Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 89
Perplexity about God’s Promises
A Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.(A)
1 I will sing about the Lord’s faithful love forever;(B)
I will proclaim Your faithfulness to all generations
with my mouth.(C)
2 For I will declare,
“Faithful love is built up forever;
You establish Your faithfulness in the heavens.”(D)
3 The Lord said,
“I have made a covenant with My chosen one;
I have sworn an oath to David My servant:
4 ‘I will establish your offspring forever
and build up your throne for all generations.’”(E)
5 Lord, the heavens praise Your wonders(F)—
Your faithfulness also—
in the assembly of the holy ones.(G)
6 For who in the skies can compare with the Lord?
Who among the heavenly beings[a] is like the Lord?(H)
7 God is greatly feared in the council of the holy ones,
more awe-inspiring than[b] all who surround Him.(I)
8 Lord God of Hosts,
who is strong like You, Lord?(J)
Your faithfulness surrounds You.
9 You rule the raging sea;
when its waves surge, You still them.(K)
10 You crushed Rahab like one who is slain;(L)
You scattered Your enemies with Your powerful arm.(M)
11 The heavens are Yours; the earth also is Yours.
The world and everything in it—You founded them.(N)
12 North and south—You created them.(O)
Tabor and Hermon shout for joy at Your name.(P)
13 You have a mighty arm;
Your hand is powerful;
Your right hand is lifted high.(Q)
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation
of Your throne;(R)
faithful love and truth go before You.(S)
15 Happy are the people who know the joyful shout;(T)
Yahweh, they walk in the light of Your presence.(U)
16 They rejoice in Your name all day long,
and they are exalted by Your righteousness.(V)
17 For You are their magnificent strength;(W)
by Your favor our horn is exalted.(X)
18 Surely our shield[c] belongs to the Lord,
our king to the Holy One of Israel.(Y)
19 You once spoke in a vision to Your loyal ones
and said: “I have granted help to a warrior;
I have exalted one chosen[d] from the people.(Z)
20 I have found David My servant;
I have anointed him with My sacred oil.(AA)
21 My hand will always be with him,
and My arm will strengthen him.(AB)
22 The enemy will not afflict[e] him;
no wicked man will oppress him.(AC)
23 I will crush his foes before him
and strike those who hate him.(AD)
24 My faithfulness and love will be with him,
and through My name
his horn will be exalted.(AE)
25 I will extend his power to the sea
and his right hand to the rivers.(AF)
26 He will call to Me, ‘You are my Father,(AG)
my God, the rock of my salvation.’(AH)
27 I will also make him My firstborn,
greatest of the kings of the earth.(AI)
28 I will always preserve My faithful love for him,
and My covenant with him will endure.(AJ)
29 I will establish his line forever,
his throne as long as heaven lasts.[f](AK)
30 If his sons forsake My instruction
and do not live by My ordinances,(AL)
31 if they dishonor My statutes
and do not keep My commands,(AM)
32 then I will call their rebellion
to account with the rod,
their sin with blows.(AN)
33 But I will not withdraw
My faithful love from him
or betray My faithfulness.(AO)
34 I will not violate My covenant
or change what My lips have said.(AP)
35 Once and for all
I have sworn an oath by My holiness;
I will not lie to David.(AQ)
36 His offspring will continue forever,
his throne like the sun before Me,(AR)
37 like the moon, established forever,
a faithful witness in the sky.”(AS)
38 But You have spurned and rejected him;
You have become enraged with Your anointed.(AT)
39 You have repudiated the covenant with Your servant;
You have completely dishonored his crown.[g](AU)
40 You have broken down all his walls;
You have reduced his fortified cities to ruins.(AV)
41 All who pass by plunder him;(AW)
he has become an object of ridicule
to his neighbors.(AX)
42 You have lifted high the right hand of his foes;
You have made all his enemies rejoice.(AY)
43 You have also turned back his sharp sword
and have not let him stand in battle.(AZ)
44 You have made his splendor[h] cease
and have overturned his throne.(BA)
45 You have shortened the days of his youth;
You have covered him with shame.(BB)
46 How long, Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever?
Will Your anger keep burning like fire?(BC)
47 Remember how short my life is.
Have You created everyone for nothing?(BD)
48 What man can live and never see death?
Who can save himself from the power of Sheol?(BE)
49 Lord, where are the former acts of Your faithful love
that You swore to David in Your faithfulness?(BF)
50 Remember, Lord, the ridicule against Your servants—
in my heart I carry abuse from all the peoples—
51 how Your enemies have ridiculed, Lord,
how they have ridiculed every step of Your anointed.(BG)
52 May the Lord be praised forever.
Amen and amen.(BH)
Israel’s Adultery Forgiven
14 Therefore, I am going to persuade her,
lead her to the wilderness,(A)
and speak tenderly to her.[a]
15 There I will give her vineyards back to her(B)
and make the Valley of Achor[b](C)
into a gateway of hope.
