Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 88
For the Music Director. A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. To the melody of “Suffering of Affliction.” A Contemplative Maskil of Heman the Ezrahite.
1 O Lord, God of my salvation,
I cry out day and night before You.
2 Let my prayer come before You;
incline Your ear to my cry.
3 For my soul is full of troubles,
and my life draws near to Sheol.
4 I am counted with those who go down to the grave;
I am a man who has no strength,
5 like one who is set free among the dead,
like the slain who lie in the grave,
like those whom You remember no more,
for they are cut off from Your hand.
6 You have laid me in the depths of the pit,
in dark and deep regions.
7 Your wrath lies heavy upon me,
and You have afflicted me with all Your waves. Selah
8 You have caused my companions to be far from me;
You have made me an abomination to them;
I am shut up, and I cannot escape;
9 my eye is dim from my affliction.
Lord, I call daily upon You,
and I have stretched out my hands to You.
10 Will You show wonders to the dead?
Shall the dead rise up to praise You? Selah
11 Shall Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave,
or your faithfulness in Abaddon?
12 Shall Your wonders be known in the darkness
or Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But unto You have I cried, O Lord,
and in the morning my prayer comes before You.
14 O Lord, why do You cast away my soul?
Why do You hide Your face from me?
15 I am afflicted and close to death since my youth;
while I suffer Your terrors I am helpless.
16 Your fierce wrath sweeps over me;
Your terrors destroy me.
17 They come around me daily like a flood;
they encircle me together.
18 You have caused to be far from me my lovers and friends,
and my companion is darkness.
Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter 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 whom I trust.”
3 Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the hunter
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He shall cover you with His feathers,
and under His wings you shall find protection;
His faithfulness shall be your shield and wall.
5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night,
nor of the arrow that flies by day;
6 nor of the pestilence that pursues in darkness,
nor of the destruction that strikes at noonday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side
and ten thousand at your right hand,
but it shall not come near you.
8 Only with your eyes shall you behold
and see the reward of the wicked.
9 Because you have made the Lord, who is my refuge,
even the Most High, your dwelling,
10 there shall be no evil befall you,
neither shall any plague come near your tent;
11 for He shall give His angels charge over you
to guard you in all your ways.
12 They shall bear you up in their hands,
lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13 You shall tread upon the lion and adder;
the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.
14 Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him;
I will set him on high, because he has known My name.
15 He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
and I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life I will satisfy him
and show him My salvation.
Psalm 92
A Psalm. A Song for the Sabbath day.
1 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
and to sing praises unto Your name, O Most High:
2 to declare forth Your lovingkindness in the morning
and Your faithfulness in the night,
3 on a ten-stringed lute and on the harp,
and on the lyre with a solemn sound.
4 For you, O Lord, have made me glad through Your work;
I will sing joyfully at the works of Your hands.
5 O Lord, how great are Your works!
Your thoughts are very deep!
6 A brutish man does not recognize,
neither does the fool understand this.
7 Though the wicked spring up as the grass
and all those who do iniquity flourish,
they shall be destroyed forever:
8 But You, O Lord, are on high forever.
9 For Your enemies, O Lord,
for Your enemies shall perish;
all those who do iniquity shall be scattered.
10 But my horn You have exalted like the horn of the wild ox;
You have anointed me with fresh oil.
11 My eyes also shall see the downfall of my enemies,
and my ears shall hear the doom of my wicked adversaries.
12 The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree
and 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 filled with vitality and foliage,
15 to show that the Lord is upright;
He is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him.
17 A watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel, and he saw the company of Jehu as he was coming and said, “I see a company.”
And Joram said, “Take a horseman and send him to meet them, and let him say, ‘Is it peace?’ ”
18 So the horseman went to meet him and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’ ”
But Jehu said, “What have you to do with peace? Circle in behind me.”
So the watchman reported, “The messenger came to them, but he is not returning.”
