Book of Common Prayer
Psalm 89
A Contemplative Maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite.
1 I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;
with my mouth I will make known Your faithfulness to all generations.
2 For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;
Your faithfulness shall be established in the heavens.”
3 You have said, “I have made a covenant with my chosen one;
I have sworn to David my servant:
4 ‘Your offspring I will establish forever,
and build up your throne for all generations.’ ” Selah
5 Let the heavens praise Your wonders, O Lord;
Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones.
6 For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord?
Who among the heavenly sons is like the Lord?
7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the holy ones
and awesome to all those who surround Him.
8 O Lord God of Hosts, who is a mighty Lord like You,
with Your faithfulness all around You?
9 You rule the raging of the sea;
when the waves arise, You still them.
10 You crushed Rahab like a corpse;
You scattered Your enemies with Your strong arm.
11 The heavens are Yours; the earth also is Yours;
the world and all that is in it, You have founded them.
12 The north and the south, You have created them;
Tabor and Hermon rejoice in Your name.
13 You have a mighty arm,
and strong is Your hand, and victorious is Your right hand.
14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;
mercy and truth shall go before Your presence.
15 Blessed are the people who know the joyful shout.
They walk, O Lord, in the light of Your presence.
16 In Your name they rejoice all the day,
and in Your righteousness they shall be exalted.
17 For You are the beauty of their strength;
by Your favor our horn is exalted.
18 For the Lord is our shield of defense,
and the Holy One of Israel is our king.
19 Long ago You spoke in a vision
to Your godly one and said:
“I have given help to one who is mighty;
I have exalted one chosen from the people.
20 I have found David, My servant;
with My holy oil I have anointed him:
21 By whom My hand shall be established;
My arm also shall strengthen him.
22 The enemy shall not take tribute from him,
nor the wicked humiliate him.
23 I will beat down his foes before him
and strike down those who hate him.
24 My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him,
and in My name his horn shall be exalted.
25 I will set his hand on the sea
and his right hand on the rivers.
26 He shall cry unto Me, ‘You are my Father, my God,
and the Rock of my salvation.’
27 Also I will make him my firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the earth.
28 In My mercy I will keep him forever,
and My covenant shall stand firm with him.
29 His offspring also I will establish forever
and his throne as the days of heaven.
30 “If his children forsake My law
and do not walk in My judgments,
31 if they break My statutes
and do not keep My commandments,
32 then I will punish their transgression with the rod
and their iniquity with lashes.
33 Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not remove from him
nor be false in My faithfulness.
34 My covenant I will not violate
nor alter the word that has gone out from My lips.
35 Once and for all I have sworn by My holiness
that I will not lie to David:
36 His offspring shall endure forever,
and his throne as the sun before Me;
37 it shall be established forever as the moon
and as a faithful witness in the heavens.” Selah
38 But now You have cast off and rejected him,
You have been wrathful with Your anointed king.
39 You have renounced the covenant with Your servant;
You have defiled his crown by casting it to the ground.
40 You have broken down all his walls;
You have brought his strongholds to ruin.
41 All who pass by the way plunder him;
he is a reproach to his neighbors.
42 You have set high the right hand of his adversaries;
You have made all his enemies rejoice.
43 You have also turned back the edge of his sword
and have not made him stand in battle.
44 You have made his glory cease
and cast his throne down to the ground.
45 The days of his youth You have shortened;
You have covered him with shame. Selah
46 How long, O Lord? Will You hide Yourself forever?
How long shall Your wrath burn like fire?
47 Remember how short my time is!
Why have You made all people in such emptiness?
48 What man can live and not see death?
Who can deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah
49 Lord, where are Your former lovingkindnesses,
which You swore to David in Your faithfulness?
50 Remember, O Lord, the reproach of Your servants
and how I bear in my heart the insults of the many nations,
51 which Your enemies taunt, O Lord,
with which they mock the footsteps of Your anointed king.
52 Blessed be the Lord forever!
Amen and Amen.
