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Psalm 56

1  Have mercy on me, O God, for they trample over me; ♦︎
   all day long they assault and oppress me.
2  My adversaries trample over me all the day long; ♦︎
   many are they that make proud war against me.
3  In the day of my fear I put my trust in you, ♦︎
   in God whose word I praise.
4  In God I trust, and will not fear, ♦︎
   for what can flesh do to me?
5  All day long they wound me with words; ♦︎
   their every thought is to do me evil.
6  They stir up trouble; they lie in wait; ♦︎
   marking my steps, they seek my life.
7  Shall they escape for all their wickedness? ♦︎
   In anger, O God, cast the peoples down.
8  You have counted up my groaning;
      put my tears into your bottle; ♦︎
   are they not written in your book?
9  Then shall my enemies turn back
      on the day when I call upon you; ♦︎
   this I know, for God is on my side.
10  In God whose word I praise,
      in the Lord whose word I praise, ♦︎
   in God I trust and will not fear:
      what can flesh do to me?
11  To you, O God, will I fulfil my vows; ♦︎
   to you will I present my offerings of thanks,
12  For you will deliver my soul from death
      and my feet from falling, ♦︎
   that I may walk before God in the light of the living.

Daniel’s Prayer for the People

9In the first year of Darius son of Ahasuerus, by birth a Mede, who became king over the realm of the Chaldeans— ²in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to the prophet Jeremiah, must be fulfilled for the devastation of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.

3 Then I turned to the Lord God, to seek an answer by prayer and supplication with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. ⁴I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying,

‘Ah, Lord, great and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love with those who love you and keep your commandments, ⁵we have sinned and done wrong, acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and ordinances. ⁶We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our ancestors, and to all the people of the land.

7 ‘Righteousness is on your side, O Lord, but open shame, as at this day, falls on us, the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. ⁸Open shame, O Lord, falls on us, our kings, our officials, and our ancestors, because we have sinned against you. ⁹To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him, ¹⁰and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by following his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.

11 ‘All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. So the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against you. ¹²He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers, by bringing upon us a calamity so great that what has been done against Jerusalem has never before been done under the whole heaven. ¹³Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us. We did not entreat the favour of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and reflecting on his^* fidelity. ¹⁴So the Lord kept watch over this calamity until he brought it upon us. Indeed, the Lord our God is right in all that he has done; for we have disobeyed his voice.

15 ‘And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and made your name renowned even to this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly. ¹⁶O Lord, in view of all your righteous acts, let your anger and wrath, we pray, turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because of our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors, Jerusalem and your people have become a disgrace among all our neighbours. ¹⁷Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication, and for your own sake, Lord,^* let your face shine upon your desolated sanctuary. ¹⁸Incline your ear, O my God, and hear. Open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that bears your name. We do not present our supplication before you on the ground of our righteousness, but on the ground of your great mercies. ¹⁹O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, listen and act and do not delay! For your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people bear your name!’

The Seventh Trumpet

15 Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying,
‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord
   and of his Messiah,^*
and he will reign for ever and ever.’

16 Then the twenty-four elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worshipped God, ¹⁷singing,
‘We give you thanks, Lord God Almighty,
   who are and who were,
for you have taken your great power
   and begun to reign.
¹⁸ The nations raged,
   but your wrath has come,
   and the time for judging the dead,
for rewarding your servants,^* the prophets
   and saints and all who fear your name,
   both small and great,
and for destroying those who destroy the earth.’

19 Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.