Book of Common Prayer
A Petition to Be Saved from Death.
A Song. A Psalm of the sons of Korah. For the choir director; according to Mahalath Leannoth. A [a]Maskil of Heman [b]the Ezrahite.
88 O 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 drawn near to [d]Sheol.
4 I am reckoned among those who (G)go down to the pit;
I have become like a man (H)without strength,
5 [e]Forsaken (I)among the dead,
Like the slain who lie in the grave,
Whom You remember no more,
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. [f]Selah.
8 You have removed (P)my acquaintances far from me;
You have made me an [g](Q)object of loathing to them;
I am (R)shut up and cannot go out.
9 My (S)eye has wasted away because of affliction;
I have (T)called upon You every day, O Lord;
I have (U)spread out my [h]hands to You.
10 Will You perform wonders for the dead?
Will (V)the [i]departed spirits rise and praise You? Selah.
11 Will Your lovingkindness be declared in the grave,
Your faithfulness in [j]Abaddon?
12 Will Your wonders be made known in the (W)darkness?
And Your [k]righteousness in the land of forgetfulness?
13 But I, O Lord, have cried out (X)to You for help,
And (Y)in the morning my prayer comes before You.
14 O Lord, why (Z)do You reject my soul?
Why do You (AA)hide Your face from me?
15 I was afflicted and (AB)about to die from my youth on;
I suffer (AC)Your terrors; I am [l]overcome.
16 Your (AD)burning anger has passed over me;
Your terrors have [m](AE)destroyed me.
17 They have (AF)surrounded me (AG)like water all day long;
They have (AH)encompassed me altogether.
18 You have removed (AI)lover and friend far from me;
My acquaintances are in darkness.
Security of the One Who Trusts in the Lord.
91 He who dwells in the (A)shelter of the Most High
Will abide 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 delivers you from the (F)snare of the trapper
And from the deadly (G)pestilence.
4 He will (H)cover you with His pinions,
And (I)under His wings you may seek refuge;
His (J)faithfulness is a (K)shield and bulwark.
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)pestilence that [a]stalks in darkness,
Or of the (P)destruction that lays waste 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 recompense of the wicked.
9 [b]For you have made the Lord, (S)my refuge,
Even the Most High, (T)your dwelling place.
10 (U)No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your [c]tent.
11 For He will give (V)His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
12 They will (W)bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will (X)tread upon the lion and cobra,
The young lion and the [d]serpent you will trample down.
14 “(Y)Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver 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 “With [f]a (AD)long life I will satisfy him
And [g](AE)let him see 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, O Most High;
2 To (AH)declare Your lovingkindness in the morning
And Your (AI)faithfulness [h]by night,
3 [i]With the (AJ)ten-stringed lute and [j]with the (AK)harp,
[k]With resounding music [l]upon the (AL)lyre.
4 For You, O Lord, have made me glad by [m]what You (AM)have done,
I will (AN)sing for joy at the (AO)works of Your hands.
5 How (AP)great are Your works, O Lord!
Your [n](AQ)thoughts are very (AR)deep.
6 A (AS)senseless man has no knowledge,
Nor does a (AT)stupid man understand this:
7 That when the wicked (AU)sprouted up like grass
And all (AV)who did iniquity flourished,
It was only that they might be (AW)destroyed forevermore.
8 But You, O Lord, are (AX)on high forever.
9 For, behold, Your enemies, O Lord,
For, behold, (AY)Your enemies will perish;
All who do iniquity will be (AZ)scattered.
10 But You have exalted my (BA)horn like that of the wild ox;
I have [o]been (BB)anointed with fresh oil.
11 And my eye has (BC)looked exultantly upon [p]my foes,
My ears hear of the evildoers who rise up against me.
12 The (BD)righteous man will [q]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 courts of our God.
14 They will still [r](BH)yield fruit in old age;
They shall be [s]full of sap and very green,
15 To [t]declare that (BI)the Lord is upright;
He is my (BJ)rock, and there is (BK)no unrighteousness in Him.
