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    Psalm 66  
     
1
  Be joyful in God, all the earth; •
    sing the glory of his name;
    sing the glory of his praise.
     
2
  Say to God, 'How awesome are your deeds! •
    Because of your great strength
    your enemies shall bow before you.
     
3
  'All the earth shall worship you, •
    sing to you, sing praise to your name.'
     
     
4
  Come now and behold the works of God, •
    how wonderful he is in his dealings with humankind.
     
5
  He turned the sea into dry land;
    the river they passed through on foot; •
    there we rejoiced in him.
     
6
  In his might he rules for ever;
    his eyes keep watch over the nations; •
    let no rebel rise up against him.
     
     
7
  Bless our God, O you peoples; •
    make the voice of his praise to be heard,
     
8
  Who holds our souls in life •
    and suffers not our feet to slip.
     
9
  For you, O God, have proved us; •
    you have tried us as silver is tried.
     
10
  You brought us into the snare; •
    you laid heavy burdens upon our backs.
     
11
  You let enemies ride over our heads;
    we went through fire and water; •
    but you brought us out into a place of liberty.
     
     
12
  I will come into your house with burnt offerings
    and will pay you my vows, •
    which my lips uttered
    and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.
     
13
  I will offer you fat burnt sacrifices
    with the smoke of rams; •
    I will sacrifice oxen and goats.
     
     
14
  Come and listen, all you who fear God, •
    and I will tell you what he has done for my soul.
     
15
  I called out to him with my mouth •
    and his praise was on my tongue.
     
16
  If I had nursed evil in my heart, •
    the Lord would not have heard me,
     
17
  But in truth God has heard me; •
    he has heeded the voice of my prayer.
     
18
  Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, •
    nor withheld his loving mercy from me.
     
    Psalm 67  
     
1
  God be gracious to us and bless us •
    and make his face to shine upon us,
     
2
  That your way may be known upon earth, •
    your saving power among all nations.
     
3
  Let the peoples praise you, O God; •
    let all the peoples praise you.
     
4
  O let the nations rejoice and be glad, •
    for you will judge the peoples righteously
    and govern the nations upon earth.
     
5
  Let the peoples praise you, O God; •
    let all the peoples praise you.
     
6
  Then shall the earth bring forth her increase, •
    and God, our own God, will bless us.
     
7
  God will bless us, •
    and all the ends of the earth shall fear him.
     
    Psalm 68  
     
1
  Let God arise and let his enemies be scattered; •
    let those that hate him flee before him.
     
2
  As the smoke vanishes, so may they vanish away; •
    as wax melts at the fire,
    so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.
     
3
  But let the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; •
    let them make merry with gladness.
     
4
  Sing to God, sing praises to his name;
    exalt him who rides on the clouds. •
    The Lord is his name; rejoice before him.
     
5
  Father of the fatherless, defender of widows, •
    God in his holy habitation!
     
6
  God gives the solitary a home
    and brings forth prisoners to songs of welcome, •
    but the rebellious inhabit a burning desert.
     
     
7
  O God, when you went forth before your people, •
    when you marched through the wilderness,
     
8
  The earth shook and the heavens dropped down rain,
    at the presence of God, the Lord of Sinai, •
    at the presence of God, the God of Israel.
     
9
  You sent down a gracious rain, O God; •
    you refreshed your inheritance when it was weary.
     
10
  Your people came to dwell there; •
    in your goodness, O God, you provide for the poor.
     
11
  The Lord gave the word;
    great was the company of women who bore the tidings: •
    'Kings and their armies they flee, they flee!'
    and women at home are dividing the spoil.
     
12
  Though you stayed among the sheepfolds, •
    see now a dove's wings covered with silver
    and its feathers with green gold.
     
13
  When the Almighty scattered the kings, •
    it was like snow flakes falling on Zalmon.
     
     
14
  You mighty mountain, great mountain of Bashan! •
    You towering mountain, great mountain of Bashan!
     
15
  Why look with envy, you towering mountains,
    at the mount which God has desired for his dwelling, •
    the place where the Lord will dwell for ever?
     
16
  The chariots of God are twice ten thousand,
    even thousands upon thousands; •
    the Lord is among them, the Lord of Sinai in holy power.
     
17
  You have gone up on high and led captivity captive; •
    you have received tribute,
    even from those who rebelled,
    that you may reign as Lord and God.
     
18
  Blessed be the Lord who bears our burdens day by day, •
    for God is our salvation.
     
19
  God is for us the God of our salvation; •
    God is the Lord who can deliver from death.
     
20
  God will smite the head of his enemies, •
    the hairy scalp of those who walk in wickedness.
     
21
  The Lord has said, 'From the heights of Bashan, •
    from the depths of the sea will I bring them back,
     
22
  'Till you dip your foot in blood •
    and the tongue of your dogs has a taste of your enemies.'
     
     
23
  We see your solemn processions, O God, •
    your processions into the sanctuary, my God and my King.
     
24
  The singers go before, the musicians follow after, •
    in the midst of maidens playing on timbrels.
     
25
  In your companies, bless your God; •
    bless the Lord, you that are of the fount of Israel.
     
26
  At the head there is Benjamin, least of the tribes,
    the princes of Judah in joyful company, •
    the princes of Zebulun and Naphtali.
     