Absalom Kills Amnon
23 Two full years later, the sheepshearers of Absalom were in Baal Hazor, near Ephraim, and Absalom invited all of the sons of the king. 24 Then Absalom came to the king and requested, “Your servant has sheepshearers; will the king and his servants kindly go with your servant?”
25 The king said to Absalom, “No, my son, we must not all go or we will be a burden to you.” When he urged him, he refused to go, but gave him his blessing.
26 Absalom said, “If not, allow my brother Amnon to go with us.”
But the king replied to him, “Why should he go with you?” 27 But Absalom urged him until he sent Amnon and all of the king’s sons along with him.
28 Now, Absalom had commanded his servant, “Look for Amnon to become carefree on account of the wine. Then I will say to you, ‘Strike Amnon, and kill him.’ Do not be afraid, for am not I myself commanding you? Be strong and brave.” 29 So, the servants of Absalom did to Amnon that which Absalom had commanded. Then the sons of the king arose, each mounting his mule, and fled.
30 While they were on the way, the report reached David: “Absalom struck down all of the sons of the king, and there is not one of them remaining.” 31 Then the king arose, tore his garments, and lay on the ground, while all of his servants who were standing nearby tore their garments.
32 But Jonadab, the son of David’s brother Shimeah, said, “My lord should not think that they have killed all of the servants who are the king’s sons. Amnon alone is dead, for this has been determined from the day he raped Tamar, his sister, by the very declaration of Absalom. 33 Now, my lord the king should not take this matter to heart, thinking that all of the king’s sons are dead. Instead Amnon alone is dead.”
34 Absalom fled.
Now when the servant who was keeping watch looked up, he saw many people coming on the road beyond him, around the hill.
35 So Jonadab said to the king, “See, the king’s sons are coming. As your servant spoke, so it is.”
36 As soon as he had finished speaking, the sons of the king arrived, lifted their voices, and wept. The king and all of his servants also wept loudly.
37 Now Absalom fled and went to Talmai the son of Ammihud, king of Geshur, but David mourned over his son every day.
38 When Absalom fled and went to Geshur, he was there for three years. 39 Then King David longed to go out to Absalom, for he was consoled over the death of Amnon.
Paul Speaks to the Ephesian Elders
17 From Miletus he sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. 18 When they came to him, he said to them, “You know how I always lived among you from the first day that I came to Asia, 19 serving the Lord with all humility and with many tears and trials which befell me through the plots of the Jews. 20 I did not keep from declaring what was beneficial to you, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, 21 testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
22 “Now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what shall befall me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 24 But none of these things deter me. Nor do I count my life of value to myself, so that I may joyfully finish my course and the ministry which I have received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.
25 “Now I know that all you, among whom I went proclaiming the kingdom of God, will see my face no more. 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. 27 For I did not keep from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. 28 Therefore take heed to yourselves and to the entire flock, over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. 29 For I know that after my departure, dreadful wolves will enter among you, not sparing the flock. 30 Even from among you men will arise speaking perverse things, to draw the disciples away after them. 31 Therefore watch, remembering that for three years night and day I did not cease to warn everyone with tears.
32 “Now, brothers, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified. 33 I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. 34 Yes, you yourselves know that these hands have provided for my necessities and for those who were with me. 35 In all things I have shown you how, working like this, you must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus, how He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’ ”
36 Having said these things, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37 They all wept much and embraced Paul’s neck and kissed him, 38 grieving most over the words he spoke, that they were to see his face no more. Then they escorted him to the ship.
Temptations to Sin(A)
42 “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to sin, it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. 43 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched, 44 where
‘their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’[a]
45 And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell, into the fire that shall never be quenched, 46 where
‘their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’[b]
47 And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into the fire of hell, 48 where
‘their worm does not die,
and the fire is not quenched.’[c]
49 Everyone will be salted with fire, and every sacrifice will be salted with salt.
50 “Salt is good. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how will you season it? Have salt in yourselves, and have peace with one another.”
The Holy Bible, Modern English Version. Copyright © 2014 by Military Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House.