Book of Common Prayer
A Petition to Be Saved from Death.
A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the music director; according to Mahalath Leannoth. A [a]Maskil of Heman [b]the Ezrahite.
88 Lord, the (A)God of my salvation,
I have (B)cried out by day and in the night before You.
2 Let my prayer (C)come before You;
(D)Incline Your ear to my cry!
3 For my (E)soul has [c]had enough troubles,
And (F)my life has approached [d]Sheol.
4 I am counted among those who (G)go down to the pit;
I have become like a man (H)without strength,
5 [e]Abandoned (I)among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You no longer remember,
And they are (J)cut off from Your hand.
6 You have put me in (K)the lowest pit,
In (L)dark places, in the (M)depths.
7 Your wrath (N)has rested upon me,
And You have afflicted me with (O)all Your waves. Selah
8 You have removed (P)my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an [f](Q)object of loathing to them;
I am (R)shut up and cannot go out.
9 My (S)eye grows dim from misery;
I have (T)called upon You every day, Lord;
I have (U)spread out my [g]hands to You.
10 Will You perform wonders for the dead?
Or will (V)the departed spirits rise and praise You? Selah
11 Will Your graciousness be declared in the grave,
Your faithfulness in [h]Abaddon?
12 Will Your wonders be made known in the (W)darkness?
And Your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But I, Lord, have cried out (X)to You for help,
And (Y)in the morning my prayer comes before You.
14 Lord, why (Z)do You reject my soul?
Why do You (AA)hide Your face from me?
15 I was miserable and (AB)about to die from my youth on;
I suffer (AC)Your terrors; I grow weary.
16 Your (AD)burning anger has passed over me;
Your terrors have [i](AE)destroyed me.
17 They have (AF)surrounded me (AG)like water all day long;
They have (AH)encircled me altogether.
18 You have removed (AI)lover and friend far from me;
My acquaintances are in a hiding place.
Security of One Who Trusts in the Lord.
91 One who dwells in the (A)shelter of the Most High
Will lodge in the (B)shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say to the Lord, “My (C)refuge and my (D)fortress,
My God, in whom I (E)trust!”
3 For it is He who rescues you from the (F)net of the trapper
And from the deadly (G)plague.
4 He will (H)cover you with His pinions,
And (I)under His wings you may take refuge;
His (J)faithfulness is a (K)shield and wall.
5 You (L)will not be afraid of the (M)terror by night,
Or of the (N)arrow that flies by day;
6 Of the (O)plague that [a]stalks in darkness,
Or of the (P)destruction that devastates at noon.
7 A thousand may fall at your side
And ten thousand at your right hand,
But (Q)it shall not approach you.
8 You will only look on with your eyes
And (R)see the retaliation against the wicked.
9 [b]For you have made the Lord, (S)my refuge,
The Most High, (T)your dwelling place.
10 (U)No evil will happen to you,
Nor will any plague come near your [c]tent.
11 For He will give (V)His angels orders concerning you,
To protect you in all your ways.
12 On their hands they will (W)lift you up,
So that you do not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will (X)walk upon the lion and cobra,
You will trample the young lion and the [d]serpent.
14 “(Y)Because he has loved Me, I will save him;
I will (Z)set him securely on high, because he has (AA)known My name.
15 He will (AB)call upon Me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in [e]trouble;
I will rescue him and (AC)honor him.
16 I will satisfy him with [f]a (AD)long life,
And [g](AE)show him My salvation.”
Praise for the Lord’s Goodness.
A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath day.
92 It is (AF)good to give thanks to the Lord
And to (AG)sing praises to Your name, Most High;
2 To (AH)declare Your goodness in the morning
And Your (AI)faithfulness by [h]night,
3 [i]With the (AJ)ten-stringed lute and [j]with the (AK)harp,
[k]With resounding music on the (AL)lyre.
4 For You, Lord, have made me joyful by [l]what You (AM)have done,
I will (AN)sing for joy over the (AO)works of Your hands.
5 How (AP)great are Your works, Lord!
Your [m](AQ)thoughts are very (AR)deep.
6 A (AS)stupid person has no knowledge,
Nor does a (AT)foolish person understand this:
7 When the wicked (AU)sprouted up like grass
And all (AV)who did injustice flourished,
It was only that they might be (AW)destroyed forevermore.
8 But You, Lord, are (AX)on high forever.
9 For, behold, Your enemies, Lord,
For, behold, (AY)Your enemies will perish;
All who do injustice will be (AZ)scattered.
