Book of Common Prayer
A Prayer to Be Saved from Death
88 O Lord, the God Who saves me, I have cried out before You day and night. 2 Let my prayer come to You. Listen to my cry. 3 For my soul is filled with troubles. And my life comes near the grave. 4 I am added among those who go down into the deep hole. I am like a man without strength. 5 I am left among the dead, like those who have been killed and lie in the grave, whom You remember no more. They are cut off from Your help. 6 You have put me in the deepest hole, in a dark and deep place. 7 Your anger has rested upon me. And You have troubled me with all Your waves. 8 You have taken my good friends far from me. You have made me hated by them. I am shut in and cannot go out. 9 My eyes have become weak because of trouble. I have called to You every day, O Lord. I have spread out my hands to You.
10 Will You show Your great works to the dead? Will the dead rise and praise You? 11 Will Your loving-kindness be told about in the grave, and how faithful You are in the place that destroys? 12 Will Your great works be known in the darkness, and Your right and good works in the land where all is forgotten?
13 But I have cried to You for help, O Lord. My prayer comes to You in the morning. 14 O Lord, why do You turn away from me? Why do You hide Your face from me? 15 I have been troubled and near death since I was young. I have suffered Your punishment. And I cannot win. 16 Your burning anger has passed over me. The punishment You have sent destroys me. 17 They gather around me like water all day long. Together they close in upon me. 18 You have taken my friend and loved one far from me. Friends that were near to me are in darkness.
The Lord—the One We Trust
91 He who lives in the safe place of the Most High will be in the shadow of the All-powerful. 2 I will say to the Lord, “You are my safe and strong place, my God, in Whom I trust.” 3 For it is He Who takes you away from the trap, and from the killing sickness. 4 He will cover you with His wings. And under His wings you will be safe. He is faithful like a safe-covering and a strong wall.
5 You will not be afraid of trouble at night, or of the arrow that flies by day. 6 You will not be afraid of the sickness that walks in darkness, or of the trouble that destroys at noon. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand. But it will not come near you. 8 You will only look on with your eyes, and see how the sinful are punished. 9 Because you have made the Lord your safe place, and the Most High the place where you live, 10 nothing will hurt you. No trouble will come near your tent.
11 For He will tell His angels to care for you and keep you in all your ways. 12 They will hold you up in their hands. So your foot will not hit against a stone. 13 You will walk upon the lion and the snake. You will crush under your feet the young lion and the snake.
14 Because he has loved Me, I will bring him out of trouble. I will set him in a safe place on high, because he has known My name. 15 He will call upon Me, and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will take him out of trouble and honor him. 16 I will please him with a long life. And I will show him My saving power.
A Song of Praise
92 It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and sing praises to Your name, O Most High. 2 It is good to tell of Your loving-kindness in the morning, and of how faithful You are at night, 3 with harps, and with music of praise. 4 For You have made me glad by what You have done, O Lord. I will sing for joy at the works of Your hands.
5 How great are Your works, O Lord! How deep are Your thoughts! 6 A man who cannot reason does not have much learning. A fool does not understand this. 7 Even if the sinful grow up like grass and all goes well with wrong-doers, they will be destroyed forever. 8 But You, O Lord, rule from Your high place forever. 9 For, look, those who hate You will be lost from You forever, O Lord. All those who do wrong will be destroyed.
10 But You have lifted up my horn like that of a wild bull. New oil has been poured upon me. 11 My eyes have seen those who wait to hurt me. My ears hear the bad men who rise up against me. 12 The man who is right and good will grow like the palm tree. He will grow like a tall tree in Lebanon. 13 Planted in the house of the Lord, they will grow well in the home of our God. 14 They will still give fruit when they are old. They will be full of life and strength. 15 And they will show that the Lord is faithful. He is my rock. There is nothing in Him that is not right and good.
The Jews Are Allowed to Fight for Their Lives
8 On that day King Ahasuerus gave everything Haman owned, the one who hated the Jews, to Queen Esther. Mordecai came to the king, for Esther had told him what he was to her. 2 The king took off the ring he used for marking his name, which he had taken away from Haman, and gave it to Mordecai. And Esther put Mordecai over everything Haman had owned.
