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.
The Promise of the Spirit
28 “[a](A)It will come about after this
That I will (B)pour out My Spirit on all [b](C)mankind;
And your sons and daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
29 “Even on the (D)male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
The Day of the Lord
30 “I will (E)display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire and columns of smoke.
31 “The (F)sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood
Before the (G)great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
32 “And it will come about that (H)whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Will be delivered;
For (I)on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
There will be those who (J)escape,
As the Lord has said,
Even among the (K)survivors whom the Lord calls.
The Nations Will Be Judged
3 “[c]For behold, (L)in those days and at that time,
When I (M)restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will (N)gather all the nations
And bring them down to the (O)valley of [d]Jehoshaphat.
Then I will (P)enter into judgment with them there
On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,
Whom they have (Q)scattered among the nations;
And they have (R)divided up My land.
3 “They have also (S)cast lots for My people,
[e](T)Traded a boy for a harlot
And sold a girl for wine that they may drink.
4 Moreover, what are you to Me, O (U)Tyre, Sidon and all the regions of (V)Philistia? Are you rendering Me a recompense? But if you do recompense Me, swiftly and speedily I will (W)return your recompense on your head. 5 Since you have (X)taken My silver and My gold, brought My precious [f]treasures to your temples, 6 and sold the (Y)sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the [g]Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory, 7 behold, I am going to (Z)arouse them from the place where you have sold them, and return your recompense on your head. 8 Also I will (AA)sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the (AB)Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for the Lord has spoken.
16 (A)Do not be [a]deceived, (B)my beloved brethren. 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is (C)from above, coming down from (D)the Father of lights, (E)with whom there is no variation or [b]shifting shadow. 18 In the exercise of (F)His will He (G)brought us forth by (H)the word of truth, so that we would be [c]a kind of (I)first fruits [d]among His creatures.
19 [e]This (J)you know, (K)my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, (L)slow to speak and (M)slow to anger; 20 for (N)the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore, (O)putting aside all filthiness and all [f]that remains of wickedness, in [g]humility receive (P)the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. 22 (Q)But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his [h]natural face (R)in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, [i]he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who looks intently at the perfect law, (S)the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but [j]an effectual doer, this man will be (T)blessed in [k]what he does.
26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not [l](U)bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man’s religion is worthless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion (V)in the sight of our God and Father is this: to (W)visit (X)orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained [m]by (Y)the world.
The Unrighteous Steward
16 Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was [a]reported to him as (A)squandering his possessions. 2 And he called him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 The manager said to himself, ‘What shall I do, since my [b]master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ 5 And he summoned each one of his [c]master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 And he said, ‘A hundred [d]measures of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred [e]measures of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 And his [f]master praised the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of (B)this age are more shrewd in relation to their own [g]kind than the (C)sons of light. 9 And I say to you, (D)make friends for yourselves by means of the [h](E)wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it fails, (F)they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.
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