19 Then he sent out a second horseman, who came to them and said, “Thus says the king, ‘Is it peace?’ ”
Again, Jehu said, “What have you to do with peace? Circle in behind me.”
20 The watchman reported, “He came to them, but he is not returning. The driving is like the driving of Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he drives furiously.”
21 Then Joram said, “Hitch my chariot.” So his chariot was hitched, and Joram king of Israel and Ahaziah king of Judah went out, each in his chariot. They went out to meet Jehu and found him on the property of Naboth the Jezreelite. 22 When Joram saw Jehu he said, “Is it peace, Jehu?”
And he said, “What peace, so long as the harlotries of your mother Jezebel and her sorceries are so many?”
23 Then Joram turned the reins, fled, and said to Ahaziah, “There is treachery, Ahaziah.”
24 Jehu drew a bow with his full strength and shot Joram between his shoulder blades. The arrow went out at his heart, and he kneeled down in his chariot. 25 Then Jehu said to Bidkar his officer, “Lift him up and throw him on the property of the field of Naboth the Jezreelite. Remember when you and I were riding together after Ahab his father and the Lord pronounced this oracle about him: 26 ‘Surely I have seen yesterday the blood of Naboth and his sons, declares the Lord, and I will pay you back on this property, declares the Lord.’ Now lift him up and throw him onto the property, according to the word of the Lord.”
Ahaziah of Judah Killed
27 But when Ahaziah the king of Judah saw this, he fled on the path to the garden house. Jehu chased after him and said, “Shoot him too.” So they shot him on the ascent to Gur, which is by Ibleam. And he fled to Megiddo and died there. 28 His servants carried him in a chariot to Jerusalem and buried him in his tomb with his fathers in the City of David. 29 In the eleventh year of Joram the son of Ahab, Ahaziah became king over Judah.
Jezebel Executed
30 When Jehu came to Jezreel, Jezebel heard about it. She put black paint on her eyes, adorned her head, and looked down through the window. 31 As Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, “Is everything all right, Zimri, murderer of his master?”
32 And he lifted up his face toward the window and said, “Who is on my side? Who?” And two or three eunuchs looked down to him. 33 He said, “Drop her down.” So they dropped her down and some of her blood splattered on the wall and on the horses. Then he trampled her.
34 Then he entered, ate and drank, and said, “Attend to that cursed woman and bury her, for she is a king’s daughter.” 35 So they went to bury her, but they found nothing of her except a skull, the feet, and the palms of her hands. 36 They returned and told Jehu, and he said, “This is the word of the Lord, which He spoke by His servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, ‘On the property of Jezreel dogs will eat the flesh of Jezebel. 37 The corpse of Jezebel will be like dung in the field on the property of Jezreel, so that they cannot say, This is Jezebel.’ ”
Questions About Marriage
7 Now concerning the things about which you wrote to me: “It is good for a man not to touch a woman.” 2 Nevertheless, because of sexual immorality, let every man have his own wife, and let every woman have her own husband. 3 Let the husband render to the wife due affection, and likewise the wife to the husband. 4 The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise, the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. 5 Do not deprive one another except with consent for a time, that you may give yourselves to fasting and prayer. Then come together again, so that Satan does not tempt you for lack of self-control. 6 I speak this as a concession and not as a command. 7 For I would that all men were even as I myself. But every man has his proper gift from God, one after this manner and another after that.
8 I say to the unmarried and widows that it is good for them if they live even as I am. 9 But if they cannot restrain themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
7 But when you pray, do not use vain repetitions, as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their much speaking. 8 Do not be like them, for your Father knows what things you have need of before you ask Him.
9 “Therefore pray in this manner:
Our Father who is in heaven,
hallowed be Your name.
10 Your kingdom come;
Your will be done
on earth, as it is in heaven.
11 Give us this day our daily bread.
12 And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
13 And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
14 For if you forgive men for their sins, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive men for their sins, neither will your Father forgive your sins.
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.