sent men and they watched the house in order to put him to death.
59 (A)Deliver me from my enemies, O my God;
[d](B)Set me securely on high away from those who rise up against me.
2 Deliver me from (C)workers of iniquity
And save me from (D)men of bloodshed.
3 For behold, they (E)have lain in wait for my soul;
[e]Fierce men [f](F)launch an attack against me,
(G)Not for my transgression nor for my sin, O Yahweh,
4 [g](H)For no guilt of mine, they run and set themselves against me.
(I)Arouse Yourself to meet me, and see!
5 You, (J)O Yahweh God of hosts, the God of Israel,
Awake to [h](K)punish all the nations;
(L)Do not be gracious to any who are treacherous in [i]iniquity. [j]Selah.
6 They (M)return at evening, they howl like a (N)dog,
And go around the city.
7 Behold, they (O)pour forth speech with their mouth;
(P)Swords are in their lips,
For, they say, “(Q)Who hears?”
8 But You, O Yahweh, (R)laugh at them;
You (S)mock all the nations.
9 Because of [k]his (T)strength I will watch for You,
For God is my (U)stronghold.
10 [l]My God (V)in His lovingkindness will approach me;
God will let me (W)look triumphantly upon [m]my foes.
11 Do not slay them, (X)or my people will forget;
(Y)Make them wander about by Your power, and bring them down,
O Lord, (Z)our shield.
12 [n]On account of the (AA)sin of their mouth and the word of their lips,
Let them even be (AB)caught in their pride,
And on account of (AC)curses and [o]lies which they utter.
13 [p](AD)Destroy them in wrath, [q]destroy them that they may be no more;
That men may (AE)know that God [r]rules in Jacob
To the ends of the earth. Selah.
14 They (AF)return at evening, they howl like a dog,
And go around the city.
15 They (AG)wander about [s]for food
And [t]growl if they are not satisfied.
16 But as for me, I shall (AH)sing of Your strength;
And I shall (AI)joyfully sing of Your lovingkindness in the (AJ)morning,
For You have been my (AK)stronghold
And a (AL)refuge in the day of my distress.
17 (AM)O my strength, I will sing praises to You;
For God is my (AN)stronghold, the [u]God who shows me lovingkindness.
Through God We Shall Do Valiantly
For the choir director. According to [v]Shushan Eduth. A [w]Mikhtam of David. For teaching. [x]When he struggled with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, and Joab returned, and smote twelve thousand of Edom in the Valley of Salt.
60 O God, (AO)You have rejected us. You have [y](AP)broken us;
You have been (AQ)angry; Oh, (AR)restore us.
2 You have made the [z](AS)land quake, You have split it open;
(AT)Heal its breaches, for it shakes.
3 You have (AU)caused Your people to see hardship;
You have given us [aa]wine to (AV)drink that causes reeling.
4 You have given a (AW)banner to those who fear You,
[ab]In order to flee to it from the bow. [ac]Selah.
5 (AX)That Your (AY)beloved may be rescued,
(AZ)Save with Your right hand, and answer [ad]us!
6 God has spoken in His [ae](BA)holiness:
“I will exult, I will portion out (BB)Shechem and measure out the valley of (BC)Succoth.
7 (BD)Gilead is Mine, and Manasseh is Mine;
(BE)Ephraim also is the [af]helmet of My head;
Judah is My [ag](BF)scepter.
8 (BG)Moab is My washbowl;
Over (BH)Edom I shall throw My shoe;
Make a loud shout, O (BI)Philistia, because of Me!”
9 Who will bring me into the fortified city?
Who [ah]will lead me to Edom?
10 Have You Yourself, O God, not (BJ)rejected us?
And (BK)will You, O God, not go forth with our armies?
11 Oh give us help against the adversary,
For (BL)salvation [ai]by man is worthless.
12 [aj]Through God we shall (BM)do valiantly,
And it is He who will (BN)tread down our adversaries.
Yahweh Is Our Help and Our Shield
33 (A)Sing for joy in Yahweh, O righteous ones;
Praise is (B)becoming to the upright.
2 Give thanks to Yahweh with the (C)lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a (D)harp of ten strings.
3 Sing to Him a (E)new song;
Play skillfully with (F)a loud shout.
4 For the word of Yahweh (G)is upright,
And all His work is done (H)in faithfulness.
5 He (I)loves righteousness and justice;
The (J)earth is full of the lovingkindness of Yahweh.
6 By the (K)word of Yahweh the heavens were made,
And (L)by the breath of His mouth (M)all their host.
