Book of Common Prayer
A Call to Worship and Obedience
95 Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!
Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us shout joyfully to Him with (A)psalms.
3 For (B)the Lord is the great God,
And the great King above all gods.
4 [a]In His hand are the deep places of the earth;
The heights of the hills are His also.
5 (C)The sea is His, for He made it;
And His hands formed the dry land.
6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
Let (D)us kneel before the Lord our Maker.
7 For He is our God,
And (E)we are the people of His pasture,
And the sheep [b]of His hand.
(F)Today, if you will hear His voice:
8 “Do not harden your hearts, as in the [c]rebellion,
(G)As in the day of [d]trial in the wilderness,
9 When (H)your fathers tested Me;
They tried Me, though they (I)saw My work.
10 For (J)forty years I was [e]grieved with that generation,
And said, ‘It is a people who go astray in their hearts,
And they do not know My ways.’
11 So (K)I swore in My wrath,
‘They shall not enter My rest.’ ”
A Prayer for Help in Despondency
A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. To the Chief Musician. Set to “Mahalath Leannoth.” A [a]Contemplation of (A)Heman the Ezrahite.
88 O Lord, (B)God of my salvation,
I have cried out day and night before You.
2 Let my prayer come before You;
[b]Incline Your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles,
And my life (C)draws near to the grave.
4 I am counted with those who (D)go[c] down to the pit;
(E)I am like a man who has no strength,
5 [d]Adrift among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You remember no more,
And who are cut off from Your hand.
6 You have laid me in the lowest pit,
In darkness, in the depths.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
And You have afflicted me with all (F)Your waves. Selah
8 (G)You have [e]put away my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an abomination to them;
(H)I am shut up, and I cannot get out;
9 My eye wastes away because of affliction.
(I)Lord, I have called daily upon You;
I have stretched out my hands to You.
10 Will You work wonders for the dead?
Shall [f]the dead arise and praise You? Selah
11 Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave?
Or Your faithfulness in the place of destruction?
12 Shall Your wonders be known in the dark?
And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But to You I have cried out, O Lord,
And in the morning my prayer comes before You.
14 Lord, why do You cast off my soul?
Why do You hide Your face from me?
15 I have been afflicted and ready to die from my youth;
I suffer Your terrors;
I am distraught.
16 Your fierce wrath has gone over me;
Your terrors have [g]cut me off.
17 They came around me all day long like water;
They engulfed me altogether.
18 (J)Loved one and friend You have put far from me,
And my acquaintances into darkness.
Safety of Abiding in the Presence of God
91 He (A)who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide (B)under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 (C)I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in Him I will trust.”
3 Surely (D)He shall deliver you from the snare of the [a]fowler
And from the perilous pestilence.
4 (E)He shall cover you with His feathers,
And under His wings you shall take refuge;
His truth shall be your shield and [b]buckler.
5 (F)You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
Nor of the arrow that flies by day,
6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness,
Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
And ten thousand at your right hand;
But it shall not come near you.
8 Only (G)with your eyes shall you look,
And see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord, who is (H)my refuge,
Even the Most High, (I)your dwelling place,
10 (J)No evil shall befall you,
Nor shall any plague come near your dwelling;
11 (K)For He shall give His angels charge over you,
To keep you in all your ways.
12 In their hands they shall [c]bear you up,
(L)Lest you [d]dash your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra,
The young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
14 “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will [e]set him on high, because he has (M)known My name.
15 He shall (N)call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be (O)with him in trouble;
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With [f]long life I will satisfy him,
And show him My salvation.”
Praise to the Lord for His Love and Faithfulness
A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day.
92 It is (P)good to give thanks to the Lord,
And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
2 To (Q)declare Your lovingkindness in the morning,
And Your faithfulness every night,
3 (R)On an instrument of ten strings,
On the lute,
And on the harp,
With harmonious sound.
4 For You, Lord, have made me glad through Your work;
I will triumph in the works of Your hands.
5 (S)O Lord, how great are Your works!
(T)Your thoughts are very deep.
6 (U)A senseless man does not know,
Nor does a fool understand this.
7 When (V)the wicked [g]spring up like grass,
And when all the workers of iniquity flourish,
It is that they may be destroyed forever.
8 (W)But You, Lord, are on high forevermore.
9 For behold, Your enemies, O Lord,
For behold, Your enemies shall perish;
All the workers of iniquity shall (X)be scattered.
10 But (Y)my [h]horn You have exalted like a wild ox;
I have been (Z)anointed with fresh oil.
11 (AA)My eye also has seen my desire on my enemies;
My ears hear my desire on the wicked
Who rise up against me.
12 (AB)The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree,
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Those who are planted in the house of the Lord
Shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bear fruit in old age;
They shall be [i]fresh and [j]flourishing,
15 To declare that the Lord is upright;
(AC)He is my rock, and (AD)there is no unrighteousness in Him.
Joseph Is Governor of Egypt
47 Then Joseph (A)went and told Pharaoh, and said, “My father and my brothers, their flocks and their herds and all that they possess, have come from the land of Canaan; and indeed they are in (B)the land of Goshen.” 2 And he took five men from among his brothers and (C)presented them to Pharaoh. 3 Then Pharaoh said to his brothers, (D)“What is your occupation?”
