Book of Common Prayer
This psalm is a song that the sons of Korah wrote for the music leader. Use special music. It is a special song by Heman the Ezrahite.
A sad cry[a]
88 Lord, you are the God who rescues me.
I call out to you in the day,
and I pray for help at night.
2 Please listen to my prayer!
I am calling to you for help!
3 There is a lot of trouble in my life.
I feel that I am near to death.
4 People see me as if I am already in my grave.
I feel completely helpless.
5 I am the same as people who have died.
Their bodies already lie in their graves.
You do not remember them any more
You cannot use your power to help them.
6 You have put me in the deep hole of death,
far down in a very dark place.
7 Your anger is very heavy on me.
It is like the waves of the sea that knock me down.
8 You have caused my best friends
to keep away from me.
They do not even want to look at me.
A trap has caught me
and I cannot escape.
9 My eyes have become weak
because I am so sad.
Lord, every day I call to you for help.
I lift my hands up to you as I pray.
10 Your great miracles do not help dead people!
Dead people cannot get up and praise you!
Selah.
11 People in their graves
cannot talk about your faithful love!
In the world of death,
they cannot say how faithful you are.
12 In those dark places,
they do not see your miracles.
In that place where people forget everything,
they cannot know about the good things that you do.
13 But as for me, Lord,
I call to you for help.
Every morning I pray to you.
14 Lord, why do you throw me out?
Why do you turn away from me?
15 Since I was young, I have been in pain.
I have always been near to death.
You have caused bad troubles to frighten me,
so that I feel helpless.
16 Your anger is too much for me!
You are attacking me and destroying me!
17 The troubles that you send are all round me,
like a flood of deep water.
They come very near to me,
on every side.
18 You cause my friends and my neighbours
to stay away from me.
All that I have near to me is darkness.
God is a safe place[a]
91 If anyone lives in Almighty God's safe place,
the Most High God protects that person.
2 I will say to the Lord,
‘You are the strong place where I will be safe.
You are my God,
and I trust in you.’
3 God will keep you safe,
so that no trap will catch you.[b]
He will not let any illness kill you.
4 He will keep you safe,
like a bird keeps its babies safe under its wings.
Because he keeps his promises,
he will keep you safe like a shield and armour.
5 Do not be afraid of troubles that come in the night,
or of your enemy's arrows during the day.
6 Do not be afraid of any illness that comes when it is dark,
or any trouble that comes in the middle of the day.
7 A thousand people may die near you.
Even ten thousand people may die at your side.
But nothing will hurt you.
8 Your own eyes will see this happen.
You will see wicked people
receive the punishment that they deserve.
9 You have come to the Lord to make you safe.
The Most High God has become your home.
10 No bad thing will happen to you.
No illness will come to your home.
11 For God will tell his angels to keep you safe.[c]
They will protect you wherever you go.
12 They will hold you safely in their hands,
so that you do not hurt your foot on a stone.[d]
13 You will win against lions and snakes.
You will walk over them!
14 The Lord says, ‘If someone loves me,
I will keep him safe.
Because he worships me,
I will protect him.
15 When he calls to me for help,
I will answer him.
When he has trouble,
I will be with him.
I will rescue him,
and people will respect him.
16 I will give to him a long life,
so that he is happy.
He will see that I have the power to save people.’
This psalm is a song to sing on Sabbath days.
A song to praise God
92 It is good to thank the Lord!
We sing to praise your name, Most High God.
2 We sing in the morning
to thank you for your faithful love.
We sing at night
to say that you are always faithful.
3 We make beautiful music
with lutes, harps and lyres.[e]
4 The things that you do, Lord,
make me very happy.
I sing with joy
because of the things that your hands have made!
5 Yes, Lord, you have done great things!
Your thoughts are more than we can understand!
6 Here is something that stupid people do not know.
Fools do not understand it.
7 Wicked people may continue to grow,
like green grass.
Evil people may grow like weeds.
But in the end you will destroy them
and they will never grow again.[f]
8 You, Lord, will rule as King for ever!
9 Yes, Lord, look at your enemies!
Your enemies will all die!
Those people who do evil things will all disappear!
10 You have made me as strong as a wild bull.
You have poured pure olive oil on me.[g]
11 With my own eyes,
I have seen my enemies fall.
With my own ears,
I have heard them cry out in pain.
12 Righteous people will do well,
like a palm tree that makes new leaves.
They will become strong,
like a tall cedar tree in Lebanon.
13 They are like trees that someone has planted in the Lord's house.
They grow well in the yard of our God's temple.
14 When they are old,
they will still give fruit!
They will always be strong,
with fresh, green leaves.
15 They will tell everyone,
‘The Lord always does what is right.
He is my strong, safe rock.
There is nothing bad in him.’
17 A guard was standing on the tower in Jezreel to watch for enemies. He saw Jehu's soldiers coming towards the city. He shouted, ‘I can see a group of soldiers who are coming here on horses.’
King Joram said, ‘Send out a man on a horse to meet the soldiers. Ask them. “Are you coming to us as friends?” ’ 18 The man on the horse rode out of the city to meet Jehu. He said to Jehu, ‘The king asks you, “Are you coming here as friends?” ’ Jehu replied, ‘Whether we are friends or not, turn round and ride behind me!’
