Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 89[a]
Prayer for the Fulfillment of God’s Promise
1 A maskil[b] of Ethan the Ezrahite.
2 [c]I will sing forever of the Lord’s kindness;
with my lips I will proclaim your faithfulness[d]
throughout the generations.
3 You said, “My kindness lasts forever;
my faithfulness is as firmly established as the heavens.
4 “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to my servant David:
5 ‘I will establish your descendants forever
and allow your throne to endure for all generations.’ ”[e] Selah
6 [f]Let the heavens[g] praise your wonders, O Lord,
your faithfulness in the assembly of your holy ones.
7 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
Is there any heavenly being[h] who is like the Lord,
8 a God who is feared in the council of the holy ones,
greater and more awesome than any who stand in his presence?
9 O Lord, God of hosts,[i] who is like you?
Almighty Lord, your faithfulness is never absent.
10 You control the raging sea,
calming its surging waves.
11 You crushed Rahab[j] with a deadly blow;
you scattered your foes with your mighty arm.
12 Yours are the heavens and yours is the earth;
you founded the world[k] and all that is in it.
13 You created the north and the south;[l]
Tabor and Hermon joyously praise your name.
14 Mighty is your arm and strong is your hand;
your right hand is forever raised high.
15 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne;
kindness and faithfulness go before your face.[m]
16 Blessed[n] are the people who know how to acclaim you, O Lord,
who walk in the light of your countenance.
17 In your name they rejoice all day long,
and they exult in your righteousness.
18 [o]You are the strength in which they glory,
and by your kindness our horn[p] is exalted.
19 For the Lord is our shield,
the Holy One of Israel, our King.
20 [q]On one occasion you spoke in a vision[r]
and said to your faithful servants:
“I have appointed as leader one who is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
21 I have found David, my servant,
and with my holy oil I have anointed him.
22 “My hand will sustain him;
my arm will make him strong.
23 No enemy will overcome him;
no one who is wicked will oppress him.
24 “I will crush his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
25 My faithfulness and my kindness will be with him;
through my name his horn will be exalted.
26 “I will stretch his hand as far as the sea
and his right hand as far as the rivers.[s]
27 He will cry to me, ‘You are my Father,
my God, the Rock of my salvation.’
28 [t]“I will designate him as my firstborn,
the highest of all earthly kings.
29 Forever I will maintain my kindness for him,
and my covenant with him will never end.
30 I will establish his dynasty forever
and his throne as long as the heavens.
31 [u]“If his descendants forsake my law
and refuse to conform to my decrees,
32 if they break my statutes
and do not keep my precepts,
33 I will punish their disobedience with the rod
and their iniquity with scourges.
34 “But I will not deprive him of my kindness
or fail to observe my faithfulness.[v]
35 [w]I will not violate my covenant
or alter the promise I have spoken.
36 “By my holiness I have sworn once and for all:
never will I break faith with David.
37 His dynasty will last forever,
and his throne will endure before me like the sun.
38 It will endure forever like the moon,
a faithful witness in the sky.” Selah
39 [x]But now you have spurned and rejected him,
you have become filled with wrath against your anointed one.[y]
40 You have repudiated your covenant with your servant
and dishonored his crown in the dust.
41 You have breached all his walls
and turned his strongholds into ruins.
42 Every passer-by has despoiled him;
he has become a laughingstock to his neighbors.
43 [z]You have exalted the right hand of his foes
and caused all his enemies to rejoice.
44 You have driven back his drawn sword
and left him to fight without your support.
45 You have put an end to his glory
and toppled his throne to the ground.
46 You have curtailed the time of his youth[aa]
and enveloped him in shame. Selah
47 [ab]How long, O Lord? Will you remain hidden forever?
How long[ac] will your wrath blaze like a fire?
48 Remember how brief is my span of life
and how weak you have made all mortals.
49 Who can live and never experience death?
Who can save himself from the power of the netherworld? Selah
50 [ad]Where is your kindness of old, O Lord,
which you swore to David in your faithfulness?
