Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 89[a]
A Lament over God’s Promise to David
1 A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
A
I
2 I will sing of your mercy forever, Lord(A)
proclaim your faithfulness through all ages.
3 [b]For I said, “My mercy is established forever;
my faithfulness will stand as long as the heavens.
4 I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
5 I will make your dynasty stand forever
and establish your throne through all ages.”(B)
Selah
II
6 The heavens praise your marvels, Lord,
your loyalty in the assembly of the holy ones.(C)
7 Who in the skies ranks with the Lord?
Who is like the Lord among the sons of the gods?[c](D)
8 A God dreaded in the council of the holy ones,
greater and more awesome than all those around him!
9 Lord, God of hosts, who is like you?
Mighty Lord, your faithfulness surrounds you.
10 You rule the raging sea;(E)
you still its swelling waves.
11 You crush Rahab[d] with a mortal blow;
with your strong arm you scatter your foes.
12 Yours are the heavens, yours the earth;
you founded the world and everything in it.(F)
13 [e]Zaphon and Amanus you created;
Tabor and Hermon rejoice in your name.
14 You have a mighty arm.
Your hand is strong; your right hand is ever exalted.
15 Justice and judgment are the foundation of your throne;
mercy and faithfulness march before you.(G)
16 Blessed the people who know the war cry,
who walk in the radiance of your face, Lord.
17 In your name they sing joyfully all the day;
they rejoice in your righteousness.(H)
18 You are their majestic strength;
by your favor our horn[f] is exalted.(I)
19 Truly the Lord is our shield,
the Holy One of Israel, our king!(J)
III
20 Then you spoke in vision;(K)
to your faithful ones you said:
“I have set a leader over the warriors;
I have raised up a chosen one from the people.
21 I have chosen David, my servant;
with my holy oil I have anointed him.
22 My hand will be with him;(L)
my arm will make him strong.
23 No enemy shall outwit him,
nor shall the wicked defeat him.
24 I will crush his foes before him,
strike down those who hate him.
25 My faithfulness and mercy will be with him;
through my name his horn will be exalted.
26 [g]I will set his hand upon the sea,
his right hand upon the rivers.
27 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my father,(M)
my God, the Rock of my salvation!’
28 I myself make him the firstborn,
Most High[h] over the kings of the earth.
29 Forever I will maintain my mercy for him;(N)
my covenant with him stands firm.
30 I will establish his dynasty forever,
his throne as the days of the heavens.
31 If his descendants forsake my teaching,(O)
do not follow my decrees,
32 If they fail to observe my statutes,
do not keep my commandments,
33 I will punish their crime with a rod
and their guilt with blows.
34 But I will not take my mercy from him,
nor will I betray my bond of faithfulness.(P)
35 I will not violate my covenant;
the promise of my lips I will not alter.(Q)
36 By my holiness I swore once for all:(R)
I will never be false to David.
37 [i]His dynasty will continue forever,(S)
his throne, like the sun before me.
38 Like the moon it will stand eternal,
forever firm like the sky!”
Selah
B
IV
39 But now you have rejected and spurned,(T)
been enraged at your anointed.
40 You renounced the covenant with your servant,
defiled his crown in the dust.
41 You broke down all city walls,(U)
left his strongholds in ruins.
42 All who pass through seize plunder;
his neighbors deride him.
43 You have exalted the right hand of his foes,
have gladdened all his enemies.(V)
44 You turned back his sharp sword,
did not support him in battle.
45 You brought to an end his splendor,
hurled his throne to the ground.
46 You cut short the days of his youth,
covered him with shame.
Selah
V
47 How long, Lord? Will you hide forever?
Must your wrath smolder like fire?(W)
48 Remember how brief life is,
how frail the sons of man you have created!(X)
49 What is man, that he should live and not see death?
Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol?(Y)
Selah
VI
50 Where are your former mercies, Lord,
that you swore to David in your faithfulness?
51 Remember, Lord, the insults to your servants,
how I have borne in my bosom the slander of the nations.(Z)
52 Your enemies, Lord, insult;
they insult each step of your anointed.
53 [j]Blessed be the Lord forever! Amen and amen!(AA)
Chapter 2
1 I will stand at my guard post,
and station myself upon the rampart;(A)
I will keep watch to see what he will say to me,
and what answer he will give to my complaint.
God’s Response
2 Then the Lord answered me and said:
Write down the vision;[a](B)
Make it plain upon tablets,
so that the one who reads it may run.
3 For the vision is a witness for the appointed time,
a testimony to the end; it will not disappoint.
If it delays, wait for it,
it will surely come, it will not be late.
4 See, the rash have no integrity;
but the just one who is righteous because of faith shall live.[b](C)
9 Ah! you who pursue evil gain for your household,
setting your nest on high
to escape the reach of misfortune!
10 You have devised shame for your household,
cutting off many peoples, forfeiting your own life;
11 For the stone in the wall shall cry out,[a]
and the beam in the frame shall answer it!
12 Ah! you who build a city by bloodshed,
and who establish a town with injustice!(A)
13 Is this not from the Lord of hosts:
peoples toil[b] for what the flames consume,
and nations grow weary for nothing!
14 But the earth shall be filled
with the knowledge of the Lord’s glory,
just as the water covers the sea.(B)
15 Ah! you who give your neighbors
the cup of your wrath to drink, and make them drunk,
until their nakedness is seen!(C)
16 You are filled with shame instead of glory;
drink, you too, and stagger!
The cup from the Lord’s right hand shall come around to you,
and utter shame shall cover your glory.
17 For the violence done to Lebanon[c] shall cover you,(D)
and the destruction of the animals shall terrify you;
Because of the shedding of human blood,
and violence done to the land,
to the city and to all who live in it.
18 Of what use is the carved image,[d]
that its maker should carve it?
Or the molten image, the lying oracle,
that its very maker should trust in it,
and make mute idols?
19 Ah! you who say to wood, “Awake!”
to silent stone, “Arise!”
Can any such thing give oracles?(E)
It is only overlaid with gold and silver,
there is no breath in it at all.
20 But the Lord is in his holy temple;
silence before him, all the earth!(F)
14 What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?(A) 15 If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, 16 and one of you says to them, “Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,” but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it?(B) 17 So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
18 Indeed someone may say, “You have faith and I have works.” Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works. 19 You believe that God is one. You do well. Even the demons believe that and tremble. 20 Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?(C) 22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works. 23 Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called “the friend of God.”(D) 24 See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone. 25 And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route?(E) 26 For just as a body without a spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.
19 “There was a rich man[a] who dressed in purple garments and fine linen and dined sumptuously each day. 20 And lying at his door was a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores,(A) 21 who would gladly have eaten his fill of the scraps that fell from the rich man’s table. Dogs even used to come and lick his sores. 22 When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and from the netherworld,[b] where he was in torment, he raised his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he cried out, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me. Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am suffering torment in these flames.’ 25 Abraham replied, ‘My child, remember that you received what was good during your lifetime while Lazarus likewise received what was bad; but now he is comforted here, whereas you are tormented.(B) 26 Moreover, between us and you a great chasm is established to prevent anyone from crossing who might wish to go from our side to yours or from your side to ours.’ 27 He said, ‘Then I beg you, father, send him to my father’s house, 28 for I have five brothers, so that he may warn them, lest they too come to this place of torment.’ 29 But Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them.’ 30 [c]He said, ‘Oh no, father Abraham, but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’ 31 Then Abraham said, ‘If they will not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone should rise from the dead.’”(C)
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