And they said to Pharaoh, (E)“Your servants are shepherds, both we and also our fathers.” 4 And they said to Pharaoh, (F)“We have come to dwell in the land, because your servants have no pasture for their flocks, (G)for the famine is severe in the land of Canaan. Now therefore, please let your servants (H)dwell in the land of Goshen.”
5 Then Pharaoh spoke to Joseph, saying, “Your father and your brothers have come to you. 6 (I)The land of Egypt is before you. Have your father and brothers dwell in the best of the land; let them dwell (J)in the land of Goshen. And if you know any competent men among them, then make them chief herdsmen over my livestock.”
7 Then Joseph brought in his father Jacob and set him before Pharaoh; and Jacob (K)blessed Pharaoh. 8 Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How old are you?”
9 And Jacob said to Pharaoh, (L)“The days of the years of my [a]pilgrimage are (M)one hundred and thirty years; (N)few and evil have been the days of the years of my life, and (O)they have not attained to the days of the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.” 10 So Jacob (P)blessed Pharaoh, and went out from before Pharaoh.
11 And Joseph situated his father and his brothers, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of (Q)Rameses, (R)as Pharaoh had commanded. 12 Then Joseph provided (S)his father, his brothers, and all his father’s household with bread, according to the number in their families.
Joseph Deals with the Famine
13 Now there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very severe, (T)so that the land of Egypt and the land of Canaan languished because of the famine. 14 (U)And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, for the grain which they bought; and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house.
15 So when the money failed in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan, all the Egyptians came to Joseph and said, “Give us bread, for (V)why should we die in your presence? For the money has failed.”
16 Then Joseph said, “Give your livestock, and I will give you bread for your livestock, if the money is gone.” 17 So they brought their livestock to Joseph, and Joseph gave them bread in exchange for the horses, the flocks, the cattle of the herds, and for the donkeys. Thus he [b]fed them with bread in exchange for all their livestock that year.
18 When that year had ended, they came to him the next year and said to him, “We will not hide from my lord that our money is gone; my lord also has our herds of livestock. There is nothing left in the sight of my lord but our bodies and our lands. 19 Why should we die before your eyes, both we and our land? Buy us and our land for bread, and we and our land will be servants of Pharaoh; give us seed, that we may (W)live and not die, that the land may not be desolate.”
20 Then Joseph (X)bought all the land of Egypt for Pharaoh; for every man of the Egyptians sold his field, because the famine was severe upon them. So the land became Pharaoh’s. 21 And as for the people, he [c]moved them into the cities, from one end of the borders of Egypt to the other end. 22 (Y)Only the land of the (Z)priests he did not buy; for the priests had rations allotted to them by Pharaoh, and they ate their rations which Pharaoh gave them; therefore they did not sell their lands.
23 Then Joseph said to the people, “Indeed I have bought you and your land this day for Pharaoh. Look, here is seed for you, and you shall sow the land. 24 And it shall come to pass in the harvest that you shall give one-fifth to Pharaoh. Four-fifths shall be your own, as seed for the field and for your food, for those of your households and as food for your little ones.”
25 So they said, “You have saved (AA)our lives; let us find favor in the sight of my lord, and we will be Pharaoh’s servants.” 26 And Joseph made it a law over the land of Egypt to this day, that Pharaoh should have one-fifth, (AB)except for the land of the priests only, which did not become Pharaoh’s.
16 For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for (A)necessity is laid upon me; yes, woe is me if I do not preach the gospel! 17 For if I do this willingly, (B)I have a reward; but if against my will, (C)I have been entrusted with a stewardship. 18 What is my reward then? That (D)when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel [a]of Christ without charge, that I (E)may not abuse my authority in the gospel.
Serving All Men
19 For though I am (F)free from all men, (G)I have made myself a servant to all, (H)that I might win the more; 20 and (I)to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the [b]law, that I might win those who are under the law; 21 (J)to (K)those who are without law, as without law (L)(not being without [c]law toward God, but under [d]law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 22 (M)to the weak I became [e]as weak, that I might win the weak. (N)I have become all things to all men, (O)that I might by all means save some. 23 Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.
Striving for a Crown
24 Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but one receives the prize? (P)Run in such a way that you may [f]obtain it. 25 And everyone who competes for the prize [g]is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a perishable crown, but we for (Q)an imperishable crown. 26 Therefore I run thus: (R)not with uncertainty. Thus I fight: not as one who beats the air. 27 (S)But I discipline my body and (T)bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become (U)disqualified.
47 Now when evening came, the boat was in the middle of the sea; and He was alone on the land. 48 Then He saw them straining at rowing, for the wind was against them. Now about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea, and (A)would have passed them by. 49 And when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed it was a (B)ghost, and cried out; 50 for they all saw Him and were troubled. But immediately He talked with them and said to them, (C)“Be[a] of good cheer! It is I; do not be (D)afraid.” 51 Then He went up into the boat to them, and the wind (E)ceased. And they were greatly (F)amazed in themselves beyond measure, and marveled. 52 For (G)they had not understood about the loaves, because their (H)heart was hardened.
Many Touch Him and Are Made Well(I)
53 (J)When they had crossed over, they came to the land of Gennesaret and anchored there. 54 And when they came out of the boat, immediately [b]the people recognized Him, 55 ran through that whole surrounding region, and began to carry about on beds those who were sick to wherever they heard He was. 56 Wherever He entered, into villages, cities, or the country, they laid the sick in the marketplaces, and begged Him that (K)they might just touch the (L)hem of His garment. And as many as touched Him were made well.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.