7 He gathers the (N)waters of the sea [a]as a heap;
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
8 Let (O)all the earth fear Yahweh;
Let all the inhabitants of the world (P)stand in awe of Him.
9 For (Q)He spoke, and it was;
He commanded, and it [b]stood.
10 Yahweh (R)nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He frustrates the thoughts of the peoples.
11 The (S)counsel of Yahweh stands forever,
The (T)thoughts of His heart from generation to generation.
12 Blessed is the (U)nation whose God is Yahweh,
The people whom He has (V)chosen for His own inheritance.
13 Yahweh (W)looks from heaven;
He (X)sees all the sons of men;
14 From (Y)the place of His habitation He gazes
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
15 He who (Z)forms [c]the hearts of them all,
He who (AA)understands all their works.
16 (AB)The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
17 A (AC)horse is a false hope for salvation;
Nor does it provide escape to anyone by its great strength.
18 Behold, (AD)the eye of Yahweh is on those who fear Him,
On those who (AE)wait for His lovingkindness,
19 To (AF)deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive (AG)in famine.
20 Our soul (AH)is patient for Yahweh;
He is our (AI)help and our shield.
21 For our (AJ)heart is glad in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
22 Let Your lovingkindness, O Yahweh, be upon us,
As we wait for You.
18 (A)For wickedness burns like a fire;
It consumes briars and thorns;
It even sets the thickets of the forest aflame,
And they roll upward in a column of smoke.
19 By the (B)fury of Yahweh of hosts the (C)land is burned up,
And the (D)people are like fuel for the fire;
No (E)man spares his brother.
20 [a]They slice off what is on the right hand but still are (F)hungry,
And [b]they eat what is on the left hand but they are not satisfied;
Each of them eats the (G)flesh of his own arm.
21 Manasseh devours Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh,
(H)And together they are against Judah.
(I)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn back,
And His hand is still stretched out.
10 Woe to those who (J)enact evil statutes
And to those who constantly record [c]mischief,
2 So as (K)to turn the poor away from their cause
And rob the afflicted of My people of their justice,
So (L)that widows may be their spoil
And that they may plunder the [d]orphans.
3 Now (M)what will you do in the (N)day of visitation,
And in the devastation which will come (O)from afar?
(P)To whom will you flee for help?
And where will you leave your [e]glory?
4 Nothing remains but to crouch [f]among the (Q)captives
Or fall [g]among those (R)killed.
(S)In spite of all this, His anger does not turn back
And His hand is still stretched out.
10 and especially those who (A)go after the flesh in its corrupt lust and (B)despise authority.
Daring, (C)self-willed, they do not tremble when they (D)blaspheme [a]glorious ones, 11 (E)whereas angels who are greater in strength and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. 12 But (F)these, like unreasoning animals, (G)born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, blaspheming where they have no knowledge, will in [b]the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, 13 suffering unrighteousness as (H)the wages of their unrighteousness, considering it a pleasure to (I)revel in the (J)daytime—they are stains and blemishes, (K)reveling in their [c]deceptions, as they (L)feast with you, 14 having eyes full of adultery and unceasing sin, (M)enticing (N)unstable souls, having a heart trained in (O)greed—they are (P)accursed children. 15 Forsaking (Q)the right way, they have gone astray, having followed (R)the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved (S)the wages of unrighteousness, 16 but he received a rebuke for his own lawlessness, (T)for a mute donkey, speaking out with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.
The Preaching of John the Baptist
3 Now (A)in those days [a](B)John the Baptist *[b]came, [c]preaching in the (C)wilderness of Judea, saying, 2 “(D)Repent, for (E)the kingdom of heaven [d]is at hand.” 3 For this is the (F)one referred to [e]by Isaiah the prophet, saying,
“(G)The voice of one [f]crying in the wilderness,
‘(H)Make ready the way of the [g]Lord,
Make His paths straight!’”
4 Now John himself had [h](I)a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was (J)locusts and wild honey. 5 Then Jerusalem (K)was going out to him, and all Judea, and all (L)the district around the Jordan; 6 and they were being (M)baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.
7 But when he saw many of the (N)Pharisees and (O)Sadducees coming for his baptism, he said to them, “You (P)brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from (Q)the wrath to come? 8 (R)Therefore bear fruit (S)in keeping with repentance; 9 and do not suppose that you can say to yourselves, ‘(T)We have Abraham for our father’; for I say to you that from these stones God is able to raise up children to Abraham. 10 And the (U)axe is already laid at the root of the trees; therefore (V)every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “As for me, (W)I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; (X)He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. 12 His (Y)winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will (Z)gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the (AA)chaff with (AB)unquenchable fire.”
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