Book of Common Prayer
A Petition to Be Saved from Death.
A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choir director; according to Mahalath Leannoth. A [a]Maskil of Heman [b]the Ezrahite.
88 O Lord, the (A)God of my salvation,
I have (B)cried out by day and in the night before You.
2 Let my prayer (C)come before You;
(D)Incline Your ear to my cry!
3 For my (E)soul has [c]had enough troubles,
And (F)my life has drawn near to [d]Sheol.
4 I am reckoned among those who (G)go down to the pit;
I have become like a man (H)without strength,
5 [e]Forsaken (I)among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You remember no more,
And they are (J)cut off from Your hand.
6 You have put me in (K)the lowest pit,
In (L)dark places, in the (M)depths.
7 Your wrath (N)has rested upon me,
And You have afflicted me with (O)all Your waves. [f]Selah.
8 You have removed (P)my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an [g](Q)object of loathing to them;
I am (R)shut up and cannot go out.
9 My (S)eye has wasted away because of affliction;
I have (T)called upon You every day, O Lord;
I have (U)spread out my [h]hands to You.
10 Will You perform wonders for the dead?
Will (V)the [i]departed spirits rise and praise You? Selah.
11 Will Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave,
Your faithfulness in [j]Abaddon?
12 Will Your wonders be made known in the (W)darkness?
And Your [k]righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But I, O Lord, have cried out (X)to You for help,
And (Y)in the morning my prayer comes before You.
14 O Lord, why (Z)do You reject my soul?
Why do You (AA)hide Your face from me?
15 I was afflicted and (AB)about to die from my youth on;
I suffer (AC)Your terrors; I am [l]overcome.
16 Your (AD)burning anger has passed over me;
Your terrors have [m](AE)destroyed me.
17 They have (AF)surrounded me (AG)like water all day long;
They have (AH)encompassed me altogether.
18 You have removed (AI)lover and friend far from me;
My acquaintances are in darkness.
Security of the One Who Trusts in the Lord.
91 He who dwells in the (A)shelter of the Most High
Will abide in the (B)shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My (C)refuge and my (D)fortress,
My God, in whom I (E)trust!”
3 For it is He who delivers you from the (F)snare of the trapper
And from the deadly (G)pestilence.
4 He will (H)cover you with His pinions,
And (I)under His wings you may seek refuge;
His (J)faithfulness is a (K)shield and bulwark.
5 You (L)will not be afraid of the (M)terror by night,
Or of the (N)arrow that flies by day;
6 Of the (O)pestilence that [a]stalks in darkness,
Or of the (P)destruction that lays waste at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But (Q)it shall not approach you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes
And (R)see the recompense of the wicked.
9 [b]For you have made the Lord, (S)my refuge,
Even the Most High, (T)your dwelling place.
10 (U)No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your [c]tent.
11 For He will give (V)His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
12 They will (W)bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will (X)tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the [d]serpent you will trample down.
14 “(Y)Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will (Z)set him securely on high, because he has (AA)known My name.
15 “He will (AB)call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in [e]trouble;
I will rescue him and (AC)honor him.
16 “With [f]a (AD)long life I will satisfy him
And [g](AE)let him see My salvation.”
Praise for the Lord’s Goodness.
A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day.
92 It is (AF)good to give thanks to the Lord
And to (AG)sing praises to Your name, O Most High;
2 To (AH)declare Your lovingkindness in the morning
And Your (AI)faithfulness [h]by night,
3 [i]With the (AJ)ten-stringed lute and [j]with the (AK)harp,
[k]With resounding music [l]upon the (AL)lyre.
4 For You, O Lord, have made me glad by [m]what You (AM)have done,
I will (AN)sing for joy at the (AO)works of Your hands.
5 How (AP)great are Your works, O Lord!
Your [n](AQ)thoughts are very (AR)deep.
6 A (AS)senseless man has no knowledge,
Nor does a (AT)stupid man understand this:
7 That when the wicked (AU)sprouted up like grass
And all (AV)who did iniquity flourished,
It was only that they might be (AW)destroyed forevermore.
8 But You, O Lord, are (AX)on high forever.
9 For, behold, Your enemies, O Lord,
For, behold, (AY)Your enemies will perish;
All who do iniquity will be (AZ)scattered.
10 But You have exalted my (BA)horn like that of the wild ox;
I have [o]been (BB)anointed with fresh oil.
11 And my eye has (BC)looked exultantly upon [p]my foes,
My ears hear of the evildoers who rise up against me.
12 The (BD)righteous man will [q]flourish like the palm tree,
He will grow like a (BE)cedar in Lebanon.
13 (BF)Planted in the house of the Lord,
They will flourish (BG)in the courts of our God.
14 They will still [r](BH)yield fruit in old age;
They shall be [s]full of sap and very green,
15 To [t]declare that (BI)the Lord is upright;
He is my (BJ)rock, and there is (BK)no unrighteousness in Him.
Nathan Rebukes David
12 Then the Lord sent (A)Nathan to David. And (B)he came to him and [a]said,
“There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.
2 “The rich man had a great many flocks and herds.
3 “But the poor man had nothing except (C)one little ewe lamb
Which he bought and nourished;
And it grew up together with him and his children.