51 Remember, O Lord, the insults hurled at your servant;
recall how I have borne in my heart the slanders of all the peoples.
52 Your enemies have leveled insults at us, O Lord;
they have taunted the footsteps of your anointed one.
53 Blessed be the Lord forever.
Amen! Amen![ae]
Chapter 5
Devastation Follows the Ark. 1 The Philistines then took the Ark of God, transporting it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 2 When the Philistines took the Ark of God, they brought it into the temple of Dagon[a] and set it alongside of Dagon. 3 When the people of Ashdod got up the next morning, they found Dagon fallen down, with his face pressed to the earth, in front of the Ark of the Lord. So they picked Dagon up and put him back in his place.
4 When they rose again the next morning, they found him fallen down again, with his face pressed to the earth, in front of the Ark of the Lord. His head and both of his hands were cut off and lying in the threshold; all that was left of Dagon was his torso. 5 This is why to this day neither the priests of Dagon nor anyone who enters the temple of Dagon in Ashdod steps upon its threshold. 6 The hand of the Lord bore down upon Ashdod. He brought devastation to Ashdod and its environs, striking the people with tumors.[b]
7 [c]When the people of Ashdod saw what was happening, they said, “We must not keep the Ark of the God of Israel here with us, for his hand bears down upon us and our god Dagon.” 8 They summoned the lords of the Philistines and said to them, “What are we to do with the Ark of the God of Israel?” They answered, “Let the Ark of God be taken to Gath.” So they moved the Ark of the God of Israel.
9 But after they moved it, the hand of the Lord rose against that city, causing great confusion there. He struck the people of that city, both the young and the old, with tumors. 10 They, therefore, sent the Ark of God to Ekron. When the Ark of God was approaching Ekron, the people of Ekron cried out, “They are bringing the Ark of the God of Israel here to kill us, too!”
11 So they summoned all of the lords of the Philistines and told them, “Send the Ark of the God of Israel back to its home, lest it kill all of us. There is death and panic all throughout the city, and the hand of God is bearing down upon us heavily.” 12 The men who did not die were stricken with tumors, and a cry rose up from the city to the heavens.
12 Life of the First Community—III.[a] Many signs and wonders were done among the people by the hands of the apostles. They all used to assemble in Solomon’s Portico. 13 No one else dared to join them, but the people esteemed them highly. 14 More believers, men and women, were constantly being added to their ranks. 15 People brought those who were sick into the streets and placed them on cots and mats so that when Peter passed by, his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 A large number of people also came from the neighboring towns around Jerusalem, bringing with them the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and all of them were cured.
17 Conclusion of the Trial.[b] Then the high priest and his colleagues from the party of the Sadducees rose up, filled with jealousy, 18 and they arrested the apostles and placed them in the public jail. 19 But during the night the angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, led them out, and said, 20 “Go, stand in the temple, and tell the people everything about this new life.” 21 Accordingly, they entered the temple at daybreak and taught the people.
When the high priest and his colleagues arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin, the full assembly of the elders of Israel, and sent to the jail to have them brought in. 22 But when the temple police went to the prison, they did not find them there. So they returned and announced, 23 “We found the jail securely locked and the guards stationed outside the doors, but when we opened the doors we found no one inside.”
24 Now when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard this report, they were at a loss to understand what this would come to. 25 Then someone arrived to report, “The men whom you imprisoned are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26 The captain thereupon went with the temple officers and brought them in, although without force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
29 The Parable of the Fig Tree. Then he told them this parable: “Look at the fig tree or indeed at any other tree. 30 As soon as it begins to bud, you know that summer is already near. 31 In the same way, when you see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is near. 32 Amen, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things have taken place.[a] 33 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
34 Exhortation To Be Vigilant.[b]“Be on your guard lest your hearts be weighed down by carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of this life and that day will catch you unawares, 35 like a trap. For that day will come upon everyone in the world. 36 Be vigilant at all times, praying for the strength to survive all those things that will take place and to stand in the presence of the Son of Man.”
Copyright © 2019 by Catholic Book Publishing Corp. All rights reserved.