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.
46 And Rebekah said to Isaac, “I am tired of [a]living because of (A)the daughters of Heth; (B)if Jacob takes a wife from the daughters of Heth like these from the daughters of the land, what good will my life be to me?”
Jacob Is Sent Away
28 So Isaac called Jacob and (C)blessed him and commanded him, [b]saying to him, “(D)You shall not take a wife from the daughters of Canaan. 2 Arise, go to Paddan-aram, to the house of (E)Bethuel your mother’s father; and from there take to yourself a wife from the daughters of Laban, your mother’s brother. 3 May [c](F)God Almighty (G)bless you and (H)make you fruitful and (I)multiply you, so that you may become a (J)multitude of peoples. 4 May He also give you the (K)blessing of Abraham, to you and to your [d]descendants with you, so that you may (L)possess the land where you (M)live as a stranger, which God gave to Abraham.”
Jacob’s Dream
10 Then Jacob departed from (A)Beersheba and went toward (B)Haran. 11 And he [a]happened upon a [b](C)particular place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and made it a support for his head, and lay down in that place. 12 And (D)he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, (E)the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. 13 Then behold, (F)the Lord was standing [c]above it and said, “I am the Lord, (G)the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give (H)to you and to (I)your [d]descendants. 14 Your [e]descendants will also be like (J)the dust of the earth, and you will [f]spread out (K)to the west and to the east, and to the north and to the south; and (L)in you and in your [g]descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed. 15 Behold, (M)I am with you and (N)will keep you wherever you go, and (O)will bring you back to this land; for (P)I will not leave you until I have done what I have [h]promised you.” 16 Then Jacob (Q)awoke from his sleep and said, “(R)The Lord is certainly in this place, and I did not know it!” 17 And he was afraid and said, “(S)How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”
18 So Jacob got up early in the morning, and took (T)the stone that he had placed as a support for his head, and set it up as a memorial stone, and poured oil on its top. 19 Then he named that place [i](U)Bethel; but [j]previously the name of the city had been (V)Luz. 20 Jacob also (W)made a vow, saying, “(X)If God will be with me and will keep me on this journey that I [k]take, and give me [l](Y)food to eat and garments to wear, 21 and (Z)I return to my father’s house in [m]safety, (AA)then the Lord will be my God. 22 And this stone, which I have set up as a memorial stone, (AB)will be God’s house, and (AC)of everything that You give me I will assuredly give a tenth to You.”
Be Subject to Government
13 Every [a](A)person is to be (B)subject to the governing authorities. For (C)there is no authority except [b]from God, and those which exist are established by God. 2 Therefore [c]whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. 3 For (D)rulers are not a cause of fear for [d]good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; 4 for it is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a servant of God, an (E)avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. 5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also (F)for the sake of conscience. 6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. 7 (G)Pay to all what is due them: (H)tax to whom tax is due; (I)custom to whom custom; [e]respect to whom [f]respect; honor to whom honor.
8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for (J)the one who loves [g]his neighbor has fulfilled the Law. 9 For this, “(K)You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “(L)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 10 Love [h]does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore (M)love is the fulfillment of the Law.
11 Do this, knowing the time, that it is (N)already the hour for you to (O)awaken from sleep; for now [i]salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed. 12 (P)The night is almost gone, and (Q)the day is near. Therefore let’s rid ourselves of (R)the deeds of darkness and put on (S)the armor of light. 13 Let’s [j](T)behave properly as in the day, (U)not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and debauchery, not in strife and jealousy. 14 But (V)put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh (W)in regard to its lusts.
33 They answered Him, “(A)We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been enslaved to anyone; how is it that You say, ‘You will become free’?”
34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly I say to you, (B)everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. 35 Now (C)the slave does not remain in the house forever; (D)the son does remain forever. 36 So if the Son (E)sets you free, you really will be free. 37 I know that you are (F)Abraham’s descendants; yet (G)you are seeking to kill Me, because My word [a]has no place in you. 38 I speak of the things which I have seen [b]with My Father; therefore you also do the things which you heard from (H)your father.”
39 They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is (I)our father.” Jesus *said to them, “(J)If you are Abraham’s children, do the deeds of Abraham. 40 But as it is, (K)you are seeking to kill Me, a Man who has (L)told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. 41 You are doing the deeds of (M)your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born as a result of sexual immorality; (N)we have one Father: God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, (O)you would love Me, (P)for I came forth from God and am here; for I have (Q)not even come [c]on My own, but [d](R)He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand [e](S)what I am saying? It is because you cannot (T)listen to My word. 44 (U)You are of (V)your father the devil, and (W)you want to do the desires of your father. (X)He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because (Y)there is no truth in him. Whenever he tells [f]a lie, he (Z)speaks from his own nature, because he is a liar and the father of [g]lies. 45 But because (AA)I say the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If (AB)I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 (AC)The one who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.