It would eat of his [b]bread and drink of his cup and lie in his bosom,
And was like a daughter to him.
4 “Now a traveler came to the rich man,
And he [c]was unwilling to take from his own flock or his own herd,
To prepare for the wayfarer who had come to him;
Rather he took the poor man’s ewe lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.”
5 Then David’s anger burned greatly against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, surely the man who has done this [d](D)deserves to die. 6 He must make restitution for the lamb (E)fourfold, because he did this thing and had no compassion.”
7 Nathan then said to David, “(F)You are the man! Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘(G)It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8 I also gave you (H)your master’s house and your master’s wives into your [e]care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! 9 Why (I)have you despised the word of the Lord by doing evil in His sight? (J)You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, (K)have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. 10 Now therefore, (L)the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; (M)I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in [f]broad daylight. 12 Indeed (N)you did it secretly, but (O)I will do this thing before all Israel, and [g]under the sun.’” 13 Then David said to Nathan, “(P)I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has [h](Q)taken away your sin; you shall not die. 14 However, because by this deed you have (R)given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die.”
21 Now after these things were finished, Paul purposed in the [a]Spirit to (A)go to Jerusalem (B)after he had passed through (C)Macedonia and (D)Achaia, saying, “After I have been there, (E)I must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into (F)Macedonia two of (G)those who ministered to him, (H)Timothy and (I)Erastus, he himself stayed in [b](J)Asia for a while.
23 About that time there occurred no small disturbance concerning (K)the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of [c]Artemis, (L)was bringing no little [d]business to the craftsmen; 25 these he gathered together with the workmen of similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that our prosperity [e]depends upon this business. 26 You see and hear that not only in (M)Ephesus, but in almost all of [f](N)Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away a considerable number of people, saying that [g](O)gods made with hands are no gods at all. 27 Not only is there danger that this trade of ours fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess [h]Artemis be regarded as worthless and that she whom all of [i](P)Asia and (Q)the [j]world worship will even be dethroned from her magnificence.”
28 When they heard this and were filled with rage, they began crying out, saying, “Great is [k]Artemis of the (R)Ephesians!” 29 The city was filled with the confusion, and they rushed [l]with one accord into the theater, dragging along (S)Gaius and (T)Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling (U)companions from (V)Macedonia. 30 And when Paul wanted to go into the [m]assembly, (W)the disciples would not let him. 31 Also some of the [n]Asiarchs who were friends of his sent to him and repeatedly urged him not to [o]venture into the theater. 32 (X)So then, some were shouting one thing and some another, for the [p]assembly was in confusion and the majority did not know [q]for what reason they had come together. 33 Some of the crowd [r]concluded it was Alexander, since the Jews had put him forward; and having (Y)motioned with his hand, Alexander was intending to make a defense to the [s]assembly. 34 But when they recognized that he was a Jew, a single outcry arose from them all as they shouted for about two hours, “Great is [t]Artemis of the Ephesians!” 35 After quieting the crowd, the town clerk *said, “Men of (Z)Ephesus, what man is there after all who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is guardian of the temple of the great [u]Artemis and of the image which fell down from [v]heaven? 36 So, since these are undeniable facts, you ought to keep calm and to do nothing rash. 37 For you have brought these men here who are neither (AA)robbers of temples nor blasphemers of our goddess. 38 So then, if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against any man, the courts are in session and [w](AB)proconsuls are available; let them bring charges against one another. 39 But if you want anything beyond this, it shall be settled in the [x]lawful [y]assembly. 40 For indeed we are in danger of being accused of a riot in connection with today’s events, since there is no real cause for it, and in this connection we will be unable to account for this disorderly gathering.” 41 After saying this he dismissed the [z]assembly.
All Things Possible
14 (A)When they came back to the disciples, they saw a large crowd around them, and some scribes arguing with them. 15 Immediately, when the entire crowd saw Him, they were (B)amazed and began running up to greet Him. 16 And He asked them, “What are you discussing with them?” 17 And one of the crowd answered Him, “Teacher, I brought You my son, possessed with a spirit which makes him mute; 18 and [a]whenever it seizes him, it [b]slams him to the ground and he foams at the mouth, and grinds his teeth and [c]stiffens out. I told Your disciples to cast it out, and they could not do it.” 19 And He *answered them and *said, “O unbelieving generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring him to Me!” 20 They brought [d]the boy to Him. When he saw Him, immediately the spirit threw him into a convulsion, and falling to the ground, he began rolling around and foaming at the mouth. 21 And He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood. 22 It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” 23 And Jesus said to him, “‘If You can?’ (C)All things are possible to him who believes.” 24 Immediately the boy’s father cried out and said, “I do believe; help my unbelief.” 25 When Jesus saw that (D)a crowd was [e]rapidly gathering, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “You deaf and mute spirit, I [f]command you, come out of him and do not enter him [g]again.” 26 After crying out and throwing him into terrible convulsions, it came out; and the boy became so much like a corpse that most of them said, “He is dead!” 27 But Jesus took him by the hand and raised him; and he got up. 28 When He came (E)into the house, His disciples began questioning Him privately, “Why could we not drive it out?” 29 And He said to them, “This kind cannot come out by anything but prayer.”
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