Book of Common Prayer
A petition to be saved from death.
A Song, a Psalm of the sons of Korah; for the Chief Musician; set to Mahalath [a]Leannoth. Maschil of Heman the Ezrahite.
88 O Jehovah, the God of my salvation,
I have cried day and night before thee.
2 Let my prayer enter into thy presence;
Incline thine ear unto my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles,
And my life draweth nigh unto Sheol.
4 I am reckoned with them that go down into the pit;
I am as a man that hath no help,
5 Cast [b]off among the dead,
Like the slain that lie in the grave,
Whom thou rememberest no more,
And they are cut off from thy hand.
6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit,
In dark places, in the deeps.
7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me,
And thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah
8 Thou hast put mine acquaintance far from me;
Thou hast made me an abomination unto them:
I am shut up, and I cannot come forth.
9 Mine eye wasteth away by reason of affliction:
I have called daily upon thee, O Jehovah;
I have spread forth my hands unto thee.
10 Wilt thou show wonders to the dead?
Shall [c]they that are deceased arise and praise thee? Selah
11 Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave?
Or thy faithfulness in [d]Destruction?
12 Shall thy wonders be known in the dark?
And thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But unto thee, O Jehovah, have I cried;
And in the morning shall my prayer come before thee.
14 Jehovah, why castest thou off my soul?
Why hidest thou thy face from me?
15 I am afflicted and ready to die from my youth up:
While I suffer thy terrors I am distracted.
16 Thy fierce wrath is gone over me;
Thy terrors have cut me off.
17 They came round about me like water all the day long;
They compassed me about together.
18 Lover and friend hast thou put far from me,
And mine acquaintance [e]into darkness.
Security of him who trusts in Jehovah.
91 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High
[a]Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of Jehovah, He is my refuge and my fortress;
My God, in whom I trust.
3 For he will deliver thee from the snare of the fowler,
And from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover thee with his pinions,
And under his wings shalt thou take refuge:
His truth is a shield and a buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night,
Nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
6 For the pestilence that walketh in darkness,
Nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
7 A thousand shall fall at thy side,
And ten thousand at thy right hand;
But it shall not come nigh thee.
8 Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold,
And see the reward of the wicked.
9 [b]For thou, O Jehovah, art my refuge!
Thou hast made the Most High thy habitation;
10 There shall no evil befall thee,
Neither shall any plague come nigh thy tent.
11 For he will give his angels charge over thee,
To keep thee in all thy ways.
12 They shall bear thee up in their hands,
Lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
13 Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder:
The young lion and the serpent shalt thou trample under foot.
14 Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him:
I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
15 He shall call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble:
I will deliver him, and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him,
And show him my salvation.
Praise for Jehovah’s goodness.
A Psalm, a Song for the sabbath day.
92 It is a good thing to give thanks unto Jehovah,
And to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High;
2 To show forth thy lovingkindness in the morning,
And thy faithfulness every night,
3 With an instrument of ten strings, and with the psaltery;
With a solemn sound upon the harp.
4 For thou, Jehovah, hast made me glad through thy work:
I will triumph in the works of thy hands.
5 How great are thy works, O Jehovah!
Thy thoughts are very deep.
6 A brutish man knoweth not;
Neither doth a fool understand this:
7 When the wicked spring as the grass,
And when all the workers of iniquity do flourish;
It is that they shall be destroyed for ever.
8 But thou, O Jehovah, art on high for evermore.
9 For, lo, thine enemies, O Jehovah,
For, lo, thine enemies shall perish;
All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
10 But my horn hast thou exalted like the horn of the wild-ox:
I am anointed with fresh oil.
11 Mine eye also hath seen my desire on [c]mine enemies,
Mine ears have heard my desire of the evil-doers that rise up against me.
12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree:
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 They are planted in the house of Jehovah;
They shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age;
They shall be full of sap and green:
15 To show that Jehovah is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.
8 On that day did the king Ahasuerus give the house of Haman the Jews’ enemy unto Esther the queen. And Mordecai came before the king; for Esther had told what he was unto her. 2 And the king took off his ring, which he had taken from Haman, and gave it unto Mordecai. And Esther set Mordecai over the house of Haman.
3 And Esther spake yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet, and besought him with tears to put away the mischief of Haman the Agagite, and his device that he had devised against the Jews. 4 Then the king held out to Esther the golden sceptre. So Esther arose, and stood before the king. 5 And she said, If it please the king, and if I have found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right before the king, and I be pleasing in his eyes, let it be written to reverse the letters devised by Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, which he wrote to destroy the Jews that are in all the king’s provinces: 6 for how can I endure to see the evil that shall come unto my people? or how can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred? 7 Then the king Ahasuerus said unto Esther the queen and to Mordecai the Jew, Behold, I have given Esther the house of Haman, and him they have hanged upon the gallows, because he laid his hand upon the Jews. 8 Write ye also [a]to the Jews, as it pleaseth you, in the king’s name, and seal it with the king’s ring; for the writing which is written in the king’s name, and sealed with the king’s ring, may no man reverse.
15 And Mordecai went forth from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold, and with a robe of fine linen and purple: and the city of Shushan shouted and was glad. 16 The Jews had light and gladness, and joy and honor. 17 And in every province, and in every city, whithersoever the king’s commandment and his decree came, the Jews had gladness and joy, a feast and a good day. And many from among the peoples of the land became Jews; for the fear of the Jews was fallen upon them.
21 Now after these things were ended, Paul purposed in the spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must also see Rome. 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of them that ministered unto him, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
23 And about that time there arose no small stir concerning the Way. 24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of [a]Diana, brought no little business unto the craftsmen; 25 whom he gathered together, with the workmen of like occupation, and said, Sirs, ye know that by this business we have our wealth. 26 And ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they are no gods, that are made with hands: 27 and not only is there danger that this our trade come into disrepute; but also that the temple of the great goddess [b]Diana be made of no account, and that she should even be deposed from her magnificence whom all Asia and [c]the world worshippeth. 28 And when they heard this they were filled with wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is [d]Diana of the Ephesians. 29 And the city was filled with the confusion: and they rushed with one accord into the theatre, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul’s companions in travel. 30 And when Paul was minded to enter in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not. 31 And certain also of the [e]Asiarchs, being his friends, sent unto him and besought him not to adventure himself into the theatre. 32 Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was in confusion; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. 33 [f]And they brought Alexander out of the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with the hand, and would have made a defence unto the people. 34 But when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice about the space of two hours cried out, Great is [g]Diana of the Ephesians. 35 And when the townclerk had quieted the multitude, he saith, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there who knoweth not that the city of the Ephesians is temple-keeper of the great [h]Diana, and of the image which fell down from [i]Jupiter? 36 Seeing then that these things cannot be gainsaid, ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash. 37 For ye have brought hither these men, who are neither robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 If therefore Demetrius, and the craftsmen that are with him, have a matter against any man, [j]the courts are open, and there are proconsuls: let them accuse one another. 39 But if ye seek anything about other matters, it shall be settled in the regular assembly. 40 For indeed we are in danger to be [k]accused concerning this day’s riot, there being no cause for it: and as touching it we shall not be able to give account of this concourse. 41 And when he had thus spoken, he dismissed the assembly.
31 And he came down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the sabbath day: 32 and they were astonished at his teaching; for his word was with authority. 33 And in the synagogue there was a man, that had a spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud voice, 34 [a]Ah! what have we to do with thee, Jesus thou Nazarene? art thou come to destroy us? I know thee who thou art, the Holy One of God. 35 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him. And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst, he came out of him, having done him no hurt. 36 And amazement came upon all, and they spake together, one with another, saying, What is [b]this word? for with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out. 37 And there went forth a rumor concerning him into every place of the region round about.
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