     
27
  Send forth your strength, O God; •
    establish, O God, what you have wrought in us.
     
28
  For your temple's sake in Jerusalem •
    kings shall bring their gifts to you.
     
29
  Drive back with your word the wild beast of the reeds, •
    the herd of the bull-like, the brutish hordes.
     
30
  Trample down those who lust after silver; •
    scatter the peoples that delight in war.
     
31
  Vessels of bronze shall be brought from Egypt; •
    Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God.
     
     
32
  Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth; •
    make music in praise of the Lord;
     
33
  He rides on the ancient heaven of heavens •
    and sends forth his voice, a mighty voice.
     
34
  Ascribe power to God, whose splendour is over Israel, •
    whose power is above the clouds.
     
35
  How terrible is God in his holy sanctuary, •
    the God of Israel, who gives power and strength to his people!
    Blessed be God.
     
    Psalm 69  
1
  Save me, O God, •
    for the waters have come up, even to my neck.
     
2
  I sink in deep mire where there is no foothold; •
    I have come into deep waters and the flood sweeps over me.
     
3
  I have grown weary with crying; my throat is raw; •
    my eyes have failed from looking so long for my God.
     
4
  Those who hate me without any cause •
    are more than the hairs of my head;
     
5
  Those who would destroy me are mighty; •
    my enemies accuse me falsely:
    must I now give back what I never stole?
     
6
  O God, you know my foolishness, •
    and my faults are not hidden from you.
     
7
  Let not those who hope in you
    be put to shame through me, Lord God of hosts; •
    let not those who seek you be disgraced because of me,
    O God of Israel.
     
8
  For your sake have I suffered reproach; •
    shame has covered my face.
     
9
  I have become a stranger to my kindred, •
    an alien to my mother's children.
     
10
  Zeal for your house has eaten me up; •
    the scorn of those who scorn you has fallen upon me.
     
11
  I humbled myself with fasting, •
    but that was turned to my reproach.
     
12
  I put on sack cloth also •
    and became a byword among them.
     
13
  Those who sit at the gate murmur against me, •
    and the drunkards make songs about me.
     
     
14
  But as for me, I make my prayer to you, O Lord; •
    at an acceptable time, O God.
     
15
  Answer me, O God, in the abundance of your mercy •
    and with your sure salvation.
     
16
  Draw me out of the mire, that I sink not; •
    let me be rescued from those who hate me
    and out of the deep waters.
     
17
  Let not the water flood drown me,
    neither the deep swallow me up; •
    let not the Pit shut its mouth upon me.
     
18
  Answer me, Lord, for your loving-kindness is good; •
    turn to me in the multitude of your mercies.
     
19
  Hide not your face from your servant; •
    be swift to answer me, for I am in trouble.
     
20
  Draw near to my soul and redeem me; •
    deliver me because of my enemies.
     
21
  You know my reproach, my shame and my dishonour; •
    my adversaries are all in your sight.
     
22
  Reproach has broken my heart; I am full of heaviness. •
    I looked for some to have pity, but there was no one,
    neither found I any to comfort me.
     
23
  They gave me gall to eat, •
    and when I was thirsty, they gave me vinegar to drink.
     
     
24
  Let the table before them be a trap •
    and their sacred feasts a snare.
     
25
  Let their eyes be darkened, that they cannot see, •
    and give them continual trembling in their loins.
     
26
  Pour out your indignation upon them, •
    and let the heat of your anger overtake them.
     
27
  Let their camp be desolate, •
    and let there be no one to dwell in their tents.
     
28
  For they persecute the one whom you have stricken, •
    and increase the sorrows of him whom you have pierced.
     
29
  Lay to their charge guilt upon guilt, •
    and let them not receive your vindication.
     
30
  Let them be wiped out of the book of the living •
    and not be written among the righteous.
     
     
31
  As for me, I am poor and in misery; •
    your saving help, O God, will lift me up.
     
32
  I will praise the name of God with a song; •
    I will proclaim his greatness with thanksgiving.
     
33
  This will please the Lord more than an offering of oxen, •
    more than bulls with horns and hooves.
     
34
  The humble shall see and be glad; •
    you who seek God, your heart shall live.
     
35
  For the Lord listens to the needy, •
    and his own who are imprisoned he does not despise.
     
36
  Let the heavens and the earth praise him, •
    the seas and all that moves in them;
     
37
  For God will save Zion and rebuild the cities of Judah; •
    they shall live there and have it in possession.
     
38
  The children of his servants shall inherit it, •
    and they that love his name shall dwell therein.
     
    Psalm 70  
     
1
  O God, make speed to save me; •
    O Lord, make haste to help me.
     
2
  Let those who seek my life
    be put to shame and confusion; •
    let them be turned back and disgraced
    who wish me evil.
     
3
  Let those who mock and deride me •
    turn back because of their shame.
     
4
  But let all who seek you rejoice and be glad in you; •
    let those who love your salvation say always, 'Great is the Lord!'
     
5
  As for me, I am poor and needy; •
    come to me quickly, O God.
     
6
  You are my help and my deliverer; •
    O Lord, do not delay.
     
© The Archbishops' Council of the Church of England, 2000-2004
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