Book of Common Prayer
An Urgent Plea for Help in Trouble
To the Chief Musician. Set to [a]“The Lilies.” A Psalm of David.
69 Save me, O God!
For (A)the waters have come up to my [b]neck.
2 (B)I sink in deep mire,
Where there is no standing;
I have come into deep waters,
Where the floods overflow me.
3 (C)I am weary with my crying;
My throat is dry;
(D)My eyes fail while I wait for my God.
4 Those who (E)hate me without a cause
Are more than the hairs of my head;
They are mighty who would destroy me,
Being my enemies wrongfully;
Though I have stolen nothing,
I still must restore it.
5 O God, You know my foolishness;
And my sins are not hidden from You.
6 Let not those who [c]wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me;
Let not those who seek You be [d]confounded because of me, O God of Israel.
7 Because for Your sake I have borne reproach;
Shame has covered my face.
8 (F)I have become a stranger to my brothers,
And an alien to my mother’s children;
9 (G)Because zeal for Your house has eaten me up,
(H)And the reproaches of those who reproach You have fallen on me.
10 When I wept and chastened my soul with fasting,
That became my reproach.
11 I also [e]made sackcloth my garment;
I became a byword to them.
12 Those who [f]sit in the gate speak against me,
And I am the song of the (I)drunkards.
13 But as for me, my prayer is to You,
O Lord, in the acceptable time;
O God, in the multitude of Your mercy,
Hear me in the truth of Your salvation.
14 Deliver me out of the mire,
And let me not sink;
Let me be delivered from those who hate me,
And out of the deep waters.
15 Let not the floodwater overflow me,
Nor let the deep swallow me up;
And let not the pit shut its mouth on me.
16 Hear me, O Lord, for Your lovingkindness is good;
Turn to me according to the multitude of Your tender mercies.
17 And do not hide Your face from Your servant,
For I am in trouble;
Hear me speedily.
18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it;
Deliver me because of my enemies.
19 You know (J)my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor;
My adversaries are all before You.
20 Reproach has broken my heart,
And I am full of [g]heaviness;
(K)I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none;
And for (L)comforters, but I found none.
21 They also gave me gall for my food,
(M)And for my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.
22 (N)Let their table become a snare before them,
And their well-being a trap.
23 (O)Let their eyes be darkened, so that they do not see;
And make their loins shake continually.
24 (P)Pour out Your indignation upon them,
And let Your wrathful anger take hold of them.
25 (Q)Let their dwelling place be desolate;
Let no one live in their tents.
26 For they persecute the ones (R)You have struck,
And talk of the grief of those You have wounded.
27 (S)Add iniquity to their iniquity,
(T)And let them not come into Your righteousness.
28 Let them (U)be blotted out of the book of the living,
(V)And not be written with the righteous.
29 But I am poor and sorrowful;
Let Your salvation, O God, set me up on high.
30 (W)I will praise the name of God with a song,
And will magnify Him with thanksgiving.
31 (X)This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bull,
Which has horns and hooves.
32 (Y)The humble shall see this and be glad;
And you who seek God, (Z)your hearts shall live.
33 For the Lord hears the poor,
And does not despise (AA)His prisoners.
BOOK THREE
Psalms 73–89
The Tragedy of the Wicked, and the Blessedness of Trust in God
A Psalm of (A)Asaph.
73 Truly God is good to Israel,
To such as are pure in heart.
2 But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled;
My steps had nearly (B)slipped.
3 (C)For I was envious of the boastful,
When I saw the prosperity of the (D)wicked.
4 For there are no [a]pangs in their death,
But their strength is firm.
5 (E)They are not in trouble as other men,
Nor are they plagued like other men.
6 Therefore pride serves as their necklace;
Violence covers them (F)like a garment.
7 (G)Their [b]eyes bulge with abundance;
They have more than heart could wish.
8 (H)They scoff and speak wickedly concerning oppression;
They (I)speak [c]loftily.
9 They set their mouth (J)against the heavens,
And their tongue walks through the earth.
10 Therefore his people return here,
(K)And waters of a full cup are drained by them.
11 And they say, (L)“How does God know?
And is there knowledge in the Most High?”
12 Behold, these are the ungodly,
Who are always at ease;
They increase in riches.
13 Surely I have [d]cleansed my heart in (M)vain,
And washed my hands in innocence.
14 For all day long I have been plagued,
And chastened every morning.
15 If I had said, “I will speak thus,”
Behold, I would have been untrue to the generation of Your children.