3 Then Esther spoke again to the king. She fell at his feet and cried and begged him to stop the sinful plan of Haman the Agagite, the plan he had made against the Jews. 4 The king held out the special golden stick toward Esther. So she got up and stood in front of the king. 5 Then she said, “If it pleases the king and if I have his favor, if the king thinks it is right and if I am pleasing in his eyes, let letters be written to keep Haman’s letters from being carried out. The letters Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, wrote would destroy the Jews in all the king’s nation. 6 For how can I stand to see all the trouble that will come to my people? How can I keep on if I see them destroyed?” 7 So King Ahasuerus said to Queen Esther and to Mordecai the Jew, “See, I have given everything Haman owned to Esther. They have hanged him on the tower because he had wanted to destroy all the Jews. 8 Now you write whatever pleases you about the Jews, in the king’s name, and mark it with the king’s special ring. For what is written in the king’s name and marked with the king’s special ring may not be changed.”
15 Then Mordecai went out from the king wearing king’s clothing of blue and white, with a large gold crown and a long coat of fine linen and purple cloth. The people in the city of Susa were filled with joy and called out in loud voices. 16 For the Jews it was a time of joy and happiness and honor. 17 In every part of the nation and in every city where the king’s law had come, there was happiness and joy for the Jews, a special supper and a good day. And many people who had come there from other countries became Jews because they were afraid of the Jews.
21 After this, Paul thought he would go through the countries of Macedonia and Greece. Then he would go to Jerusalem. He said, “After I have been there, I must go to the city of Rome also.” 22 He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia. Paul stayed in the countries of Asia awhile longer.
The Meeting of the Silver Workmen in Ephesus
23 During that time there was much trouble about the Christians. 24 A man named Demetrius made small silver buildings for the worship of Diana. His workmen received much money for their work. 25 He called his workmen together and other men who made these small silver buildings. He said to them, “Men, you know we make much money from this work. 26 Now you hear that Paul has turned away many people in Ephesus as well as in Asia. He tells them that gods made with hands are not gods. 27 It could be that our work will not be respected. Not only that, the house of worship for the god of Diana will be worth nothing and her greatness will be destroyed. All the countries of Asia and the world worship her.”
28 They became angry when they heard this and cried out, “Great is Diana of Ephesus.” 29 The whole city was filled with loud cries. They caught Gaius and Aristarchus. These two men from Macedonia were with Paul. They gathered around them at the meeting place in the city.
30 Paul wanted to stand in front of all the people but his followers would not let him. 31 Some of the city leaders who were his friends told him not to go to the meeting. 32 All this time some were crying out one thing and some another. The meeting was all noise. Most of the people did not know why they had come together. 33 Then the Jews pushed Alexander to the front. Alexander held his hand up and was going to speak. 34 As soon as they saw he was a Jew, they cried out with a loud voice for two hours, “Great is Diana of Ephesus!”
35 One of the city leaders stopped the noise. He spoke, “Men of Ephesus, everyone knows our city is where the god of Diana is kept. That is the stone god that fell from the sky. 36 Everyone knows this is true, so you must not cry out or do anything foolish. 37 The men you brought here do not rob houses of worship or talk against our god. 38 If Demetrius and his workmen have something against anyone, we have special days for courts. Let them go to court. 39 If you want anything else, it should be done in another meeting. 40 We are in danger of being asked about this trouble today. There is no good reason we can give for this meeting.” 41 When he had said this, he told them to leave.
Jesus Heals a Man with a Demon (A)
31 Jesus went down to Capernaum in Galilee. He taught them on the Days of Rest. 32 The people were surprised and wondered about His teaching. His words had power. 33 A man in the Jewish place of worship had a demon. He cried with a loud voice, 34 “What do You want of us, Jesus of Nazareth? I know Who You are. You are the Holy One of God.” 35 Jesus spoke sharp words to the demon and said, “Do not talk! Come out of him!” When the demon had thrown the man down, he came out without hurting the man.
36 The people were all surprised. They asked each other, “What kind of word is this? He speaks to the demons with power and they come out!” 37 The news about Jesus went through all the country.
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.