The guard on the tower reported to Joram, ‘The man that you sent with the message has reached them. But he is not coming back yet.’ 19 So King Joram sent a second man out on a horse. The rider said to Jehu, ‘The king asks you, “Are you coming here as friends?” ’ Jehu replied, ‘Whether we are friends or not, turn round and ride behind me!’
20 The guard reported to Joram, ‘The man has reached them, but he is not coming back yet either. Their leader is driving his chariot like Nimshi's son, Jehu. He drives like a crazy man!’
21 Then King Joram commanded, ‘Prepare my chariot for me.’ So they brought his chariot to him. Then King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah rode out of the city to meet Jehu. Each king was riding in his own chariot. They met Jehu at the piece of land that had once belonged to Naboth, the man from Jezreel.[a] 22 When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, ‘Have you come as a friend, Jehu?’ Jehu replied, ‘We cannot be friends. Your mother Jezebel still causes people to worship idols and to use magic.’
23 Joram turned his chariot round and he drove away quickly. He shouted to King Ahaziah, ‘Ahaziah, they have deceived us!’ 24 Then Jehu used his bow to shoot an arrow at Joram. The arrow hit Joram between his shoulders and it went through his heart. He fell over in his chariot and he died. 25 Jehu gave a command to his officer, Bidkar. He said to him, ‘Pick him up! Throw his body onto the field that once belonged to Naboth. Remember, you and I rode together in chariots behind Joram's father, Ahab. That was when the Lord said this about Ahab: 26 “Yesterday, I saw the blood of Naboth and his sons where you murdered them. One day, I will punish you as you deserve. I will do it here on this piece of land. That is what the Lord says.” So now pick up Joram's body and throw it on this piece of land. Do what the Lord has promised he would do.’
27 King Ahaziah of Judah saw what had happened to Joram. So he rode away quickly on the road towards Beth Haggan. Jehu chased after him and he shouted, ‘Kill him too!’ Jehu's men shot arrows at Ahaziah as he rode in his chariot up the hill to Gur, near Ibleam. He escaped to Megiddo and he died there.
28 King Ahaziah's servants took his body back to Jerusalem in a chariot. They buried him there in a grave beside his ancestors in the City of David. 29 Ahaziah had become king of Judah when Ahab's son Joram had been king of Israel for 11 years.
30 After that, Jehu went to Jezreel. Jezebel heard what had happened. So she made her eyes and her hair look beautiful. Then she looked out of a window in the palace.[b] 31 When Jehu came through the gate of the city, Jezebel called out to him, ‘Have you come as a friend, Zimri? No, you have murdered your master!’[c] 32 Jehu looked up at the window and he saw her. Then he shouted, ‘Who wants to help me? Anyone there?’ Two or three eunuchs looked out though a window at him.[d] 33 Jehu shouted to them, ‘Throw her down!’ So they threw her down. When she hit the ground, some of her blood splashed on the wall. It also splashed on Jehu's horses as he drove them over her body.
34 Jehu went into the palace and he ate a meal. Then he said, ‘Take away that evil woman's body. She was the daughter of a king, so you should bury her properly.’ 35 But when they went out to bury her, not much of her body was still there. They found only her skull, her feet and her hands. 36 They went back and they told Jehu. He said, ‘The Lord told his servant, Elijah from Tishbe, that this would happen. He said, “Dogs will eat Jezebel's dead body on the ground in Jezreel. 37 Her dead body will lie on the ground in Jezreel like dung. Nobody will be able to recognize who it is.” ’
Questions about marriage
7 You wrote to ask me about certain things. You say, ‘It is a good thing when a man does not marry.’ 2 That may be true, but then people may have sex in wrong ways. So every man should have his own wife and every woman should have her own husband. 3 Then they may have sex with each other in the right way. A husband should agree to have sex with his wife. And the wife should do the same thing for her husband. 4 The wife does not rule over her own body to decide when to have sex. She belongs to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not rule over his own body. He belongs to his wife.
5 Do not refuse to have sex with each other, unless both of you agree to stop for a short time. Then you can use more time to pray. But you should come together again soon, as husband and wife. If not, Satan may try to make you do something wrong. You may want too strongly to have sex with someone else. 6 I am saying these things to help you. I am not telling you what you must do. 7 It would be good if all of you could live in the way that I do. But each person has his own gift from God. God helps one person to live in a certain way. God helps another person with a different gift.
8 I will say this to those of you who have not married yet, and to those who are widows. It is better for you to remain alone. That is how I myself live. 9 But if you want to have sex too strongly, then you should marry. It is better to do that than to want to have sex all the time.
7 When you pray, do not say the same words many times. People who do not believe in God do that. They use many words that mean nothing. They think that when they pray like that, their gods will hear them. 8 Do not pray like they do. God your Father already knows what you need. He knows this even before you ask him.
9 So this is how you should pray:
“God, our Father who is in heaven,
we want people to give honour to you.
10 We want the day when you rule everyone to come soon.
We want everyone to obey you on earth, like everyone in heaven obeys you.
11 Please give us the food that we need today.
12 We have forgiven people who have done wrong things to us.
In the same way, please forgive us for the wrong things that we have done.
13 Do not let us agree to do wrong things.
Keep us safe from Satan.” ’
14 Then Jesus said, ‘When other people do wrong things against you, you must forgive them. Then God, your Father in heaven, will also forgive you for the wrong things that you have done. 15 But if you do not forgive other people, then your Father will not forgive you.’
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