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Psalm 64

1  Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; ♦︎
   preserve my life from fear of the enemy.
2  Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, ♦︎
   from the gathering of evildoers.
3  They sharpen their tongue like a sword ♦︎
   and aim their bitter words like arrows,
4  That they may shoot at the blameless from hiding places; ♦︎
   suddenly they shoot, and are not seen.
5  They hold fast to their evil course; ♦︎
   they talk of laying snares, saying, ‘Who will see us?’
6  They search out wickedness and lay a cunning trap, ♦︎
   for deep are the inward thoughts of the heart.
7  But God will shoot at them with his swift arrow, ♦︎
   and suddenly they shall be wounded.
8  Their own tongues shall make them fall, ♦︎
   and all who see them shall wag their heads in scorn.
9  All peoples shall fear and tell what God has done, ♦︎
   and they will ponder all his works.
10  The righteous shall rejoice in the Lord
      and put their trust in him, ♦︎
   and all that are true of heart shall exult.

Psalm 65

1  Praise is due to you, O God, in Zion; ♦︎
   to you that answer prayer shall vows be paid.
2  To you shall all flesh come to confess their sins; ♦︎
   when our misdeeds prevail against us,
      you will purge them away.
3  Happy are they whom you choose
      and draw to your courts to dwell there. ♦︎
   We shall be satisfied with the blessings of your house,
      even of your holy temple.
4  With wonders you will answer us in your righteousness,
      O God of our salvation, ♦︎
   O hope of all the ends of the earth
      and of the farthest seas.
5  In your strength you set fast the mountains ♦︎
   and are girded about with might.
6  You still the raging of the seas, ♦︎
   the roaring of their waves
      and the clamour of the peoples.
7  Those who dwell at the ends of the earth
      tremble at your marvels; ♦︎
   the gates of the morning and evening sing your praise.
8  You visit the earth and water it; ♦︎
   you make it very plenteous.
9  The river of God is full of water; ♦︎
   you prepare grain for your people,
      for so you provide for the earth.
10  You drench the furrows and smooth out the ridges; ♦︎
   you soften the ground with showers and bless its increase.
11  You crown the year with your goodness, ♦︎
   and your paths overflow with plenty.
12  May the pastures of the wilderness flow with goodness ♦︎
   and the hills be girded with joy.
13  May the meadows be clothed with flocks of sheep ♦︎
   and the valleys stand so thick with corn
      that they shall laugh and sing.

⁴ Do not seek from the Lord high office,
   or the seat of honour from the king.
⁵ Do not assert your righteousness before the Lord,
   or display your wisdom before the king.
⁶ Do not seek to become a judge,
   or you may be unable to root out injustice;
you may be partial to the powerful,
   and so mar your integrity.
⁷ Commit no offence against the public,
   and do not disgrace yourself among the people.

⁸ Do not commit a sin twice;
   not even for one will you go unpunished.
⁹ Do not say, ‘He will consider the great number of my gifts,
   and when I make an offering to the Most High God, he will accept it.’
¹⁰ Do not grow weary when you pray;
   do not neglect to give alms.
¹¹ Do not ridicule a person who is embittered in spirit,
   for there is One who humbles and exalts.
¹² Do not devise^* a lie against your brother,
   or do the same to a friend.
¹³ Refuse to utter any lie,
   for it is a habit that results in no good.
¹⁴ Do not babble in the assembly of the elders,
   and do not repeat yourself when you pray.

5^*Now you are walled around with a wall;^*
   siege is laid against us;
with a rod they strike the ruler of Israel
   upon the cheek.

The Ruler from Bethlehem

^{2 *}But you, O Bethlehem of Ephrathah,
   who are one of the little clans of Judah,
from you shall come forth for me
   one who is to rule in Israel,
whose origin is from of old,
   from ancient days.
³ Therefore he shall give them up until the time
   when she who is in labour has brought forth;
then the rest of his kindred shall return
   to the people of Israel.
⁴ And he shall stand and feed his flock in the strength of the Lord,
   in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God.
And they shall live secure, for now he shall be great
   to the ends of the earth;
¹⁰ On that day, says the Lord,
   I will cut off your horses from among you
   and will destroy your chariots;
¹¹ and I will cut off the cities of your land
   and throw down all your strongholds;
¹² and I will cut off sorceries from your hand,
   and you shall have no more soothsayers;
¹³ and I will cut off your images
   and your pillars from among you,
and you shall bow down no more
   to the work of your hands;
¹⁴ and I will uproot your sacred poles^* from among you
   and destroy your towns.
¹⁵ And in anger and wrath I will execute vengeance
   on the nations that did not obey.

God Challenges Israel

6Hear what the Lord says:
   Rise, plead your case before the mountains,
   and let the hills hear your voice.
² Hear, you mountains, the controversy of the Lord,
   and you enduring foundations of the earth;
for the Lord has a controversy with his people,
   and he will contend with Israel.

³ ‘O my people, what have I done to you?
   In what have I wearied you? Answer me!
⁴ For I brought you up from the land of Egypt,
   and redeemed you from the house of slavery;
and I sent before you Moses,
   Aaron, and Miriam.
⁵ O my people, remember now what King Balak of Moab devised,
   what Balaam son of Beor answered him,
and what happened from Shittim to Gilgal,
   that you may know the saving acts of the Lord.’

What God Requires

⁶ ‘With what shall I come before the Lord,
   and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt-offerings,
   with calves a year old?
⁷ Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams,
   with tens of thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
   the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?’
⁸ He has told you, O mortal, what is good;
   and what does the Lord require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
   and to walk humbly with your God?

The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer

8When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. ²And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.

3 Another angel with a golden censer came and stood at the altar; he was given a great quantity of incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar that is before the throne. ⁴And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, rose before God from the hand of the angel. ⁵Then the angel took the censer and filled it with fire from the altar and threw it on the earth; and there were peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.

The Seven Trumpets

6 Now the seven angels who had the seven trumpets made ready to blow them.

7 The first angel blew his trumpet, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were hurled to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all green grass was burned up.

8 The second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain, burning with fire, was thrown into the sea. ⁹A third of the sea became blood, a third of the living creatures in the sea died, and a third of the ships were destroyed.

10 The third angel blew his trumpet, and a great star fell from heaven, blazing like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. ¹¹The name of the star is Wormwood. A third of the waters became wormwood, and many died from the water, because it was made bitter.

12 The fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of their light was darkened; a third of the day was kept from shining, and likewise the night.

13 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle crying with a loud voice as it flew in mid-heaven, ‘Woe, woe, woe to the inhabitants of the earth, at the blasts of the other trumpets that the three angels are about to blow!’