10 But You have exalted my (BA)horn like that of the wild ox;
I have [n]been (BB)anointed with fresh oil.
11 And my eye has (BC)looked at my enemies,
My ears hear of the evildoers who rise up against me.
12 The (BD)righteous person will [o]flourish like the palm tree,
He will grow like a (BE)cedar in Lebanon.
13 (BF)Planted in the house of the Lord,
They will flourish (BG)in the courtyards of our God.
14 They will still [p](BH)yield fruit in advanced age;
They will be [q]full of sap and very green,
15 To [r]declare that (BI)the Lord is just;
He is my (BJ)rock, and there is (BK)no malice in Him.
The Promise of the Spirit
28 “[a](A)It will come about after this
That I will (B)pour out My Spirit on all [b](C)mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will have dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
29 And even on the (D)male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
The Day of the Lord
30 I will [c](E)display wonders in the sky and on the earth,
Blood, fire, and columns of smoke.
31 The (F)sun will be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the (G)great and awesome day of the Lord comes.
32 And it will come about that (H)everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
Will [d]be saved;
For (I)on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem
There will be those who (J)escape,
Just as the Lord has said,
Even among the (K)survivors whom the Lord calls.
The Nations Will Be Judged
3 “[e]For behold, (L)in those days and at that time,
When I (M)restore the fortunes of Judah and Jerusalem,
2 I will (N)gather all the nations
And bring them down to the (O)Valley of [f]Jehoshaphat.
Then I will (P)enter into judgment with them there
On behalf of My people and My inheritance, Israel,
Whom they have (Q)scattered among the nations;
And they have (R)divided up My land.
3 They have also (S)cast lots for My people,
[g](T)Traded a boy for a prostitute,
And sold a girl for wine so that they may drink.
4 Moreover, what are you to Me, (U)Tyre, Sidon, and all the regions of (V)Philistia? Are you repaying Me with retribution? But if you are showing Me retribution, swiftly and speedily I will (W)return your retribution on your head! 5 Since you have (X)taken My silver and My gold, brought My precious [h]treasures to your temples, 6 and sold the (Y)sons of Judah and Jerusalem to the [i]Greeks in order to remove them far from their territory, 7 behold, I am going to (Z)stir them up from the place where you have sold them, and return your retribution on your head. 8 I will also (AA)sell your sons and your daughters into the hand of the sons of Judah, and they will sell them to the (AB)Sabeans, to a distant nation,” for the Lord has spoken.
16 (A)Do not be [a]deceived, (B)my beloved brothers and sisters. 17 Every good thing given and every perfect gift is (C)from above, coming down from (D)the Father of lights, (E)with whom there is no variation or [b]shifting shadow. 18 In the exercise of (F)His will He (G)gave us birth by (H)the word of truth, so that we would be [c]a kind of (I)first fruits [d]among His creatures.
19 [e](J)You know this, (K)my beloved brothers and sisters. Now everyone must be quick to hear, (L)slow to speak, and (M)slow to anger; 20 for a man’s (N)anger does not bring about the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore, (O)ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all [f]that remains of wickedness, in [g]humility receive (P)the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. 22 (Q)But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his [h]natural face (R)in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, [i]he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. 25 But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, (S)the law of freedom, and has continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but [j]an active doer, this person will be (T)blessed in [k]what he does.
26 If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not [l](U)bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27 Pure and undefiled religion (V)in the sight of our God and Father is this: to (W)visit (X)orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained [m]by (Y)the world.
The Unrighteous Manager
16 Now He was also saying to the disciples, “There was a rich man who had a manager, and this manager was [a]reported to him as (A)squandering his possessions. 2 And he summoned him and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give an accounting of your management, for you can no longer be manager.’ 3 And the manager said to himself, ‘What am I to do, since my [b]master is taking the management away from me? I am not strong enough to [c]dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 I know what I will do, so that when I am removed from the management people will welcome me into their homes.’ 5 And he summoned each one of his [d]master’s debtors, and he began saying to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 And he said, ‘A hundred [e]jugs of oil.’ And he said to him, ‘Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.’ 7 Then he said to another, ‘And how much do you owe?’ And he said, ‘A hundred [f]kors of wheat.’ He *said to him, ‘Take your bill, and write eighty.’ 8 And his [g]master complimented the unrighteous manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of (B)this age are more shrewd in relation to their own [h]kind than the (C)sons of light. 9 And I say to you, (D)make friends for yourselves by means of the [i](E)wealth of unrighteousness, so that when it [j]is all gone, (F)they will receive you into the eternal dwellings.
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