Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 20
Deliverance in Battle
For the choir director. A psalm of David.
1 May the Lord answer you in a day of trouble;(A)
may the name of Jacob’s God protect you.(B)
2 May he send you help from the sanctuary
and sustain you from Zion.(C)
3 May he remember all your offerings
and accept your burnt offering.(D)Selah
4 May he give you what your heart desires(E)
and fulfill your whole purpose.(F)
5 Let us shout for joy at your victory(G)
and lift the banner in the name of our God.(H)
May the Lord fulfill all your requests.(I)
6 Now I know that the Lord gives victory to his anointed;(J)
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with mighty victories from his right hand.(K)
7 Some take pride in chariots, and others in horses,
but we take pride in the name of the Lord our God.(L)
8 They collapse and fall,
but we rise and stand firm.(M)
9 Lord, give victory to the king!(N)
May he[a] answer us on the day that we call.
Psalm 21
The King’s Victory
For the choir director. A psalm of David.
1 Lord, the king finds joy in your strength.
How greatly he rejoices in your victory!(O)
2 You have given him his heart’s desire(P)
and have not denied the request of his lips.(Q)Selah
3 For you meet him with rich blessings;
you place a crown of pure gold on his head.(R)
4 He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—
length of days forever and ever.(S)
5 His glory is great through your victory;
you confer majesty and splendor on him.(T)
6 You give him blessings forever;(U)
you cheer him with joy in your presence.(V)
7 For the king relies on the Lord;
through the faithful love of the Most High
he is not shaken.(W)
8 Your hand will capture all your enemies;
your right hand will seize those who hate you.(X)
9 You will make them burn
like a fiery furnace when you appear;
the Lord will engulf them in his wrath,
and fire will devour them.(Y)
10 You will wipe their progeny from the earth
and their offspring from the human race.[b](Z)
11 Though they intend to harm[c] you
and devise a wicked plan, they will not prevail.(AA)
12 Instead, you will put them to flight
when you ready your bowstrings to shoot at them.(AB)
13 Be exalted, Lord, in your strength;
we will sing and praise your might.(AC)
Psalm 23
The Good Shepherd
A psalm of David.
1 The Lord is my shepherd;(A)
I have what I need.(B)
2 He lets me lie down in green pastures;(C)
he leads me beside quiet waters.(D)
3 He renews my life;
he leads me along the right paths[a]
for his name’s sake.(E)
4 Even when I go through the darkest valley,[b]
I fear no danger,
for you are with me;(F)
your rod and your staff—they comfort me.(G)
Psalm 27
My Stronghold
Of David.
1 The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom should I fear?(A)
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
whom should I dread?(B)
2 When evildoers came against me to devour my flesh,(C)
my foes and my enemies stumbled and fell.(D)
3 Though an army deploys against me,
my heart will not be afraid;
though a war breaks out against me,
I will still be confident.(E)
4 I have asked one thing from the Lord;
it is what I desire:
to dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,(F)
gazing on the beauty of the Lord(G)
and seeking him in his temple.(H)
5 For he will conceal me in his shelter
in the day of adversity;
he will hide me under the cover of his tent;
he will set me high on a rock.(I)
6 Then my head will be high
above my enemies around me;(J)
I will offer sacrifices in his tent with shouts of joy.(K)
I will sing and make music to the Lord.(L)
7 Lord, hear my voice when I call;
be gracious to me and answer me.(M)
8 My heart says this about you:
“Seek[a] his face.”
Lord, I will seek your face.(N)
9 Do not hide your face from me;(O)
do not turn your servant away in anger.(P)
You have been my helper;(Q)
do not leave me or abandon me,
God of my salvation.
10 Even if my father and mother abandon me,
the Lord cares for me.(R)
Salvation and Judgment on That Day
25 Lord, you are my God;(A)
I will exalt you. I will praise your name,
for you have accomplished wonders,
plans formed long ago, with perfect faithfulness.
2 For you have turned the city into a pile of rocks,(B)
a fortified city, into ruins;
the fortress of barbarians(C) is no longer a city;
it will never be rebuilt.
3 Therefore, a strong people will honor you.
The cities of violent nations will fear you.
4 For you have been a stronghold for the poor person,
a stronghold for the needy(D) in his distress,
a refuge from storms and a shade from heat.(E)
When the breath of the violent
is like a storm against a wall,
5 like heat in a dry land,
you will subdue the uproar of barbarians.
As the shade of a cloud cools the heat of the day,
so he will silence the song of the violent.
6 On this mountain,[a](F)
the Lord of Armies will prepare for all the peoples a feast of choice meat,(G)
a feast with aged wine, prime cuts of choice meat,[b] fine vintage wine.
7 On this mountain
he will swallow up the burial shroud,
the shroud over all the peoples,
the sheet covering all the nations.(H)
8 When he has swallowed up death once and for all,(I)
the Lord God will wipe away the tears
from every face(J)
and remove his people’s disgrace(K)
from the whole earth,
for the Lord has spoken.
9 On that day it will be said,
“Look, this is our God;
we have waited for him, and he has saved us.
This is the Lord; we have waited for him.
Let’s rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”(L)
John’s Vision of the Risen Lord
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction,(A) kingdom,(B) and endurance(C) that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.(D) 10 I was in the Spirit[a](E) on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet(F) 11 saying, “Write(G) on a scroll[b] what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to see whose voice(H) it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,(I) 13 and among the lampstands was one like the Son of Man,[c](J) dressed in a robe(K) and with a golden sash wrapped around his chest.(L) 14 The hair of his head was white as wool—white as snow(M)—and his eyes like a fiery flame.(N) 15 His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace,(O) and his voice like the sound of cascading[d] waters.(P) 16 He had seven stars in his right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth,(Q) and his face was shining like the sun at full strength.(R)
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man.(S) He laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last,(T) 18 and the Living One.(U) I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever,(V) and I hold the keys(W) of death and Hades. 19 Therefore write what you have seen,(X) what is, and what will take place after this. 20 The mystery(Y) of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels[e] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands[f] are the seven churches.(Z)
[The earliest mss do not include 7:53–8:11.]
[53 Then each one went to his house.[a] 8 1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.(A)
An Adulteress Forgiven
2 At dawn he went to the temple(B) again, and all the people were coming to him.(C) He sat down(D) and began to teach them.
3 Then the scribes and the Pharisees(E) brought a woman caught in adultery,(F) making her stand in the center. 4 “Teacher,” they said to him, “this woman was caught in the act of committing adultery.(G) 5 In the law Moses(H) commanded us to stone such women.(I) So what do you say?” 6 They asked this to trap him,(J) in order that they might have evidence to accuse him.
Jesus stooped down and started writing on the ground with his finger. 7 When they persisted in questioning him, he stood up and said to them, “The one without sin(K) among you(L) should be the first to throw a stone at her.”(M) 8 Then he stooped down again and continued writing on the ground. 9 When they heard this, they left one by one, starting with the older men. Only he was left, with the woman in the center. 10 When Jesus stood up, he said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
11 “No one, Lord,”[b] she answered.
“Neither do I condemn you,”(N) said Jesus. “Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”]
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