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.
12 And the Lord sent Nathan unto David. And he came unto him, and said unto him, “There were two men in one city, the one rich and the other poor.
2 The rich man had exceeding many flocks and herds.
3 But the poor man had nothing, save one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up. And it grew up together with him and with his children; it ate of his own meat and drank of his own cup, and lay in his bosom, and was unto him as a daughter.
4 And there came a traveler unto the rich man, and he was unwilling to take of his own flock and of his own herd to dress for the wayfaring man who had come unto him, but took the poor man’s lamb and dressed it for the man who had come to him.”
5 And David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord liveth, the man who hath done this thing shall surely die.
6 And he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing and because he had no pity.”
7 And Nathan said to David, “Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: ‘I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of Saul,
8 and I gave thee thy master’s house and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and of Judah; and if that had been too little, I would moreover have given unto thee such and such things.
9 Why hast thou despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? Thou hast killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from thine house, because thou hast despised Me and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife.’
11 “Thus saith the Lord: ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thine own house; and I will take thy wives before thine eyes and give them unto thy neighbor, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
12 For thou did it secretly; but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’”
13 And David said unto Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said unto David, “The Lord also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.”
14 However, because by this deed thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, the child also who is born unto thee shall surely die.”
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.
14 And when He came to His disciples, He saw a great multitude about them and the scribes questioning with them.
15 And straightway all the people, when they beheld Him, were greatly amazed; and running to Him, they greeted Him.
16 And He asked the scribes, “What question ye with them?”
17 And one of the multitude answered and said, “Master, I have brought unto thee my son, who hath a dumb spirit.
18 And wheresoever he taketh him, he teareth him; and he foameth and gnasheth his teeth and pineth away. And I spoke to thy disciples that they should cast him out, and they could not.”
19 Jesus answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I suffer you? Bring him unto Me.”
20 And they brought the boy unto Him. And when the spirit saw Him, straightway he tore the boy; and he fell on the ground and wallowed about foaming.
21 And He asked his father, “How long is it ago since this came unto him?” And he said, “From childhood.
22 And oftentimes it hath cast him into the fire and into the waters to destroy him; but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us and help us.”
23 Jesus said unto him, “If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.”
24 And straightway the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help Thou mine unbelief!”
25 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, “Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him and enter no more into him.”
26 And the spirit cried, and rent the boy sorely and came out of him; and he was as one dead, insomuch that many said, “He is dead.”
27 But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose.
28 And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could not we cast him out?”
29 And He said unto them, “This kind can come forth by nothing but by prayer and fasting.”
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