Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 88[a]
A song, a psalm written by the Korahites, for the music director, according to the machalath-leannoth style;[b] a well-written song[c] by Heman the Ezrahite.
88 O Lord God who delivers me,[d]
by day I cry out
and at night I pray before you.[e]
2 Listen to my prayer.[f]
Pay attention[g] to my cry for help.
3 For my life[h] is filled with troubles,
and I am ready to enter Sheol.[i]
4 They treat me like[j] those who descend into the grave.[k]
I am like a helpless man,[l]
5 adrift[m] among the dead,
like corpses lying in the grave,
whom you remember no more,
and who are cut off from your power.[n]
6 You place me in the lowest regions of the Pit,[o]
in the dark places, in the watery depths.
7 Your anger bears down on me,
and you overwhelm me with all your waves. (Selah)
8 You cause those who know me to keep their distance;
you make me an appalling sight to them.
I am trapped and cannot get free.[p]
9 My eyes grow weak because of oppression.
I call out to you, O Lord, all day long;
I spread out my hands in prayer to you.[q]
10 Do you accomplish amazing things for the dead?
Do the departed spirits[r] rise up and give you thanks? (Selah)
11 Is your loyal love proclaimed in the grave,
or your faithfulness in the place of the dead?[s]
12 Are your amazing deeds experienced[t] in the dark region,[u]
or your deliverance in the land of oblivion?[v]
13 As for me, I cry out to you, O Lord;
in the morning my prayer confronts you.
14 O Lord, why do you reject me,
and pay no attention to me?[w]
15 I am oppressed and have been on the verge of death since my youth.[x]
I have been subjected to your horrors and am numb with pain.[y]
16 Your anger overwhelms me;[z]
your terrors destroy me.
17 They surround me like water all day long;
they join forces and encircle me.[aa]
18 You cause my friends and neighbors to keep their distance;[ab]
those who know me leave me alone in the darkness.[ac]
Psalm 91[a]
91 As for you, the one who lives[b] in the shelter of the Most High,[c]
and resides in the protective shadow[d] of the Sovereign One[e]—
2 I say this about the Lord, my shelter and my stronghold,
my God in whom I trust—
3 he will certainly rescue you from the snare of the hunter[f]
and from the destructive plague.
4 He will shelter you[g] with his wings;[h]
you will find safety under his wings.
His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall.[i]
5 You need not fear the terrors of the night,[j]
the arrow that flies by day,
6 the plague that stalks in the darkness,
or the disease that ravages at noon.[k]
7 Though a thousand may fall beside you,
and a multitude on your right side,
it[l] will not reach you.
8 Certainly you will see it with your very own eyes—
you will see the wicked paid back.[m]
9 For you have taken refuge in the Lord,
my shelter, the Most High.
10 No harm will overtake[n] you;
no illness[o] will come near your home.[p]
11 For he will order his angels[q]
to protect you in all you do.[r]
12 They will lift you up in their hands,
so you will not slip and fall on a stone.[s]
13 You will subdue[t] a lion and a snake;[u]
you will trample underfoot a young lion and a serpent.
14 The Lord says,[v]
“Because he is devoted to me, I will deliver him;
I will protect him[w] because he is loyal to me.[x]
15 When he calls out to me, I will answer him.
I will be with him when he is in trouble;
I will rescue him and bring him honor.
16 I will satisfy him with long life,[y]
and will let him see my salvation.”
Psalm 92[z]
A psalm; a song for the Sabbath day.
92 It is fitting[aa] to thank the Lord,
and to sing praises to your name, O Most High.[ab]
2 It is fitting[ac] to proclaim your loyal love in the morning,
and your faithfulness during the night,
3 to the accompaniment of a ten-stringed instrument and a lyre,
to the accompaniment of the meditative tone of the harp.
4 For you, O Lord, have made me happy by your work.
I will sing for joy because of what you have done.[ad]
5 How great are your works, O Lord!
Your plans are very intricate![ae]
6 The spiritually insensitive do not recognize this;
the fool does not understand this.[af]
7 When the wicked sprout up like grass,
and all the evildoers glisten,[ag]
it is so that they may be annihilated.[ah]
8 But you, O Lord, reign[ai] forever.
9 Indeed,[aj] look at your enemies, O Lord.
Indeed,[ak] look at how your enemies perish.
All the evildoers are scattered.
10 You exalt my horn like that of a wild ox.[al]
I am covered[am] with fresh oil.
11 I gloat in triumph over those who tried to ambush me;[an]
I hear the defeated cries of the evil foes who attacked me.[ao]
12 The godly[ap] grow like a palm tree;
they grow high like a cedar in Lebanon.[aq]
13 Planted in the Lord’s house,
they grow in the courts of our God.
