Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 88
A song. A psalm of the Korahites. For the music leader. According to “Mahalath Leannoth.”[a] A maskil[b] of Heman the Ezrahite.
88 Lord, God of my salvation,
by day I cry out,
even at night, before you—
2 let my prayer reach you!
Turn your ear to my outcry
3 because my whole being[c] is filled with distress;
my life is at the very brink of hell.[d]
4 I am considered as one of those plummeting into the pit.
I am like those who are beyond help,
5 drifting among the dead,
lying in the grave, like dead bodies—
those you don’t remember anymore,
those who are cut off from your power.
6 You placed me down in the deepest pit,
in places dark and deep.
7 Your anger smothers me;
you subdue me with it, wave after wave. Selah
8 You’ve made my friends distant.
You’ve made me disgusting to them.
I can’t escape. I’m trapped!
9 My eyes are tired of looking at my suffering.
I’ve been calling out to you every day, Lord—
I’ve had my hands outstretched to you!
10 Do you work wonders for the dead?
Do ghosts rise up and give you thanks? Selah
11 Is your faithful love proclaimed in the grave,
your faithfulness in the underworld?[e]
12 Are your wonders known in the land of darkness,
your righteousness in the land of oblivion?
13 But I cry out to you, Lord!
My prayer meets you first thing in the morning!
14 Why do you reject my very being, Lord?
Why do you hide your face from me?
15 Since I was young I’ve been afflicted, I’ve been dying.
I’ve endured your terrors. I’m lifeless.
16 Your fiery anger has overwhelmed me;
your terrors have destroyed me.
17 They surround me all day long like water;
they engulf me completely.
18 You’ve made my loved ones and companions distant.
My only friend is darkness.
Psalm 91
91 Living in the Most High’s shelter,
camping in the Almighty’s[a] shade,
2 I say to the Lord, “You are my refuge, my stronghold!
You are my God—the one I trust!”
3 God will save you from the hunter’s trap
and from deadly sickness.
4 God will protect you with his pinions;
you’ll find refuge under his wings.
His faithfulness is a protective shield.
5 Don’t be afraid of terrors at night,
arrows that fly in daylight,
6 or sickness that prowls in the dark,
destruction that ravages at noontime.
7 Even if one thousand people fall dead next to you,
ten thousand right beside you—
it won’t happen to you.
8 Just look with your eyes,
and you will see the wicked punished.
9 Because you’ve made the Lord my refuge,
the Most High, your place of residence—
10 no evil will happen to you;
no disease will come close to your tent.
11 Because he will order his messengers to help you,
to protect you wherever you go.
12 They will carry you with their own hands
so you don’t bruise your foot on a stone.
13 You’ll march on top of lions and vipers;
you’ll trample young lions and serpents underfoot.
14 God says,[b] “Because you are devoted to me,
I’ll rescue you.
I’ll protect you because you know my name.
15 Whenever you cry out to me, I’ll answer.
I’ll be with you in troubling times.
I’ll save you and glorify you.
16 I’ll fill you full with old age.
I’ll show you my salvation.”
Psalm 92
A psalm. A song for the Sabbath day.
92 It is good to give thanks to the Lord,
to sing praises to your name, Most High;
2 to proclaim your loyal love in the morning,
your faithfulness at nighttime
3 with the ten-stringed harp,
with the melody of the lyre
4 because you’ve made me happy, Lord,
by your acts.
I sing with joy because of your handiwork.
5 How awesome are your works, Lord!
Your thoughts are so deep!
6 Ignorant people don’t know—
fools don’t understand this:
7 though the wicked spring up like grass
and all evildoers seem to blossom,
they do so only to be destroyed forever.
8 But you, Lord, are exalted forever!
9 Look at your enemies, Lord!
Look at how your enemies die,
how all evildoers are scattered abroad!
10 But you’ve made me as strong as a wild ox.
I’m soaked in precious ointment.
11 My eyes have seen my enemies’ defeat;
my ears have heard the downfall of my evil foes.