There she will respond as she did
in the days of her youth,(D)
as in the day she came out of the land of Egypt.
16 In that day—
this is the Lord’s declaration—
you will call Me, “My husband,”(E)
and no longer call Me, “My Baal.”[c]
17 For I will remove the names of the Baals
from her mouth;
they will no longer be remembered by their names.
18 On that day I will make a covenant for them
with the wild animals, the birds of the sky,
and the creatures that crawl on the ground.(F)
I will shatter bow, sword,
and weapons of war in the land[d](G)
and will enable the people to rest securely.(H)
19 I will take you to be My wife forever.(I)
I will take you to be My wife in righteousness,
justice, love, and compassion.(J)
20 I will take you to be My wife in faithfulness,
and you will know Yahweh.(K)
21 On that day I will respond(L)—
this is the Lord’s declaration.
I will respond to the sky,
and it will respond to the earth.
22 The earth will respond to the grain,(M)
the new wine, and the oil,
and they will respond to Jezreel.
23 I will sow her[e] in the land for Myself,(N)
and I will have compassion(O)
on No Compassion;
I will say(P) to Not My People:(Q)
You are My people,(R)
and he will say, “You are My God.”
Farewell Address to the Ephesian Elders
17 Now from Miletus, he sent to Ephesus and called for the elders of the church. 18 And when they came to him, he said to them: “You know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time(A)— 19 serving the Lord with all humility, with tears, and with the trials that came to me through the plots of the Jews(B)— 20 and that I did not shrink back from proclaiming to you anything that was profitable or from teaching it to you in public and from house to house. 21 I testified to both Jews and Greeks about repentance toward God(C) and faith in our Lord Jesus.(D)
22 “And now I am on my way to Jerusalem, bound in my spirit,[a] not knowing what I will encounter there,(E) 23 except that in town after town the Holy Spirit testifies to me that chains and afflictions are waiting for me.(F) 24 But I count my life of no value to myself, so that I may finish my course[b] and the ministry(G) I received from the Lord Jesus,(H) to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.
25 “And now I know that none of you will ever see my face again—everyone I went about preaching the kingdom to. 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent[c] of everyone’s blood,(I) 27 for I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole plan of God.(J) 28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock(K) that the Holy Spirit has appointed you to as overseers,(L) to shepherd the church of God,[d] which He purchased with His own blood.(M) 29 I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 30 And men will rise up from your own number with deviant doctrines to lure the disciples into following them.(N) 31 Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for three years I did not stop warning each one of you with tears.(O)
32 “And now[e] I commit you to God and to the message of His grace,(P) which is able to build you up and to give you an inheritance(Q) among all who are sanctified. 33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing.(R) 34 You yourselves know that these hands have provided for my needs and for those who were with me.(S) 35 In every way I’ve shown you that by laboring like this, it is necessary to help the weak and to keep in mind the words of the Lord Jesus, for He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
36 After he said this, he knelt down and prayed with all of them.(T) 37 There was a great deal of weeping by everyone. They embraced Paul and kissed him, 38 grieving most of all over his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they escorted him to the ship.(U)
The First Disciples
5 As the crowd was pressing in on Jesus to hear God’s word,(A) He was standing by Lake Gennesaret.[a](B) 2 He saw two boats at the edge of the lake;[b] the fishermen had left them and were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats,(C) which belonged to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from the land. Then He sat down and was teaching the crowds from the boat.
4 When He had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down[c] your nets for a catch.”(D)
5 “Master,”(E) Simon replied, “we’ve worked hard all night long and caught nothing! But at Your word, I’ll let down the nets.”[d]
6 When they did this, they caught a great number of fish, and their nets[e] began to tear. 7 So they signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them; they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink.
8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!” 9 For he and all those with him were amazed[f] at the catch of fish they took, 10 and so were James and John, Zebedee’s sons, who were Simon’s partners.
“Don’t be afraid,”(F) Jesus told Simon. “From now on you will be catching people!”(G) 11 Then they brought the boats to land, left everything, and followed Him.(H)
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