14 They bear fruit even when they are old;
they are filled with vitality and have many leaves.[ar]
15 So they proclaim that the Lord, my Protector,
is just and never unfair.[as]
17 Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel and saw Jehu’s troops approaching.[a] He said, “I see troops!”[b] Joram[c] ordered,[d] “Send a rider out to meet them and have him ask, ‘Is everything all right?’”[e] 18 So the horseman[f] went to meet him and said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’”[g] Jehu replied, “None of your business![h] Follow me.” The watchman reported, “The messenger reached them, but hasn’t started back.” 19 So he sent a second horseman out to them[i] and he said, “This is what the king says, ‘Is everything all right?’”[j] Jehu replied, “None of your business! Follow me.” 20 The watchman reported, “He reached them, but hasn’t started back. The one who drives the lead chariot drives like Jehu son of Nimshi;[k] he drives recklessly.” 21 Joram ordered, “Hitch up my chariot.”[l] When his chariot had been hitched up,[m] King Joram of Israel and King Ahaziah of Judah went out in their respective chariots[n] to meet Jehu. They met up with him[o] in the plot of land that had once belonged to Naboth of Jezreel.
22 When Joram saw Jehu, he asked, “Is everything all right, Jehu?” He replied, “How can everything be all right as long as your mother Jezebel promotes idolatry and pagan practices?”[p] 23 Joram turned his chariot around and took off.[q] He said to Ahaziah, “It’s a trap,[r] Ahaziah!” 24 Jehu aimed his bow and shot an arrow right between Joram’s shoulders.[s] The arrow went through[t] his heart and he fell to his knees in his chariot. 25 Jehu ordered[u] his officer Bidkar, “Pick him up and throw him into the part of the field that once belonged to Naboth of Jezreel. Remember, you and I were riding together behind his father, Ahab, when the Lord pronounced this oracle against him, 26 ‘“Know for sure that I saw the shed blood of Naboth and his sons yesterday,” says the Lord, “and that I will give you what you deserve[v] right here in this plot of land,” says the Lord.’ So now pick him up and throw him into this plot of land, just as in the Lord’s message.”
27 When King Ahaziah of Judah saw what happened, he took off[w] up the road to Beth Haggan. Jehu chased him and ordered, “Shoot him too.” They shot him while he was driving his chariot up the ascent of Gur near Ibleam.[x] He fled to Megiddo and died there. 28 His servants took his body[y] back to Jerusalem and buried him in his tomb with his ancestors in the City of David. 29 Ahaziah had become king over Judah in the eleventh year of Joram son of Ahab.
30 Jehu approached Jezreel. When Jezebel heard the news, she put on some eye liner,[z] fixed up her hair, and leaned out the window. 31 When Jehu came through the gate, she said, “Is everything all right, Zimri, murderer of his master?”[aa] 32 He looked up at the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” Two or three[ab] eunuchs looked down at him. 33 He said, “Throw her down!” So they threw her down, and when she hit the ground,[ac] her blood splattered against the wall and the horses, and Jehu drove his chariot over her.[ad] 34 He went inside and had a meal.[ae] Then he said, “Dispose of this accursed woman’s corpse. Bury her, for after all, she was a king’s daughter.”[af] 35 But when they went to bury her, they found nothing left but[ag] the skull, feet, and palms of the hands. 36 So they went back and told him. Then he said, “It is the fulfillment of the Lord’s message[ah] that he had spoken through his servant, Elijah the Tishbite, ‘In the plot of land at Jezreel, dogs will devour Jezebel’s flesh. 37 Jezebel’s corpse will be like manure on the surface of the ground in the plot of land at Jezreel. People will not be able to even recognize her.’”[ai]
Celibacy and Marriage
7 Now with regard to the issues you wrote about: “It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.”[a] 2 But because of immoralities, each man should have relations with[b] his own wife and each woman with[c] her own husband. 3 A husband should fulfill his marital responsibility[d] to his wife, and likewise a wife to her husband. 4 It is not the wife who has the rights to her own body, but the husband. In the same way, it is not the husband who has the rights to his own body, but the wife. 5 Do not deprive each other, except by mutual agreement for a specified time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer.[e] Then resume your relationship,[f] so that Satan may not tempt you because of your lack of self-control. 6 I say this as a concession, not as a command. 7 I wish that everyone was as I am. But each has his own gift from God, one this way, another that.
8 To the unmarried and widows I say that it is best for them to remain as I am. 9 But if they do not have self-control, let them get married. For it is better to marry than to burn with sexual desire.[g]
7 When[a] you pray, do not babble repetitiously like the Gentiles, because they think that by their many words they will be heard. 8 Do[b] not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 So pray this way:[c]
Our Father[d] in heaven, may your name be honored,[e]
10 may your kingdom come,[f]
may your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread,[g]
12 and forgive us our debts,[h] as we ourselves[i] have forgiven our debtors.
13 And do not lead us into temptation,[j] but deliver us from the evil one.[k]
14 “For if you forgive others[l] their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you your sins.
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