Book of Common Prayer
88 O Lord God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before Thee.
2 Let my prayer come before Thee; incline Thine ear unto my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.
4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit; I am as a man that hath no strength,
5 cast among the dead like the slain that lie in the grave, whom Thou rememberest no more, and who are cut off from Thy hand.
6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.
7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and Thou hast afflicted me with all Thy waves. Selah
8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintances far from me; Thou hast made me an abomination unto them. I am shut up, and I cannot come forth;
9 mine eye mourneth by reason of affliction. Lord, I have called daily upon Thee; I have stretched out my hands unto Thee.
10 Wilt Thou show wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise Thee? Selah
11 Shall Thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave? Or Thy faithfulness in destruction?
12 Shall Thy wonders be known in the dark? And Thy righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But unto Thee have I cried, O Lord, and in the morning shall my prayer come before Thee.
14 Lord, 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 distraught.
16 Thy fierce wrath goeth over me; Thy terrors have cut me off.
17 They came round about me daily like water; they compassed me about together.
18 Lover and friend hast Thou put far from me, and mine acquaintances into darkness.
91 He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; my God, in Him will I trust.”
3 Surely He shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence.
4 He shall cover thee with His feathers, and under His wings shalt thou trust; His truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
5 Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror by night, nor of the arrow that flieth by day,
6 nor of the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor of the destruction that layeth waste 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 Because thou hast made the Lord, who is my refuge, even the Most High, thy habitation,
10 there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
11 For He shall 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 dragon shalt thou trample underfoot.
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.”
92 It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, 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 upon an instrument of ten strings and upon the psaltery, upon the harp with a solemn sound.
4 For Thou, Lord, hast made me glad through Thy work; I will triumph in the works of Thy hands.
5 O Lord, how great are Thy works! And Thy thoughts are very deep.
6 A brutish man knoweth not, neither doth a fool understand this:
7 when the wicked spring up as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed for ever;
8 but Thou, Lord, art Most High for evermore.
9 For lo, Thine enemies, O Lord, for lo, Thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
10 But my horn shalt Thou exalt like the horn of a unicorn; I shall be anointed with fresh oil.
11 Mine eye also shall see what I desire on mine enemies, and mine ears shall hear what I desire upon the wicked that rise up against me.
12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.
13 Those that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God.
14 They shall still bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and flourishing to show
15 that the Lord is upright. He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
8 On that day did 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 spoke yet again before the king, and fell down at his feet and besought him with tears to put away the wickedness of Haman the Agagite and his plot that he had devised against the Jews.
4 Then the king held out the golden scepter toward Esther. So Esther arose and stood before the king,
5 and 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 am 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 who 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 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 for 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 out from the presence of the king in royal apparel of blue and white, and with a great crown of gold and with a garment of fine linen and purple; and the city of Shushan rejoiced 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 joy and gladness, a feast and a good day. And many of the people of the land became Jews, for the fear of the Jews fell upon them.
21 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 So he sent into Macedonia two of those who had ministered unto him, Timothy and Erastus; but he himself stayed in Asia for a season.
23 And the same time, there arose no small stir about that Way.
24 For a certain man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen.
25 These he called together with the workmen of like occupation, and said, “Sirs, ye know that by this craft we have our wealth.
26 Moreover, ye see and hear that, not alone at Ephesus but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands,
27 so that not only this our craft is in danger of being set at nought, but also the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshipeth.”
28 And when they heard these things, they were full of wrath and cried out, saying, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”
29 And the whole city was filled with confusion and, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia who were Paul’s companions in his travel, they rushed with one accord into the theater.
30 And when Paul would have entered in unto the people, the disciples suffered him not.
31 And certain of the Asian chiefs, who were his friends, sent unto him, urging that he would not venture into the theater.
32 Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and the greater part knew not why they had come together.
33 And they drew Alexander out from the multitude, the Jews putting him forward. And Alexander beckoned with his hand, and would have made his defense unto the people;
34 but when they perceived that he was a Jew, all with one voice for about the space of two hours cried out, “Great is Diana of the Ephesians!”
35 And when the town clerk had appeased the people, he said, “Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there who knoweth not that the city of the Ephesians is a worshiper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?
36 Seeing then that these things cannot be spoken against, ye ought to be quiet and do nothing rashly;
37 for ye have brought hither these men who are neither robbers of churches, nor yet blasphemers of your goddess.
38 Therefore if Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a matter against any man, the law is open and there are deputies. Let them implead one another.
39 But if ye inquire of anything concerning other matters, it shall be determined in a lawful assembly.
40 For we are in danger of being called in question for this day’s uproar, there being no cause whereby we can give an 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 taught them on the Sabbath days.
32 And they were astonished at His doctrine, for His word was with power.
33 And in the synagogue there was a man, who had a spirit of an unclean devil, and cried out with a loud voice,
34 saying, “Let us alone! What have we to do with Thee, Thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art Thou come to destroy us? I know Thee and 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 devil had thrown him in their midst, he came out of him and hurt him not.
36 And they were all amazed, and spoke among themselves, saying, “What a word is this! For with authority and power he commandeth the unclean spirits, and they come out.”
37 And His fame went out into every place in the country round about.
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