16 When I thought how to understand this,
It was [e]too painful for me—
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God;
Then I understood their (N)end.
18 Surely (O)You set them in slippery places;
You cast them down to destruction.
19 Oh, how they are brought to desolation, as in a moment!
They are utterly consumed with terrors.
20 As a dream when one awakes,
So, Lord, when You awake,
You shall despise their image.
21 Thus my heart was grieved,
And I was [f]vexed in my mind.
22 (P)I was so foolish and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.
23 Nevertheless I am continually with You;
You hold me by my right hand.
24 (Q)You will guide me with Your counsel,
And afterward receive me to glory.
27 (A)Blessed[a] be the Lord God of our fathers, (B)who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem, 28 and (C)has extended mercy to me before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty princes.
So I was encouraged, as (D)the hand of the Lord my God was upon me; and I gathered leading men of Israel to go up with me.
Fasting and Prayer for Protection
21 Then I (A)proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might (B)humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the (C)right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions. 22 For (D)I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, (E)“The hand of our God is upon all those for (F)good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are (G)against all those who (H)forsake Him.” 23 So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He (I)answered our prayer.
Gifts for the Temple
24 And I separated twelve of the leaders of the priests—Sherebiah, Hashabiah, and ten of their brethren with them— 25 and weighed out to them (J)the silver, the gold, and the articles, the offering for the house of our God which the king and his counselors and his princes, and all Israel who were present, had offered. 26 I weighed into their hand six hundred and fifty talents of silver, silver articles weighing one hundred talents, one hundred talents of gold, 27 twenty gold basins worth a thousand drachmas, and two vessels of fine polished bronze, precious as gold. 28 And I said to them, “You are (K)holy[a] to the Lord; the articles are (L)holy also; and the silver and the gold are a freewill offering to the Lord God of your fathers. 29 Watch and keep them until you weigh them before the leaders of the priests and the Levites and (M)heads of the fathers’ houses of Israel in Jerusalem, in the chambers of the house of the Lord.” 30 So the priests and the Levites received the silver and the gold and the articles by weight, to bring them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.
The Return to Jerusalem
31 Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. And (N)the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road. 32 So we (O)came to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days.
33 Now on the fourth day the silver and the gold and the articles were (P)weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Uriah the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinehas; with them were the Levites, (Q)Jozabad the son of Jeshua and Noadiah the son of Binnui, 34 with the number and weight of everything. All the weight was written down at that time.
35 The children of those who had been (R)carried away captive, who had come from the captivity, (S)offered burnt offerings to the God of Israel: twelve bulls for all Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve male goats as a sin offering. All this was a burnt offering to the Lord.
36 And they delivered the king’s (T)orders to the king’s satraps and the governors in the region beyond [b]the River. So they gave support to the people and the [c]house of God.
Prelude to the Bowl Judgments
15 Then (A)I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: (B)seven angels having the seven last plagues, (C)for in them the wrath of God is complete.
2 And I saw something like (D)a sea of glass (E)mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, (F)over his image and [a]over his mark and over the (G)number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, (H)having harps of God. 3 They sing (I)the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the (J)Lamb, saying:
(K)“Great and marvelous are Your works,
Lord God Almighty!
(L)Just and true are Your ways,
O King of the [b]saints!
4 (M)Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name?
For You alone are (N)holy.
For (O)all nations shall come and worship before You,
For Your judgments have been manifested.”
5 After these things I looked, and [c]behold, (P)the [d]temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in heaven was opened. 6 And out of the [e]temple came the seven angels having the seven plagues, (Q)clothed in pure bright linen, and having their chests girded with golden bands. 7 (R)Then one of the four living creatures gave to the seven angels seven golden bowls full of the wrath of God (S)who lives forever and ever. 8 (T)The temple was filled with smoke (U)from the glory of God and from His power, and no one was able to enter the temple till the seven plagues of the seven angels were completed.
Feeding the Five Thousand(A)
13 (B)When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself. But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities. 14 And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He (C)was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick. 15 (D)When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food.”
16 But Jesus said to them, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.”
17 And they said to Him, “We have here only five loaves and two fish.”
18 He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 19 Then He commanded the multitudes to sit down on the grass. And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, (E)He blessed and broke and gave the loaves to the disciples; and the disciples gave to the multitudes. 20 So they all ate and were filled, and they took up twelve baskets full of the fragments that remained. 21 Now those who had eaten were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.