Spies View the Land
13 Then (A)the Lord spoke to Moses saying, 2 “(B)Send out for yourself men so that they may spy out the land of Canaan, which I am going to give to the sons of Israel; you shall send a man from each of their fathers’ tribes, every one a leader among them.” 3 So Moses sent them from the wilderness of Paran at the [a]command of the Lord, all of them men who were heads of the sons of Israel.
21 So they went up and spied out the land from (A)the wilderness of Zin as far as Rehob, [a](B)at Lebo-hamath. 22 When they had gone up into (C)the Negev, [b]they came to Hebron where (D)Ahiman, Sheshai and Talmai, the [c]descendants of (E)Anak were. (Now Hebron was built seven years before (F)Zoan in Egypt.)
23 Then they came to the [d]valley of [e](G)Eshcol and from there cut down a branch with a single cluster of grapes; and they carried it on a pole between two men, with some of the pomegranates and the figs. 24 That place was called the valley of [f]Eshcol, because of the cluster which the sons of Israel cut down from there.
The Spies’ Reports
25 When they returned from spying out the land, at the end of forty days, 26 they proceeded to come to Moses and Aaron and to all the congregation of the sons of Israel [g]in the wilderness of Paran, at (H)Kadesh; and they brought back word to them and to all the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land. 27 Thus they told him, and said, “We went in to the land where you sent us; and (I)it certainly does flow with milk and honey, and (J)this is its fruit. 28 Nevertheless, (K)the people who live in the land are strong, and the cities are fortified and very large; and moreover, we saw (L)the [h]descendants of Anak there. 29 Amalek is living in the land of (M)the Negev and the Hittites and the Jebusites and (N)the Amorites are living in the hill country, and (O)the Canaanites are living by the sea and by the side of the Jordan.”
30 Then Caleb quieted the people [i]before Moses and said, “We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it.”
25 For indeed circumcision is of value if you (A)practice [a]the Law; but if you are a transgressor [b]of the Law, (B)your circumcision has become uncircumcision. 26 (C)So if (D)the [c]uncircumcised man (E)keeps the requirements of the Law, will not his uncircumcision be regarded as circumcision? 27 And (F)he who is physically uncircumcised, if he keeps the Law, will he not (G)judge you who [d]though having the letter of the Law and circumcision are a transgressor [e]of the Law? 28 For (H)he is not a Jew who is one outwardly, nor is circumcision that which is outward in the flesh. 29 But (I)he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and (J)circumcision is that which is of the heart, by the (K)Spirit, not by the letter; (L)and his praise is not from men, but from God.
All the World Guilty
3 Then what [f]advantage has the Jew? Or what is the benefit of circumcision? 2 Great in every respect. First of all, that (M)they were entrusted with the (N)oracles of God. 3 What then? If (O)some [g]did not believe, their [h]unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? 4 (P)May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found (Q)a liar, as it is written,
5 But if our unrighteousness [j](S)demonstrates the righteousness of God, (T)what shall we say? The God who inflicts wrath is not unrighteous, is He? ((U)I am speaking in human terms.) 6 (V)May it never be! For otherwise, how will (W)God judge the world? 7 But if through my lie (X)the truth of God abounded to His glory, (Y)why am I also still being judged as a sinner? 8 And why not say (as we are slanderously reported and as some claim that we say), “(Z)Let us do evil that good may come”? [k]Their condemnation is just.
Forgiveness
21 Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, (A)how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to (B)seven times?” 22 Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to (C)seventy times seven.
23 “For this reason (D)the kingdom of heaven [a]may be compared to a king who wished to (E)settle accounts with his slaves. 24 When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him [b]ten thousand talents was brought to him. 25 But since he [c](F)did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him (G)to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. 26 So the slave fell to the ground and (H)prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ 27 And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and (I)forgave him the [d]debt. 28 But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred [e]denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ 29 So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ 30 But he was unwilling [f]and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. 31 So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. 32 Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. 33 (J)Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ 34 And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. 35 (K)My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from [g]your heart.”
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.