12 The righteous will spring up like a palm tree.
They will grow strong like a cedar of Lebanon.
13 Those who have been replanted in the Lord’s house
will spring up in the courtyards of our God.
14 They will bear fruit even when old and gray;
they will remain lush and fresh 15 in order to proclaim:
“The Lord is righteous.
He’s my rock.
There’s nothing unrighteous in him.”
28 After that I will pour out my spirit upon everyone;
your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
29 In those days, I will also pour out my
spirit on the male and female slaves.
30 I will give signs in the heavens and on the earth—blood and fire and columns of smoke. 31 The sun will be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood before the great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. 32 But everyone who calls on the Lord’s name will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be security, as the Lord has promised; and in Jerusalem, the Lord will summon those who survive.
Judgment on the nations
3 Truly, in those days and in that time, I will bring back to Judah and Jerusalem those who were sent away. 2 I will gather all the nations, and I will bring them to the Jehoshaphat Valley. There I will enter into judgment with them in support of my people and my possession, Israel, which they have scattered among the nations. They have divided my land, 3 and have cast lots for my people. They have traded boys for prostitutes, and sold girls for wine, which they drank down. 4 What are you to me, Tyre and Sidon, and all the regions of Philistia? Are you paying me back for something? If you are paying me back, then in a flash I will turn your deeds back upon your own heads. 5 You have taken my silver and my gold, and have carried my rich treasures into your temples. 6 You have sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, removing them far from their own border. 7 But now I am calling them from the places where you have sold them, and I will repay you for your deeds. 8 I will sell your sons and your daughters as a possession of the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, to a nation far away; for the Lord has spoken.
16 Don’t be misled, my dear brothers and sisters. 17 Every good gift, every perfect gift, comes from above. These gifts come down from the Father, the creator of the heavenly lights, in whose character there is no change at all. 18 He chose to give us birth by his true word, and here is the result: we are like the first crop from the harvest of everything he created.
Welcoming and doing the word
19 Know this, my dear brothers and sisters: everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to grow angry. 20 This is because an angry person doesn’t produce God’s righteousness. 21 Therefore, with humility, set aside all moral filth and the growth of wickedness, and welcome the word planted deep inside you—the very word that is able to save you.
22 You must be doers of the word and not only hearers who mislead themselves. 23 Those who hear but don’t do the word are like those who look at their faces in a mirror. 24 They look at themselves, walk away, and immediately forget what they were like. 25 But there are those who study the perfect law, the law of freedom, and continue to do it. They don’t listen and then forget, but they put it into practice in their lives. They will be blessed in whatever they do.
26 If those who claim devotion to God don’t control what they say, they mislead themselves. Their devotion is worthless. 27 True devotion, the kind that is pure and faultless before God the Father, is this: to care for orphans and widows in their difficulties and to keep the world from contaminating us.
Faithfulness with money
16 Jesus also said to the disciples, “A certain rich man heard that his household manager was wasting his estate. 2 He called the manager in and said to him, ‘What is this I hear about you? Give me a report of your administration because you can no longer serve as my manager.’
3 “The household manager said to himself, What will I do now that my master is firing me as his manager? I’m not strong enough to dig and too proud to beg. 4 I know what I’ll do so that, when I am removed from my management position, people will welcome me into their houses.
5 “One by one, the manager sent for each person who owed his master money. He said to the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’ 6 He said, ‘Nine hundred gallons of olive oil.’[a] The manager said to him, ‘Take your contract, sit down quickly, and write four hundred fifty gallons.’ 7 Then the manager said to another, ‘How much do you owe?’ He said, ‘One thousand bushels of wheat.’[b] He said, ‘Take your contract and write eight hundred.’
8 “The master commended the dishonest manager because he acted cleverly. People who belong to this world are more clever in dealing with their peers than are people who belong to the light. 9 I tell you, use worldly wealth to make friends for yourselves so that when it’s gone, you will be welcomed into the eternal homes.
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible